AP Scores: Physics 2 (3) Biology (4) Chemistry (4) US History (4) World History (4) English Language (5) Psychology (5) Calculus AB (5) Calculus BC (5)
Extracurriculars:
Vocal musician of 12+ years, performed publicly
Co-editor of monthly cultural publication
Hospital volunteer (150+ hours)
Intern at computational biochemistry lab where I performed cancer research
Possible intern at pharmchem wet lab
Awards:
National AP Scholar
National Merit Semifinalist/Finalist
How does the following list look? Are there any changes you would suggest on my match/reach/safety schools?
Match:
UCSD
UC Davis
UC Irvine
USC
Claremont McKenna College
University of Michigan (EA)
Reach:
UCLA
UC Berkeley
UVA (EA)
UNC Chapel Hill (EA)
Amherst College
Johns Hopkins
Cornell University
Safety:
Rutgers University
UC Riverside
UC Santa Cruz
University of Washington
Intended major at all schools is biochemistry or pharmaceutical chemistry. I plan to attend medical school afterwards, so I would like to attend an institution where I can have ample research opportunity as well as attain a good GPA.
Please tell me what you think of my list, whether I should move any schools between the three categories, whether I should add/remove any schools from my list together.
That was a really long post, so I applaud and thank you if you read the whole way through. Thank you so much again!
Have you run the Net Price Calculators for each college with your family? You have stocked your list with a surprising amount of OOS public options where you are unlikely to get financial support.
What about Arizona State U for a safety? The Barrett Honors program there is very good and your stats would get you a nice merit scholarship, certainly in-state tuition, maybe more. Historically, they offered free tuition for NMF but I’m not sure if that is still the case.
If you get NMF, you’d also be eligible for merit scholarship from USC.
Congratulations on your excellent academic record!
why are you applying to Claremont Mckenna? It’s a small college and has a more “Business/ Economics” focus.
Most of the rest of your colleges are BIG universities. I second the suggestion to run the NPC’s- ESPECIALLY for the OOS and private colleges on your list. IF $$ is no object and
IF you like the Claremont Consortium of colleges- then I’d add Pomona to the reach column, since it is also a top liberal arts college, along the lines of Amherst.
@siliconvalleymom Yep. We know how expensive the OOS options are, which is why I probably wouldn’t go there even if I was accepted. I decided to apply to a few OOS institutions anyways, just because why not.
@mamaedefamilia thank you for the link! i will definitely look into those schools. i am definitely mainly drawn to USC because of their NMF scholarship; if not, i would probably not even consider it. thank you!
@menloparkmom I don’t really know why to be quite honest…I just like the campus more than Pomona or Harvey Mudd. I actually want to go to a big school Like UCLA is my ideal school in terms of size/campus. I’m only applying to some liberal arts colleges because my parents think they could be good options, but I would much prefer a good UC.
Would you say my list is quite accurate otherwise? In terms of matches/safeties/reaches?
While 10% or so of the UW’s total OOS enrollment comes from California, calling it a safety might be an overstatement. Many/most majors are impacted and the competition for the OOS spots is considerable. Quite unclear why anyone would call it a horrible choice for premed, I know many successful doctors who went there for undergrad, including my ex husband lol, a bio chem major.
Like UCLA is my ideal school in terms of size/campus. I’m only applying to some liberal arts colleges because my parents think they could be good options, but I would much prefer a good UC.