What are my chances? Columbia, Cornell, Boston College, Boston University, Tufts, NYU

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Columbia, Cornell, Boston College, Boston University, Tufts, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
This is my list, so far, of reaches and matches. I’ll also be applying to every decent UC as well. I’m still looking to supplement my list of matches, so input is greatly appreciated. I’m thinking of either going the pre-med path or the business path if that makes a difference.

SAT:1520 (1560 superscored)
SAT Subject: Biology- 750 Just took Math II and Physics
GPA: 3.9 UW 4.5 W
Ethnicity: Chinese
Sex: Male

Live in the Bay Area, pretty affluent

SCHOOL:
Public school- very good as it is in a very rich neighborhood
It is still very diverse compared to other schools in the bay area, both racially and economically.

Courses
Freshman: Geo H, Bio H, World History, Spanish II H, PE, Survey of Comp. and Lit., Concert Band
Sophomore: Algebra II H, Trig/PreCalc H, World Lit H, MEHAP, Spanish III H, Chem H, Symphonic Band
Junior: Calc BC, APUSH, Spanish AP, AP Lang, Physics II AP, Wind Ensemble
Senior: Stats AP, AP Gov/Econ., Bio AP, AP British Lit, Wind Ensemble

Extracurriculars:
Treasurer of HOSA
VP of Medical Outreach Volunteers for Everyone (MOVE)
VP of Little Mozart Club
Volunteered in Mexico to build a gray water system
Worker bee for the Christmas Drive at a local homeless shelter
Wind Ensemble
Soccer Ref
Tutor underprivileged English class at my school
Tutor Calculus to AB students
Janitorial Duties at my church
Trumpet 9 years- guest artist at a coffee shop
Varsity Soccer 2x
Club Soccer- on the 4th best team in Norcal (How do I show that this was a large part of my life?)

Summer Experience:
Toured around Australia with the school festival band
Worked as a counselor at my church’s basketball camp
Worked as a counselor at children’s camp at the Marine Science Institute (internship)

Awards :
Silver medalist at the World Music Festival
NSE Silver Medalist 3x
3rd Place in NPL 1 for soccer

2

Ur plenty qualified… idk how big the world music festival is but is sounds like a huge deal… if it is then ur set both academically and ec-wise, although some of your schools (Columbia, Cornell) are reaches for everyone. Write good essays!
Chance Back?
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1976885-recommendations-on-where-to-apply-also-unique-ec-p1.html

3

Grades are good, but remember that you’re in the worst possible demographic-the dreaded Chinese male. The Ivies are going to be reaches since your ECs are similar to what most people in FUHSD, Fremont, LGSUHSD, Palo Alto, Piedmont, Los Altos/Mountain View, or any other competitive Bay Area high schools will have.

Your scores are great for Tufts, meaning beware of Tufts Syndrome. They will easily reject you if you are thinking of using them as a backup.

BU/BC are a match. You can do even better. Add Case Western as a match as well.

I would suggest the following schools as reaches that are within target:

WashU
Emory
Tulane
Vanderbilt

I can see you being accepted at all four and at least 2 of the 4. Top ranked universities in the South (besides Duke/Rice) generally don’t have that many Asian applicants and it’s worth a try to apply. Tulane waives the app fee for most students as well. Your parents might get culture shock about the South but it’s worth it if you can get in.

I’m surprised USC isn’t on your list. Lots of Chinese parents are having their kids apply there even though it’s in a dicey neighborhood. The same parents would want their kids to go there instead of a Top-20 ranked school in the South.

ED to your first choice.

4

You have stellar academic qualifications and I’m glad you’ve taken a few subject tests, since they will showcase your extensive knowledge in a particular field of study. Your ECs look pretty decent and only a few of them seem slightly generic in that most applicants to these schools will share the same or similar ECs, so they may not help you stand out. ECs are usually what distinguish elite college ADMITS from APPLICANTS, since a good majority of applicants will have similar stats. It’s that one thing that pops out at admissions officers that gets students accepted, so you may want to work on that part a bit. Also, I would suggest you apply to a few safety schools just in case you don’t get into any of these reaches/matches (very unlikely, but could still happen). I suggest some of the lower-end UCs such as UC Riverside and Merced. You may also want to apply to Cal Poly SLO and a few Cal state campuses as safeties. Overall you look like a VERY competitive applicant. Good luck! I would appreciate it if you could chance me back here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1995754-chance-me-low-gpa-rank-cornell-rice-wash-u-ucla-etc-p1.html