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Applying to college

askin on someone else's behalf who is in a v weird place, lets call em john

john has a 3.43 uw gpa and attended one of the best high schools in ma. He has a 35 act (superscore) and pretty good reccs from two very reputable teachers (if that helps). He got bumfucked freshman year by bad teachers and then picked it up to average a gpa of 3.7 for both next years.

john took the hardest courseload possible, 10 APs and self studied subject SATs (math and chem, 800 and 800)

John also swam for 3 years and completed a sanskrit course that bestows the gift of being able to understand sanskirt and is working on his BA rn

john is asian male

john gardens and donates food to food bank regularly

john has a paper and worked at broad institute for 2 yrs on lung cancer

john applied to umass biochem (50% scholarship), wisconsin biomed (in), cornell bio (reject), michigan biochem (defer), northeastern (defer)

john applied to:

BU, Brown, Swarthmore, Drexel, Oberlin, USC, UNC, CMU, GT, Rice, Case Western, UPitt, Renesselaer, WashU, Rochester, UConn, NYU

john doesnt know where he can get in (applied to all for biochem)

Where can he feasibly get in? Where should he go?

John would most likely end up at med school ftr, if that helps

I realize im probably being a dick by askin this but its really weird and its hard to think about this lol

thanks to anyone that helps, much appreciated!
 
Drangonn. said:
askin on someone else's behalf who is in a v weird place, lets call em john

john has a 3.43 uw gpa and attended one of the best high schools in ma. He has a 35 act (superscore) and pretty good reccs from two very reputable teachers (if that helps). He got bumfucked freshman year by bad teachers and then picked it up to average a gpa of 3.7 for both next years.

john took the hardest courseload possible, 10 APs and self studied subject SATs (math and chem, 800 and 800)

John also swam for 3 years and completed a sanskrit course that bestows the gift of being able to understand sanskirt and is working on his BA rn

john is asian male

john gardens and donates food to food bank regularly

john has a paper and worked at broad institute for 2 yrs on lung cancer

john applied to umass biochem (50% scholarship), wisconsin biomed (in), cornell bio (reject), michigan biochem (defer), northeastern (defer)

john applied to:

BU, Brown, Swarthmore, Drexel, Oberlin, USC, UNC, CMU, GT, Rice, Case Western, UPitt, Renesselaer, WashU, Rochester, UConn, NYU

john doesnt know where he can get in (applied to all for biochem)

Where can he feasibly get in? Where should he go?

John would most likely end up at med school ftr, if that helps

I realize im probably being a dick by askin this but its really weird and its hard to think about this lol

thanks to anyone that helps, much appreciated!
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Comments/Questions on "John":
- "Pretty good recs" from reputable teachers isn't really enough to justify that they wrote a good letter for him personally, and given that he most likely waived his right to see his teacher's recommendation, there's no way to judge the quality of the recommendation. A strong barometer of how good of a recommendation a teacher wrote for you is participation in the classroom and interaction with professors outside of the classroom.

- What are his AP scores? 4's and 5's would be a strong indicator of a strong contestant for an admission spot.

- The UW 3.43 really kills him when measured against the top-tier schools (esp. Michigan and Cornell).

- A more precise definition of "one of the best high schools in MA" would be nice (general range of ranking i.e. top 5, top 10, top 15, etc.)

- Did he ask for his PI (primary investigator) for a letter of recommendation? Those can carry a large amount of weight, especially since he did research for 2 years on lung cancer.

- Was he good at swimming on his team or was he "just there"? If he was good enough to compete in County championships, then he's somewhere near NCAA Division III. Not that it matters anymore, since rarely will a team have any open spots come time for regular decision (unless you really sweet talk the coach into putting in a good word for you).

- Yeah, Northeastern really has stepped up their admissions profile in recent years.

- Did he submit his academic paper as a supplement for his application? I know a couple of schools like seeing the fruit of a student's research.

- Most importantly, I don't really know the quality of his essays. For some schools, it's a big game changer; for others, it's a facade. That's one factor I can't really help with.

Comments on acceptance:
Boston University: 66%
- Definitely exceeds testing standards, class rank puts everything up in the air. The deferment from Northeastern makes me hesitant to put out a higher percentage.

Brown University: 2.8%
- Test-wise, he's above the 75th percentile, but given the Cornell rejection, which I'd assume is ED, he doesn't stand too tall in class rank

Swarthmore College: 11%
- Swarthmore is built on Quaker values, which means they're big on volunteering. However, donating to a food bank =/= volunteering at a food bank. This number is an optimistic estimate. Also, it's a bit hard to find profile data to measure against for you, but it seems like that unweighted GPA is gonna be an anchor for your friend

Drexel University: 89%
- I'd almost push it to a high 90% chance
- Although he's below the avg. unweighted GPA (3.56), he has taken classes that are more rigorous and will be looked upon favorably by admissions.
- ACT 35 is practically at the 85th - 95th percentile of Drexel applicants.

Oberlin College: 42%
- His UW GPA is well under Oberlin's average (3.7), but his AP courseload and mastery in subject tests should help him in admissions. Also, the avg. weighted GPA of Oberlin admits is a solid 4.0. If his school does 4.0+ and he has that, then the unweighted situation isn't as big of an issue.
- 35 is above middle 50% (30 - 33).
- Based on his credentials so far, he seems like a solid middle-of-the-pack applicant to Oberlin.

University of Southern California: 37%
- UW GPA well below both applicant and admitted GPAs (3.57 and 3.82, respectively)
- ACT score a bit above middle 50% (31 - 34)
- Your friend is competing against California schools (one of the best public education systems in the U.S.)
- Personally, I wouldn't recommend USC because you're paying Ivy League tuition for a curriculum you could get down the road at UCLA (or Boston / Northeastern)
- Asian hunnies down at USC are ratchet af (personal experience)

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: 39%
- ACT is above top end of middle 50% by two points
- Frankly speaking, I really don't know how to actually describe UNC since I rarely work with students who apply there (or who think of applying there but end up axing the school from their final pool altogether)
- Good portion of admits are at the top 10% of their class (78%). Assuming that 3.43 UW means that he probably isn't, that means that his GPA will be the hole in the armor.

Carnegie Mellon University: 32%
- Why did he apply to CMU if he's probably going bio track? These assumptions are based off of Mellon College of Science (since most of the college he applied to were for biology)
- Above ACT avg. by one point
- Well below CMU's unweighted GPA (3.87)
- Not a preferred choice imo

This is as far as I will go. I know that these percentages seem largely arbitrary, but these are my betting odds based on his admissions, deferments, and rejections. If you want an in-depth estimate similar to the ones above (or more), please PM me Drangonn.
 
Kumiho said:
Got into my first choice, UNC-Chapel Hill! Now just waitin to see if I get into East Carolina's Honors College before making a decision. I can't leave all that money on the table if I get in.
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I'll be frank with you. Even if East Carolina gives you a full ride, the UNC-Chapel Hill degree carries a much larger weight when applying to jobs (better networks, better connections). Some schools like Eastern Carolina will throw large amounts of money for students well above their standard deviation to attract them, even if it's an Honors College. In my honest opinion, you're better off sticking with UNC-Chapel Hill, even if it costs you a little more out of pocket.

Furthermore, assuming that you're a U.S. citizen, you can apply for Federal financial aid, which can kick up quite a bit of money depending on your family's income bracket. Also, since you're going into the second semester of your senior year, you undoubtedly will start feeling "senioritis", where most of your second semester grades don't really matter anymore. Frankly speaking, that free time you have can be used to apply to outside scholarships. Although some scholarships may only offer $500-$1,000 for a single academic year, the more you apply to, the higher chance of you racking in more than one funding source. I'd assume that if you have the credentials to get into UNC, you undoubtedly will have a very good chance at racking in scholarship money from external sources.
 
eaglehawk said:
I'll be frank with you. Even if East Carolina gives you a full ride, the UNC-Chapel Hill degree carries a much larger weight when applying to jobs (better networks, better connections). Some schools like Eastern Carolina will throw large amounts of money for students well above their standard deviation to attract them, even if it's an Honors College. In my honest opinion, you're better off sticking with UNC-Chapel Hill, even if it costs you a little more out of pocket.

Furthermore, assuming that you're a U.S. citizen, you can apply for Federal financial aid, which can kick up quite a bit of money depending on your family's income bracket. Also, since you're going into the second semester of your senior year, you undoubtedly will start feeling "senioritis", where most of your second semester grades don't really matter anymore. Frankly speaking, that free time you have can be used to apply to outside scholarships. Although some scholarships may only offer $500-$1,000 for a single academic year, the more you apply to, the higher chance of you racking in more than one funding source. I'd assume that if you have the credentials to get into UNC, you undoubtedly will have a very good chance at racking in scholarship money from external sources.
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Yea, honestly I really want to go to UNC, but my mother doesn't want me to be burdened with too much debt down the line and is very eager to jump at any chance I can get at receiving large amounts of aid. My family income is in what I'd guess you'd call a sweet spot, where we aren't upper class but we don't make enough to qualify for a huge amount of aid.

I also don't mind applying for loans, but I don't quite understand how they work. I'm just very paranoid I wouldn't be able to pay them on time or something like that. Could you please explain to me how they work, I'm assuming there are different types and they all function differently?

I'm majoring in Nursing, if that gives you a better grasp of how well I'd be able to pay off debt.
 
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Kumiho said:
Yea, honestly I really want to go to UNC, but my mother doesn't want me to be burdened with too much debt down the line and is very eager to jump at any chance I can get at receiving large amounts of aid. My family income is in what I'd guess you'd call a sweet spot, where we aren't upper class but we don't make enough to qualify for a huge amount of aid.

I also don't mind applying for loans, but I don't quite understand how they work. I'm just very paranoid I wouldn't be able to pay them on time or something like that. Could you please explain to me how they work, I'm assuming there are different types and they all function differently?

I'm majoring in Nursing, if that gives you a better grasp of how well I'd be able to pay off debt.
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https://fafsa.ed.gov/

The website is pretty straightforward. It's a step-by-step forms that your parents will also have to fill out their tax information. They've streamlined it in recent years where your parents only need to input their Social Security number and the site will cross-reference it for their tax returns.

The government provides two different types of loans: unsubsidized and subsidized. One will accrue interest over time, while the other doesn't (think of it as a scholarship). Furthermore, income isn't the sole determining factor for financial aid awards. Other factors, such as number of dependents, geographical region, etc. also factor in when determining the optimal amount of money for you.
 
SunnyORAS said:
Have you considered applying to UMass Amherst? I have/had similar stats to your and I got a 12k$ scholarship out of it. My GPA was a tad less than yours as well/UMass Amherst has decent acceptance rate, a solid EE/ECE program(very rigorous though) and with reasonable recommendations you probably will accepted to be honest. I understand the worry though, my school had really difficult classes above the AP level with credits that didn't convert directly, so I'm sure if not anything else my application also gave the impression of an extremely lazy student. Also in all fairness most recommendations are nothing spectacularly out there. Afaik you can still apply to umass amherst till like march through the common app, definitely take a look imo.



EDIT: I had something insulting to say about you looking down on engineering majors, but I didn't really look at from your point of view. Everyone makes their own decision on what path to follow, it's not my place to judge you. I don't agree with your preconceived notions about the inherent impurity of engineering as a discipline, but that again is just an opinion from me. Stand by the fact that dumping 160k on an intellectual pursuit isn't a luxury all of us have. Apologies.
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Drangonn. said:
askin on someone else's behalf who is in a v weird place, lets call em john

john has a 3.43 uw gpa and attended one of the best high schools in ma. He has a 35 act (superscore) and pretty good reccs from two very reputable teachers (if that helps). He got bumfucked freshman year by bad teachers and then picked it up to average a gpa of 3.7 for both next years.

john took the hardest courseload possible, 10 APs and self studied subject SATs (math and chem, 800 and 800)

John also swam for 3 years and completed a sanskrit course that bestows the gift of being able to understand sanskirt and is working on his BA rn

john is asian male

john gardens and donates food to food bank regularly

john has a paper and worked at broad institute for 2 yrs on lung cancer

john applied to umass biochem (50% scholarship), wisconsin biomed (in), cornell bio (reject), michigan biochem (defer), northeastern (defer)

john applied to:

BU, Brown, Swarthmore, Drexel, Oberlin, USC, UNC, CMU, GT, Rice, Case Western, UPitt, Renesselaer, WashU, Rochester, UConn, NYU

john doesnt know where he can get in (applied to all for biochem)

Where can he feasibly get in? Where should he go?

John would most likely end up at med school ftr, if that helps

I realize im probably being a dick by askin this but its really weird and its hard to think about this lol

thanks to anyone that helps, much appreciated!
Click to expand...

I'd say Case is probably the answer for both, or at least worth a closer look. They put much more emphasis on test scores than GPA, and their scholarships to my knowledge don't really discern between in-state and out-of-state.
 
Hello everybody!

I was accepted to the University of Edinburgh for Biochemistry today and am wondering whether anyone has any insight regarding schools in the UK. I am from New York and applied to a number of schools through UCAS without having truly understood what life is like for people who travel abroad from the US to study at schools in Europe.

As of now, I am waiting to hear back from schools in the US and am taking a closer look at schools of foreign lands in the meantime, hence my post here.

If anyone is familiar with this path, I would love to hear your experiences or thoughts. Thanks! xD
 
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Brown interview tomorrow, wondering if anyone could give me some helpful tidbits on the school that might make me look well '.' i chose history as my top concentration and environmental science as my second
 
brightobject said:
Brown interview tomorrow, wondering if anyone could give me some helpful tidbits on the school that might make me look well '.' i chose history as my top concentration and environmental science as my second
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Hey

Brown asks a crapload of questions on personality (i.e. what do you do w/ friends, free time, etc), and a few questions on why brown and why your major. Most important is be honest and don't be boring. Also mention pretty campus and diversity.
 
Congrats! If you happen to attend there then I think you'll enjoy it. One of my friends is a freshman there and she's loving it. Hopefully the price is reasonable for you; UW and similar schools are often 50K a year which is nuts.

I was fortunate enough to get accepted to all the UC schools I applied to: San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, and Los Angeles. I also got regent scholarships at UCI and UCSB. I'm leaning towards those but UCLA would be fantastic if it's affordable. Otherwise I'm waiting to hear from Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford but I really don't expect to get in there. I have other options in small private schools but most are so expensive that even with my award of their maximum merit-based scholarships they aren't looking optimal.

When it comes to receiving "need-based" scholarships, apparently life's not all that easy for the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, middle class, stable household, non-refugee/cancer survivor/rape victim, straight white male. There must be something inherently wrong with my skin color/sexual identity/etc to not be considered for finiancial aid, but try explaining that to the "tolerant" folk who give scholarships to everyone that looks different than me since I'm "privileged". A lot of kids do have serious need, and sadly the kids at my school who have no real issues but are a minority in some way receive the same rewards. Ultimately the money that they "need" (I personally know plenty that don't) comes from my pocket since my tuition is raised to cover for them. This is sort of a rant but I'm not mad, just disappointed that some people still consider social prejudice as much as actual quality. All I want is a fair chance.

Edit: Some of those make it easy to get scholarships, but they all make it easier to get admitted in the first place. It's messed up. Also, UW, U of Oregon, Colorado Boulder, U of Arizona, U of Alabama are all at least 50K for out-of-state applicants unless scholarships are given; I've had this confirmed several times. Even with academic scholarships I would have had to pay 40K or higher for U of Arizona.

If anyone here is freaking out about acceptance, trust me you aren't alone. A lot of my friends, and most of my senior class, is in a panic since their letters/emails are taking forever to come and have been denied from many of their top choices. There's also a lot of pressure from parents (especially those of a few ethnicities) since many have a "UC or we disown you" attitude which is really hard on kids. The reality is that if you work hard and make good connections via friends/businesses/clients/etc, life tends work out. There's always a place in the world for someone that is motivated, organized, and dedicated. My advice is to keep your hope up and try not to stress too much.
 
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JTD783 said:
Congrats! If you happen to attend there then I think you'll enjoy it. One of my friends is a freshman there and she's loving it. Hopefully the price is reasonable for you; UW and similar schools are often 50K a year which is nuts.

I was fortunate enough to get accepted to all the UC schools I applied to: San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, and Los Angeles. I also got regent scholarships at UCI and UCSB. I'm leaning towards those but UCLA would be fantastic if it's affordable. Otherwise I'm waiting to hear from Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford but I really don't expect to get in there. I have other options in small private schools but most are so expensive that even with my award of their maximum merit-based scholarships they aren't looking optimal.

When it comes to receiving "need-based" scholarships, apparently life's not all that easy for the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, middle class, stable household, non-refugee/cancer survivor/rape victim, straight white male. There must be something inherently wrong with my skin color/sexual identity/etc to not be considered for finiancial aid, but try explaining that to the "tolerant" folk who give scholarships to everyone that looks different than me since I'm "privileged". A lot of kids do have serious need, and sadly the kids at my school who have no real issues but are a minority in some way receive the same rewards. Ultimately the money that they "need" (I personally know plenty that don't) comes from my pocket since my tuition is raised to cover for them. This is sort of a rant but I'm not mad, just disappointed that some people still consider social prejudice as much as actual quality. All I want is a fair chance.

If anyone here is freaking out about acceptance, trust me you aren't alone. A lot of my friends, and most of my senior class, is in a panic since their letters/emails are taking forever to come and have been denied from many of their top choices. There's also a lot of pressure from parents (especially those of a few ethnicities) since many have a "UC or we disown you" attitude which is really hard on kids. The reality is that if you work hard and make good connections via friends/businesses/clients/etc, life tends work out. There's always a place in the world for someone that is motivated, organized, and dedicated. My advice is to keep your hope up and try not to stress too much.
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Luckily I'll be paying in-state tuition so it won't be nearly as much, especially since I'll probably live at home after my first year. Also UW is not 50k even for out-of-state I don't think, I think it's more like 30k - 35k

Also yeah scholarships can be hard, outside of a few minority-based scholarships though I don't feel like race / sexuality play a huge role? At least if there are gay-only scholarships lmk xD. Mainly I find they either want you to be very low-income, be super community-involved, or be incredibly smart... I'm none of the above so I'm kinda fucked x_x

And also, congrats on your acceptance! That's crazy cool and you should be very proud :) Good prepping / work on your part to have so many great options!
 
JTD783 said:
Congrats! If you happen to attend there then I think you'll enjoy it. One of my friends is a freshman there and she's loving it. Hopefully the price is reasonable for you; UW and similar schools are often 50K a year which is nuts.

I was fortunate enough to get accepted to all the UC schools I applied to: San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, and Los Angeles. I also got regent scholarships at UCI and UCSB. I'm leaning towards those but UCLA would be fantastic if it's affordable. Otherwise I'm waiting to hear from Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford but I really don't expect to get in there. I have other options in small private schools but most are so expensive that even with my award of their maximum merit-based scholarships they aren't looking optimal.

When it comes to receiving "need-based" scholarships, apparently life's not all that easy for the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, middle class, stable household, non-refugee/cancer survivor/rape victim, straight white male. There must be something inherently wrong with my skin color/sexual identity/etc to not be considered for finiancial aid, but try explaining that to the "tolerant" folk who give scholarships to everyone that looks different than me since I'm "privileged". A lot of kids do have serious need, and sadly the kids at my school who have no real issues but are a minority in some way receive the same rewards. Ultimately the money that they "need" (I personally know plenty that don't) comes from my pocket since my tuition is raised to cover for them. This is sort of a rant but I'm not mad, just disappointed that some people still consider social prejudice as much as actual quality. All I want is a fair chance.

Edit: Some of those make it easy to get scholarships, but they all make it easier to get admitted in the first place. It's messed up.

If anyone here is freaking out about acceptance, trust me you aren't alone. A lot of my friends, and most of my senior class, is in a panic since their letters/emails are taking forever to come and have been denied from many of their top choices. There's also a lot of pressure from parents (especially those of a few ethnicities) since many have a "UC or we disown you" attitude which is really hard on kids. The reality is that if you work hard and make good connections via friends/businesses/clients/etc, life tends work out. There's always a place in the world for someone that is motivated, organized, and dedicated. My advice is to keep your hope up and try not to stress too much.
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Have you tried applying to third-party scholarships?
 
I'm looking into some of those. Right now I'm planning to apply for scholarships from NESA (National Eagle Scout Association) and my dad's company, the latter of which can award like $5000 per year iirc. I have options and that is something I'm very grateful for.
 
Hi I just remembered this thread existed and decided "hey why not bring it back up"

So for you who don't know me I'm a cookie cutter upper middle class white kid from New Hampshire. My SAT scores are 710 math 690 reading (hopefully those go up Saturday), my unweighted GPA is 3.75 I'm in the top 10% of my class, got 4s on the AP Physics 1 and AP Chemistry tests (also currently in AP Physics 2 and AP Calc, and I've done 3 seasons of sports for 4 years (was XC captain twice and winter track this coming winter), math team member and current captain, I competed in our states FinLit competition, am senior class president, did an internship this past spring at a scientific research company, and a few other smaller things I'm probably forgetting.

I intend to pursue chemical engineering

I'm applying to:
UNH
UML
WPI
Clarkson
U of Rochester
Bucknell
Lehigh
Lafayette
Villanova
Stevens Institute of Technology

I was just wondering what some of you thought my chances are at some of the schools on my list

Thanks!
 
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Ununhexium said:
Hi I just remembered this thread existed and decided "hey why not bring it back up"

So for you who don't know me I'm a cookie cutter upper middle class white kid from New Hampshire. My SAT scores are 710 math 690 reading (hopefully those go up Saturday), my unweighted GPA is 3.75 I'm in the top 10% of my class, got 4s on the AP Physics 1 and AP Chemistry tests (also currently in AP Physics 2 and AP Calc, and I've done 3 seasons of sports for 4 years (was XC captain twice and winter track this coming winter), math team member and current captain, I competed in our states FinLit competition, am senior class president, did an internship this past spring at a scientific research company, and a few other smaller things I'm probably forgetting.

I intend to pursue chemical engineering

I'm applying to:
UNH
UML
WPI
Clarkson
U of Rochester
Bucknell
Lehigh
Lafayette
Villanova
Stevens Institute of Technology

I was just wondering what some of you thought my chances are at some of the schools on my list

Thanks!
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Also I know it's a bit late to add more colleges but in any of your opinions would RPI and SUNY Binghamton be good schools to add to this list
 
I'm in a bit of a dilemma and was wondering if anyone could help me out.

Some background information: I want to major in Computer Science. My GPA is 4.2 weighted and 3.7 unweighted. My SAT score is a 1500. I haven't taken any SAT subject test. I am currently applying to the following Common App schools:

Claremont Mckenna
Harvey Mudd
Stanford
University of the Pacific
USC

Now, here's my issue: I have to take the SAT subject test for both Math II and Chemistry during November and December (not doing EA / ED) and get at least a 650 on both. Math II, I feel pretty confident that I'll do well, but I completely forget everything for Chemistry and I've been doing abysmally on the practice test. I can't take any other Subject test for Science since I'm bad at Bio and am currently enrolled in AP Physics (and I barely understand what's happening in the class). I've been trying to self-study in using the Baron's book, but get a bit overwhelmed by the content. For people who took the Chemistry SAT II and good a good score, how did you study? Also, if I get a score lower than 650 on Chemistry and can't submit it, how hard will my chances to get into these schools be hit?
 
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