Please Chance me for Duke, Johns Hopkins, Washington University STL (ALL ED)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello guys! I really want to go to any of these schools: Duke, Johns Hopkins, Washington University in STL, so I want to apply to all three as ED. The problem is that I have to choose only one school. I really want to get accepted early and focus on scholarships my second semester. Can you guys chance me so I can choose which school to apply to? Also could you recommend which school I should go to?

These are my stats:

Race: Asian (Should I state that I am Asian on the Common App or just leave it blank?)

Best Composite ACT: 33 (E: 34, M: 35, R: 30, S:32)
Superscored ACT: 34 (E:34, M:35, R: 32, S:35) - JH and WashU superscore the ACT, and Duke looks at each highest subscore but doesn’t recalculate the composite

SAT II: Math IIc: 800
Chem: 740

GPA: 3.88 UW

Weighted Classes:
Soph: Honors chem, Honors Alg II/Trig
Junior: AP Phy 1, AP Lang, AP World History, Honors Precalc
Senior: AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Computer Science, AP Calc AB

ECs:

  1. Research (9-10): I was involved in research on hippotherapy with horse robots to compare the effects of horse robots to real ones at Washington University in STL.
  2. Robotics Club (9-10): I designed our robots with 3D CAD software. We won the Rookie Inspiration Award, Arkansas Regional & STL Regionals in the First Robotics Competition (The largest International Robotics Competition)
  3. JV Tennis (9-10): Seeded 5th, was going to play Varsity but moved to another school which didn’t have a tennis team I am very passionate in tennis and won several tournaments in Korea outside of school.
  4. Varsity Basketball (11): Position: PW
  5. Film Club member (11): TBH nothing that impressing. We made short films.
  6. Took care of my little brother (10-12): My brother and I live away from our parents in a different city (lived in a different country in 10th grade) because of academics. I had to take responsibility for my brother. (I had to do all the chores that your parents would usually do and was my little brother’s guardian)
  7. Community Service (10-11): I volunteered to help children with disabilities exercise. I played games and sports with them and helped the doctors and researchers at a disability center.
  8. President/founder/mentor of the Computer repair/donation club (12): Where we got old computer donations from outside and repaired them to donate them to people in need. I am the mentor for the members and teach them how computers work and how to repair them. After we repair and make the computers usable, we donate them to people who are in need and teach them how to use computers.

Hooks: IDK

Income: 800,000+ish

Intended Major: Neuroscience & Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering Dual major, Biomedical Engineering (Which is the least competitive for each school?)

I think my essay is a OK. I am not the best writer, but I believe the topic is very catchy and strong.

The rec letters are the problem. I recently moved to my current school and I didn’t have enough time to make good relationships with my current/recent teachers. So I got rec letters from my freshman and sophomore years but I heard that this is not preferable. I do have rec letters from my junior and senior year teachers, but I don’t think they are very good compared to my freshman and sophomore teachers. This is bc my freshman and sophomore teachers were with me when I came back to America in 6 years and understand the struggles that I had to go through to become the student I currently am.

Thank you soooooooo Much!

2

Have you visited all three? What did you think?

3

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4

@Jennings99 Not all of them, I lived next to WashU to I am pretty familiar with that area, and I have been on a college tour at Duke. I loved both of their campuses, since I love suburban and beautiful areas. However, I have never been to JHU and heard that Baltimore is a harsh city, which is not my type. (I don’t really know much about this area and would appreciate some info) I really want to got to WashU over JHU, but the fact that WashU’s engineering program isn’t that good is making me reconsider my thoughts. Could you help me with this?

5

If you are interested in strong engineering programs, look at Rice and Georgia Tech.

6

I am applying to Georgia Tech, but not to Rice (I personally don’t really like Texas). But I’m not just looking at majors, and I want to go to a university with both good engineering and medical/biology major schools. Thanks tho!

7

Don’t leave the race field blank. They will easily figure out based upon other parts of your application.

Your ACT is at the 25th percentile for Duke’s engineering school (Pratt). The ECs you have listed are good, but probably not of the caliber that you will get an outright acceptance. My guess is that if you apply ED to Duke you will get deferred to the RD round.

8

@pokemist I did a summer program at JHU in 2014, and it’s one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had. That program whetted my taste for the university experience to the extent that I’ve been chomping at the bit to graduate from HS ever since.

JHU is an open campus, so students are advised to take sensible precautions, but I saw nothing in my time there to suggest that the neighborhood was any more dangerous than most cities. Admittedly, there are some places I wouldn’t visit after dark, but that’s true of any sizable urban area. From what I saw of the surroundings, the only areas I’d describe as run-down or suspicious were perhaps 10 blocks removed from the university if not further.

The adjoining area of the Homewood campus has a Starbucks and a Barnes&Noble. When I was there, a store by the name of “Insomnia Cookies” was set to open the following month, delivering cookies at any time of day. The city was having a stretch of the road by the campus resurfaced, and trees and artwork were a more frequent sight than anyone who looked like a prospective drug dealer (I saw exactly 0 such people in my time there).

Further afield, Baltimore’s inner harbor is lovely, and within walking distance of Camden Yards - regularly mentioned as one of the best major sports venues in the US. The waterfront has some excellent (and affordable) restaurants, a few of which I visited during my time there, and the building that once housed the Pratt Street Power Plant has been converted into a location for several shops and cafes (including another Barnes&Noble). The National Aquarium is a place where you could easily spend a week without growing bored.

I gather Baltimore has a bit of a reputation largely because of events like those depicted in The Wire and the riots earlier this year. I would argue that neither of those impressions is representative of the city. Since The Wire first aired, I’m told many of the city’s neighborhoods have undergone a metamorphosis into clean, safe, areas. As for the riots, to judge Baltimore by that one incident is akin to reducing St. Louis to nothing but what happened in Ferguson last year.

Of course, what I’m presenting here is hardly an unbiased opinion, and it’s true that the city has its difficult neighborhoods. It should be noted, also, that the climate is very humid - in the warmer summer months, this can be a bit of an inconvenience. On the whole, however, if you’re thinking of JHU, you certainly shouldn’t be put off by Baltimore’s reputation.

9

I have a very similar list to you, and very similar stats also! I’m applying ED to JHU and my second choice would be WashU in St. Louis.

I live in Maryland and am very familiar with Baltimore. JHU is in a very safe area of Baltimore, near Roland Park and Charles Village. This is nowhere near the dangerous areas (JHU is generally north of downtown Baltimore while areas like Brooklyn Park and other dangerous places are south).

10

I echo sentiments from other posters that Hopkins is located in a safe part of Baltimore. I attended JHU from 2009-2013 as a Neuroscience major and I never felt threatened (and I ventured all over the city). There are definitely unsafe parts of the city but they are not around the campus and I was never stupid enough to put myself in a position (e.g. alone at night while drunk outside the campus sphere of influence) that was asking for trouble.

I would highly recommend BME if you want to do a biological and engineering major because I can tell you that a neuroscience degree with any engineering major is near impossible. Many students double major at Hopkins (like 20-30% last I heard), but no one I knew as a neuroscience major successfully double-majored with an engineering degree. Both programs at Hopkins are very rigorous, and unless you are one of our generation’s next great intellects, I wouldn’t get your hopes.