What are my chances of getting into "good" colleges/how competitive am I in terms of admissions?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi guys, I’m currently a junior, and I’m trying to figure out how good my chances are of getting into “good” schools. To define what I mean, I would like to do pre-med, and my (current) top choices are Brown, Columbia, and Tufts. I’ll try to provide as much information as possible…

My High School GPA is a 3.97 (unweighted, according to online sources, my weighted is around a 4.2), and I’ve taken courses a level above honors in Earth Science, Biology, and Chemistry; honors English and History courses; 3 years of Latin (will take a 4th year next year). In terms of APs, unfortunately the only ones offered by my school for 9-11 graders are USH, Art History, and Stat (I haven’t taken these, USH due to a lack of interest, and Art History and Stat due to scheduling conflicts), but I am taking AP Bio (or Chem if I don’t get into Bio, at my school it’s essentially either or), BC Calc, and Physics next year, and maybe self studying Gov’t and/or Stat. Over the summer, I am taking a (noncredit) course at Brown on Bio/Organic Chemistry.

In terms of test scores, I have taken the ACT, for which I got a 35 (36 science, 35 math, 35 reading, 35 writing), ACT Writing, for which I got an 11, and the Biology Sat II Subject Test, where I scored an 800. I intend to take Sat II Math Level 2 Subject Test in June, and based off practice test scores, I’m anticipating at least a 750, likely a 780-800.

In terms of extra curricular activities, I do not play any sports (mainly due to scheduling conflicts), but I am very heavily involved in the high school music program. I am in 4 bands, 2 of them auditioned (in high school), which takes up a large amount of time. Additionally, I am a coach for my middle school’s “Science Olympiad” team, which I was formerly a part of. I am also a leader in Model UN, and got selected as, essentially, “best delegate” at NHSMUN (largest international MUN conference), and have chaired small conferences that my school hosts. I have also won numerous awards for band, and am fairly recognized throughout my town community for it.

Also, I tutored music this year, and will likely do it again next year (and I’m considering tutoring other subjects as well–if my schedule allows for it, I will be TA-ing an “honors plus” Biology or Chemistry course, so I may as well tutor those subjects), and last summer I participated in a 40 hr/wk internship at a private Primary Care office, where I did administrative duties as well as “nurse” duties (that’s the best way I can think to describe it; basically just greet patients, take ht, wt, BP, pulse, etc.).

That’s everything I can think of, hopefully it provides as holistic of an overview as possible. What do you guys think are my chances at highly selective colleges (Brown, Columbia, and Tufts are my top choices as of now)? How competitive am I as an applicant, based on the above information?

Thanks in advance…

2

major? gender? ethnicity?

3

You have nice involvement in music, although musical talent is kind of generic in the college application world (DISCLAIMER: conclusion drawn from non-scientific observation of real life and college confidential). You certainly have the stats to get into those three schools, so it’s all up to how you spin yourself and how you can make the admissions board really interested in your musical abilities.

4

Major: Biology (premed)
Gender: M
Ethnicity: Indian

5

well you will be competing against some very competitive people with national awards and research. Low chances at Columbia and Brown, but if you ED to Tufts I think you will get in.

6

I know this is an old thread, which I made mainly to calm my nerves. In my time since posting this, I was involved in saving the Music program at my middle school, and I won a state award at my high-school. All my recommendation letters were incredible (at least, that’s what I infer from talking to the teachers I asked to write them), and I got accepted into my top choice, Brown!