Please chance me! (UPenn, Yale, Duke Engineering)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello College Confidential! I am a senior applying to UPenn (early decision), Yale, Duke, and a good mix of reach, match, and safety schools. I plan on majoring in Bioengineering/Biomedical engineering with a Premed track so I will be applying to the respective engineering schools. Penn, Duke, and Yale are most important to me, please chance me for those three!

Grades-
Unweighted: 95.09% (3.89)
Weighted: 103.79% (4.53)

Class Rank- 18/593

My grades this year are awesome so far. My rank and GPA will definitely jump a couple of points after I send a first quarter or first semester grade report.

Course load:

Freshman year-
Honors Algebra 2
Honors Biology
Honors World History
Honors Intro to Engineering
Honors Spanish 3
Regular English 9

Sophomore Year-
AP Physics (4)
AP Micro Economics (5)
AP American Government (4)
IB Spanish 4
Honors Precalc
Regular English 10

Junior Year-
AP Calculus AB (5)
AP Chemistry (5)
AP US History (4)
AP English (4)
Honors Anatomy and Physiology
Honors Principles of Engineering

Senior Year-
AP English
AP Human Geography
AP Calculus BC
AP Biology
Honors Biochemistry
Honors Architectural and Civil Engineering

Grades have a strong upward trend.

Standardized Tests:

SAT- Math: 800, Reading+Writing:680 (1480 total)
Essay- 6/5/6

ACT- English: 35, Math: 33, Reading: 35, Science: 31 (34 Composite). Essay- 8/8/8/8

SAT 2- Math 2: 770, Chemistry: 800

Extra Curriculars-

Penn State medical center PULSE program (program for high schoolers who are interested in attending Medical School in the future. Lectures are held once a week for a few months with a final at the end) (11-12)

President and Founder of my school’s Russian Club (11-12)

Treasurer of National Honor Society (11-12)

Completed a competitive Internship program at a well known and very reputable hospital in my area (31 hours)

25 hours of shadowing a Physician (Rheumatologist if that means anything)

Went on two mission trips in Maine repairing homes for the less fortunate and handicapped (80 hours total)

Member of Technology Student Association. Participated in regional competition.

Lots of time spent taking care of family members due to mom having breast cancer.

Awards:
5th place in regional Chemistry Olympiad (out of 97)
Participated in National Chemistry Olympiad (only top 10 qualify)

Bausch + Lomb Honorary Science Award (Science teachers from my school nominate one student who displayed exemplary work in science. All teachers in science department then vote on one student to award)

Rotary Club Student of the month (awarded to one male and one female in the region by the regional Rotary Club)

Award for perfect attendance to Penn State Pulse

AP Scholar with Distinction

Teacher Recommendations-
AP Chemistry and AP calculus teachers: both will be very great letters.

Essays-
Common App Personal statement is awesome and spotless. It is very unique and will surely make me stand out

Supplemental Essay: For my Penn supplement I plan on writing about specifics and my experience sitting in on a class called Intro to Biomechanics. I also will speak about how I am excited to continue my use of 3D printers in the classes, as I own and have assembled a 3D printer myself.

Race- White
Gender- Male
Hooks- first generation American, Bilingual (Russian)

Location- Pennsylvania

Will be applying for financial aid.

Thank you to all who respond! I truly appreciate it!

2

If BME, why Yale?

3

Why not Yale? I love the environment and campus and it seems that they have a decently strong program. If your thought is that the program is lacking in some way, please remember that my ultimate goal is to go to Med school, not to become a professional engineer. I am also applying to Johns Hopkins BME program, but JHU is not at the top of my list of favorite schools.

4

If your goal is medical school, you need a high college GPA. Getting an engineering degree would not help in that. Particularly BME undergrac would not have much job market as a backup plan. BME at Yale is also far behind the other two.

5

Agreed with bill that you’re going to regret doing biomed engineering if your ultimate plan is med school. It would make a little more sense to just study bio or chem in the college, and your college GPA wouldn’t suffer as a result.

Otherwise, I would play up your leadership with the Russian club and NHS. Subject tests are in line with Penn/Yale, but AP scores are not—class rank might be a bit off as well depending on the caliber of your school. That being said, ACT looks good and essays sound decent. However, I wouldn’t include this : “Award for perfect attendance to Penn State Pulse”

Penn: reach
Yale: high reach

6

I’m sorry but I definitely disagree. I have toured many college campuses and spoken with many Biomedical Engineering students who are premed. Every single one of them have said that they would not have want to have done any other major. About 20% of bioengineering students at UPenn are premed and about 25% at Duke. At my Penn State medical center program, I have spoken with 2 med school students who have BME degrees. One graduated from UVA, and the other went to Harvard. They both said to me that if I want to do BME, then I should definitely do it and that they do not regret it one bit.

And as far as job opportunities go, there are definitely plenty of jobs, esspecially in BME as it is a fast growing field. I think that people who major in biology are the ones who are at a disadvantage in the job market.

Thank you for your response, but I am definitely going to do BME, and I would prefer it if you chanced me instead of focusing on that aspect of my post.

7

The majority of BME majors at any top school are probably premed. Med schools do look for a lower GPA for BME than other majors.

If you get into into any of those schools, you probably will get into med school. Not sure working as a BME should be the backup plan. Dental school or some other professional school might be a better backup plan. Or if you don’t get in, you can take extra time studying for the MCAT and/or get an advanced degree, and you will probably “get in” then.

Even if Yale is not that good in BME,I would probably go there if accepted, because it is Yale.

You seem qualified for Penn and Duke, but I can’t judge the chances you will be accepted.

8

@AnthonyZ You are right there are many Penn bioengineers who are pre med. It is definitely doable but also quite hard so be prepared for that. You need to maintain a top GPA while dealing with a very challenging curriculum. I think your SAT is a bit in the lower side and your ACT is around average for places like Penn, Yale and Duke. However you have other great things going on for you and also top GPA/rank so that should not be a problem. I would say good chances for Penn ED.

9

@AnthonyZ Consider adding Carnegie Mellon to your list for RD.

10

Unfortunately at Carnegie Mellon to major in BME, you must declare a dual major in chemical engineering. If I was seriously considering a career in engineering, then Carnegie Mellon would definitely be on my list, but it is not for me.

11

Thank you for your response! I definitely am set on bioengineering, I love physics and calculus and am interested in practically applying those subjects to innovate. Unfortunately, my SAT is definitely low, but my ACT is in the top 75% for Penn, and middle 50% for Yale. Thank you again!

12

@AnthonyZ The middle 50% for Penn is 32-35. This means that 25% of those admitted with ACT had a 36, so a score of 34 is not on the 75th percentile. It is closer to the 50 percentile. Maybe it is closer to the 75 percentile for enrolled (as opposed to admitted) students but Penn doesn’t disclose this information. Nonetheless it is a good score, falls right within the range of admission.

Also Penn is tops if you have entrepreneurial/innovative inclinations and the biomedical research opportunities available to undergrads through SEAS and the medical school/hospital are really top notch.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-amers-reuters-ranking-innovative-univ/reuters-top-100-the-worlds-most-innovative-universities-2017-idUSKCN1C209R

http://files.pitchbook.com/website/files/pdf/PitchBook_Universities_Report_2017-2018_Edition.pdf

13

Elites don’t just look at composite. I’d say, consider submitting both the SAT and ACT because while the CR is low, the ACT English and Reading are good. The Sci is low, but the Math and SAT2’s are good. The challenge, considering the competition, is 4 scores, especially the physics 4, for engineering.

Any math or sci ECs in school, other than TSA? And here, you’re emphasizing competitions, but they’ll look as much for collaborative activities, for engineering. 31 hours at the hospital, frankly, seems short. At 3 hours/week, that’s 10 weeks. If you did more hours per visit, even less. Maine is great, but what’s the other service?

You’re going to need to knock the app and supp out of the park. How do you know your essay is on target? Do you really know what these schools will look for?

14

Yeh, the SAT/ACTs are in range. The SAT IIs are good. I would think OP has a shot at Penn and Duke, but probably not Yale. It wouldn’t be a disaster to go to a somewhat lower level school, as BME is so hard anyway. It seems fine to apply to the three schools you mention, but obviously several other easier ones.

You need a lower GPA for med school with BME, but not sure if med schools adjust enough. Where I went a long time ago, not that many premeds were BME, but pretty much all BMEs were premed. If you are really good with math, physics, and engineering, it seems like a reasonable choice. There was a bad premed atmosphere where I went, and there was also less games with taking easy classes for grades with BME than other premed majors.

OP’s stats look good for med school, and he should get in eventually.

15

When I list the internship on my application, should I even mention hours? I agree that it’s low, but the program would not let me do more.

I know a 4 in physics is bad, but will the schools consider that I took AP physics sophomore year? That is extremely uncommon at my school, and my grade final grade in that class was pretty good (96%).

I will be submitting all of my standardized test scores, because these schools do want to see all of my testing history. Unfortunately, that means that I also have to send my 1390 and 1420 SATs and my 31 ACT. My highest scores are my most recent ones. Will these low scores effect my chances for admission?

Also for service, I do have a couple of hours racked up from helping friends with Eagle Scout projects (around 25 hours). Is that something worth mentioning?

Thank you!

16

I thought, maybe, with the Rotary award, you had some other comm service.

In general, with all test scores sent, they can still look at your best. The issue is the even higher level of competition during an Early round, the finer comb. And the uncontrollables. Eg, the specific competition from your area (both their apps and the geographic diversity goals.) Same with the physics 4. You can’t know who else is lined up.

Some of your comments show you’ve thought this through. Eg, BME. If you need to explain this interest, for any supp, “innovation” is good. Just be aware that many kids say this. They don’t always realize how one’s role is just a part of a larger effort, how collaboration plays a role.

No idea why the comment BME can be fine with a lower college gpa. Right now, many med schools are ramping up the number in their programs. But the competition will be tough for all.

17

Also, you should aim for LoRs from one humanities and one stem teacher. (If allowed, maybe a 2nd stem.) When colleges say holistic, it’s not just how they review, but the rounded strengths they want, that perspective. Most top tier want to see variety of academic strengths and in ECs. It can represent the variety of contributions you can make. Your plans may be med school, but their focus is on the four years at that college.

18

When I went to JHU (which I would strongly not recommend for premed), you were pretty certain to “get in” with a 3.2 in BME. I was told you needed a 3.75 in BME from Wright State.

The required math, physics, and engineering classes are generally graded at about a 2.5 average and the work load is harder.

Absolutely, you don’t need as high a GPA with BME. However, they probably don’t adjust enough for it. I knew someone who got into a top medical with BME. If you can get a high GPA in BME, it probably stands out to top schools.

OP’s stats imply to me that he should be able to do well in BME and on the MCAT. He seems med school level. I wouldn’t worry about BME being hard.

19

I’m sorry, but he hasn’t gotten through hs yet, he’s not in college, has yet to make it through any weeding, take the MCAT. Imo, let’s not assure him prematurely.

And this is now.

20

Why are you asking for help and opinions, but when someone disagrees, you just question them and tell them they’re wrong?