Wanted to get everyone’s opinion on my chances at an Ivy League and Stanford. My entire application will be centered around medicine. I will be applying this cycle, thank you!
Asian Male
UW GPA: 3.9
W GPA: 4.35
SAT: 1470
SAT2: Math 2: 710, Biology: 700, English: 750
Rank: 5/1200
AP’s (9): Bio (4), World History (5), English Language (5), Calculus AB (5), US History (4), Government, Calculus BC, English Literature, Physics
Extracurricular:
Varsity Tennis: 3 years 300 Hours
UCLA Summer Neurology Research Assistant: 1 year 200 Hours
Academic Decathlon, Captain: 1 year 300 Hours
Key Club: 2 years
Student Council: 2 years
School for Advanced Studies Club: 2 years
Awards:
Ephebian Society
USC Global Government Award
Recommendations:
AP Bio teacher/ Tennis Coach: Very strong - He has taught me since 9th grade and has known me for 3 years
AP Calculus teacher: Strong
Honors English teacher: Very strong - She taught me for 2 years, key advisor during high school
AP English teacher/ Vice Principle: Very strong - She taught me for 2 years, key advisor during high school, also TA for several of her AP classes
MD/PhD UCLA Professor: Very strong - He has known me for a year and states I did an excellent job on the paper we are working on. Paper is not published but I am able to mention the title on my application
Notes:
No legacy
Single parent house hold
High school in disadvantaged area
You are a smart enough student to understand what the single digit acceptance rates mean. You will be competitive for these schools, but so are most applicants. I’d be surprised if you get into HYP or Stanford only because the numbers are so stacked against you. But I think you have an excellent shot at several of the other Ivies, and/or top schools that meet full needs. This is not to suggest you shouldn’t apply to wherever you like - you should just not get your hopes up of running the table.
SAT towards, maybe even below the 25th percentile for “Ivy and Stanford”. You should try to get that up between now and the RD deadline. Asian from California is a tough pool. Maybe your zip code/high school will offset this somewhat. Are you first gen to go to college? You realize that these schools for the most part (maybe all of them) request only 2 LoR’s and if they allow a third, there is a strong statement that it better be special. While you are certainly in the ballpark, your essays, LoR’s and EC’s really need to stand out (as for any candidate to these schools). FWIW, on their face, your EC’s are pretty typical for any candidate to these schools. Maybe there is something special in your RA stint this summer that you can highlight in your application. Definitely have a good mix of match and safety schools lined up, and don’t equate success or failure based on whether you got into any school with a single digit admissions rate.
SAT scores are too low. As an over-represented minority applying to an over-represented major from an over-represented state, your stats need to be better. Preferably in the 75th percentile to have a decent chance.
I would highly suggest that you put a lot more match schools on your list. Otherwise you may face a slew of rejections.
Whatever you do, don’t write your essay about immigrating to America.