ORM Chances at Ivy(UPENN)+Other Selective Schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographic:Indian Male, Upper Middle Class

Colleges

Reach-UPenn, Stanford, Northwestern, Georgia Tech(?)
Match/Less Reach-USC, WashU, Rice
Safety-UIUC, UW-Madison, University of Michigan

Interest-Chemical Engineering(Subject to change, but I want to be an Engineer)

Stats
-Unweighted GPA-3.87
-Weighted GPA(5.0 Scale)-4.29
-No class rank(Competitive large public school in Illinois)
-ACT-36C(36R, 35W, 35M, 36S), 9/12 Writing
-SAT-1560(800M, 760RW)
-SAT II-Math 2(800), Physics(770)
AP(8 AP Classes total, 5 5s, 3 4s)
-Sophomore Year
-AP Computer Science A-[4]
-AP US History-[4]
-Junior Year
-AP Macroeconomics-[5]
-AP US Government and Politics-[5]
-AP Language and Composition-[5]
-AP Calculus BC-[5]
-AP Physics 1-[5]
-AP Physics 2-[4]
Senior Year Plan
-AP Statistics
-AP Literature and Composition
-AP Physics C Mechanics
-AP Chemistry

ECs
-Indian Classical Violin-10 years(Competed in various competitions around the country)
-Saxophone-7 years(ILMEA state qualifier, Jazz Ensemble, Concert Band)[Section Leader]
-Boy Scouts-5 years(Life Scout, working on Eagle Project and working towards Eagle Scout)[Patrol Leader, Eagle Project]
-Scholastic Bowl team-4 years
-Tennis team-4 years

-Played saxophone in Volunteer band(100+ hours)
-Feed My Starving Children
-Assisted in Eagle Project work with fellow scouts

-3 week Chemistry internship related to Sustainability and Green Chemistry

Employment- 1.5 Years tutoring at local Kumon center

Essays
Will probably talk about my love for music, but haven’t decided yet

How are my chances?

2

You should be in at UIUC and UW. With your high stats, Michigan and GT look like solid matches, even if you are OOS.

I would regard the remaining schools as reaches, but–assuming your essays are up to par–I would think that you could expect to be admitted to at least one of them . . . and possibly to several.

3

Thanks for the response. What would you say my biggest weakness is right now?

4

Your stats are great. Your ECs are the weakest part. You can make up for this by writing some amazing essays.

What school would you be applying to at Penn?

5

I’d be applying to the School of Engineering/Applied Sciences. Penn is my dream school and it’d be amazing if I got in

6

You chances of Penn especially ED are good, maybe really good. Your weakness apart from being an ORM (which you can’t really control) is ECs, don’t see any leadership roles, but I don’t think it’s a showstopper given your deep interest in in music. The toughest school for you of course is Stanford followed by Northwestern then Rice, I think you get into the other schools.

7

Your grades and scores are great (esp your ACT score) so good job there! Although, you will need to do more in the extracurricular section because the ivys/Stanford are definitely looking for ec’s once you reach a certain score level. You are very smart; I am sure you will get in somewhere great! Stanford and UPenn are reaches but other than that, I’m sure you can get into the rest of the places.

8

I’m currently working on my Eagle Project for Boy Scouts right now, which is a really good showcase of leadership, but other than that, you are right, I don’t have much leadership. I’m not planning on applying to any schools ED as of now, but that might change depending on how much it would help me

9

Your stats definitely put you in competition for Penn, so I’d recommend Eding there if you really want to attend the school.

10

Be careful at Wisconsin. They admit more frosh to engineering programs than they have capacity for, then weed them out by GPA. For 2017-2018, those who want to stay in chemical engineering need a 3.5 technical and 3.0 overall GPA. A 3.5 GPA in college is typically more difficult to earn than a 3.5 GPA in high school.
https://www.engr.wisc.edu/academics/student-services/academic-advising/first-year-undergraduate-students/progression-requirements/

It is doubtful that UIUC or Michigan can be considered safeties for engineering applicants.

11

@ucbalumnus That’s good to know. So what would you recommend I do?

12

Add some additional schools where you will get admitted to chemical engineering and will not face a heavy weeding process after enrolling.

13

@ucbalumnus Do you know of any examples? Sorry I’m obviously new to this and I’m looking for as much advice as possible

14

@collegebound153 id say you have very good chances for any of those schools. Penn ED provides a significant boost so since it is your dream school i would strongly recommend applying there ED.

15

Anyone else?

16

Undoubtedly you will face the same issues that many ORMs struggle with: the ability to distinguish yourself from the thousands of applicants who look exactly like you.

On paper you look great. But your ECs, grades, and story look so much like everyone else. Because of your high stats, I’m sure many of the schools on your list will gobble you up (U Mich, UIUC, etc). However getting into the top tier schools will be very difficult for you.

The one place where you could have set yourself apart is having unique and interesting ECs. Unfortunately its a bit too late for you to develop anything that would get noticed. In general you will need something of national or international prominence to get attention.

In the absence of this, I wonder why you wouldn’t double down on one of your ‘match’ choices and apply ED: Rice, Wash U, etc?? You have an excellent shot at one of these schools, especially if applying ED. Rice is looking for more kids outside of the southeast region, and would like to have a high stats kid like you from the midwest.