What is your budget? Are you and your parents fine with spending $320,000 or a bit more over four years? Can you do this without taking on any debt at all?
If you and your parents are fine with being full pay with no debt, then you at least are likely to get accepted to BU, and there is a reasonable chance that you might be accepted somewhere else. However, you have no safety and you might end up with no acceptances.
What do you intend to do with a Biology degree? Are you premed? If so, then can your family afford both four years of university at a cost of about $320,000, plus another four years of medical school at a cost which will probably be higher? In this case the total cost for eight years could get to $700,000 once eight years of price increases is included.
What is your home state? If it is California then this at least slightly improves your chances at UCB and UCLA, but you should apply to a few more easier to get into UC’s, if it is not California then you probably should apply to an in-state public university. [edit: Apparently it is too late to apply to more UC’s. Where we live the deadline for the in-state public flagship has not passed yet. It seems that whether you can still apply to in-state public schools depends upon where you live, which I at least have not yet noticed.]
Your stats and accomplishments to this point are impressive. Good job! However, you should understand that the large majority of applicants to the really top schools have similarly impressive stats.
Yes, the deadlines for the UCs has passed. However, for California residents who meet certain academic criteria, they are usually guarantee a spot at UC Merced if they don’t get into any of the UCs to which they applied.
The criteria used to be based on GPA and SAT but it looks like the rules have changed.
I see one match, and that is BU. Definitely add a couple more matches and at least one safety.
The schools you list are all different. If I were you, I would think about the things that are important to you in a school, and then check to see which of your current list possess those attributes. Your preferences can be in any number of dimensions; here are some common ones:
Academics:
Majors offered
Curricular style (if you have a preference among open curricula like Brown and Amherst offer, standard distribution requirements like most schools offer, or schools featuring a core like UChicago and Columbia)
Housing and food (this is also a “social” consideration)
Social vibe
Greek presence/influence
Sports culture/vibe
Things to do around campus/town/city
Political vibe
Vacuum chamber or marketplace of ideas?
Militant or peaceful?
These are just some of the things you might consider when deciding on your preferences.
The schools you list differ in several of these areas, so decide what is important to you and then kick out the schools that don’t fit you… and perhaps add additional schools that do. And as stated previously, add another couple matches and at least one safety that you wouldn’t mind attending.
At all of these schools, thousands and thousands of kids are above the the average SAT and GPA. Only a small percentage of the kids who are well qualified get in. You are qualified, but most of the kids who are qualified get rejected, simply because there are not many spaces available at most of these super elite schools. Meeting these SAT/GPA thresholds is necessary, but not sufficient, to get in (unless you are an athlete or some other special case, in which your SAT and GPA won’t matter that much). I think you have to think more about what you are looking for in a college experience (major, extracurriculars, social atmosphere, etc.) and chose some targets and safeties that would make you happy, rather than just selecting 10 of the very tippy top ranked schools, which is basically what your list is. I am sure you will find and get into a great school and it may be one on this list, but I would hedge your bets. My best friend’s son did this last year (UCLA and UCB were his “safeties”) and got in nowhere. Now he is at community college and hoping to transfer to a UC after sophomore year.
With all this you have schools like Arizona where you can easy apply, will get $35k off, has an Honors College and is a great name. OP can do Pitt too.
Still lots of chances to be at a school with elite students even if his list doesn’t work out!!
I just want to add a voice of encouragement and say thank you. Lots of wonderful, qualified students have lists like yours, and don’t get the results they want.
You, my friend, have a chance to help a lot of people by talking your options through with people here who know a lot about this. Everyone has your best interests at heart, so I hope you take this opportunity to dig into the research, ask some questions, and find schools that will be perfect for you at multiple levels of competitiveness. Adding schools (and taking schools off) is not a slam on your accomplishments. I hope you see that. It is investing in your success by giving yourself options among schools that really match your true wish list beyond the name recognition.
The financial component is important to think about. You might find that schools a rung or two down the ladder will want you enough to offer you merit aid.
in order to graduate, no matter what subject you study.
At Brown you simply have to take enough courses, including in the major of your choice, and take 2 classes (of your choice) which involve writing.
There is a world of difference between the two.
As you seem to be a US student living abroad with an unlimited budget and great test scores, did you apply to any UK unis? Would your parents be ok with you going to a college that they haven’t heard of?
Just echoing others, you have a strong record. The problem is, there are thousands of applicants who have records similar to yours, and you and they are all applying to the same 30-50 schools. As a result, those schools have acceptance rates in the single digits up to, as someone noted, BU with an acceptance rate of under 20%.
You could apply to all of the top 30 schools and it wouldn’t increase or decrease your odds of acceptance to any one of them - they are all a crap shoot, including BU and Michigan.
The bottom line, you need to focus on the qualities you want in a school and then find some matches and targets that have acceptance rates closer to 50% or higher where your scores are in the “obvious admit” range. If you want urban, look at American or GWU or DePaul or Loyola Marymount, but you get the idea, you need to focus on schools that aren’t reaches FOR EVERYONE and find schools that fit what you are looking for.
You are the kind of student who is accepted to the schools on your list. Odds are something will work out.
But… the students who apply to these schools, in droves, are like you too. So it’s far from a sure thing. Throw in a couple of safer bets. What about Pitt? Tufts is competitive but could be a great fit.
As soon as you have one acceptance in hand, you are fine to focus on these reaches.
Unless you apply ED, there’s no way for BU to protect their yield, which is around 25% as it is. BU will look at the applicant as someone who’s applying as a match, not a safety since they don’t think they’re anyone’s safety. BU can’t reject many high stat kids to prove a point, word would get around and kids would apply to other, similar colleges - Northeastern, NYU, GW among others.
I understand your point and I am telling you that as a student, I am completely fine with either. Brown is a school that offers complete liberty in what you get to choose. Personally I do like the idea of that but I also have been used to the structure of a core curriculum my entire school life so Columbia wouldn’t be knew to me; that said, I am still willing to try out something different and I see a lot of potential with Brown.
I did not apply to the UK as I don’t like their system a lot. Which colleges are you referring to that my parents “haven’t heard of?”
Congratulations on your accomplishments. You seem like a competitive candidate.
Are you comfortable that your individual “why XYZ school” essays are bespoke and specific to your background and goals?
As others have mentioned these schools are all unique and in several cases at opposite ends of a spectrum of culture and community. The AOs will want your application to display an understanding of this uniqueness and display how and why you will thrive and contribute.
I am not trying to dissuade you of your approach just highlight the risk associated with it.
Someone up thread astutely mentioned applying to all top 20 schools doesn’t elevate your odds at any one. I would go one step further and say that approach if not done correctly can be harmful such that your application becomes generic and general quality is impacted by the huge work load.
My kid 4 years ago was determined to keep throwing prestige names into the mix. Thankfully his schools counselor convinced him to focus on fit. Ultimately he applied to 4 on your list and got accepted at three (WL on the 4th) based in retrospect I believe on the continuity and consistency of his rationale for “why XYZ” and quality of his essays versus sheer volume.
Once again I wish you luck and agree you need 2-3 schools that are solid safety schools for whom you can communicate through your application your strong interest and fit.