Please chance me for RD;Cornell, Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, WashU(St.L)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm applying to a couple schools for the RD round and like a little input. My schools, in no particular order are Cornell, Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, WashU St. Louis. I was deferred ED at Rice and accepted to UT Austin :). I've been told not to be the least bit hopeful for these universities so I'd like a second opinion. Here's a little bit about my application:</p>

<p>Major: Physics, Biophysics(where available), Mathematics</p>

<p>Testing and Academics:</p>

<p>ACT, single sitting: 33 Composite; 35 Math; 34 English; 35 Science; 28 Reading; 33 Writing combined</p>

<p>SAT II's: 750 Math II; 740 Physics</p>

<p>AP's: Physics B(5); English Lang(4)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.88</p>

<p>Rank: Top 3% out of 765</p>

<p>Race: White(ME)</p>

<p>Sex: Male</p>

<p>Income: <100,000</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<ol>
<li>Piano(10 years)</li>
<li>President and Founder of Secular Student Alliance at my school( very successful)</li>
<li>President and Student-Lecturer of Physics Club</li>
<li>Local university physics lab work( experimentation)</li>
<li>Delegate for Multicultural Alliance's Camp CommUNITY( summer activity)</li>
<li>Violin( a lot here)</li>
<li>Science UIL( not much); Self preparation and independent group study for Physics Bowl and Olympiad</li>
</ol>

<p>Work:</p>

<ol>
<li>Summer Camp Counselor for the city park, 40hrs/week with twenty 8 year-olds</li>
<li>Private Tutor(Physics, Math, and sciences)</li>
</ol>

<p>Interviews: Already have interviewed for Rice and I was able to converse with her for 45 minutes. I think it went as best as it could have and I hope my Vanderbilt and Duke go just as well. </p>

<p>Essays:</p>

<p>CommonApp: About SSA establishment and showed a lot of my boldness. It was grammatically perfect( spend hours with friends editing grammar on this one to ensure it was safe for all schools)</p>

<p>Rice Supplement: Abstract and talked about companionship and high thought and what it meant to me and how I could bring it to Rice. Talked about my heritage (family struggles) a lot and piano.</p>

<p>Cornell Essay: Talked about integrated approach to secularism and physics and what I planned to do with that idea.</p>

<p>Duke/Emory/Northwestern: Stressed I wanted to do research with biophysics for medicinal purposes. Showed my aptitude for physics oriented work and experimentation.</p>

<p>Recommendations: </p>

<p>Counselor: Should have been great ( didn't read). Have been close since freshman year and have conversed frequently since then. Has helped me a lot with everything school related and gives close attention to needs of her 'top' students.</p>

<p>Physics Teacher: Read it and it conveys my best traits pretty well. Known him for a while and have become close due to 3 classes together and my personality in UIL discussion/preparation. </p>

<p>Piano Teacher: Pretty good since it showed all my success as a pianist and how I've given a great amount of discipline to my younger brother who took up after me.</p>

<p>English Teacher: She has a PhD in English so I'm hoping it will be very articulate in describing me. She knows my personality very well since her class is entirely discussion based and I was always the one helping to drive them and suggesting topics to discuss.</p>

2

<p>Also forgot to mention my Senior year work load. AP Physics C: Mech, German 4, AP Bio, D/c English, AP Calc BC, AP Comp Sci, AP Macro, D/c Government, AP Physics C: E&M</p>

3

<p>Bump :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :)</p>

4

<p>Using Rice as a baseline: I would say all are reaches except Vanderbilt and Emory. UT Austin would be a good fit for you with all of the liberal crap on your resume.</p>

5

<p>Not very liberal actually, but thanks!</p>

6

<p>Bump :):):)</p>

7

<p>Bump:):):)</p>

8

<p>Also I should mention that my GPA will rise quite a bit this semester. All A’s and several A+'s. As should my rank. Also please keep in mind Rice supposedly deferred ~130 applicants this year.</p>

9

<p>I aggree with one of the posters, only place you have a praying chance is Vanderbilt and in RD that may be very difficult. You would have gotten in ED1 at Vandy.</p>

10

<p>What do you see that is weak and stands out a lot?</p>

11

<p>I should make the disclaimer that I am no substitute for professional advice/research.</p>

<p>Looking at your resume and charts of accepted/rejected admissions, I have no idea why the other two posters are so pessimistic. Your EC’s are great and your GPA will improve by your estimation. Your ACT is very good, but theoretically could be better (converts to a 2190 - average/slightly below average for some Ivy Leagues).</p>

<p>So relatively speaking, you have a very good shot at all of your mentioned schools - but all of them are so selective that most of them will be longshots for practically anyone. You should definitely have:</p>

<p>“Safeties”
Realistic “match” schools (which, for you, will still be very upper-tier)</p>

12

<p>I’ve been accepted to UT Austin. In all honesty I would have no problem going there. The physics program is ranked 10th and mathematics is 15th in the nation… Also it’s in-state so I won’t be burdened with loans</p>

13

<p>Bump:))))))</p>

14

<p>bump :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :)</p>

15

<p>I like your story and I think your passion for science and just secular/scientific philosophy in general is very clear on your application, which is a BIG plus when it comes to the more science-y applicants. </p>

<p>I think your ACT scores definitely put you in the running for some of the schools you are looking at, and in conjunction with your extracurriculars and background could give you a fair shot at admission to many of these schools. That said, your lack of awards or research could hurt you, though it all depends on the school/community circumstances. Nobody ever does research where I am, yet my school (as well as neighboring one) still sends people to top schools for STEM.</p>

<p>Cornell: Reach
Duke: Reach to High-Reach
Emory: Low Reach
Northwestern: Reach
Vanderbilt: Low Reach
WashU: Reach</p>

<p>I really can’t say much beyond that these schools are reaches. However I can say that Duke will probably be the most difficult to get into. Good luck and thanks for chancing me!</p>

16

<p>Duke : Extreme reach
Cornell : Big reach
Emory : Eh you got a chance
WashU : Eh you got a chance
Vanderbilt : kind of a reach</p>

<p>chance me back
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1438650-chances-hypsm-brown-duke-cornell-caltech-jhu.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1438650-chances-hypsm-brown-duke-cornell-caltech-jhu.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

17

<p>Thank you for your input! My school doesn’t offer programs for internships/research. In fact, only one kid did research this year and got into WashU ED!</p>

18

<p>Bump:) :slight_smile: :)</p>

19

<p>bump :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :)</p>

20

<p>I agree with Violinkid, I am not sure why I was pessimistic about your choices. But if you got deferred at ED in Rice there is something amiss about your application. In my opinion Duke and Cornell are out ( Why? they need at least 5 APs with 5s). Of the other three you will have a good chance at Vandy and my gut feeling is Rice will take you in RD. Emory is doable, although NW and WUSTL are difficult to predict, you are competetive there too.</p>