North Dakotan looking at ivy leagues and such...hopefully new AP scores help out...MITES student

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

So I’m from North Dakota and currently getting accustomed to the college admissions process. My mom says I should apply to a lot of colleges this fall (she’s not a tiger parent but thinks I can do a lot) so I need to gauge which ones would be a match, reach, and safely (she actually wants me to apply to all eight ivy leagues but idk about doing that). ND is sorta short on people who go anywhere other than in-state so hopefully this will provide me with more judgement (well it probably won’t make me any saner but at least it’s a start).

Schools I’m Looking At (Match, Reach, Safety)

Columbia
UPenn
Cornell
Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Not really sure if I’m going to apply)
MIT
Stanford
U of Minnesota Twin Cities
Dartmouth
Brown
UChicago
Northwestern
Caltech
Duke
Tufts
Vanderbilt
Rensselaer
NDSU (I would only go if they happened to give me something out of this world)

About me:
-White Male
-not really a minority in my reach schools ):
-first-generation
-low income
-Undecided major but hoping to do something in engineering or science

ACT: 35 — 35 English, 34 Math, 35 Reading, 36 Science
Other scores (I’ve taken it four times): 33,33,34

SAT II:
math II 800
Biology M 800

APs
Sophomore: Human Geo 5 (self-studied), Biology 5, European History 5
Junior: Chemistry 5, APUSH 5, Calc AB 5, English Lang 5, Psychology 5, APES 5 (self-studied)

Unweighted/Weighted GPA: 4.0/4.26
–Currently valedictorian in a class of around 220

Awards:
-State winner of the National Spanish exam and gold medalist (both sophomore and junior years)
-National merit commended (our state’s cutoff is basically the same as commended so
I’m pretty sure I made semifinalist status)
-National AP scholar
-One of six finalists in the state for the NDHSAA distinguished student award given to high school juniors
-AIME qualifier (second in the state in AMC 12) during junior year
-Multiple science olympiad medals at the state level (three gold, three silver, one bronze)
-School representative for HOBY last year
-All state violinist
-Discipline leader at last year’s governor’s school
-Alternate for NDHSAA top 16 award in swimming last year (idk if this is important but
it shows I’m well rounded lol)
-Accepted to and attending MITES and YYGS

Others:
-Three sport athlete (XC, swimming, and track)
-Most likely concertmaster for this year’s orchestra and member of multiple orchestras
-Lieutenant governor at the district level for Key Club
-Spanish club president junior year
-co-founded our state’s first high-school-run Relay for Life
-Four year member of student council
-Also one of the founders of the Fargo Youth Initiative with is a youth-led civic
organization that organizes events related to high-school involvement in the city (8th-12th grade)
-Part of the knowledge bowl varsity team

Job/Work Experience:
-Did biochem research last year in conjunction with governor’s school
-Candidate for presidential service award (260 hours of volunteering over the past year)
-Assistant teacher of religious education every wednesday night during the
school year (all through high school)

Hooks (Possibly)
-From North Dakota (apparently more preference is given to students from
underrepresented states and ND is about as underrepresented as it gets)
-Accepted to and attending the MITES and YYGS programs this summer)
-Okay so this is really weird but my grandma went to Radcliffe for a year
and a half (before Harvard became co-ed) so apparently I have legacy from
Harvard while also being first-generation so idk how that works
-Questbridge college prep scholar
-I have a good relationship with my counselor through applying to summer
programs this year and have essays already written on some topics which might be advantageous for the admissions process

Hopefully this is enough information to accurately describe me somewhat. If I could get into any competitive school that would be great. I’m short on any sort of national awards but hopefully the fact I’m well rounded will help me out.

Thank you so much in advance!!

2

You have great numbers and pretty good ECs. However, I don’t really see a concentration within them. I’m guilty of that too. If you have no idea in what to major, try applying to a school that likes curious kids (Brown comes to mind). Also, if your grandmother went to Radcliffe, I don’t believe you are considered first generation. My mother went to Radcliffe and then Harvard and Radcliffe merged into one school. It was actually harder to get into Radcliffe than Harvard if that helps at all. Your biggest hook is your state of residence. It really does help to be from one of the most underrepresented states in the nation. Write interesting essays and you’ll be golden.

3

One more thing… Being well rounded doesn’t help. I found this out the hard way. Colleges like to see students that are very good at one thing, maybe even the best. However, by applying to schools that like curious students (again, schools like Brown), you will have a very good chance of getting in.

4

What program are you doing at YYGS? Did you sign up for an interview while you are at Yale? I think your stats and activities look great and being a quest bridge scholar is a huge benefit. I see about 3 safeties on your list and lots of reaches - not because of your stats but because they are reaches for everyone. The only school that looks like a match to me is Vanderbilt because they love the high stats students. My daughter took tufts of her list last week because the naviance chart shows they deny every student with an ACT score above 32 and weighted GPA over 4.0 from her school. Ask your quest bridge counselor about whether she thinks your stats are too high for Tufts. Does quest bridge limit you in the number of scores they pay to send? Good luck!

5

I’d be careful about claiming first generation, especially if your grandmother attended some college.

I also would be surprised if you didn’t get into almost all of the schools listed above. Your stats and story are great. Unless you have terrible recommendations I’m sure you’ll be getting a lot of acceptances.

6

I’m loving this post because my mother’s family is from Fargo and you’ve may have heard of them, lol, if you do business at cafes or package stores. But we are confidential here :wink: .

I think you will be an excellent candidate at many of your schools. Be sure to try to get a sense of how different they all are and what will feel the most comfortable for you. (Small town? Small city? Metropolitan? Lots of hills?) As far as the Ivies go, if you’re thinking about engineering, most of them don’t have programs as well regarded as the big state flagships, though Cornell is an exception. Stanford and MIT are also tippy top engineering schools but oh so hard to get into. Be sure to go ahead and apply to NDSU as a backup.

As low income, look for the schools that meet full need because you have a great shot at them. You may have already looked at those lists because your list lines up with those very nicely.

Northeastern culture tends to a bit different than midwestern…my mother often remarks about how much more friendly and chatty people are back in Fargo. In fact, all my cousins moved back there after going away for college. But seeing another part of the country for a few years should be a great experience.

As to the well-roundedness not helping…he is in North Dakota which is a great state but pretty sparsely populated, and it’s hard to see from his ECs how much better he could possibly get at any one thing than he already is. I wouldn’t worry about that too much.

FWIW, you remind me a lot of my well-rounded son from a rural high school (state awards in sports and music and other competitions) and he’s happy at Cornell Engineering.

7

ND is a big hook. I would apply to Ivies. I might leave out both the 1st generation and grandma went to Radcliffe though.

I knew someone who got into Harvard and started in a one-room schoolhouse in ND. Harvard was a big culture shock.

8

The reach schools are a reach for everyone but being from North Dakota will help. I listened to a lot of info sessions when I was looking at colleges with my daughter and they like to brag that they have students from all 50 states. And I’m pretty sure ND is one of the hardest slots to fill.

9

Go visit some schools and talk to students and professors and figure out the science versus engineering interests if you can. Many of the schools on your list are not engineering schools.

While both science and engineering play to the same academic strengths (math, analytical thinking, etc), engineering is more career oriented. Science majors need grad school to become scientists, or they use their skills in other fields after graduation. (Google used to hire a lot of astronomy majors, for example. Not sure if that info is current though. Ask colleges what their grads are doing.) Within engineering, different majors have different personalities or vibes as well.

The more clear you are about what you do and do not like and what sort of tribe you want to study with, the better your final list will be.

10

If interested in considering LACs, The following schools bragged during our info sessions about having students from every state in the union EXCEPT North Dakota: Amherst, Washington & Lee, Swarthmore. If you go to either of these, they will have to stop being so tiresome. By the way, make sure to spell “judgment” correctly on any of your college essays.

11

You have a decent shot at all of these schools, but I’d replace NDSU with U of Oklahoma. Somewhat similar school, but the stuff they offer NMSFs is literally out of this world, with full tuition, board and lodging, research stipends, and I think they also give you a yearly allowance. At least then you’re assured of amazing aid there.

12

@Ldoponce I’m attending the SEE program at YYGS this summer. I was gonna go to the BBS session but had to change due to MITES. And yes I remember someone who got into all 8 ivies but got rejected from Tufts so that makes sense! Are you at the SEE or TIE program?

13

@Ldoponce I didn’t know they gave interviews but then again I’ve been way too busy to look at a lot of the emails

14

@martychondria - my daughter is doing IAS.

15

I would be surprised if you did not get several offers from that list of yours. You might even get some likely letters.

16

Hey, I’m from ND too. Looking at your ECs, I’m thinking I might have at least seen you before. It’s a small world.

But, on topic, I’m thinking you’ll be just as competitive as most applicants. You’re from Fargo, so you kind of get the best of being from depopulated North Dakota, while being in a big school gives you opportunities to look like a normal applicant (such as AP classes, lots of sponsored ECs, ACT prep, and so on). So, I’m thinking you can likely apply where you want, and expect to get in to a few. You make an interesting applicant.

Not to rain on your parade, but if you are a low-income, you are kind of at the mercy of those schools aid departments. Might want to look at something where it’s affordable. I know that sucks, and I’ve gone through the similar process of absolutely loving a school, only to find a damning fact about it that makes it impossible to go without costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I’m kind of in a similar boat regarding NDSU. I wouldn’t go there or UND unless I got some MAJOR aid (like near full expenses paid). They just don’t have much that I like.

17

Bump.

18

Ivies will offer excellent financial aid to lower income students.
Right No I’m concerned that your only safety is NDSu and you don’t want to go there.
I second U Oklahoma and another university of our choice that offers good NmF Packages.
I’d add Amherst, too.