Please Chance Me! (Super Anxious)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I started going on CC, (am supposed to be typing up scholarships rn… lol), and I got sucked into the CC blackhole and now I’m getting heart palpitations thinking about college decisions and I need some kind of YES or NO instead of just waiting endlessly for results…

Waiting on Decisions from: Boston College, CMU, Cornell, Duke, Fordham, Harvard (EA deferred), JHU, Tufts, and UPenn
Accepted by UMD Honors, Gemstone Program, Presidents Scholarship of $20k over 4 years

Planned major: Biological Science: General Biology
Pre-med

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown out of 1600): 1550 (790M, 760R)
SAT II: Math 2-800, Biology E-750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.83
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7 out of 302
AP (in chronological order): Stats (4), Government (4), Biology (4), Psychology (5), English Lang (4), World History (4), Calc AB (4)
Senior Year Course Load: Comp Sci Principles AP, European History Aide, English Lit 12 AP, Spanish V AP, Physics I AP, Calc BC AP, GT Orchestra
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ARIP Global Leadership, National Merit Scholarship Program Letter of Commendation, AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: BARK animal advocate club, National Music Honor Society (President), National Math Honor Society (VP), National Spanish Honor Society, National Science Honor Society, National Social Studies Honor Society (only grade 11), National Honor Society (only grade 11), Chess Club (VP), Key Club (Recording Secretary), Mock Trial, Photography Club
Job/Work Experience: Internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at BARCS (animal shelter in Baltimore), lots of volunteer work through BARK and Key Club
Summer Activities: my internship

Other
State: MD
School Type: public high school
Ethnicity: asian (korean to be specific)
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a

Reflection
Strengths: high academics, lots of ECs, lots of leadership, I liked my commonapp essay, it was a little quirky, but I’m not sure if it is what my schools are typically looking for
Weaknesses: my recc letters are mediocre ( I wasn’t that close to my teachers, and even though one of the teachers were the sponsor to the club I founded, she was not very involved, and is very quiet-spoken. I was extremely close to my counselor, but in my senior year, they decided to change my counselor… ). most of my supplementaries were pretty generic, especially the “why this college” ones, as I just wrote about what I’d like to achieve, participate in which EC’s, etc… nothing memorable…also lack of awards

Please feel free to be as honest as possible! I don’t mind comments they may come off a tad rude- I’m a bit thick skinned that way. If you cam specify what college you are talking about, that would be great too!

2

You have great scores, standard ECs, and lots of challenging classes. You did the absolute best you could, and you certainly have a chance. I can’t really say yes or no. Who knows? Maybe your so-called “generic” essays knock the socks off the AO and you skate right into Cornell, or your LoRs turn them off and you get denied from Tufts. Looking at your school list, the only pretty confident chance I can give you is Fordham- I think you’ll get in. All the others? I’m sorry to say you have to wait till March since top schools are just a question mark. Until then, I would bank on all no’s from them. That way, if you end up with a magical acceptance it will be a lovely surprise.
But you know what? Congratulations on all your achievements. You may be one of many, but not everyone in the world can say that they are qualified enough to apply to Harvard. You already got into a great school with an amazing scholarship, and your post tells me you’ll be great wherever you go. I also constantly fall into the CC blackhole and chance threads with the same kind of anxiety (can you tell by my username? :))) and sometimes I need to remind myself all that. I really wish I could give you the clear answers you ask for, but you’ve only got a little more to wait (JHU decisions are right around the corner!). Until then and after the fact, you just gotta add on to that thick skin and carry on with life, enjoying your last year of high school. I wish you the best of luck!!!

3

“Accepted by UMD Honors,…”
“Pre-med”

You are already in at a great school with strong pre-med. Relax, have some fun, keep up in your high school classes.

My guess is that you are likely to get more acceptances, but even if you don’t I expect that you will do very well. Expect pre-med classes to be very demanding wherever you go.

4

@anxiouswreck I can relate to your name so well haha. Thank you so much for that, I have calmed down a little. JHU is my absolute dream school so I am a blob of stress right now waiting for March 16, 3pm EST…
And @DadTwoGirls although I can’t guarantee that I will be able to relax and have fun for the next few days, I will certainly try. Thank you :slight_smile:

5

You are a competitive applicant. Colleges like BC, Fordham, Tufts, Cornell, CMU, and JHU seem like matches or low reaches for you. With great essays, you could get accepted to any of the schools on your list, even Harvard or Penn

6

@doorrealthe Ah, but I believe my essays weren’t that great… although I really liked my Harvard supplement, I don’t think I have much chance there after I got deferred. Thank you for reassuring me though!

7

@sendmetothemoon if you pre-med you might wanna rethink JHU. Their pre-med is incredibly intense and cutthroat. Places like Harvard, Penn and Duke would provide a substantially easier path to med school.

In terms of your chances, you could get in all of them, but of course the ivies and Duke are reaches for almost anyone. Hopkins is also very tough. You should be good for the rest.

8

Accepted by Univ. of Md. Honors with a decent scholarship & deferred EA at Harvard should confirm that you are a solid candidate for all of your targeted schools.

9

@Penn95 @Publisher thank you all for taking the time to do this! i appreciate your comments :slight_smile: