Hi dudes I’m pretty lost on what I should consider a reach or a safety. Would appreciate any help
Major: Biology, or cell/molecular biology, or neuroscience, man idk
Demographic: Asian, female, 80k household, New York in suburban Long Island. But not the good part of suburban Long Island. My school sucks
Rank: expecting maybe around top 6 in a class of maybe around 200 students. So top 3%
SAT: expecting around 1500, maybe a little lower. May retake in August if both my first SAT and ACT score come back low
ACT: taking in July, going to aim for a 36 since I feel really good about the practice test (I just got a 34 on my first try yEET)
GPA: around 96% UW, not sure what my weighted is
AP:
Human Geography - 4
World History - 4
Seminar - 4
Biology - 5
Waiting for US History, Chem, Research, Lang, Environmental Science
Next year self studying Psych (and maybe Studio Art) for personal enjoyment, but otherwise taking Lit, Physics C, Calc BC, Gov, Econ. Taking most challenging courses in my school and doubled honors / AP science 10th and 11th grade
Extracurriculars
Science Olympiad - 13 regional medals, team captain. This year I took 6 events because my team is a bit lousy and we had to have like 4 people carry the team together, and we finally made states for the first time in a decade. Though making states isn’t too impressive since normally if you have a decent team it’s easy to do. Team got 5th place at regionals
USABO semifinalist - 9th and 11th
Science bowl nationals - 11th
Quiz bowl 3rd place in a nationals division in 11th, 4th place in the JV regionals in 9th
Principal chair violinist, played as level 5 NYSSMA soloist, qualified for LISFA, in chamber orchestra and Tri-M honor society. I’m also in a quartet
Worked at a medical clinic (it’s my mom’s, do I have to say that?)
Small stuff like robotics one year in 9th, honor roll, ap capstone diploma, going to a weekly STEM program at stony brook, going to a research symposium as part of the Professor For a Day program at cold spring harbor lab, two week-long summer programs at cold spring harbor which you have to pay for but i got in for free
Research this summer with an individual professor, will have to wait to see how it turns out
Also planning on submitting to 3 art contests over the summer. I’m interested in art but only ever did it as a hobby, idk how to work that into my resume and whether art awards / making a portfolio will really help. Would it?
I will probably join the environmental club and the new school journal club next fall and probably get an officer position in environmental club since there’s only like two people in it
The only schools I really have in mind are ED John’s Hopkins which is apparently 30%, Tuft’s, Cornell since I have legacy, and Massachusetts Amherst, how much of a chance do I have for those? What other schools would be good for me? Just looking for the best bio program I can get into with maybe a tiebreaker preference towards something northern or in California. Would also appreciate advice on the art thing. Thanks for the help yall!
Rice, Vanderbilt, and WashU should be considered. But they are definitely not northern schools.
California schools might be a reach though. UCs will be expensive for OOS. Stanford is good for Biology but at a ~4% rate that will be a massive reach.
You need to pay a lot of attention to the cost of universities.
A very large number of schools have excellent biology programs. It is a popular major, and one that is done well in many very good universities.
Your chances of being accepted at U.Mass Amherst seem good to me. Your chances of being able to afford it look a lot lower. It is a very good university. However, there are several SUNY’s which are probably going to cost less for you and which are also very good universities. You should run the NPC’s for all of the schools that you intend to apply to, and make sure that they are likely to be affordable.
This does lead to a question: Are your parents divorced, or do they own a small business, farm, or rental property? If the answer is no to all of these questions, then the NPCs are likely to be accurate.
You have done very well under less than ideal circumstances. This is going to help you a lot. Universities like to see students that can shine with whatever situation they are in. Your great stats give you some chance at Tufts, Cornell, and John Hopkins. These are however all reaches. You need two solid safeties that you know you can afford.
@merc81@DadTwoGirls I didn’t mention this but my bio mom was divorced from my dad and isn’t part of my household, but she does make a lot of money. 200k maybe. My dad + stepmom make 80k. She says cost won’t be an issue but how does this factor in? Is my bio mom considered part of my household income if she’s going to pay for a significant amount of tuition?
Also I think both my bio mom and dad are considered small business owners, my mom runs a clinic and my dad is a self employed tech consultant sort of thing.
What can your family afford to pay? I don’t think the NPCs will be accurate given your family situation, small business owners, etc…but you can call the FA offices at your schools of interest and ask them to please review your information and provide some feedback on possible aid. I would look into schools that will meet full need without asking for information from your biological mother…I think some schools will ask for her information, while a few others will not. It is perfectly fine to call schools and ask.
I agree that you have done very well…congrats! I don’t see any reason to keep UMass on your list…
I would add Binghamton, Stony Brook and Geneseo.
You indicated that your stepmom said that cost won’t be an issue? I think your first step is to ask what this means and what your dad and stepmom can pay. Then you can take it from there and find schools that come in at that approximate cost.
Congrats on all your hard work and success in high school!
Yes, your bio mom’s income will be taken into account for financial aid purposes. You should sit down with a parent and run the NPC for some colleges you’re interested in. You should also run the EFC calculator. You will need to have financial information (income, assets, investments) for all your parents. Then you need to have a conversation with them about what they are willing/able to pay.
You can’t compile a solid college list until you truly know how/if cost comes into play. Otherwise, it’s all hypothetical.
Bio mom (non-custodial parent) will NOT be on OP’s FAFSA, so is NOT taken into account for FAFSA only schools. Any child support payments made by bio mom to custodial dad will be reported on FAFSA. Bio mom’s finances will be taken into account at CSS Profile schools.
Some NPCs may not be accurate for OP, whose dad is self-employed.
Run the NPC at the University of Rochester. They can be very good with financial aid and offer merit aid too. Your stats and ECs could make you competitive. Whether the finances will work out for you is unknown, but they’re worth a look. This assumes you are interested in research. If not, see if the school is right for you or not. They are very research heavy at the undergrad level. It’s what attracts many students.
If finances work out Pittsburgh could be a safety. They are rolling admissions (so admissions would be a known safety) and also offer competitive significant merit aid to make them worth a try financially (just not a safety in that aspect without an offer in hand). I know many high stat students who have started with Pitt as a safety and by decision time they were their #1 choice even if they have acceptances to others. It’s a nice school.
“She says cost won’t be an issue but how does this factor in? Is my bio mom considered part of my household income if she’s going to pay for a significant amount of tuition?”
It’s not entirely clear, but I think the “she” is the biological mom. The financial picture here is complicated (and always important). “She” may be non-custodial, but if she’s going to pay a significant part of OP’s tuition then of course she is part of the picture.
I also think that a smart Asian kid on Long Island with a high-earning parent (albeit one who is not custodial) is going to have to consider how to distinguish herself from other students who might appear to be quite similar.
Case Western is another school to consider plus they are relatively generous with merit aid.
It appears that the non-custodial parent might be willing to pay a significant amount, which might complicate some of the forms that need to be filled.
@twogirls@merc81 Is there any particular reason why Amherst shouldn’t be on my list besides cost? What other safeties would be a good option? I’m not particularly fond of the SUNY schools, Stony Brook is sort of off the list for me since I’ve visited and dislike the campus a lot. I would also like to see if there is another school with a better biology program than Binghamton that I can get into, but it’s not crossed off my list. Are there any safeties that I can go to out of state that have a particularly good biology program?
@Lynnski Do you have any suggestions for how I can set myself apart within this summer / early fall? I’m going to be a bit busy doing the research and drivers ed this summer but I was thinking of maybe doing some kind of volunteer work like at an animal shelter, and I’m also trying to lean more on the arts, would those help or is there anything else I can do?
Thank you for everyone’s suggestions, I will be spending some time doing the NPCs today
U Mass Amherst is a great school and if it comes in at an affordable cost…that’s great! What is it about U Mass that you like? What is it about the biology dept at Binghamton that you don’t like? A safety is only a safety if you can afford it. How much merit do you need for Amherst to be affordable?
How much can your dad and stepmom pay? What will your biological mom pay? The NPCs might not be accurate for you. Many of the reach schools will expect your biological mom to contribute to your college education.
Total COA at Umass Amherst as an OOS student is about $50,000 a year. Is that affordable for your family? If you need merit then it becomes less of a safety, because merit isn’t guaranteed. And…merit awards to Umass are generally about $10,000 a year ( give or take). Would $40,000 a year be affordable for your family? These are the questions that need to be asked.
Schools in California will cost more than Amherst, plus you have to factor in airfare.
You would likely be able to do the Research Immersion Program at Binghamton. Is that of interest to you?
The California UC’s and Cal states offer little to no financial aid to OOS applicants so for the UC’s expect to pay $65K/year and around $40K/year for the Cal states. I would target California private schools such as USC, Occidental, Pomona College/Pitzer college (Claremont Consortium), University of San Francisco (do no confuse with San Francisco State), University of San Diego (do not confuse with UC San Diego or San Diego State) to name a few.
I think the question that needs to be answered here is…what is the total amount of money that your mom, dad, and stepmom will contribute each year for college? That number, combined with summer earnings and the small student loan that you are permitted to take, will determine your list of affordable schools.
Most schools that meet full need will factor in your biological mom’s income…and if that is $200,000 a year I would not expect much FA. There are some meets full need schools that may not look at your biological mom’s income…I know of at least one. These schools are reaches.