Realistic colleges for me

College Search & Selection
1

Hi, I am in the middle of compiling a list of “safety”, “match” and “reach” schools. I am having trouble finding where on the ladder of applicants I fall; like what schools would be realistic (>50% chance) for me.
Here are my stats:
GPA: 4.5/5.0
SAT: 1590
SAT II: 800 Math II, Physics, Biology; 760 US Hist
AP: 5 on Bio, Phys 2, Phys C Mech, English Language and Comp, WHAP, APUSH. 4 on CS A and Phys 1, oops.
Rank: Top 7.5% at very competitive high school.

Extracurricular/Awards:
Mu Alpha Theta member all four years, officer this year.
Tennis all four years, officer this year.
Frisbee club all four years, officer this year.
SNHS member 2 years
Computer science club member all four years
CSNHS member, officer last year,

USAMO Qualifier(my “spike”): Top ~250 out of 500,000 in the country, or roughly Top ~80 out of ~150,000 incoming seniors at math. Got a 13/15 on the AIME, 127.5 on AMC 12.
Top 15 in Princeton University Math Competition and Harvard-MIT Math Tournament

Have an internship at a local (very prestigious) hospital this summer; work roughly 50 hours a week shadowing/assisting MD/ PhD Leukemia doctors.
Perform magic at a retirement home; am pretty good at magic.
Have won awards in tennis, swimming, and ultimate frisbee (local level; nothing even remotely special)

Founded a free successful STEM program to teach middle and elementary schoolers; has been successful/ moved on to online and other formats.

Completed a research project for another local hospital.

Again sorry if this is annoying. Just not sure where I should apply, besides my safeties (Austin Honors and A and M) and reaches (HYPSM minus Yale, Rice, UChic, Caltech, Rice, Duke, UC Berkeley if it’s a reach?)

2

ignore this; help with the above question is still appreciated

3

What’s the budget? What do you want to study? Looking for big school or small? Urban, suburban, rural? What part of the country?

4

Case Western could be a good match to add - top-notch hospitals and medical facilities nearby where students sometimes get jobs and a lot of focus on students with interest in health fields, as well as STEM generally.

You would have a good chance there, but their acceptance rate is around 30%, so it’s hard to say they fall into a >50% chance of you being accepted, even though your stats are on their higher end. They’re one of the schools where expressing interest is important, so if you didn’t tour, you’d want to try to meet a regional representative, make sure to open their emails, ask them for further information in some areas you’re interested in, etc.

5

Based on your interest in majoring in math mentioned on your other thread, note that The Princeton Review suggests colleges for this field in its sampling “Great Schools for Mathematics Majors” (Harvey Mudd, MIT, UChicago, Caltech, Haverford, Harvard, Hamilton, Bowdoin, Reed, Rice, Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, URochester, St. Olaf . . .). Across its full range, this group would include entirely realistic matches for you. However, if you expect to graduate HS having studied math beyond the level of multivariable calculus, then you would need to check the smaller programs for a range of upper-level courses suitable for your level.

6

Weather is not a problem. I have lived in cold Canada, scorching/humid Houston, and several other mild places. I enjoy all sorts of weather as they all have different viable sports (indoor for colder climates).

Not trying to brag, but my family is well off enough to pay for virtually any college; scholarships are certainly appreciated on the other hand. So really no “budget” per se.

I took multivariable calculus and intro to differential equations this year in school (one class). I also do MIT Open Course Ware and should finish a significant portion of undergraduate level mathematics by the time I enter college, so maybe I should search for smaller programs as you have suggested.

Again I have lived and enjoy living in all sorts of communities(genuinely). I’d say I lean on the side of liking smaller, intimate communities but I have lived in the center of large cities as well.

I am leaning towards math/computer science combination. As a result, I am interested in Berkeley and I am also interested in Rice because it is also solid at math/cs and also good for pre-med (Baylor) should I foray into that path. Of course, both of these schools are reaches it seems, so idk…

Case Western is certainly interesting; it’s proximity to medical facilities is certainly a plus.

@merc81 thanks for the list, but still some of them (Harvard, UChic, etc.) are extreme reaches that I will apply for and (probably, though I will give my best) be rejected by.

Just out of curiosity, would I have a solid shot at UC Berkeley? I am saying this because I found out yesterday that Rice was a reach school for everyone (I am new to the entire admission system tbh; I even considreeed applying to Pton in 11th grade last year bc I thought I might be strong enough but clearly not); I am trying to roughly gauge the programs I would have a solid shot at. I am sure you get these kinds of questions a lot so sorry.

7

if you plan to double major in Math and CS at Berkeley, you have to join in thru L&S, and your grades and scores should be able to comfortably get in.

8

I think you’d have a very high likelihood of getting into Oxford (much better probablilty than most of your reach schools in the US) for math and CS if you’re prepared to go that far. AMO qualification would make it nearly automatic, almost regardless of anything else you’ve done.

But it wouldn’t be any use for a pre-med track and you need to understand the process (entrance test, interview, etc.) as it’s very different to the US.

9

As you are an affluent Asian with CS/math/pre-Med interests, apply ED to Rice as you like it and your odds are high due to no discrimination there. Don’t throw away your EA, ED, SCEA on Ivies. They do have some merit and last year some ED applicants too were selected for that.

10

So, just to be sure, will there really be no discernible difference between say Rice mathematics/cs and Princeton math/cs? If so I should probably just play it safe and ED Rice…

11

“will there really be no discernible difference between say Rice mathematics/cs and Princeton math/cs?”

Discernible in what way? You’d have more fellow AMO qualifiers at Princeton, and likely more encouragement to compete in the Putnam, etc. There’d probably be several people as good or better than you in math at Princeton, that’s less likely at Rice (I don’t see Rice mentioned at all here: https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/AnnouncementOfWinners2018.pdf).

It can be quite the experience to be part of a group of the best mathematicians in the world (that’s what I had in college, it’s intimidating for some people, amazing for others). I’m not sure that it would make as much difference in CS or pre-med.

So is that important to you? Note also that if you don’t want to do a math PhD it probably won’t make much if any difference to your career prospects.

12

@above true. This is why this is such a hard decision. I would choose Princeton over Rice if I got into both, but if I ED Rice it seems I have a higher chance of getting into either than if I just SCEA Princeton and RD Rice. Yeah, I probably won’t get a PhD in math, but having an extremely high-caliber group of students around me brings out the best in me, something that I am more likely to experience at Princeton than Rice.

As for Oxford, my parents certainly won’t let me go there, even if I do get in. I personally would like to go there as it is (in my opinion) the best looking university in the world and very, very good for undergraduate teaching.

13

@HazeGrey’s S is doing math+CS at Oxford and might want to chime in on that experience from a US perspective (I grew up in the UK and did my math undergrad and PhD at Cambridge). Would your parents still refuse to let you go to Oxford if you didn’t get into Princeton, MIT, etc and it was that vs UT?

14

@yayforapples You certainly have the stats to potentially be a successful Oxford applicant. My son never qualified for USAMO/USAJMO and was no where near the top 15 on his trips to HMMT/PUMaC. Since shortlisting for interview is primarily driven by MAT result, your track record would bode well for success there.

My son loves it there and is having a great experience. Doing all kinds of once in a lifetime stuff -he runs his college’s tennis program and just got invited by his provost to play doubles with him at the All England Club once Wimbeldon is over.

You could spend a fair amount of time at home - four-ish weeks between terms and three months for the “long vac”. We do have the safety net of family 90 minutes away in Surrey, but he doesn’t really see them that much other than to store his stuff.

If it’s of interest to you, might be worth a real discussion with your parents about it.

You’ll get no financial aid, so keep that in mind.

15

my parents would not send me to Oxford, period. They are very clingy; they are hesitant about Princeton or MIT or something like that, because the plane tickets to visit me would be so expensive, so I infer that Oxford is a big no. I’ll see if I can convince them but they are quite adamant that I stay in the country.

If it were my choice, I would probably say yes, as Oxford has my favorite campus and the great tutorial system and a basically unbeatable brand name.

No financial aid should not be much of a problem; my parents are willing to pay for the whole tuition of Duke (the most expensive in US) if I get in so that should not be an issue.

16

Harvey Mudd has a wonderful math department (top producer of future math PhD’s) and top-notch CS, plus access to the course offerings of the whole Claremont Consortium. Unlike many top CS schools, you can choose your major freely once there. (This is also true at Rice, as you know. But I believe Mudd is stronger in theoretical math.) Wonderful climate and facilities for your preferred sports, and a relatively easy direct flight from Houston. The downside is its reputation for grade deflation, which makes it disadvantageous as a premed school. But definitely worth checking out if you visit Caltech (not known for grade-inflation either!) - they’re less than 30 miles apart. I feel like a student who feels more drawn to Princeton than to Rice might like the mix of rigorous STEM with liberal arts at Mudd.

Rice is tilting more and more toward filling its class with ED applicants… and your decision process illustrates why! It’s a tough call, because your ED school really should be your true first choice, but then again, you want to play that card someplace where there’s a decent chance it will pay off. I’m sure you will end up with good options, though, even if you go for the long-shot strategy in the early round.

17

For undergrad, stay in country. For math, unless academia is the end target, you’ll be good at any top 50 college. Yes, Princeton is awesome but odds are very low there and likely you’ll loose early apply advantage to others. It’s your call, if you are fine attending UT or Tulane then sure try SCEA at Princeton. If you aren’t tied to 1-4 colleges and rather make sure to get into a 1-20 college than do that.

18

You have quite an impressive resume, and I would predict that it could get you into some excellent schools! I think that Rice may be one of your best options if you are interested in STEM, because it seems to be within your reach and it is quite prestigious. I would suggest visiting the campus and possibly getting to know math/ stem professors there to boost your chances.
I do believe you could also be a competitive applicant for Oxford and other schools such as Northeastern, UCLA, USC, and even Princeton.
I definitely think you should consider applying to Northwestern University. It is located in Chicago and it just recently opened up a new medical research facility. It is a very respectable university for pre med, and it produces an impressive amount of medical students each year. Given your unique stats, I think you have a shot.
I’d also like you to consider the University of Texas if you are interested in computer science. Now keep in mind that UT relies very heavily on class rank when admitting students, and even with your impressive SAT and other accomplishments i would not say you are guaranteed admission. I have seen many students get accepted to schools like yale and stanford and then face a rejection from UT because they were not at the top of their class. I dont mean to discourage you, but realistically UT should not be one of your safety schools if you are not in the top 6%. However, you should most certainly apply, as the university of texas has a top-notch cs program for an excellent price (which your parents may appreciate). If you are at all interested in cs, i think it could be a really great match for you!
Keep up the good work, Good luck!

19

Does this mean 3.5 on the more usual 4.0 scale? Is it unweighted?

Please specify your unweighted GPA with A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0.

UT Austin is a reach, not a safety, if your rank is below top 6%, or you are not a Texas resident.

Also, what are your cost constraints? Note that UCs do not give need-based financial aid to non-California residents.

20

As noted before, if you will complete second year college math (e.g. multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, or more advanced math) before high school graduation, some smaller math departments may not offer enough upper level courses for you (and smaller ones may not cover all subareas of math that you may be interested in). So you may want to check what math courses each math department offers on a regular basis when evaluating colleges for suitability for you as a math major.