What are my chances for UVA, UNC, etc Biology?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

-Rank my chances for UVA, UNC chapel hill, Umaryland, Umich!

  • Also provide suggestions for more colleges to apply to!
  • In state student in Northern Virginia
  • Asian
  • Intended major: Biology
  • Applying Early Action for UVA
  • Upper Middle Class

Academics
UW GPA: 3.87
W GPA: 4.37
APs: AP World (4), AP chem (4), AP Lang (4), AP calc AB (5), AP psych (5), AP Econ (5), AP calc BC (4), AP Bio (5), AP Lit (4), AP gov (5), AP Stats (4), AP physics (4)
Class rank: 15-20 (not sure but most likely) out of class of 709
SAT: 1520
SAT Subject Tests: Math II: 780, Biology (M): 770
Teacher Recs: Chem teacher (8/10), Calc AB teacher (8/10), Counselor (7/10)
Essays: (8/10)

Extracurriculars:
-HOSA: 9-12th, Secretary (11th), President (12th)
-Biology Olympiad: 10-12th, Treasurer (10th-11th), Vice President (12th)
-Non-Profit Chapter for public health: 10-12th, President of local chapter & part of research committee for whole org (11th-12th
-Surgeons Club: 11-12th, Co-Founder, Co-President
-1/110 students to attend Math, Science, Technology Summer Program in 11th grade where I took classes related to the STEM field
-Math honor Society: 9-12th, Secretary (11th-12th)
-Medical Club: 9-12th, Director of Membership (11th-12th), Senior Advisor (12th)
-Hospital Volunteering: 11th-12th, Student Volunteer (120+hours)
-Math and science YouTube Channel: 10th-12th, Co-Founder, tutoring students in high school sciences and math
-Medical non-profit: 10th-12th, Part of Research Committee
-Medical Professional Shadowing: 10th-12th, 30+ hours of shadowing licensed professionals including physicians, surgeons, etc.

Awards
-AP scholar with distinction
-Chemistry Olympiad: regional competition winner, qualified for nationals
-HOSA: state competition 2nd in category, qualified for nationals
-Won a scholarship
-National Merit Commended Scholar

1 Like
2

Congrats on your work so far!
Well, you seem to be very set on working in the medical field. Will you be pre-med?
I think you have a great shot at getting into UVA!

Some reference:
UVA instate acceptance rate 32.5%
UVA OOS acceptance rate 15%
UNC instate acceptance rate 52%. (at least 80 percent of the freshmen class has to be instate)
UNC OOS acceptance rate 19%
UMich Overall acceptance rate 22.9%
UMich OOS acceptance rate 19.4%

UVA SAT composite 1430
UNC SAT composite 1395
UMich SAT composite 1435
UMaryland SAT composite 1380

General rule of thumb for top applicants like yourself:
If acceptance rate is < 20% | Reach
Schools can get so picky at that point.

I am not really sure what you are looking for in a school. This makes it difficult to give you recommendations.
Public vs Private
I would suggest UCLA as a reach school. Ranked #1 for most beautiful college campuses. Great Med school if you want to be pre-med.
Do you want to go to a research school or an LAC?
Large student body or small student body?

I think you have some great schools on your list already.

3

You may want to consider some private colleges in the selectivity range of the public universities on your list:

4

Thank you so much for reading this!

  • Please help with more suggestions because I don’t know if I am overestimating or underrating my work!
  • First, I would like to pursue a biology degree on a pre-med track
  • Second, probably an LAC
  • Third, preferably medium to large student body but some small schools can be considered
  • Fourth, public or private don’t matter much
  • Fifth, location doesn’t matter a lot but the closer to my home state, that’s a little better
    This is my full college list:
  1. UVA
  2. UNC chapel hill
  3. UMich
  4. UW-Madison
  5. Umaryland
  6. Uflorida
  7. Ohio State
  8. VTech
5

Can u recommend some that you think I can get in? Not considering any of my wants in a college just the best academically that I can probably get into.

7

I would consider looking into
Boston University Massachusetts
Case Western Reserve Ohio
William and Mary instate
URichmond instate
Grinnell Iowa
Northeastern Massachusetts

8

Do you think my weighted gpa is too low because that’s what I’ve been hearing and seeing from others

9

You have great stats. Collegeperson37 covered your first 3 very well, and I think 4-8 are easily obtainable for you. Bet you would get into 4-5 of them.

10

Well, the numbers you gave about your class rank would put you in the top 2-3 percent of your class. So, I wouldn’t worry about your GPA.

11

My daughter had similar stats and ECs. Your top two were on her list as well and she got into both. I think you have a good shot. Good luck!!!

12

Based on your goals, you might want to research colleges that appear through an online search:

“The 25 Best Colleges for Pre-meds”

  1. Bowdoin
  2. Princeton
  3. Duke
  4. Bates
  5. Bryn Mawr
  6. Dartmouth
  7. Johns Hopkins
  8. Swarthmore
  9. Union
  10. Brown
  11. Carleton
  12. Rice
  13. UChicago
  14. Hamilton
  15. Stanford
  16. Amherst
  17. Tulane
  18. Middlebury
  19. Williams
  20. Columbia
  21. Northwestern
  22. MIT
  23. Harvard
  24. Centre
  25. Colgate

While not definitive, this list offers variety. For this reason you may be drawn to at least a few of the colleges included. And, unlike the large majority of high schools students, you could actually get into at least several of these schools.

13

You are an exceptional applicant, and if you prefer these colleges, I see no reason to expand your list beyond the 8. Your weighted GPA is not too low and colleges will look at your unweighted GPA and consider the rigor of your schedule (which is quite rigorous). No guarantees, but you should get into the large majority from 4-8 on your list. As you know, your top 3 are more difficult. Optimistically, I have seen A/1500 students go 3/3, and the worst I have seen is 1/3. The results could be most anything from those, but I like your odds of having at least one option from that group. Keep us posted of your results and good luck!

1 Like
14

As general advice, mid-January represents a good time for a high school junior to begin a college search. Then hope to solidify your choices by around September. Under a best case scenario, your school choices ideally should change over the next eight months as you acquire new information and perspective.

15

Why do you have only public schools on your list if you say public and private doesn’t matter? You OOS public costs will be equal to private schools in many cases. You also say you’d like to consider LACs, but you don’t have any listed. These are good schools, but I also think there are a number of other good options for pre-med.