Please comment on the number and balance of schools on my list. Am I competitive at these schools? I am planning on doing a Biochemistry or Molecular Biology type major in hopes of preparing for medical school. Research opportunities and financial aid are also major considerations (I have 3 siblings and we have $99k total income).
AA Male -- Junior at a suburban public school in Ohio
WGPA: 4.529 UWGPA: 3.934
ACT: 33 w/ 10 in writing (w/ minimal prep) -- hopefully 35-36 this spring
Plan on taking SAT and subject tests in Chem, French, and Math II this upcoming spring
Taking AMC and USNCO local exams this spring semester as well
8th Grade (High school courses):
French I
Algebra I
Freshmen:
Honors Geometry
Honors Algebra II
French II
Honors Band
World Studies
Honors Physical Science
Introduction to Engineering Design
Honors English IX
Summer going into Sophomore Year:
CCP Precalculus A/B
Health
Sophomore:
AP US History (5)
AP Biology (4)
AP Statistics (4)
AP Calculus BC (5 for BC and AB)
Honors Biochemistry of Health
Honors Band
Honors French III
Honors English X
Junior (currently in):
AP Chemistry (5)
AP English Language and Composition (5)
AP US Government and Politics (5*)
Self-study of Calculus III (first-semester)
Self-study of Differential Equations (second-semester)
Honors Human Anatomy and Physiology
Band
Honors French IV
Senior (planning to take):
AP Psychology (5)
AP French (5)
AP Physics I: Algebra-Based (5)
AP English Literature and Composition (5)
Self-study of Linear Algebra (first-semester)
Honors Genetics of Disease
Honors Biomedical Innovations
*my assumption
Planned Teacher Recommendations (4):
AP Chemistry teacher
AP English Lang teacher
Teacher I had for Calc III/DIff Eq/Linear Alg and whom I also compete in Mu Alpha Theta
Teacher I had from French 2 thru AP French
College Essays:
I’ve already started and am planning to have stellar and unique essays
I am a strong and practiced essay writer and submit essays into Literary Magazine at my school about my heritage, my miscarried brother, the disease of perfectionism, etc.
Extracurriculars:
Founder of project Spark the Park with TomTod non-project organization – revamped our local park and added bat boxes and mini-libraries along the trails (9, 10, 11)
Math Club founder/president as we are competing in AMC for the first time this year (10, 11)
Programming/Vision team on 4121 FRC robotics team (9, 10, 11); Captain (11)
French club officer (9, 10, 11); next in line to become president
JV academic challenge team (9, 10); quit before joining varsity team junior year
Marching Band/Pep Band/Full Orchestra/Symphonic Band playing Mellophone and French Horn (9, 10, 11); Officer (10); quitting after this year
Leadership Club (9, 10, 11); Officer (11) and got accepted in RYLA conference
President’s Council (10, 11) and NHS (11)
Mu Alpha Theta collegiate team (10, 11) – personally have nationally ranked
Planning to do 100+ hours of neuro-research at NEOMED during summer
US Soccer Referee since June 2018
Community Service (400+ hours over my high school career):
…and several other hours for spooky science fair nights, STEM demonstrations, soup kitchens, concessions, marching band (uniform fitting, band room decorating, mattress sale, contest facilitator, etc.), senior citizens’ prom, French tutoring and crepe making (FRENCH WEEK!!)
Your qualifications look spectacular, but what is “self study” exactly? Is it “independent study” via an accredited online or dual enrollment class or are you literally just self-studying? I think that could raise a question on your application, because you kind of sped through your math courses. You did well, and followed through with related ECs - which is great because it shows you are truly interested in math rather as opposed to just being impatient to get those requirements done. Still, it leaves a question on what is otherwise an extremely strong application.
@Groundwork2022 Basically, after I took online precalc over the summer going into my sophomore year, my professor realized that I had scored the highest on every assignment despite just finishing freshman year and scored perfects on the exams. We kept in contact and I even invited him to family events, so I got my invitation to Mu Alpha Theta through him. He ended up moving, however, but he suggested that I continued past Calc BC even though no one had ever reached that far at my school. So, I contacted his colleague who taught Calc 3, Diff Eq, and Linear Algebra and asked if I could take the classes without attending the school because transit would take up space in my schedule. I ended up signing up for the in-class courses but arranged with him and my counselors that I would learn the materials by myself and scan over HW and quizzes and then go to the college for tests and exams. Long story short, I take the course officially through the college but in the absence of the instructor as an “independent study” in dual-enrollment.
Algebra based AP Physics 1 stood out for me too. With how advance you are in math, why aren’t you taking AP Physics C?
If you can get the ACT up, I think you are in the running anywhere. Glad to see that you have OSU and a safety on your list because overall it is very reach heavy.
@momofsenior1 I do want to take AP Physics C, but they don’t offer it at my school. They offer it at a nearby school district, but I’m not sure how scheduling would work and if transit would obstruct time from other classes. Plus, as of now, I don’t have reliable transportation to and from the other school in the middle of the day. It’s all up in the air with my counselors right now.
You should get all this into the “Is there anything else you want to tell us?” part of your applications. You have a strong enough application to get into any of the schools on your list, and the explanations you’ve made here help your case. Good luck to you!
Edited to say: Call it “Independent Study” instead of self-study. You are supervised, and that makes a difference.
Your list has quite a few reaches. However, you also have solid and very good safeties. We are not from Ohio, but I am assuming that being in-state with your great stats OSU should be a safety. This gives me the impression that you have thought carefully about your list and are realistic. I have heard that Chicago is not an easy school to maintain a “medical school worthy” GPA, but the only person I know who went there did indeed maintain a high GPA (with a LOT of work on his part, and high school stats similar to yours).
To keep open the possibility of medical school, you should attend a school which is affordable, and where you can maintain a high GPA. You also need to get well prepared for the MCAT but there are a great many schools with strong premed programs that will allow you to do this (including OSU). You might want to run the NPC on the schools on your list and get a sense regarding how affordable they are likely to be.
To me, it looks like you are doing very well. My main question would be whether to shorten the list a bit, probably by removing a few reaches and/or schools that are likely to be expensive.
@DadTwoGirls I know for a fact that I’ll be making more revisions on this list as I start to visit colleges and do more online research, but I feel like I’ll still end up applying to about 12 schools. I’ve heard it’s better for highly competitive applicants in terms of applying to more reach schools. Plus, as I’ve said, I already started my essays, and I plan to get teacher recs and other components done over the summer so that I spend quality time with each application.
@Riversider There was a time when I was wrestling between the traditional route and BS/MD programs, but I’ve decided that BS/MD is too binding for me. I’m in no rush to enjoy college, and I don’t mind having to worry about getting accepted.
Let’s assume I apply to a range of schools similar to this, each with an affordable financial package. In your strategic opinion, what set of schools should I apply to EA/ED/RD, considering my stats? Should I apply to some of my reaches early in hopes of being accepted by December? Is this too much of a risk? Should I, instead, apply more towards safeties early so I know that I will be attending a college? A mixture of both? Please let me know your thoughts. @Riversider@awesomepolyglot@Groundwork2022@DadTwoGirls@momofsenior1
“what set of schools should I apply to EA/ED/RD, considering my stats?”
This is really just an opinion.
I don’t like ED at all unless you (i) know for sure where you prefer to attend; (ii) know that you can afford it, or at least that the NPC shows it as being affordable, and (iii) don’t feel the need to compare offers from different schools. We didn’t do any ED’s because of (ii) for one child, and (i) for the other. To me it doesn’t sound like you are sure where you want to go at the current time. Obviously you have time and this might change.
I am a big fan of either EA or rolling admissions. If you know where you want to apply then you might as well apply early. With either EA or rolling admissions you can in many cases get a response quickly. From what I have seen the whole process seems to get less stressful once a student gets an affordable admissions from a school that they are willing to attend, even if it is not their first choice.
@DadTwoGirls My top of dream schools is Harvard. So if I were to take the approach of taking SCEA at Harvard and EA at OSU with RD on everything else (because SCEA still allows me to apply to EA for public schools), would that be an unwise decision in comparison to maximizing the schools I can apply to with EA and saving the rest for RD?
You are listing a lot of “stretch” schools. They may be your “target” schools, but they should always be considered “stretches.” Most of those schools reject more perfect GPAs and test scores with great extracurriculars and demonstrated leadership than they accept.
2)The schools you might be more likely to get into (although they should always be considered to be “stretch,” because there is definitely no “guarantee” at any of them…) are not necessarily super with aid, and- in the case of those with need-aware admissions… you might actually push yourself right back into “stretch” category. (Many of your schools that you may feel more comfortable about getting into are, in fact need-aware…With the exception of Earlham, who is great with aid, and also “stacks” aid and merit. Of course, I don’t think you can go wrong with Earlham… as long as it is a good fit… which is not true for everyone, and it is very hard for me to guess, based on the list of schools that you are considering…)
It may be quite possible that you can get in to them, but that is never a guarantee for that list of those schools… and getting in is no guarantee of aid, at least for some of them. …With that in mind it would be prudent to add some “safeties.”
Also, to help answer your question, I have an observation and a question for you. With regard to your list, there is quite a variance in the identity and personality of those schools. Many of those schools care enormously about “fit.” Which of those schools will be your best fit and can you explain why? Can you show it, using your common app, your resume, and your essays? To get into any of those schools, test scores and grades won’t do it alone… If you want to go “elite,” you need to find the schools for which you are a good fit, and then your application is going to have to convey that.
If you are willing to take advice from a stranger, my advice would be: as you start to finalize your list, be sure to really looking at the schools’ identities, rather than just checking their majors, their rankings, their aid, etc…
Ultimately, you are going to have to convey that you know who that school believes that they are, at the soul-level…and how you are, essentially, a soul-mate. That is how you get in to the schools on your list. And that is a random list of schools… You can’t be soul-mate with all of them!
Additionally, based on your expressed long-term goals, you have some extra considerations: what are their gradschool placement rates? What opportunities will you have there as an undergrad for the type of research, internships, and other opportunities that will make you a desirable candidate for graduate/medical school. And… how important would it be for you to have funding to allow you to do that work? In short: does the school provide funding opportunities for undergrad undergraduate research or internships at that school. (If that will matter to you.)
Also based on your expressed academic interests and long-term goals, take a look at this list. What schools have the best grad school preparation and placement rates?
This is a list of the top 50 (which is in the top 1 percentile, nationwide) undergraduate colleges with great grad school placement rates whose graduates go on to successfully complete doctoral programs in the sciences: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-50-schools-that-produce-science-phds/
Adding: Also, I would generally recommend students who need aid do NOT apply ED. I also do not believe anyone should apply ED if there are schools that they havent visited. You can definitely send in your app early, but do not apply/mark it for ED consideration. Just my two cents.
@BB That list is 13 years out of date. Actually, more than that, since the people actually finished their PhDs between 1997 and 2006, so they finished their undergraduates between 1990 and maybe 2001. AND they actually compared the number of PhDs awarded to people from a school, divided by the number of people who finished their undergraduates 9 years earlier, There is also an issue of the fact that almost no S&E graduates students take nine years to finish their PhDs, and many Engineering PhDs finish their PhDs some 5 years or even less after they finish their BSs. The 9 years is the result of averaging with fields that include social sciences PhDs, which take 9 years after graduation, humanities PhDs, which take 11 years, and education PhDs, which takes an average of 15 years. Engineering takes an average of 7 years (https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf19301/assets/data/tables/sed17-sr-tab031.pdf)
Here is a more updated list, from 2013 (data up to 2011): https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13323/nsf13323.pdf
It’s still 13 years since their most recent undergraduate graduations, and suffers from the same issues of inaccuracy in the time since graduation from BS.
We also don’t know are where these students did their PhDs. Even more than undergraduate degrees, PhD programs are not created equal. A CS PhD from MIT is not the same as a CS PhD from Nova Southeastern University. Another thing we don’t know is where these students are working, and how much they’re making, which are again determined by their PhD programs.
A much better way to check is to find a decent number of people with jobs in your specific field, doing the types of jobs you would like doing, ans see where they did their undergraduate degrees. Smaller sample size, but more focused, and has fewer confounding factors
@brobdingnagian17 I get you. BS-MD are limiting and not ideal for cream of the crop, they are better suited for applicants who couldn’t make it into top undergrad programs and not competitive enough to get into top medical schools.
Most BS-MD programs (with an exception of a few) are offered at mediocre institutions and a lot is missed on this express route.