Yale, Harvard, or Princeton EA??

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hi, everyone!
I've been researching a few colleges for the past month and I'm having a hard time choosing which school to apply to through EA. I want to major in neurology eventually, but follow a pre-med or neuroscience track for undergrad. I want to apply to a high reach for EA. My research shows that Princeton, Yale, and Harvard all offer neurscience for undergrads, but I'm not sure about pre-med. So, I've come on CC to seek advice. Please tell me which college would be the best in terms of the track I want to follow, and which one I'm most likely to be admitted to (although I realize my chances for any 3 of them are VERY slim).</p>

<p><strong><em>Sorry if I am a bother to anyone who has answered my many questions about Harvard!</em></strong></p>

<p>Projected stats by the time I apply:</p>

<p>[li] SAT I: 2300</p>[/li]
<p>[li] SAT II: 770-chem 770-math II 800-Biology 770-Spanish 800-US History</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 weighted: 4.53</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 1%</p>[/li]
<p>[li] AP (place score in parenthesis):Stat(4)Bio(5)Eng Lang(4)US(4)chem(4)Spanish(3)</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Senior Year Course Load: 6 APs. One class at a local college.</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):Winner of a poetry contest & published poem(national), AP Scholar w/ Distinction(national), 2nd place National Leadership Conference for Health Occupation Students of America(national), 3rd place state Science Bowl (& many other regional/ school-wide awards)</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): </p>[/li]
<p>** Science(& math) passion*: Science Club(Held all sci bowl practices at my house & looked up practice q's(3rd in state), sci olymp(2nd at regionals, 6th in state) Science National Honors society(Founder & president*. Get middle-schoolers interested in Science & open up many opportunities for classmates(scholarships, summer programs, etc)) Researcher at local univ (Certified in Biohazard safety. 12 months. Positive, ground-breaking results) Health Occupation Students of America(1st at regionalsx2. 5th&3rd at state. 2nd at nationals) Mu Alpha Theta(math hon society( <a href="secretary.%20President%5B/B%5D.%2010th,%205th,%20and%204th%20at%20regional%20competition">B</a> </p>

<p>Cultural Awareness passion: Persian Cultural Association(since 11yrs old. Serve on the organizing committee), Hand-In-Hand(summer camp to teach kids about other cultures. Co-founder. Camp counselor) </p>

<p>Miscellaneous: NHS(volunteer hours. introd. a new award vice pres) Student Government(Class rep., Senior class pres), Tennis(started last summer)</p>

<p>[li] Job/Work Experience: Private Biology tutor</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Volunteer/Community service: with most the aforementioned clubs. ~250 hrs</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Summer Activities: HOSA Nationals. Researcher at the state university. Summer Science program(physics) @ National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab & Mich state Univ. Self-studied physics to skip a level. self-taught piano. Volunteering. Intern at Neurologist's office & neuroscience lab.</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Essays: writing about my commitment to Persian Cultural Association & my passion for spreading cultural awareness / founding Hand-In-Hand summer cultural awareness camp & how I want to recreate that in college.</p>[/li]
<p>[li] State (if domestic applicant): TN</p>[/li]
<p>[li] School Type: pretty competitive, public. only 1 accepted to IVY this year. 4 last year.</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Ethnicity:Middle-Eastern</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Gender:F</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None, really. first gen immigrant(?), overcame the language barrier, diversity (started a summer camp to spread cultural awareness). Plan to enter Siemens...crossing my fingers for semi-finalist :D</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Intended major: neuroscience --> neurology, citation in Spanish(maybe)</p>[/li]
<p>THANKS SO, SO MUCH! Any input is greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Thanks for the reply! :smiley: </p>

<p>Initially, Harvard was my top choice…then, I got a booklet from Yale and that won my heart…yesterday, I got one from Princeton, which made it at the top of my list, too. So, I posted this thread to see if I could get any advice about the best school in terms of academic programs, since they are all practically the same in my eyes at the moment. I have researched their websites, though…but I’m still confused. For example, I found out that Princeton has a certificate program for neuroscience, but what does that mean? Is that a concentration in neuroscience? What about a bachelor’s degree as an undergrad? </p>

<p>Oh & also, is the grant that they list on their booklets/ websites per year, or is that the total they give you for all 4 years?</p>

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<p>Anyone else?? Pleeeease help</p>

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<p>Buuump, please</p>

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<p>As aalee said, you are as competitive as you can be at this point. Just keep doing what you’re doing and continue seeking opportunities to pursue your passion for science. I can’t really help you much because I don’t know much about the sciences, but definitely browse each school’s website (and booklets, if given) and try to figure out which ones have resources/activities that best fit your interests.</p>

<p>(And yes, Yale’s booklet swayed me, too!)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply :)</p>

<p>If I hadn’t separated my EC’s to emphasize my focus, do you think it’s still evident that I love the science and also like to promote cultural awareness? Have I done enough to show that? That’s my main concern…</p>

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<p>You’ll show that through your essay, unless you have a more compelling topic. </p>

<p>Really, the difference in academic quality between these three schools is not so large that you should worry about that. You are a competitive applicant, so just choose whichever school you would most like to attend. Remember, too, that EA is not binding so there is little consequence to this choice (just the number of schools you’ll throw an application at). None of these schools will open a door that the other two can’t.</p>

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<p>Academics are exemplary of these schools, no problem there. As others have said, it’s basically a matter of putting your EA where you want it the most. In your application, as well as your essay, try to hone in on a specific passion; definitely mention all extracurriculars, but be sure your essay isn’t a list, and that it puts emphasis on the path you want to take. I was a little wary about your essay topic; if your passion is science, and you’re applying for engineering, are you sure you want to write about your efforts towards cultural awareness? If you can make it work, go ahead. Just don’t make it seem like all your efforts were made purely for putting text on an application.
Good luck! Though I’m sure an applicant of your caliber won’t need much of it :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies! :)</p>

<p>Discobiscuits, I’m writing my supplement essays on my passion for the sciences & my common app one on spreading cultural awareness and my cultural background(b/c I thought that would be more of a unique topic than writing about the sciences); however, I want to make sure to communicate the fact that I want to major in neuroscience/ neurology and I love science…do all schools accept a supplement essay, even if they don’t ask for it? (Vanderbilt only asks for the common app & there’s no such thing as a Vanderbilt supplement essay, but for schools like this, could I still send in an extra essay?)</p>

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<p>& yes, picking my favorite school is a major problem for me. They’ve all been equal in my eyes after looking at their booklets & websites…not sure what else I can do.
Princeton was my first choice a few months ago, but then I heard that it’s more of a liberal arts school. Is that true?
Also, I’m afraid of wasting my EA on Yale b/c I’ve heard they waitlist waaaay too many people compared to H & P. I honestly can’t tell what they’re looking for even after reading actual results threads.</p>

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<p>To my knowledge, as I was looking into it last year, Princeton does not offer a neuroscience major at the undergraduate level- only a program which leads to a certificate (similar to a minor). Just something to maybe consider, unless it has changed since last year. Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Yes, I also noticed that on their brochure! What is the difference between certificate and concentration programs?? Do concentration programs give you a bachelor’s degree as an undergrad?</p>

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<p>Sorry, my terminology was slightly misleading in my last post…as far as I know, Princeton uses the term concentration synonomously with major and rather than use the term minor they prefer to say certificate program. </p>

<p>[Princeton</a> University - Departments & Programs](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/main/academics/departments/]Princeton”>Areas of Study | Princeton University)</p>

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<p>That’s not a hook (or even close to it), but it is pretty respectable. Also, make sure you send abstracts of your research to the colleges you apply to- it should help a good amount. </p>

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<p>Ermm, 1 acceptance to an Ivy caliber school isn’t quite what I’d consider competitive/pretty competitive, assuming student college matriculation directly correlates with the competitiveness of the school, which, generally speaking, it does.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies.
& the link!!
WongTongTong, our two valedictorians have ~4.65 GPA’s…pretty good if you ask me. Also, this year, we had some full-ride merit scholars to great schools like Vandy. Others went to high-caliber schools like Duke & Dartmouth. One of the laziest classes in the history of my school, though.<br>
I meant competitive as in the environment is cut-throat. People secretly ask teachers to skip a level of a subject at school…things like that. I predict at least 7 people in my grade will be accepted to Ivy’s. All other graduating classes even tell us that we’re too competitive for our own good hahah</p>

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<p>

Harvard provides access to Boston. Princeton is in a small, wealthy town reasonably close to Philly and NYC. Yale is in New Haven, which is different from either.</p>

<p>Princeton requires a senior thesis of all students. Harvard and Yale do not.</p>

<p>Yale allows students to double major. Harvard and Princeton do not. </p>

<p>Harvard offers minors (secondary fields), and Princeton offers certificates. Yale does not. </p>

<p>Harvard and Yale have medical/law/business/etc. schools attached. Princeton does not.</p>

<p>I’m sure there are many other differences. Look into them again. I’d be very surprised if one doesn’t appeal to you at least a little more than the other two.</p>

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<p>^ Exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Thanks! :slight_smile: I think that rules P’ton out</p>

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<p>Is the grant amount that the colleges list on their websites for each year, or is that the total amount for all four years?</p>

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<p>May be better off using early action as a chance to get a few acceptances in the bag. Maybe schools like UVA, Notre Dame, and other top-25 schools so that you won’t need regular decision safeties. Just a thought, as it is extremely difficult to gain acceptance to any of these three, early or regular. This way, your safeties are out of the way and you can entirely focus your efforts toward just these high reach applications during the later rounds. But, more germane to your question, Princeton seems the more appropriate option for anyone interested in biomedical sciences…just my two cents.</p>

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<p>with good essays you’ll have a shot, but you’re probably better off applying somewhere ED like Penn or Duke or JHU b/c that way you’ll DEFINITELY get in: your ECs are a bit lacking for the ivies, but I think you’ve got a shot with GREAT essays.</p>

<p>CHANCE BACK!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1181496-chance-harvard-scea-unc-ea-state.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1181496-chance-harvard-scea-unc-ea-state.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;