Please Chance Me for Elite Schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Some demographic information:
Go to a pretty competitive large public school in New Jersey
Intended College Major: Biological Sciences (Pre-med pathway)

Stats:
SAT I: 1600
SAT II: 800(Math 2); 800(Bio); 800(Chem)
GPA UW: 3.9/4
GPA W: 4.6/5 (I know there are some people with a lot higher GPAs, but my school doesn’t allow us to take APs in freshman year and only 2APs in sophomore.)
APs taken: Bio(5), Music Theory (5), Physics 1(5), APUSH(5), Econ(5), Chinese(5), Calc BC(5), Chem(5), AP Lang(5)
AP Senior Year: Physic C, Psychology, Enviro, Stat, Spanish, Comp Sci, English Lit
Major Awards: USA_O Finalist (not saying which one for anonymity reasons), Intel ISEF Finalist (I chose Molecular Biology), NJSL (New Jersey Science League) #3 in biology.
Outside Courses: Taken many molecular/cellular biology courses like 728: DNA Replication and Repair from MIT

Academic ECs:

  • Published a biology research paper in a relatively prestigious journal (it was also the same I did for Intel)
  • CEO of a nonprofit that helps to promote STEM (especially biology) across the US and have partnered with state/local organizations
  • Freelance writing business focusing on evolutionary biology
  • I will be doing another research project with a professor in a near-by uni this summer again, hoping to place well in Intel and Google Science Fair - this is the plan unless I get into a research program like RSI (which I don’t know yet). Either way, I will definitely still be researching biology.

Non-academic ECs:

  • Varsity Winter Track
  • National Spanish Exam (NSE) two-year gold medalist
  • Piano 8 years (ABRSM Level 5 theory and Level 6 practical) - quit to focus more on my biology research

Leadership:

  • Co-President of NSHS (National Science Honor Society)
  • President of Save the Children (a service club)
  • Class Officer (11)
  • A friend and I are trying to start another club (biology-related), it won’t be that big of a deal, though.

Rec Letters:
AP Biology teacher: She loved me and thought I was super smart. She was also my SNHS club advisor so we have had two years of sustained interactions. Probably going to be a really good one.
The Prof. I worked with: He and I have spent many hours in the lab working on both his project and mine, should be another good one as well, I think.
AP Calculus BC: This one I added just in case one of the other two backed out for emergency reasons (they didn’t). My calc teacher should write a pretty decent rec letter, but probably not as good as my bio or my mentor.

Extra Information:
Per year Combined Family Income: >$200,000
Financial Aid: No
URM: No
Sex: Male
Family Ethnicity: Chinese

Universities Considered (in order of most “desired”): Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Cornell, Columbia, NYU, UPenn, Duke, UChicago, Stanford, Brown, Rice.

Notes: My primary hook or story, if you will, will be built around my passion for biology. Please chance me and see if there is anything that I am missing that I should address.

Thank you guys so much!

2

You meet the criteria for all of those schools, it’s just the matter of if they pick you from the bin of students just like you. If you write an amazing essay, you’ll have a great shot.

3

There is no definite answer… and you’re obviously smart enough to know that. What I don’t understand is why so many super smart teens (OP included) keep asking the same question about admission to elite schools.

4

Yes you have a great profile. As you know, the competition for asian STEM majors is intense. Pick one of the schools above and apply ED, that will be your best shot. The RD round is very competitive. UChicago and NYU both have ED2 rounds as well. Good luck

5

MIT requires a rec letter from a humanities or social sciences teacher.

6

@Uniquee1 are the stats in your post current, or projected? What year are you in now?

You wrote “I will be doing another research project with a professor in a near-by uni this summer again…this is the plan unless I get into a research program like RSI.”

RSI 2019 Rickoids were notified quite a while ago.

Are you hoping to get in this year as an alternate?

Are you speculating about next year?

7

You have a pretty good profile. It is so hard to say. I see you getitng into some of them.

8

If you are right around $200-250K in income your in a tough spot if you get admitted, not much in the way of FA will come your way.

9

Your school list is fine but those schools are reached for everyone and yes, there are people who don’t get into them even with your stats.

I suggest you do some real college search, the tough kind, to find a strong safety school for yourself. One that will certainly take you, that meets what you want. It’s easy to cherry pick schools from the top names. Not so easy to find great schools without the name recognition. I’d do it early too. I’ve known top kids who did not get into state flagships because they applied to oversubscribed programs too late. Too occupied with the name schools to give the others due attention. They wouldn’t accept Einstein at some schools once the seats are filled.

10

With that resume, why not skip college?

11

Wow. Those are really impressive stats and extracurriculars. I think you’d have a pretty good shot, but then again, college admissions is super unpredictable. Fingers crossed, though.

12

Just make sure to show some personality on the apps. The human element is important.

13

Other than track and piano, which you quit, you’re all stem. Tippy tops want the right rounding. Even MIT says, not unilateral. And if your narrative is ‘all bio, all the time,’ you may miss the mark.

You’ve got to get an idea what does increase chances. TTs are looking for kids with varied interests and the record that shows openness toward more than what’s related to career aspirations.

14

Brilliant. Simply do what you want.

15

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2095312-generic-chance-answer-for-super-selective-colleges.html

16

Those are all schools with an acceptance rate of 3-10%. You’ll probably get into 1 or 2, or you could get rejected by all of them. The bigger question is whether you can afford to go there. If you’re looking at medicine, then I recommend checking out scholarships. Medical school is very expensive and you’re far better off saving the debt for medical school, because you’ll be taking out a lot of loans.

17

Just curious how you got those research opportunities - even a majority of college students don’t have them.

18

That’s a pretty top heavy list. I’m assuming finances are not an issue?

Except for NYU…your chances of being accepted are about the same as the other 20% or less of students who get accepted to these colleges. Amongst their rejected students are many, many well qualified applicants.

NYU will probably accept you. The others are reaches for most applicants.

OH…and if you do need need based aid…NYU is not a good choice.

This isn’t a hook.

19

Excellent profile, I think you will get into one for sure.

20

“Pick one of the schools above and apply ED, that will be your best shot. The RD round is very competitive. UChicago and NYU both have ED2 rounds as well.”

Except that none of the ED schools are his first choices, so not a good idea to apply ED anywhere. Anyway he’s very strong STEM applicant even for an Asian, so it makes no sense to apply ED. I’ve seen a lot of applicants like him, I’d apply EA to MIT or SCEA to HYP and then EA to a state flagship - Rutgers his home state, maybe UM or Purdue. Then drop Rice or Brown and add safer choices, maybe RPI.

“My primary hook or story, if you will, will be built around my passion for biology.”

Ok, that’s not a hook for Asians, many of them will show a passion, research and stats you have and get rejected by the colleges you’re applying to. That’s the standard for Asians (male or female) for stem, esp pre-med. Your hook is ISEF and USO finalists. As yucca10 says, you need a recommendation from a non-stem teacher for not just MIT, but for all the top colleges on your list. You have a better chance at YP than HSM, so take that into consideration.