<p>so i'm going to post my stats and stuff and it would be really helpful if you guys could tell me schools that would be safety, realistic, and reach schools for me. thanks so much for your time
I am probably going to pursue a career in medicine or biomedical engineering. i will be a senior next year at a public high school in California.
GPA: Unweighted 4.000 each year
Rank: 1/648
SAT: 1st try: 2140 (800 M, 710 W, 630 CR)
will try again in october aiming for 2300 after studying this summer
SAT II: Math IIC: 800
Physics: 770-800 *
might take lit in november
AP: Junior Year
Calc BC: 5*
Physics B: 4 *
US History: 4*
Eng Lang: 5 *
Senior Year Load:
Chem, bio, stats, eng lit, macroecon, us gov all ap
EC's: Math Tutor for pay
Basketball all 4 years (1 year varsity, 1 year JV Team Captain)
Boys' State 08
Basketball Camp Counseler for a week for pay
Youth and Government Club Treasurer
Hospital Volunteer (on junior volunteer board)
BAsketball Youth Coach and Referee (voluntary)
Soccer Youth Coach (voluntary)
ALS awareness club
National Honor Society
California Scholarship Federation
President of Academic Letter Foundation
Leader at Teen Summit (a meeting between students and community leaders)</p>
<ul>
<li>= predicted</li>
</ul>
<p>there's probably stuff i'm forgetting i did this really quickly but i would really like to attend top schools (ivies, stanford, etc)
if you guys could please just tell me what's reasonable for me
my dream school would be stanford and my dad went to UC Berkeley and my mom, USC</p>
<p>thanks again sooooooooo much</p>
<p>
[quote]
my dad went to UC Berkeley
[/quote]
Your father is a very wise man indeed...;)</p>
<p>You've got like a 50-75% chance at Berkeley....check out this site:
University</a> of California: StatFinder</p>
<p>Selecting "All applicants", "All Admits" for Fall 2007 at Berkeley and looking at "Highest SAT (Avg. of Math and CR)" and "High School GPA (weighted by honors)"...these are the admit percentages:</p>
<p>4.20 and above:
500-599: 46%
600-699: 57%
700-800: 76%</p>
<p>4.00 - 4.19:
500-599: 22%
600-699: 25%
700-800: 44%</p>
<p>3.80 - 3.99:
500-599: 8%
600-699: 7%
700-800: 18%</p>
<p>To shoot for the Ivy League and 'furd, your ECs need to show some "standout passion" that differentiates yourself from other top students across the country. </p>
<p>Other schools for your interests:
Duke, UCSD, Washington University in St. Louis</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Honestly, in-state tuition is a great deal, and CA publics are some of the best universities in the country.</p>
<p>I'd recommend applying to Berkeley (which is a high match), UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UC Davis, etc. </p>
<p>You could also probably get a scholarship at USC, especially since your mom went there.</p>
<p>I think you have a good chance at all of these schools</p>
<p>you're a lock at uc berkeley in my opinion, especially if your dad went there. same at usc -- if you get your sat scores up though, i would not put stanford out of the question at all!</p>
<p>quick question:what if you're an out-of-stater and your dad went to berkeley? (me) :) i heard it doesn't help :(</p>
<p>^ Right, Berkeley does not consider legacy as a factor...so they say...</p>
<p>ugh, that sucks. what about people, from say, the east coast? ;)</p>
<p>dang! berkeley doesnt consider legacy a factor?? not even for in state??</p>
<p>and i guess my ec's are weak?? so what can i do to make them better?? because i dont want to have them lacking in my apps</p>
<p>Your ecs are not weak. You have tons of leadership and you have contributed to your high school. If you can bump up you CR score, I think you have a good chance at Stanford. But it depends on your essays and what area of study you are interested in. I'm sure your essays will be great for Stanford since it is your goal. But they have a ton of applicants who want to go on to study medicine. You would have to distinguish yourself with an area of undergraduate study that is not the same as all those pre-med kids. I think USC is a match, especially with your legacy. No ivy is a match for anyone. I think Duke would like you and they have a great BME and great pre-med advising but very few merit scholarships. I think JHU may be a match for you.</p>
<p>is biomedical engineering a 'distinguished' area of undergaduate study that isnt common??</p>
<p>It's very nice to want to attend the top schools. You don't care if that school happens to be Stanford or Harvard or Yale, it seems. Not an unusual situation. That's what makes it so easy to pick those reach schools. You just find the list of the most elite schools, and those are the picks. It gets more difficult when it comes to a choice between Holy Cross or Santa Clara, or USC vs Johns Hopkins or Vanderbilt. The most difficult picks of all are the safeties. In your case, some of the UCs would be good safeties if you want to stay in CA. </p>
<p>As for matches, it seems to me that Berkeley and USC are matches for you, if that is what you want. If you want to leave CA, the field is wide open. The most selective schools are not a true match for anyone, especially these days, though I think that you are a good candidate for getting into at least some of them. If you raise your verbal score, so much the better. Stanford for a Californean is going to be a rough go, as you probably know, so that along with the most selective schools will be high reaches.</p>
<p>
[quote]
is biomedical engineering a 'distinguished' area of undergaduate study that isnt common??
[/quote]
No. Everyone and their brother, especially reading these boards, wants to pursue biomedical engineering.</p>
<p>IMO, it's too specialized of a degree.</p>
<p>
[quote]
dang! berkeley doesnt consider legacy a factor?? not even for in state??
[/quote]
According to Berkeley's published "Common Data Set", "alumni relations" are not considered in admissions.</p>
<p>
[quote]
and i guess my ec's are weak??
[/quote]
Your ECs are far from weak...what I meant was, IMO, a targeted approach (preferably leadership roles), like you exhibit with certain sports, is better than a "shotgun scatter" approach with relatively minor roles in a lot of different endeavours.</p>
<p>thanks so much this helps a lot it really does. do you guys know any schools that could be "safe" schools for me??</p>
<p>Safe schools for you would be UC Davis, Santa Barbara, and Irvine...</p>
<p>Since you're applying to Berkeley, may as well check off some other UCs and pay the extra application fee. Relatively cheap and minimal effort on your part for added peace of mind.</p>
<p>The Ivies and Stanford are reaches for everyone. You have the stats to get in, but so do many, many other applicants. This year Harvard had more applicants with 4.0 GPAs and 2400 SATs than it had spaces. So I recommend that you apply if you wish, and then forget about it. </p>
<p>In terms of finances, you might choose to go to a less expensive school undergrad, and save your (or your parents') money for med school.
UC Berkely, UCLA, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara sound best, especially if you can get a scholarship and/or into an honors program.</p>
<p>For private schools look at those where you might be able to get a substantial merit scholarship - Johns Hopkins, Brandeis, Rochester, Washington/St. Louis, Rice.</p>
<p>thanks dadofsam and ucbchemegrad! what are some other out of state schools that could apply to me?? im pretty sure i'll apply to a majority of the uc's.</p>
<p>^ Check out Northwestern and Rice as well. You have your safeties with the UCs.</p>