Match a Rising Senior!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student

US Citizen

  • State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities)

Ohio

  • Type of high school (current college for transfers):

Public

  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional):

South Asian Female

  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):

Not really. Skipped 2 grades, if that counts

Intended Major(s)
Pre-Medical Studies/Psychology/Neuroscience

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.92
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.34
  • Class Rank: Not offered, but out of ~150 students probably top 10%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 34 ACT/ SAT in August but getting 1500-1560 on practice tests

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
AP CLASSES TAKEN:
AP Biology: 4
AP Physics 1: 3
AP English Language and Composition: 5
AP Calculus AB: 4
AP Computer Science Principles: 5
AP Spanish Language and Composition: 5

AP CLASSES IN SENIOR YEAR:
AP Physics 2
AP Chemistry (iffy)
AP English Literature (iffy)
AP Psychology
AP Statistics
AP Human Geography

UNUSUAL ACADEMIC ELECTIVES
Honors Anatomy and Physiology, African American Literature, Human Rights, Creative Writing, Journalism, Digital Graphic Design

Awards
National AP Scholar with Distinction
Stop The Hate Essay Competition Finalist
Best of SNO Recognition
Ohio Scholastic Media Association Awards
National Speech and Debate Association Degree of Merit

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Student Council (Executive President)
Newspaper (Editor in Chief)
Literary Magazine (Editor in Chief)
Women in STEM Chapter (President and Local Ambassador)
Amnesty International Chapter (President and Local Ambassador)
National Honors Society Chapter (Secretary)
Library Club (President)
Pre-Medical Club
Speech and Debate
Muslim Association Weekend School (Teacher Assistant)
Islamic Youth Board (Member/Volunteer)

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

Essays: Work in progress! I’ve always loved writing and I have similarly inclined friends who have agreed to peer edit so I’m pretty comfortable with these.

LORs: I’ve asked teachers who have either themselves demonstrated interest in writing a rec letter for me or whose classes I’ve enjoyed. Anatomy teacher, AP Lang teacher, and Physics teacher

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)

Income is around 75k, so we’re hoping for a scholarship :slight_smile:

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)
  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
  • Match
  • Reach

Please suggest which schools come to mind! I want to gauge objective points of view.

2

Mount Holyoke, Bates, Vassar, Smith?

3

Washington and Lee University, check out the Johnson Scholarship. It’s a completely full ride plus a $7,000 stipend. You bring leadership and diversity, two things the school highly values.

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You have some really great instate options in OH. Have your run the NPC at OSU?

If you want a smaller LAC, run the NPC for the College of Wooster. They are great in the natural sciences and we know many MDs who went there for their undergrad.

I’d also run NPCs for Case, Miami, and Cinci.

Have you been on any college visits yet? Do you know what your preferences are for size, location, etc…? That will help people give suggestions.

You have great stats but you’ll need to make sure the schools you apply to are affordable.

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Wow, that is a hefty sum! Thanks for letting me know, I’ll research further :slight_smile:

6

I actually live a 15-minute drive away from Case, so it has somewhat of a permanent standing on my list :joy:

I’m comfortable with almost any location and size, really. I’ve had lots of experiences with moving (that’s actually my common app topic) and so I’ve become extremely adaptable as a result. I see myself at a small school like Pomona as clearly as I see myself in a huge school like UCLA (just using California as an example).

I’ll run NPCs when I get my household income confirmed. I know that Case is not… inexpensive

7

I really like the idea of attending a women’s college. A distant relative of mine (father’s cousin, so yeah, distant) attended Mount Holyoke AND Smith, and I’ve heard great things!

I was also seriously considering Barnard last year, but I learned that a lot of my classmates are also considering Barnard, so it’s moved a bit further down on my list. I mean, I’d still be ecstatic if I got in, but my demographics compared to others somewhat pale in comparison.

8

In addition to fine instate options check out the McCullough Medical School program at Alabama. Others may have similar. Check out Arizona, Florida State, WVU and Miami based on your GPA.

American, SMU, and Seattle that have full rides in addition to W&L others do too.

Schools like Wooster are great. Kalamazoo, Allegheny and more that aren’t too far could be good. But at $75k look at the attached and run the NPC of schools like Kenyon, Dennison and Franklin & Marshall to see if they will work. Also a few publics, I believe UVA and UNC, meet 100% of need. But know many schools will be reaches.

While I don’t know about female only schools, Bryan Mawr is easier to get into than Barnard and gives access to other high level co ed schools (Haverford/Swarthmore). And apply to Barnard. That others are applying does not mean they’ll get in (that’s you too) or go. I assure you an over abundance from your HS won’t be attending.

Good luck

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9

I assume you’re considering Miami Ohio. With their auto merit for high GPA’s you would get a lot of aid, plus they have other scholarships that you might qualify for.

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In addition to fine instate options check out the McCullough Medical School program at Alabama. Others may have similar

I actually am really interested in accelerated medical programs. Wayne State offers a tuition-paid program for an 8-year pre-med and medical education which I’ve been eyeing.

Check out Arizona, Florida State, WVU and Miami

I forgot to mention, I’m not really crazy about living in a hot state. I like the treacherous snow!

Also a few publics, I believe UVA and UNC, meet 100% of need. But know many schools will be reaches.

Scholarships aside, are UVA and UNC really reaches? I sort of classified them as targets in my head.

11

High reaches. Not just reaches. Also I believe that you have to be at no more than 200% of the federal poverty level to get aid consideration at UNC. Double check that.

You are impressive but the top OOS publics are often reaches for all. I’d include U of Texas here too but Michigan is their sub since you want cold but can you afford it ?

You said any location and size. With your profile, many OOS will want you. When med school may be in your future, follow the $$ unless your family has $800k to pay for all.

An 8 INITIAL MD /BS are very difficult to get in but wouldn’t hurt to try. But I didn’t pick up on that interest from the original post.

Anyway take a look at McCullough at Alabama which is not med school…it’s undergrad. And perhaps other schools have living learning communities or programs like this.

Good luck.

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12

The Pakistan tag made me think you were an international. Did you intend to add that tag?

13

How old will you be when you start college?

You might look at Questbridge. Your family income might be a bit higher than the average finalist, but still take a look because the income isn’t a hard cut-off:

Finalists typically come from households earning less than $65,000 annually for a typical household of four and have minimal assets. This is not a strict cut-off and we encourage students who feel they have faced significant financial hardship to review these financial criteria carefully to see if they may qualify.

Run the Net Price calculators at some of the schools mentioned above, and let us know if they are affordable. Here’s Wooster’s: Net Price Calculator and Case’s Net Price Calculator | Financial Aid | Case Western Reserve University

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With respect to affording college, this site can be especially convenient for estimating costs for its excellent participating colleges:

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Sorry, I didn’t mean to hit that, I was just checking out how many people had used it. I am Pakistani, the first in my family to become a US Citizen, though :slight_smile:

16

How old will you be when you start college?

I’ll be 16 when applying and by the time I get in, but 17 once classes start.

You might look at Questbridge

Questbridge is appealing, but last year’s statistics show that 93% of winners had family incomes BELOW the cut-off, which is slight;y discouraging

17

UVA and UNC are definitely high reaches OOS : they are close to as reachy as top10/ivy type schools for OOS, unless your particular HS gets several admitted every year? Do they? Also, if possible can you state what courses you got Bs in and what your unweighted gpa was junior year? It also may help you to confirm with your school that you are top 10%, since many students guess and hope they are, but in reality they are not close to that even with a 3.9 UW.

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For the class of 2026, UVA announced „When it comes to out-of-staters, 5,576 applicants received offers, making for an acceptance rate of 15 percent…“

Probably varies greatly between schools, but an UW GPA of 3.9 out of 4 would put you not only „close“, but firmly into the first decile at our very good HS.

You’re right of course that it can’t hurt to confirm or to just look at one’s transcript.

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Based solely on acceptance rate, UVA out-of-state appears to be as selective as, for example, Middlebury.

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20

Ok, so Unc and Uva are not as difficult based on % to the Top10ish, but they are both still a high reach for this applicant unless the OP’s HS gets admissions in their gpa/rank range. 3.9ish UW can easily be barely top half or within the top 10%. The point is, we don’t have the rank range confirmed in this case, and it is better to be conservative unless details emerge that reveal better chances.

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