I am an Asian American rising senior from a top ranking high school in Michigan. I think I am at the top 10% in my school. I’m curious about my chances of getting into the schools listed above. So, here are my stats:
ACT: 33 Composite, 33 English, 34 Math, 32 Reading, 32 Science
SAT: 2070 660 Reading, 750 Math, 650 Writing (I took it once, and I plan on not taking it again)
PSAT: 207 68 Reading, 70 Math, 69 Writing (I think this should be commended???)
Unweighted GPA: 3.76 (GPA kinda nosed dived after a shaky ending to junior year)
Classes (so far): AP Government, AP World History, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, Honors/Advanced level math for Algebra 2, Geometry, and PreCalculus with regular Algebra 1, Honors/Advanced level English for grades 10 and 11. College Prep(de facto Honors level) Physics and Chemistry.
AP Scores(in parentheses): AP Government(5), AP World History(5), AP Biology(3), AP Chemistry (3), AP Environmental Science(4)
Senior Year Schedule: AP Calculus
AP Statistics
AP English
AP Spanish
AP US History
IB 20th Century History SL
Internship
Recomendations: I have a teacher who is willing to write me a pretty good recomendation. Also, my counselor knows me well, so i’ll have her do it.
Extracurriculars: Philosophy Club
Robotics
Model UN
Quiz Bowl
Swim Club (seperae from school)
Rotary Club
Volunteer for school
Food Bank Volunteer
Essays: I have a pretty good backstory. I was born early at 27 weeks, stayed in the pediatric ICU for 2 months, and endured 5 operations before I turned one. At first, I struggled with life and beat that. Later, I had difficulty with my fine motor and gross motor development and overcame that problem. When I first went to school, I was diagnosed with ADHD and overcame that. During elementary school and the beginning of middle school, I struggled socially and academically before adjusting to the curriculum. Now, I am a successful student and individual, but I have a visual impairment. (This is gonna be the theme for one of my essays)
What are my chances for Ivy Leagues, top ranking UC schools, Southern California, and Combined BS/MD
Do you hold any leadership position in ec’s?
Quiz Bowl Co President and Chair
Rotary Group Leader
Treasurer of Philosophy Club
Overcoming ADHD is not really anything extraordinary. I have ADHD and take medication (I “overcame” it). It’s nothing special. Overcoming odds at 1 (with the five operations) is what it is, but you were one, so you really couldn’t grow from it. The visual impairment is also kind of random. Your social and academic fitting in makes for the best essay. Overall, I think all of your schools are high reaches/crapshoots. Add some safeties.
Did your motor development affect you in high school?
Ivies: Reaches for everyone.
UC’s: Can you pay for these? 55k out of state. What is your major?
BS/MD: Reaches for good ones like Brown PLME as you don’t have much experience in medicine.
USC: I’d say Match-Low Reach depending on if you had any major achievements in your extracurriculars.
The vision impairment might help if it significantly affected your grades. Your GPA is alright since it puts you in the top 10%. Probably want to apply to your dream schools (Ivies and such) in the regular round as first semester senior year could help you quite a bit.
That GPA is going to be your main issue. ECs are ok (nothing special by these schools’ standards), but a 3.76 is below the average at most Ivy league/top UC schools. That wouldn’t be a huge problem in and of itself, but a decline in grades during your junior year is close to the worst thing to have on your transcript outside of really poor grades.
I echo the sentiment of posters here who are telling you not to write about being born prematurely, motor impairment, etc. I’d leave out the struggle to fit in in elementary school as well. It’s like writing an essay about being born with one leg, or struggling through your dog’s death: it’s normal to have trouble getting through such things, and overcoming them is commendable, but admissions counselors want some idea of the person you are now-not the person you were in middle school.
wouldn’t my credientials work for michigan?
should I write about what I overcame in high school?
What would be a great essay topic then?
would my scores work then?
how is the courseload
what sorts of schools would be safety schools then?
A great essay topic would be something that you can confidently say nobody (or almost nobody) will write about. The challenge of parents going through a divorce? Every other kid trying to conjure up an adversity story where none exists will use that. “(insert statement by younger brother/sister that applicant has to care for),” is another clichéd topic. And so on.
You don’t necessarily have to write an essay about overcoming anything. Your essays should reflect what makes you different as a person-you don’t need a sob story to impress colleges. The point of the essays is to confirm that you can write, and see how “interesting” you are. Consider that.
I’d suggest Northeastern or BU as two possible safeties. I don’t know what their med programs are like, but look for similarly selective colleges (as determined by their SAT/ACT midrange, average GPA, etc).
Would Michigan be a safety?
Michigan should be your target school, others to weigh offers and fit. And advice, pick the school you will do best in, not the best school you got in.
Do target schools and safety schools mean the same thing? What exactly is a target school?
Target schools are definitely not safeties, I can tell you that. If an earthquake were to destroy UC Berkeley tomorrow, the U of M would be the best public university in the country.
What “target school” actually means, I don’t know. But Michigan is a match or low reach for you, or any candidate who isn’t absolutely perfect.
How about schools like USC or Emory?