Should I add MIT and additional Ivy League colleges to my list?

College Search & Selection
1

Basic: Female - Indian American - USA born - Illinois
Areas of Interest for College: Biomedical Engineering, Pre-Medicine

Academic Information:
GPA: 4.00/4.00 unweighted, 4.4/4.4 weighted (Max Cap 4.4 in school)
AP Classes: Human Geography (4), European History (3), Psychology (5), Physics (3), US History (5)
Senior AP Classes: Calculus AB, Biology, Chemistry, US Government
Honors Classes: English I, Biology, English II, Advanced Algebra, Chemistry, Pre-Calculus and Trigonometry
SAT Total Score: 1520
ACT: 33 (not submitting)
SATII: Math 710, Physiscs 650

Extra-Curricular Activities:
JV Swim Team - 4 years
Principal Student Advisory Team
Vice President @ Future Medical Professionals Club
National French Honors Society
National Honors Society
Student Mentor - teaching elementary school kids
Link Crew
Student Council

Awards:
WYSE Group & Individual Award- 1st place Regional
RISE - Research program Gold state award
Academic All-Conference Award
AP Psychology student of the year

Work Experience:
Swim Coach

Volunteer Experience & Other Activities:
Local Hospital Volunteering (160 Hours)
Free Swim Coaching to children diagnosed with autism, neurological and genetic disabilities (50 Hours)
Physician Shadowing – Pediatrician (20 Hours), family Physician (35 Hours)

Thanks in advance

here are my short listed schools:

My Reach Schools:
Brown University
Stanford University
Columbia University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Johns Hopkins University
University of Southern California
Carnegie Mellon University

Target Schools:
Case Western Reserve University
Wake Forest University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Safety Schools:
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Baylor University
Santa Clara University
St. Louis University
University of Illinois Chicago
George Washington University

2

I’m not sure what your question is. You already have two Ivy League schools on your list and they are quite different. Brown has on open curriculum and Columbia has a large core. Why did you pick those? Why would you add more? Your list of schools is already too long. It’s time to cut, not to add.

3

Brown isn’t the place to go for engineering.

4

Agreed.

Some of the Ivy League colleges are quite strong for engineering, but certainly not all are. Additionally, for MIT especially, but Ivy League as well, your Subject Test scores are quite low. For MIT, a 760 in M2 and 740 in science is 25th percentile for them:
http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/class-of-2017-by-the-numbers

5

Sure. If you have the time.

However premed at mit and Cornell is tough.
And remember you have to enjoy more aspects of the school life than just the brand.
Location. Social vibe. Activities and climate are just a few.

Premed is all about getting as close to a 4.0 as possible and mit fellow clasmates will make it difficult to lead the pack in the stem classes.

Cornell is known for its weed out and grind for premeds.

Brown is perfectly great for a premed. I would think that Georgia tech and wake forest should be switched on your list. Ga tech is a match. Wake is a low reach.

But it is hyper competitive at all even with your impressive stats.

Best of luck and make sure you can afford all the schools you choose in advance.

6

thanks @me29034

Yes I am in the process of cutting.
Max 4 in each category (4 reach, 4 target, 4 safety)
The reason I choose those 2 IVY schools, they have subject test as “considered or optional”.
If I get admission in IVY for BME, I understand my med school would be jeopardy because of the GPA.

7

Thanks @Engineer80

8

thanks @skieurope

What if I don’t submit the SAT II scores to MIT? would they still look at my application or reject in the beginning?

9

Thanks @privatebanker

Yes, I agree with MIT.
If I get admission in MIT, I understand my med school would be jeopardy because of the GPA.
and I am ready to switch gears to “engineering” as my major and career. I will forget premed/med school dream.

GA tech - I can move to MATCH. but I see they do 60% acceptance rate to GA residents. and they are #1 in BME.
Wake Forest - I agree, it could be low reach

thanks

10

If you don’t submit SAT2 they will wonder why.

11

Your list is reach-heavy and way too exotic. What you’re going to end up with is a bunch of acceptances to schools you can’t afford. The only true safety is University of IL-Chicago. Is that where you want to go, or did you throw that in because you’re CERTAIN you’ll get into an ivy league? :slight_smile: There’s a greater than 94% chance you’ll get rejected by all of the top ivy league schools. The private and OOS schools are almost all reaches, not because of stats, but because of cost. You’re likely to get into those, but you need to be able to pay for them for those schools to even be considered as real options. Have you looked at scholarships? If you want those other schools on your list, that’s what you’re going to need. I would also suggest adding a few more safeties. UIUC is a top science program and it’s in-state.

12

Unlike many top colleges that only “suggest” Subject Tests, MIT requires them. So an application without them will be considered incomplete. Whether they take the time to read the application or not, you should assume that the end result will be the same.

13

thanks @Center

14

thanks @skieurope

then I wouldn’t waste my energy to apply for MIT.

15

thanks @coolguy40 for the honest opinion.

Yes, I may probably remove one of the Reach school and add UIUC (instate)
I completely agree about your view point. I may get into some of those target or safety schools or may be the one or 2 reach schools. But If don’t get any grants/ scholarships then NO to them.
Any reach IVY school with full tuition, I cannot afford.
Target/safety schools I am hoping/praying to get some grants.

16

My apologies @me29034 and thanks for correcting me on “Ivy”.
I learnt something today.
I probably would not apply to any Ivy schools. I understand that, I have only less than 3% chances to get into Ivy.
so I don’t have any hope on those.

17

@blessed101 That sounds good. You can still apply to all the reach schools you want as long as you have either 1-2 good scholarship schools or a good in-state school you can afford. By the way, Baylor and TCU offers tuition scholarships to top applicants, and your stats would qualify.

18

The University of Rochester nicely matches your interests and priorities.

Wishing you the best of luck with all of your choices.

19

If you want to go pre-med then think about:

  1. The cheapest reasonable college so you/your parents can use the money for med school
  2. The college needs to prepare you for MCATs but still allow you to get a good GPA
  3. Access to volunteering opportunities (e.g., near a hospital)
  4. Success in graduates getting into med school
  5. Options if you don’t go to med school
20

Did you run the Net Price Calculator on each school’s website?