<p>I do want to go to a big name school, I always have wanted to. Waverly, can you suggest a fairly good person or company to read my essay? I would love to go to Rice, but I am expecting a rejection. Really, isn’t Stony Brook a safety?</p>
<p>I don’t know the SB program and how competitive it is, so I don’t know. PM me your contact info and I’ll email it to a few counselors. I don’t know if anyone will have time now but I’ll try.</p>
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<p>Sorry to break it to your parents, but you do not have the numbers for a “big name” school. Three of the main six admissions criteria are gpa, rank and test scores. And all three of yours are below median for a big name school. Thus, to gain admittance to a big name school, you would need knock-it-out-of-the-park ECs and recs.</p>
<p>And realistically, do you really want to swim the premed sharks in a big name college when your numbers are way below theirs? (You need A’s for med school.)</p>
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<p>ROFL! Our HS GC moved paperwork from point A to point B for hundreds of kids, knew mostly about state and non-competitive schools – and had zero expertise or time in terms of essays.</p>
<p>I think you are a good match for both Case Western and BU. You might want to add another SUNY such as Buffalo, Geneseo or Binghamton and look at a school like Franklin & Marshall. Another good option would be one of the women’s colleges like Smith.</p>
<p>@Pizzagirl- exactly! I had to make the envelopes myself and keep nagging my GC about when he would send the envelopes out!</p>
<p>Waverly, is right on the money with Oberlin being a great choice for sciences or pre-med. We looked there for my son, and one of their selling points was how many of their science majors go onto advanced degrees. Also, it is quite the opposite of a cut-throat school and the science majors appear to collaborate from my two visits to the campus. Indeed, they have a science complex consisting of three buildings for each of the main disciplines as well as a common area for students to gather and relax. I went there on a Saturday night and there seemed to be a nice mix of socializing and studying. Oberlin’s rep is really good too (in my view better in academia than the USNews rankings would indicate) and few doors will close to you if you graduate from Oberlin. The real issue with Oberlin, which knocked out my son, is can you stomach living in a rural area in north central ohio (ps I am from Toledo and not an Ohio hater, but it does get really cold there being so close to Lake Erie).</p>
<p>What about my chances at Villanova or Tufts?</p>
<p>Wisconsin-madison–great in biosciences and biochemistry and great overall campus/experience. Match
Indiana U–Good safety
U Michigan–good reach as similar to UW otherwise.</p>
<p>"Sorry to break it to your parents, but you do not have the numbers for a “big name” school. Three of the main six admissions criteria are gpa, rank and test scores. And all three of yours are below median for a big name school. Thus, to gain admittance to a big name school, you would need knock-it-out-of-the-park ECs and recs.</p>
<p>And realistically, do you really want to swim the premed sharks in a big name college when your numbers are way below theirs? (You need A’s for med school.)"</p>
<p>Because admissions decisions are solely based on the first 3 factors, right? She’s well within Cornell’s range (except for that rank). If she got in, it wouldn’t surprise me. Additionally, your comment “And realistically, do you really want to swim the premed sharks in a big name college when your numbers are way below theirs? (You need A’s for med school.)” is incredibly condescending. SAT’s are not the sole determinant of intelligence or college performance. You also don’t know the rigor of her high school or her projected work ethic in college. Some of the brightest students I TAed in upper level engineering courses at Stanford acknowledged to me that they had below average stats for the school (some who didn’t have money for fancy test prep courses or tutors to up their academic profile). Yet they ended up graduating with distinction (i.e. top 15% of the entire school). There are a lot of variables at play.</p>
<p>Your other comment regarding being surprised that JHU didn’t bite is also suspect. It’s not like the applicant pool to JHU ED was uncompetitive:</p>
<p>[Admissions</a> pleased with increase in ED applicants - News & Features - The Johns Hopkins News-Letter - Johns Hopkins University](<a href=“http://www.jhunewsletter.com/news-features/admissions-pleased-with-increase-in-ed-applicants-1.2694014]Admissions”>http://www.jhunewsletter.com/news-features/admissions-pleased-with-increase-in-ed-applicants-1.2694014)</p>
<p>The average SAT was 1353. Artificially low when you consider the ED pool at these schools are often filled with athletic recruits.</p>
<p>Desi, hwow are you choosing schools? It doesnt seem like you’ve taken the time to review college stats. Have you looked at common data sets? We don’t need to tell you where you can get in, they will!</p>
<p>At Penn, less than 2 percent were not top 10%. as you also have well below average scores there, how could you conclude it was appropriate to apply?</p>
<p>And here’s the basics for Brown:</p>
<p>[Brown</a> Admission: Facts & Figures](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University)</p>
<p>Tufts is a bit easier to get into, but still, 85% plus were top 10% and their mid 50th is 670-750 on both CR and math. When you figure in the 50% of the class that has a hook, you understand that most who don’t will be closer to 750 than 670. Given that I’m not seeing much of a shot for you at Tufts.</p>
<p>But the point is that this is all in print, you don’t need us to tell you where you have any real shot. There are soft factors that matter, but if your vital stats are all below median, it’s highly unlikely those factors will push you in.</p>
<p>Your weakness - SAT CR+M 1340 - too low for the most competitive colleges.</p>
<p>That is a problem. Many schools still look strongly at that combo. I think Cornell does as well. Cornell is very unlikely with a 1340 M+CR. </p>
<p>I do want to go to a big name school, I always have wanted to </p>
<p>Your stats aren’t likely going to allow for that. A high W score doesn’t do much at many schools.</p>
<p>Your M+CR will also play into Merit scholarships at many schools. Perhaps some can suggest which schools will give you good merit for those stats.</p>
<p>Since you want to do pre-med, then just go to the best school that you can readily afford without loans.</p>
<p>you need to expand your horizons a bit AND drop pre-med as a focus on the app. you can be pre-med without stating that you intend to major in chem - you do not have the numbers to support that on an application particularly to schools that have highly competitive science/pre-med tracks. doubt that any accelerated pre-med will take those numbers in math/science testing. can you honestly support a more obscure major and still be pre-med? have you looked at any small nescacs? wesleyan? i agree that you should hire professional to look at essays at this late date…you’re in nyc area?</p>
<p>You’d be an excellent candidate for a school like Brandeis. Excellent academics, very good medical school placement, good location (9 miles west of Boston) and, best of all, a 38% acceptance rate (which is much easier than Hopkins’ 18% overall acceptance rate).</p>
<p>I know a Brandeis professor who describes Brandeis as “like Hopkins, but with more chutzpah.” :)</p>
<p>Here are that I think you should apply with (who cares what people say, it’s worth a shot and you have a chance):</p>
<p>Brown, Emory, Tufts, Brandeis, BU, Amherst, Bowdoin, Williams, Middlebury, Wake Forest, and Cornell. You have a decent shot—college isn’t just a numbers game.</p>
<p>Class rank not in top 10% is a problem at the most competitive schools, especially in combination with sub-median (for those schools) SAT CR+M. A lot of people don’t realize it, but the percentage of the entering class in the top 10% of their HS class counts for almost as much as SAT/ACT medians in the US News rankings—40% of 15% = 6% of the total ranking. That’s a lot. Because selective schools all care about their US News rankings (whatever they might say for public consumption), they care a lot about this stat. </p>
<p>Here are the percentage of freshmen in the top 10% at some of the schools being bandied about here:
Brown 93%
Emory 87%
Tufts 85%
Brandeis 84%
Cornell 90%
Amherst 87%
Williams 90%
Middlebury 86%
Wake Forest 80%</p>
<p>You’ve got to be absolutely stellar in every other category to get into these schools if you’re not top 10%. And I’m sorry, the OP has a very good academic record, but nothing that’s going to knock these schools’ socks off. </p>
<p>BU (57% in top 10%) is a more realistic possibility. A Midwestern LAC like Grinnell (63% in top 10%) is another strong possibility; very good academics, strong in sciences, pretty high admit rate, and you might even get diversity points because there aren’t many South Asians out there in Iowa. They have a strong track record of placing their grads into medical school. (Oberlin is actually a tad reachier, despite a slightly lower US News ranking). </p>
<p>If the OP is female, women’s colleges like Bryn Mawr and Smith shouldn’t be overlooked. She’d be a strong candidate at either, they have pretty good sciences and also do well at placing their grads in medical school, and they have residual name brand appeal.</p>
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<p>Is readin’ optional down on The Farm, Stanford grad? :)</p>
<p>I clearly posted: “Three of the main six admissions criteria are gpa, rank and test scores.”</p>
<p>Does ‘three of six’ mean ‘solely’ to you? :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>The Hop doesn’t recruit much, except for lacrosse. And the key point is that the OP was rejected ED, and not deferred. Since ED at Hopkins is statistically ‘easier’ (39% acceptance rate) than RD at Cornell, Amherst or Williams, and if the OP is in the bottom test quartile at Hopkins…without a hook…</p>
<p>Maybe look into Lehigh & Bucknell & Tulane.</p>
<p>I second the midwestern LACs: Grinnell, Macalester and Oberlin. </p>
<p>And I agree with those who say you have a list that is very heavy on reaches.</p>
<p>"Quote:
Because admissions decisions are solely based on the first 3 factors, right?
Is readin’ optional down on The Farm, Stanford grad? </p>
<p>I clearly posted: “Three of the main six admissions criteria are gpa, rank and test scores.”</p>
<p>Does ‘three of six’ mean ‘solely’ to you? </p>
<p>Quote:
Artificially low when you consider the ED pool at these schools are often filled with athletic recruits.
The Hop doesn’t recruit much, except for lacrosse. And the key point is that the OP was rejected ED, and not deferred. Since ED at Hopkins is statistically ‘easier’ (39% acceptance rate) than RD at Cornell, Amherst or Williams, and if the OP is in the bottom test quartile at Hopkins…without a hook…"</p>
<p>You make it sound her academic profile has precluded her from admissions to a top school entirely. Her test scores aren’t bad and are within the range for Cornell (especially for CALS, i’d wager). Probably not median, but they won’t preclude her from admission as you suggest. Additionally, you suggest her GPA and rank will count against her. Again, you don’t know the context of her grades. Would your opinion change if the OP earned that GPA from a selective NY high school like Bronx Sci? Because the top 25% and more of the NY magnets still get into some top notch schools. You are basing her admissions future off of one data point (and schools like JHU, WUSTL, and the top LACs still do recruit at the DIII level. Their admissions requirements are perhaps more stringent than Stanford or Duke for athletes, but that doesn’t mean leeway is not granted in the early pool for recruits.). To say the OP couldn’t compete academically against premeds at the top schools or will be shutout given the sparse amount of information provided shows an abuse of inferential comprehension.</p>