Please chance me. Junior applying to duke, Vandy, upenn, northwestern, UVA, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello I am currently a stressed junior in high school. I did a thread last year but I wanted to know if I am on track to being in contention for any of these schools?

Stats:
GPA: 3.85/4.5. (I have an upward trend went from 3.7 9th, 3.84 10th,- 4.0 currently). I’ve only gotten 3 B+, unfortunately I’ve gotten WAY too many A-s :frowning:
Rank: N/A
SAT: 1520, will take again hopefully for 1560
Subject tests: have taken Math 2: 800, will take bio in spring
APs: World (5), this year Bio, Calc AB, APUSH (School doesn’t offer too many). Next year Calc BC, Gov, Chem, Spanish
School type: small private, secular
State: VA
Race: Indian male
Upper middle class
Dad went to Duke. Top choice, will apply early decision
Intended major: Biomed engineering/finance

ECs:
Freshman Treasurer, Sophomore President, Junior Treasurer
VP of Model UN club, few awards
Founder and prez of the debate club. Organized a school wide debate tourney
Captain of the High school quiz bowl team
Member of school FTC robotics team
Named to All-State team for varsity tennis 9th, 10th. State champ 2018.
state NASA scholar 10th grade and 11th- created proposal for Virginia regarding pollution in the coast and how NASA can help using its tech
Intern in cancer research lab at local med school. Working and learning about pathology, embedding and cell analysis
Co-created a cheap device to detect and analyze pulse rates for poor countries hospitals. No patents or anything
Created an app proposal for seniors with Alzheimers. Again, no patent yet or anything. Got an entrepreneur commendation from my school though.
Qualified and participated in the National History Bee 2016. First in my region
Co-founded a website regarding financial literacy and stock market knowledge for kids. Co-created a website analyzing stock market performance and return rates in last 100 years
Writer for the life science and finance pages of school newspaper
NSLI-Y scholar, pretty selective national program over the summer funded by the US dept of state. Travelled to India for 6 weeks to study Hindi-2018
Policy analyst intern at a program run by Harvard grad students focusing on current US legislation-2017
25 hours volunteering for state political campaigns
Soccer referee. Certified by USSF
Speak English and Hindi fluent.
Play piano and violin

Colleges:
Duke- First choice, dream school, will apply ED. (legacy)
Vandy
Northwestern
UPenn
UVa
Va Tech
Stanford (for fun lol)
WashU StL

My career goal is to work for a biotech company and lead in innovating new medical technology

Sorry for so much info. I don’t have a clue as to what chances I have. My GPA is not great especially for STEM since i’ve gotten two Bs in math and 1 in physics. and I don’t think my extracurriculars show any certain passion, just a jack of trades. I dont really have any hooks either. Would love your opinions on this, no matter how harsh. Thanks a lot!!

2

anyone?

3

I think you stand a strong chance at Duke with your test scores and impressive extracurriculars. The NSLI-Y stands out to me, and you’ve got athletic AND artistic AND academic extracurriculars. Being a legacy should also help.

Obviously there are no guarantees with schools like Duke and WashU, so I like that you also are being realistic and planning on applying to UVA and Virginia Tech, schools that you stand an excellent chance of being accepted to especially given that you are in state.

Don’t be stressed. You are doing great. Try to enjoy your junior year.

4

You want want to add a couple more true safeties. I think you are extremely safe at Va Tech but that is it. Vandy and WashU take an obscene amount of the class from ED so your chances at those schools is exponentially reduced by that alone.

5

Thanks! Anyone else?? Will take anything…

6

Honestly, getting in to the top schools is a crap shoot. Don’t depend on anything or get your hopes up too high. Identify some safeties aad start now showing interest. Then do the best you can with your applications and hope for the best.

7

Don’t pin all your hopes on Ivies. Have some safety schools in hand

8

thanks alot, anyone else?

9

Duke likes their legacies. I think you have a solid shot there.

FWIW, I wouldn’t bother re-taking the SAT. Your 1520 is plenty strong enough. Focus on your essays and the rest of your application.

10

Is it possible that you could get recruited for tennis? At what level did you win your state title and do you play singles or doubles? Out of the schools that you have mentioned, WashU is the least competitive in terms of tennis recruitment, and if you are a three star recruit on Tennis Recruiting, you have a shot at making the team. If you have the talent necessary to be recruited, your chances of admission increase exponentially.

11

no, I’m not rated on tennis recruiting anymore, I’m not good enough for their team.

12

I think your raw numbers look pretty good for WashU. GPA is in range and you have the test scores. Plus it takes a lot of kids from NoVA. Of course NoVA (assuming that’s where you’re from) is highly competitive for top admissions.

If there is a school that you’re willing to commit to ED/ED1 and there are no issues with finances, go ahead and do so. I might consider using your ED to Duke, as that seems to be your favorite + legacy might help. Use ED2 on a school like WashU or Vandy.

For business/finance you might want to add Emory to your list. Rice could be another candidate if you want to do BME.

13

thanks for your comment. I am actually from south central VA. Not sure if thats better or worse?