Is Johns Hopkins too high of a reach?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I think Hopkins is a reach for me, but how big of a reach is it?

I will be starting senior year.
I have a 4.3201/5 weighted gpa
I have a 95.76 unweighted gpa

Freshman year course: honors science, advanced computer tech, honors us history, honors algebra, honors English, honors Spanish, gym, and honors geometry.
Sophomore year course: honors bio, honors chem, honors alg 2, honors world history, honors Spanish 2, gym, honors pre-calc, and honors English.
Junior year course: honors Spanish 3, honors English, honors anatomy 1, honors chem 2, honors anatomy 2, honors psychology, honors government and civics, and gym.
Prospective senior year course: AP Calc, College English, College stats, College bio, AP Euro History, Honors economics, College history sem, College Spanish.
That is the most rigorous schedule possible. I am taking every AP and college level class my school offers.
Class Rank: I think I am around 7-10/354. Top 5%

SAT 1: 710 in Critical Reading, 730 in Math, and 610 in Writing. In my PSAT’s my writing score was much higher so I think once I retake I can get it to 700. This was the highest SAT score of any in my grade.
SAT 2: Haven’t taken yet…but I think I will take Math 2, Literature, and Biology (M)
ACT: Haven’t taken and don’t plan to take.

Volunteer work: Around 300 hours. 260-270 came from tutoring and the rest came from mentoring 6th graders. I am also setting up volunteer work at my local hospital.
EC’s with years in parenthesis: Student Council (2), Science Olympiad (2), Mentor to 9th graders (1), Future business leaders of America (2), Varsity golf (4), Varsity lacrosse (2), JV lacrosse (1). I also did tae-kwon-do for 5 years and received my black-belt. I also participated in the People to People Student Ambassador program.

I am a first generation college student and will be the first generation in my family to not work in a local factory. I plan on mentioning this in my essays as a piece of overcoming expectations. I also plan on mentioning that my parents got divorced and my mom lost her job due to injuries throughout my high school experience. I plan on saying, I do not use this as an excuse…I use this as motivation. I want to strive to be something better than my family. And I don’t only want to be better, I want to influence my family to be better. I come from a low income family, meaning money is a huge obstacle to overcome in the college search. I don’t want this to ever be a problem for anyone in my family again.

Recommendation wise I am getting the teacher who taught me for Biology, both Anatomy classes, and will be my teacher for College level Bio. He is the best teacher I have ever had, and is the person who has been a major motivating and influential factor in my interest in medicine. I will also get my counselor who can attest to how I have matured and grown up over my high school years. I fully expect both of their letters to be fantastic.

I would like to major in either Biology or Business management. I plan on moving toward either Medical school to be a surgeon or law school to specialize in corporate law.

I am also looking at University of Pennsylvania (huge reach), Georgetown (moderate reach), NYU (slight reach), and University of Pittsburgh (safety-low match). If anyone has other recommendations that would be great.

I know I wrote a novel but if you read the whole thing and leave me a comment it means a lot to me. Thanks everyone.

2

I’d say you have a decent chance but you need to get those test scores up. Also, the fact that your SAT score is the highest in your grade is irrelevant and means nothing to an admissions rep. I know that you wrote that you do not plan on taking the ACT, but I think you should consider it. My highest SAT score from a single sitting was a 2020, but my ACT score (first and only time) was a 33, which is comparatively much better and equates to about a 2180 on the SAT. I also liked the feel of the ACT much more and felt that it was a better fit for me. This is just something to think about. Your course rigor is great, as is your GPA. Your EC’s are very solid and you have some great volunteer hours. Your self chances for your other schools seem spot on to me. If you get a 2100+ on the SAT, I’d say JHU 15-25%, UPenn 10-15%, Georgetown 20-30%, NYU, 60-70%, UPitt 70-90%. For UPenn you really need to be at a 2200+ though to have a good chance. I’d recommend that you check out Northeastern, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon, and Emory.

3

Thanks LanaH100. Yeah I hope the story can help me standout because at best my scores are average for Penn and JHU. And I will definitely check out those essays and your story…thanks for that stuff!

Yeah I feel the same way JPhilly99. My writing was the highest in both my PSAT’s so I think I can get it closer to 700. I think if I can get that I have a pretty good shot at a good percentage of these colleges. Regarding your list of colleges…what is Boston like? I haven’t traveled too much to major cities, and I haven’t ever been to Boston. Major cities I have been too multiple times are Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, NYC, and Washington D.C. Is Boston similar to any of those? CMU is ok. Not really my favorite though. Never really considered Emory, but I might look into it.

4

I’ve never actually been to Boston myself (I live on the west coast and never found my way over there) but I’ve only heard great things about Boston. It’s very diverse, full of young people, and there are lots of major companies that offer internships and job positions. The downsides are that it’s expensive and the winters are pretty brutal. Check out this forum: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/1083871-why-is-boston-not-considered-to-be-a-good-college-town-city.html Keep reading, the title is a bit misleading. There’s some great information in there if you’re interested.

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@Jensen41 I live in Boston so I can answer that. Those two universities are in decent locations in the city of Boston. BU is in Kenmore Square, which (if you know baseball) is the home of Fenway Park. BU is situated along a strip of Commonwealth Avenue, and there is no real campus (something to know). BU is in my personal favorite part of Boston, next to Fenway Park and attractions such as the House of Blues. Northeastern, by contrast, is in Boston but is a little bit closer to the edge of the city, but is still situated in an area with easy access to downtown. Both universities have their own train stops that are easily accessible. Of the cities you’ve visited, I’d say Boston is unlike any of them. It’s much less organized than Philly, D.C., or New York (but hey it’s more historic in some aspects). There are a lot of opportunities in Boston and there are many things to do. I highly suggest if you can to come visit and check out the city.

As for chancing you, I agree with the above comments about test scores for the most part. In my experience, a 2050 is a bit low for NYU (aim for 2100+ if you want to go into the College of Arts and Sciences, 2200+ if you want Stern), below for Georgetown (aim for 1500+ (they don’t count the writing section apparently)), and quite low for UPenn (aim for 2200+ (2250+ for Wharton)). I think since you know that you took the most difficult course load your school has to offer, that is fantastic, though just note that you still may be at a tiny disadvantage with other applicants whose schools offer more AP’s (this is not your fault of course). Your class rank is excellent. You have a lot of volunteering, but it isn’t really unique volunteering unfortunately, so it won’t be too much of an advantage in my opinion. When it comes to your ec’s, this is where I get lost a bit. I think that if you want to go into medicine, you have no good ec’s to back that up/show your passion. And your FBLA seems a bit light to me to suggest a serious interest in business management. I think you lack a bit on the ec front, so try to really sell it as best you can. I think your first gen story is important, and I think your plan to incorporate it is appropriate. As for your individual schools, here is what I think: Johns Hopkins - low reach/high reach (this is dependent upon two factors (whether you raise your SAT score enough, and also whether you apply ED or not. I think if you apply ED and raise the score, you are at a low/normal reach, but if no ED and no score raised it is going to be a big challenge.), UPenn (extremely high reach - you were right about this being difficult; In my opinion, I don’t really see it happening), Georgetown - low/normal reach (again depends on SAT score), NYU (low/high reach - low reach (if improved SAT scores and applying to CAS, and high reach if applying to Stern), and unfortunately I don’t know enough about the University of Pittsburgh to thoroughly chance you on that. I think it’s a good sign, though, that you were mostly accurate about your own chances. I think that displays a maturity that will help you in this process. By the way: a note about NYU. They are notorious for giving terrible financial aid so just keep that in mind. Please chance me back! http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1796275-what-do-you-think-of-my-chances-are-at-these-universities.html#latest Good luck!

6

Hey JPhilly since you live on the west coast…have you ever been to Seattle? I was thinking about U of Wash but I can’t visit since I live in PA.

Jarrett thanks for the response. Thanks a lot for the review of Boston, I might see if I can go and visit all the colleges there (excluding Harvard and MIT of course). As for SAT I truly think I can get at least a 2100, probably 2200. My writing is normally my best and I only did 2 PSAT’s as prep. This summer I have done a little prep almost every day and my practice tests are in the 2100-2160 range. And I have until October to boost it even more. I also didn’t have my calculator the first time and I got a 730 in math, so I feel very confident there. I also chanced you back, you are a really strong candidate.

7

Also this is kinda random but does anyone know if colleges have like a loyalty bonus when students apply to grad school? Like if I attended Hopkins for undergrad do they use that as a factor for application for med school? I assume they would, just trying to verify.

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@Jensen41 No problem, and thanks. I think it’s a bit too early to be thinking about grad school, but I assume that they would at least know that you were well qualified as an undergrad, so that would help. It’s not like a loyalty bonus I imagine but rather like they can rest assure of your qualification a bit easier.

9

@Jensen41 UW Seattle’s campus is beautiful. The area around it definitely has a college vibe, lots of apartment complexes and little cafes and eateries (there’s a good boba tea place nearby if you like that). The campus itself has a stunning view of Mt. Rainier (which will only be visible on some days of the year) and when I visited it felt spacious and well laid out. Seattle is such a great city, lots of things to do and the people (in my experience) are all very down to earth and friendly. If you can afford the tuition, I would definitely recommend looking into UW more. They have a very good medical school, and if you end up majoring in bio you could probably land some good volunteer hours or an internship there.

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Yeah Jphilly the money would definitely be the problem with U wash. Since I am OOS I would get little to no financial aid, and I come from a pretty low income family.