<p>Haha, my parents want me to look at Ivies... but I don't think I could even compare to their students. Humor them?</p>
<p>GPA: I want to say 3.9 out of 4?
Rank: Somewhere between 2 and 8 out of 300
Public School</p>
<p>SAT I: 780 M 750 CR 710 W
SAT II: 740 Chem 800 Math II (Maybe taking Lit and Physics and retaking Chem)
AP: Chemistry 5
English Lit (Senior Year)
Physics B (Senior Year)
Calc AB (Senior Year)
...My school doesn't have many APs</p>
<p>ECs:
-Destination Imagination (Friend and I introduced the program to the school, team recieved highest award, The Da Vinci Award)
-Varsity Math Team (Scored #2 Highest Scoring Junior in Tri-State League)
-National Honors Society
-Winnacore (Basically an Honors Society for Community Service)
-52 current hours of comm. service now, about 80-100 by December)
-Tutored two students in Chemistry
-One year of JV Tennis (Sad, I know, but the following years, schedules conflicted and my coach wouldn't budge)
-One year of Astronomy Club (School ended due to funding)
-National Latin Exam: An award every year so far</p>
<p>Things of Note:
-Work as a Camp Counselor during the summer, sometimes do things for that department for the year. The Director said that she would write me a recommendation
-My dad went to BC for undergrad, Maryland for Grad, Harvard for Post-Doc
-My mom went to BC for undergrad, Columbia for Dental, and Johns Hopkins for her residency</p>
<p>edit: I'm also in-state for Dartmouth. The entire guidance department steers us away from the school because of the rough in-state acceptances. Thoughts?</p>
<p>You would have an extremely strong application to study bio-chemistry (Ag School) or chemical engineering (Engineering School) at Cornell.</p>
<p>And I would even put you at close to a 50 percent chance for Cornell A&S, but that's always anybody's guess. Cornell likes it chemistry students, though, and every single chem student I knew was working in a lab by their sophomore year.</p>
<p>All the Ivies offer good chemistry programs. But Harvard, Yale, Cornell, and Columbia are a notch above the rest, but all are very rigorous programs; not for the faint of heart. Chemistry at Dartmouth and Brown would be more similar to what you find at a liberal arts college.</p>
<p>I would pick the three Ivies you feel most comfortable with and apply to them. You never know.</p>
<p>For reaches, I was thinking of doing Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and an Ivy.</p>
<p>What do you think of the first two? For the Ivy, I've already taken a look at Cornell and wasn't a huge fan... what would you recommend otherwise?</p>
<p>I wouldn't recommend Georgetown as a place for non-premed chemistry students. It could be done, though.</p>
<p>Both Northwestern and UChicago offer strong chemistry programs. I would look into them. But Cornell is basically a rural version of Northwestern and UChicago molded together.</p>
<p>What didn't you like about Cornell? All the Ivies are so very unique it would be hard to make a recommendation without knowing your preferences.</p>
<p>Former Chemistry major here at Hopkins, You will find that as you go visit one university to the next and meet their professors and ask about their course listings, you would probably realize that the pure physical sciences and mathematics are pretty much the same across the all the broad spectrums of schools. This is true at the undergraduate level. Faculty accessibility at the Chemistry department seems not to be an issue. They tend to work more closely with the graduate students and don't really talk to the undergraduates in the class that much. You truly have to make a concerted effort to meet the professors in class considering intro chemistry and organic chemistry has about 230-240 students, the classes at the beginniners level tend to be so huge that professor-student interactions are at a minimal. This is true not only at Hopkins but plenty places around the nation too. However though, if you wish to talk to a professor during their office hours, they are more than welcome to step aside from investigating and talking about their research to talk to you and listen to your issues and answer questions you have on past quizs/exams. Once you get into the core requirements for chemistry majors, physical chemistry, etc.. you will have far smaller classes with more professor talking and interaction.</p>
<p>Chemistry is an extraordinary rigorous major. Those who truly succeed are the ones who are passionate about the subject. As oppose to those pesky premeds who are in it for the grades and to get it out as a core requirement, you'd probably do a lot better if your in it for the subject because you really do like it and you have a passion for it. Otherwise, Chem at Hopkins is ridiculously crazy. Especially for having taken AP Chem. I highly recommend to you to visit the JHU campus and stop by Remsen hall and speak to the professors and visit the world class facilities we have here. Recently, there was been a facility built on campus with no name on it. Its quite literally called "The New Chemistry Building" with state of the art lab facilities and excellent quality teaching narea and classrooms with integrate electronics and projectors and lights etc. Chem is pretty good at Hopkins.</p>
<p>I wouldn't understand why your GC would steer you away from Dartmouth, considering it's such a great college. </p>
<p>I think the reason why in-state acceptances for Dartmouth are low is simply because more people in NH know about the school and want to apply just for the heck of it even though they don' have an iota of a chance. You have excellent stats, so I would go ahead and apply if you really like the school.</p>
<p>
[quote]
They tend to work more closely with the graduate students and don't really talk to the undergraduates in the class that much. You truly have to make a concerted effort to meet the professors in class considering intro chemistry and organic chemistry has about 230-240 students, the classes at the beginniners level tend to be so huge that professor-student interactions are at a minimal. This is true not only at Hopkins but plenty places around the nation too.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>At least at Cornell, the pre-med chemistry and orgo courses are taught entirely separate from the courses for the chemistry major, where the students are coddled. I think you would find the professor-student interactions do differ significantly based on college.</p>
<p>It's fine if you are pre-med. But if you are serious about chemistry, you really will want to be at a school where there will be other students with a passion for the hard sciences. Georgetown is really an international relations/business kind of place.</p>
<p>Here's a listing of top graduate chemistry programs for 1993. The pecking order hasn't changed all that much, although I would probably but JHU in the high teens instead of in the forties.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, undergraduate strength follows graduate strength in the physical sciences. The liberal arts colleges are often an afterthought for the physical sciences because they don't provide the quality lab space and research opportunities you can get at a University.</p>
<p>I noticed that you mentioned Dartmouth as one of the schools you may be interested in. Since you're in-state you should definitely drive up and see it this summer. One of its biggest turn-offs to many is the location, but since you're a New Hampshire native you might find the setting comfortable. If you wouldn't mind explaining your concern about the school I'd be happy to share what I know about it with you.</p>
<p>With a 1530 SAT and a rank somewhere in the top 10 out of 300 you definitely have the academic credentials and I think your extracurricular involvement will also make you highly competitive. I had pretty similar stats as you when I was applying last year and basically did a 'shotgun' approach applying to all the ivies (except Cornell) and was only accepted at Dartmouth. It wasn't until I started comparing it to other schools I got in at (Pomona, Rice, UChic) that I realized how great it really was. In terms of quality of undergraduate education and focus on the students, Dartmouth is the best out there. Now, I would still have gone to HYPS for the increased prestige factor and because the education would have been almost the same, but Dartmouth comes in at the top of the next group imo (rejected waitlist offers at Duke and UPenn).</p>
<p>Best of luck to you and let me know if you have any more questions about the application process!</p>