How do I look for top schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys, I’m just gonna post some stats here and you guys can tell me how I look for the following schools: UCLA, UCSB, Berkeley, USC, Caltech, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, etc. Top schools in general. I wanna major in neuroscience and have relevant high school research experience so I think that will help me. So here are my stats below.

Grades/test scores:

GPA: 3.9/4.0 unweighted - Got one B total, in 1st semester AP Calc BC cuz I took an L on the final and dropped from a 95 to a B. I know stupid as hell but I don’t think it will hurt too bad since I made up for it with a solid A second semester and a 5 on the AP test. My first semester in 10th grade was a bit rocky with several A minuses and the one B in AP Calc BC but our school calculates GPA with A minuses the same as As. Let me know if it will hurt the application please.

SAT: 1550. I think this is 75 percentile for any school so should be good.
ACT: 35. Looks good.
SAT II Math 2 - 790
SAT II Biology - 790

AP Classes: I have consistently taken the most rigorous courses available to me (our school is pretty weak when it comes to AP course selection). My AP classes and scores are: AP Biology (5), AP Calculus BC (5), AP Chemistry (5), AP Physics 1 (4), AP US History (5), AP English Lang (5), AP Government (TBD), AP English 4 (TBD), AP Statistics (5), AP CompSci (4)

Extracurriculars: I have some good ones that mesh well with my career goal of med school and neurosurgery. I also have some others that will stand out from other premed kids. For one, I am a member of our school’s high powered rocketry team - we compete in Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), and placed 16th in the nation at Washington DC last year. We have also been invited to Huntsville Alabama by NASA to participate in the selective Student Launch Initiative to launch a huge rocket with an experimental payload. It’s normally for college students but we are a pretty accomplished team netting about 20k in scholarships from Boeing, Aerovironment, Aerojet Rocketdyne, etc. So that’s that. Over the summer, I did the Research Mentorship Program (RMP) at UCSB. It’s a 6 week intensive research program where you get paired up with a postdoc mentor for research. I did neuroscience research which was great. The next summer I did RISE at Boston University. It’s another month-plus long program in computational neurobiology. Did research and presented it. I have competed in Academic Decathlon winning several medals over the years. I also work at Kumon and have all my years in high school. In addition to Kumon tutoring I tutor on the side at school. I am part of the UCLA Math Circle, a pretty selective program where you attend math seminars and learn about higher math topics with graduate student mentors. I love skiing in my past time, idk if that will help me I play Tabla, an eastern percussion instrument and as an Afghan American it is a way for me to express my culture and heritage. Finally, I think I will be able to seal the deal with neuroscience research with a professor from Caltech that I know personally. However it may not work out so just judge me without this additional experience.

Recommendations: I have recommendations from my AP Biology teacher who absolutely loves me. She is a nationally recognized teacher who actually licenses her curriculum to other schools and teachers. She recently started a tiktok and has over 50k followers. (I often get shoutouts for filming). Her letter is definitely great. I also have a letter from my AP English 3 teacher who is amazing too. Incredible writer. Finally, I have a letter from my Superintendent who is the organizer of our Rocketry team. He and I are very close and I’m sure his letter is great.

I just want a good idea of my admission chances for these top schools. I have written all of my work throughout highschool and painted myself in the best light I can and I hope you guys can give me info on what I can do better or if I am already good when it comes to admission to these very top schools that I am honestly very worried about applying to since I know there are tons of people with much better stats than me.

2

First, look at finances and find out exactly what you can afford. Your number 1 concern is affordability above anything. If you can’t afford it, scratch it off your list. Focus on a strong list of target and safety schools within budget that you’re serious about, then apply to your reach schools, and hope for the best.

3

@coolguy40 I am very fortunate to come from an affluent family and will not have any student debt regardless of the school I choose. This allows me to look at all my options, especially the highly selective UCs and private schools (ivy’s, stanford, caltech)

Are my stats above average for the highly selective schools I listed? Thanks for the comment.

4

“Are my stats above average for the highly selective schools I listed? Thanks for the comment.”

When it comes to schools like Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, Yale etc…, I don’t know that it’s even possible to have above average stats - at least compared to the stats of unhooked kids who are ultimately accepted.

5

@TheBigChef Yeah I know what you mean. But I’ve done a lot of research and I feel like, at least in my school, which is highly ranked in California and dominated by Asians, I have great stats. I don’t know many other students doing the high level research and nationally recognized teams like the Rocketry and a few people always end up getting into Ivys from our school. I feel like I would be one of those people simply based on that but at the same time the difficulty of admissions so so incredibly high that I don’t know what to think or believe for my admission chances.

6

Your stats and ECs will meet the hurdle at most any school…no one here can give you an estimated probability of admission.

What you need to research is what schools fit you the best, and how to demonstrate that to schools. They are the ones who determine which applicants best fit the class they are building…make sure you can write specific ‘why us’ supplements at the schools that require them.

Also, make sure you spend as much (ideally more) time identifying your match schools as your reach schools, the reaches are easy to ID. Have at least one safety school that you would be happy to attend. It is statistically most probable that you will be attending a match or safety, and not a reach school.

Good luck.

7

@Mwfan1921 Could you provide any assistance as to what makes a good match school for my stats? For matches I was looking at schools like UC Irvine, Davis, etc, and safetys I looked at some CSUs

8

Those seem like reasonable match and safety selections… as it seems you are a California resident, correct? Neuroscience is an impacted major at some of the campuses, meaning it’s more difficult to be accepted than to the school overall…so check in to that for requirements and to accurately categorize a school. Your GC should be able to help, and Naviance as well, if your HS has it.

You can calculate your UC GPA here: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

9

@Mwfan1921 Thanks a lot. I think I have my answer but I’ll wait to see what other people think about my stats and ecs for top schools.

10

There’s no such thing as “above average” stats in these schools. After a certain point, stats become so identical from another that it turns into a “smart kid” lottery. It’s very common for kids with virtually perfect grades/stats to get rejected, simply because there’s a limited number of slots to fill. Focus on a good list of target and safety schools you’re serious about.

11

@coolguy40 So you don’t see anything special about my ec’s that specialize me for neuroscience in undergrad? Paired with great letters and a powerful essay I simply cannot see how EVERY kid has this. Maybe I’m wrong. Is there nothing special about me? About what I’ve done? About how specialized the selective research programs I did cater to my overall picture of a focused student with a very specific direction? Other kids at my school that I know that are seen as top kids have ecs that are all over the place like “Mock trial, debate, volunteering at a hospital, astronomy club”. I worked hard to make myself specialized… is there nothing special about what I’ve done that will differentiate me from the average “smart kid” in the “smart kid lottery” of T20 schools?

12

@pureferrous Elite schools tend to evaluate applicant’s transcripts individually and will note the difference between an A and A- even if your HS doesn’t when calculating your GPA.

If you’re asking: What are the chances of an unhooked (not a legacy, not a major donor, not a URM, not a recruited athlete, not a faculty brat, etc.) student applying to schools that have single digit admit rates as an applicant with a 75th percentile SAT, average(ish) GPA, and (let’s say) above average ECs?

Probably not much over the overall admit rate - after you strip out all the seats set aside for the hooked.

Not to say that you aren’t a good applicant. It’s just that the odds are lousy for every unhooked applicant.

If you’re a junior planning on applying next year, publishing your research and/or entering (and doing well) in the major science competitions could potentially help.

Make sure to apply to safety and match schools along with your reaches.

13

You have some interesting activities and good grades. No one is trying to diminish your accomplishments. Successful applicants at top schools have interesting activities and good grades. The RISE and RMP programs are interesting but sometimes things like that just come across as entitled. The harsh reality is the schools you mention turn away many more qualified applicants than they accept and no one can predict what your chances are.

14

I’m simply saying that if you come into college with a “t-10 or bust” mentality, you’re going to have a greater than 90% chance of spending your first year at community college. That’s not a wise strategy to have when applying to college. Just because you CAN get into an ivy league, doesn’t mean you should. There’s a lot more to choosing a college than U.S. News rankings. In fact, that’s a lazy way to choose a college, and more often than not, find out that the school is a complete mismatch, and spend 4 years in complete misery. I recommend putting aside the “t-10” list for now. Spend some real time researching schools that might be an academic, cultural, or environmental fit for you based on your career goals or interests.

15

“Are my stats above average for the highly selective schools I listed”

I think that about 80% of the applicants to the top schools will have stats that are just as strong as yours. Probably many will have never had a B in their life. However, I do not think that one B will hurt you in any significant way. Some applicants will have quite a few A+'s.

I think that you are competitive at top schools. I think that it is worth sending in applications. “UCLA, Berkeley, Caltech, Stanford, Harvard, Yale” are reaches. I do not know about USC. I would have thought that your chances at UCSB would be very good, but others would know better than I.