Is my list realistic??

College Search & Selection
1

Hi, I am an incoming senior who has already more or less decided on where I will apply, but I need a bit of help finalizing the list. I don’t have anyone to consult with other than my friends, and they seem pretty divided on how strong of an applicant I am. I don’t have any major-related extracurriculars which might hurt me a lot. Could you guys take a look at my list and tell me if I am in the ballpark or not?

I intend to major in either Biotechnology or Materials Science at most of these schools
Reach- Dartmouth (Should I ED???), UC Berkeley, Cornell, Williams
Match- UCLA, Tufts, UCSD
Safety- Cal Poly Slo, U of Michigan, UCSB
I have visited all these schools besides U of Michigan

Also, the U Mich and Cal Poly Slo Materials Sciences programs are really good so would they actually be safety schools for me?

Stats (I am including what I expect during senior year, not including grades)
Mixed (White/S.E Asian) Male, go to large competitive public school in San Diego CA

GPA- 3.78/4 Unweighted, 4.25/5 Weighted (4.45/5 Weighted 10-11 GPA for UCs). No class rank given
CLASSES- 2 honors classes 9th grade(no APs allowed), 2 AP 2 Honors 10th grade, 6 AP 11th grade, 5-6 AP 12th grade
TESTING- 36 ACT w. 10 out of 12 on writing, 800 Math 2 and 800 Math Bio-E for subject tests. (Note- I got a 34 when I took the writing test and got a 36 a separate time without taking the writing test. Not sure if schools that require writing will accept the 36 or not)
AP Tests- four 5s and three 4s, didn’t take AP Euro test
Expecting to be National Merit Scholar, well above last years cutoff score in California

ESSAY- Haven’t started yet, but I have a few good topics in mind. I’m a fairly strong writer, so my essay should at least be average.

EXTRACURRICULARS- 4 yrs Varsity track, team captain 11-12th, competed in CIF finals(City-wide competition) 11th grade, hold school record in Long Jump, won a few awards (am not good enough to be recruited for D1 and don’t want to run on D2 or D3)

Worked at Supermarket bagging groceries+ helping customers from Summer of 10-11th to Middle of 12th. Approx 18 hrs a week

6 yrs piano, won a few minor awards, quit freshman year
5 yrs Martial Arts, 2nd Degree Black Belt, won a few minor competitions + awards, quit sophomore year
3 yr JV cross country, won’t do it senior year. I wasn’t that good, didn’t win any awards

COMMUNITY SERVICE-
2 Years on CSF, 6-10 hours a week. Tutor students at local middle school, campus clean ups
Founding Member + Treasurer of TPMS, 10 hrs a week, once a month, all 4 years. We visit a local children’s hospital and buy/cook/serve meals
Tutor High School Students in science and history 2 hrs a week for 11th + 12th

Any help would be appreciated, and if someone could recommend a few good safety schools for me, that would be fantastic.

2

“if someone could recommend a few good safety schools for me…”

I agree that you need another safety or two. While I would expect you to at least get into your safeties, I am not completely convinced that they are truly completely safe. We have seen some unpleasant surprises described in some posts on this web site.

Do you have any financial constraints? Are your parents comfortable being full pay for Dartmouth? I would not ED anywhere unless I was completely comfortable being full pay.

Have you run the NPC on all of these schools and verified that you and your parents are fine with the results?

3

Your Resume is very strong, but I would apply to literally all of the Ivy Leagues if I were you. They all have a stack of similarly strong applications to sift through each year, and you never know which one your specific demographic and strengths are going to appeal to.

4

U Mich is a reach, you are out of state. I disagree about applying to every Ivy- they are very different schools and you should be looking at fit, not just throwing applications at schools because they’re Ivy. Good luck!

5

Tufts is a reach.

6

Only prestige hounds apply to all 8 Ivies. They are quite different.

7

I emphatically disagree with the comment to apply to all Ivies. These are just several excellent universities among a sea of excellent universities. It is putting an immature, self-centered prestige factor over all others. Think about this. Penn could hardly be more urban. Columbia is a short subway ride to Times Square (if the trains are running). Dartmouth is surrounded by cows. Would these schools be the best choices for any particular student? Very unlikely.

8

Would some of the other UCs, like Davis and Irvine, be more or less sure bets for me?

9

Your list is good and you seem thoughtful about it. Your reaches ARE reaches, and so is Tufts. Don’t rely too much on the 36. I know someone with a 36 in a recent year who went about 1 for 5, with the acceptance at a real safety. I would think of Michigan as a match, not a reach, but a match. Research WPI, that might be a good fit. Very hands-on, project-oriented program, beautiful campus, great campus vibe, more highly ranked than you probably hear in San Diego, and students have some of the highest starting salaries of anywhere. Maybe Case Western, though I don’t know about that specific program. Good luck!

10

You need a few more lower ranked schools. Your friends are dazzled by your test scores. But your grades are not top notch (for top schools), and your ECs are solid but not spectacular. Michigan is nobody’s safety. Also, have you run the net price calculator on Michigan? So I agree that a few lower ranked UCs would be a good addition to your list.

11

No disrespect intended on the Ivy thing. Schools are great, just think too many students chase the prestige and don’t think about what is best for themselves. We are fortunate to have so many great schools (if, unfortunately, the costs can often be excessively high).

12

For some reason, Michigan loves the high uw gpa, but I would call UofM a low match/high safety for you. The OOS financial aid is brutal and you should believe the NPC, given the offer my kid received. Very few kids get OOS merit $ (the awarded kids have flawless stats and/or are original contributors to respective fields). I say this from this spring’s experience (my husband and I are grad alum so we thought he could be in the running. Ha!) FWIW I think the essays really matter for Michigan.

My kid leaves for Tufts this week and is so thrilled (as are we), but I can’t pretend to know what Tufts is looking for. I do know that he worked very hard on his Tufts essays.

I guess my theme is: work hard on your essays.

Should you ED to Dartmouth? Sure! If you absolutely love it and its culture – and you can afford it. ED shouldn’t be taken lightly.

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I also agree with the WPI recommendation by @TTG ! I love WPI in general but also especially for your two aforementioned fields. Good luck.

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^ I think OP would get considerable merit at WPI

15

Tufts is a reach. Because they love good essays so much, students with 36s an so-so essays are rejected all the time (more kids who apply to Tufts with 36s are rejected than accepted). Show your fit for Tufts through the essays. If admissions can tell that you just applied because it’s a top university, you most likely won’t get accepted even with a 36.

I got accepted with a 34 and 4.0 uw, visited, and wrote to my admissions officer before the application cycle. I showed interest and fit/love for Tufts through the essays. If you do the same, you’ll have a chance, but it’s a reach for everyone considering how many people are rejected each year.

Berkeley is more likely (especially in-state… great school – I was accepted last year but it was much too large for me). Dartmouth would be attainable ED, but know that it is a pretty rural, self-contained school; it’s also very frat-centric). Cornell is similar, as is Williams in terms of location. Williams is very particular in the type of students it admits, so be wary of that. Same thing goes for Tufts. Good luck!

16

Michigan is not a safety. Tufts is a reach. And… applying to all of the Ivy League schools is ridiculous- you need to focus on fit and not prestige.

You need to add a few lower ranked schools. Where are you from?

17

Michigan is a reach. The OOS admit rate was under 20% for the incoming class, and it is plummeting annually. It will likely drop to 15% this year. The College of Engineering is particularly selective. Tufts is also a reach.

Any reason you are not looking into Northwestern? Their Materials Science department is excellent. Cornell and Michigan are also excellent in Materials Sciences. Northwestern and Michigan are also top notch in Biomedical Engineering, although I recommend majoring in Mechanical Engineering first, and then specialize in Biomedical Engineering in grad school.

Rice University is also worth a look.

Given your academic interests, I don’t see how applying ED to Dartmouth makes sense.

18

@twogirls I’m from San Diego