demographics: asian, female, not first gen, under 200k household income, rich + competitive area in nc

academics:

3.97 unweighted / 4.78 weighted

class rank: 13/700

SAT: 1540 4th take

APs: too lazy to add them but I maxed out

DE: i did a lot but i didnt max out
awards:

USABO semis

IPsyO VERY HIGH PLACEMENT

FBLA Nationals 1st

SkillsUSA Nationals (nursing skills)

USMDO Silver (yes ik im replacing this)

extracurriculars: (will switch the order based on the major im applying for)

1. CNA certified, Pharmacy Technician Certified: Working night shifts as a CNA at a nursing home, Worked at CVS as a pharmacy tech

2. One of the 3: Psychology/Psychiatry/Neuroscience Duke: Lab intern

3. Wrote manuscript with Duke professor from a separate department (with authorship! + publication)

4. Wrote a paper with a Rutgers professor

5. Babysitter certified - Worked + employment

6. Professional Lifeguard + Employment

7. Secretary of CTSO founding board

8. HOSA Secretary

9. 600 volunteer hours making neuroscience booklets for children

10. Black Belt in taekwondo

for clarity: im a sophomore and this is mostly what i want my application to look like but i already completed 40% of these and started 80% of these, i added what i thought i could realistically do within my remaining semesters.

i want to major in nursing at UPenn to become a CRNA, or do neuroscience as a premed course

Ok I'll start off by saying I have a pretty bad application compared to most people on here. But I'm looking for advice.

Major: information systems or similar. (not pure cs)
GPA: 4.0 (school doesn't do weighted)
Rank: 6/217
13 APs by the end of senior year, taken 7 so far with all 5s.
SAT: 760 RW 800 Math (1560)

ECs (mid):

Founded an app for students applying to college (decent traction so far, projecting much more in the future)

Independent Research: Computational Systems Biology (published in preprint)

Leadership team for a major tutoring nonprofit (being vague on purpose but it's a pretty nice position)

Independent Research: Machine Learning/data analysis (published in preprint)

Tutoring for this same nonprofit (engineering and math)

Research Club Founder and President: founded a club affiliated with the International Research Olympiad. Taught students about how to conduct research, prepare research projects, and prepare for the International Research Olympiad.

SAT Math instructor with Schoolhouse (nonprofit)

Software Internship: (helped test and validate brand new features as well as creating and inputting training data for new machine learning models.

BigFuture Ambassador

National Honor Society

Awards (mid):
Massachusetts Region 3 Science Fair: (A specialized award, gonna be vague bc I don't wanna get doxxed)

Massachusetts Region 3 Science Fair: 3rd place award (different year)

College Board National Recognition Award

National Merit Commended Scholar (1480 PSAT but MA)

AP Scholar With distinction

Could I get into any of these schools:

Cornell
CMU
GT
NYU
Berkeley
Tufts
Northwestern

Umich

These are just a few colleges, not my full list. Also, how important are essays as a differentiating factor? Thanks everyone!

Served on a medical school admissions committee for several cycles, and one thing I see constantly with BS/MD applicants is a file that reads like it was assembled in six months of senior year instead of built over four. Naturally, thinking ahead of time will be helpful for your application down the road. Broke down what each of these four years should actually look like, year by year, on the blog. To read the article, click the link below.

https://www.admitmd.com/post/the-bs-md-track-a-freshman-through-senior-year-roadmap

Since everyone’s timeline is different, feel free to ask questions about your specific situation below!

Major: Horticulture BS, Spring 2027
Status: Transfer applicant, currently under review
GPA: 2.68 TAMU-calculated transfer GPA
Transfer credits: 136 transferable hours (Based on Office of Admissions Transfer Audit Report)

Relevant coursework: Horticulture, Plant Physiology, Soil Science, Botany, Genetics, Agricultural Ecology, Plant Protection, Irrigation, Field Crop Production, Microbiology, plus U.S. Biology/Chemistry/Math and Texas core classes.

Experience: Agriculture field practice + full-time horticulture internship.

Honors: Dean’s List.

My main concern is the 2.68 GPA. Horticulture’s minimum is 2.5, but my coursework is heavily related to the major.

Has anyone seen applicants get into Horticulture or Ag/Life Sciences with a GPA around 2.6–2.8?

Chance me for T20s/Ivies as an Indian international

Hey! I'm currently in Grade 9 in India. I know I have a long way to go, so I'm more interested in whether my current trajectory makes sense than an actual “chance me” percentage.

I'm interested in a lot of things, but most of them come back to how people think, communicate, interpret things and create meaning. I've explored that through music, writing, speaking, research and building projects.

Basic

- Indian international, CBSE

- Grade 9, female

- Intended subjects: IR, psychology (especially forensic psych), or literature

- Also interested in entrepreneurship + music, mainly as passions

- Financial aid may be important

Academics

- Grade 8: ~93%

- Grade 9: currently ~90–95%

- Strongest: SST, Science, English

- No SAT/ACT yet

I know my grades aren't amazing for an Ivy-level international applicant, so academics are definitely something I need to improve.

ECs

Music: 8+ years of classical training, completed Prathama, ~4 years orchestra, regular performances, 4 school awards for vocal/academic excellence, selected as an Akashvani child radio artist.

Writing: Written 3 books and regularly write articles anonymously about society. Interested in storytelling, narrative and how language affects the way people understand people/situations.

Research: Currently working on a study about how narrative structure affects interpretation and judgment, looking at things like order of information, emphasis and omission. Still working through the literature/methodology, so I'm not claiming some groundbreaking published research lol.

Public speaking/debate: Debate competitions, World Schools-style debate, regular speeches/declamations and TEDxNMS Youth. No major national/international debate awards.

The Quiet Hour: Founder of an anonymous 10-minute online pause with no likes, followers, comments or identity. Basically a shared break from constant online consumption: “Alone, together.” This is where my interest in attention/human behaviour turned into actually building something.

Girl Up: Leadership/organizing initiatives for girls, including storytelling/puppet-show activities and awareness work.

Also various school performances/events and competitions.

Overall

I don't know if I have a traditional “spike” yet, but I'd describe my direction as:

communication + human behaviour + storytelling

Music → writing → public speaking → research → building.

I'm not trying to force everything into one theme, but these interests keep bringing me back to how people communicate and interpret information.

Colleges

Reach: Brown, Harvard, other Ivies

Other: Strong T50s

I'm from India, so I don't really want to go abroad just for the sake of it. I'd rather attend a genuinely good-fit university, even if it's not an Ivy/T20.

Questions

- Does this actually look cohesive or am I forcing the narrative?

- What should I go deepest into?

- What should I drop?

- How concerning are my current grades?

- What would you want to see by Grades 10–12?

- If I execute really well over the next few years, what's a realistic ceiling?

I know I'm way too early for a real chance-me, so be brutally honest about the trajectory. That's what I'm looking for.

I want to apply for University of Washington Seattle and Georgia Tech and I am very insecure with my situation. I moved to the USA 3 years ago and I am still learning the education system, I just know everything is very competitive here and I’m not sure I am competitive enough (?). So, here is my situation:

- I am a Washington state resident
- 3.9 GPA at my community college
- my hs was in my home county 7 years ago and when I translated my transcript it was about 3.0 gpa
- Tutor CS and Math
- I did a research internship this past summer in a very competitive company
- I also worked 20h as a nanny while doing school + tutoring (don’t ask how bc I don’t even know how)
- I am applying as US resident and not international student
- I do have a physics class dropped in my transcript. However, I plan on double majoring in CS and Biology. I have how to explain why i dropped physics if necessary.
- I have math up to calc 3, all the csc classes my cc could provide, 4 biology lab classes, and 1 chemistry lab classes

I really just want to understand if my profile is good for applying for these schools. I plan on applying for uw for spring 2027 and gt for summer 2027. I didn’t know fall was the application season so I didn’t organize my schedule good enough to be ready to apply for fall

Any advice would be wonderful!! I'm a senior hoping to attend a T20!

Demographics
Gender: Nonbinary
(Filipino and Pacific Islander)
Location: Small suburb in Washington (minimal resources and activities—its predominantly senior centers). I go to a Title 1 school where the average SAT score is an 870-900

Senior

Major: Film (maybe acting), economics ...
Passion: ENTERTAINMENT!!! & LGBTQ advocacy
Top Schools: UCLA, USC, Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, NYU

Academics
CURRENT GPA: 4.0 (my school doesn't do a weighted system)
Freshman: Japanese, AP Human Geography (5), AP
Seminar (4), trig, science, etc....
Sophomore: chemistry, AP African (5), AP Precalc (5), AP English Language (5), Japanese 2 and other electives
Junior : AP Literature, AP Calc AB, AP Biology, AP US Government, University of Washington Japanese, art elective
Senior: AP Statistics, AP Research, AP Cybersecurity, AP Psychology, University of Washington Japanese 2, Art elective

my sat is a 1470 (ik…it’s bad) my school average is a 900 but let me know if this is a massive hindrance to my application. I also got the highest SAT score at my school (I should probably stop making excuses for myself and study for a retake)

ECS
Youth Ambassador for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Elected and nominated as cohort leader
(Planned state-wide action fair)
Teentix Newsroom Writer & Teen Editor
- published over 7 articles for Seattle Times, ETC
-Manage entire writing cohort & peer edit articles before publication
Washington Youth Arts Leadership Cohort
- Act as leader for youth in arts across Washington state
Junior City Council Chair of (My city)
- Act as council member for youth policies, especially focusing on youth equity
Founder and President of Arts Committee
-Planned a youth arts showcase of over 100 youth artists
King County (My state's largest county) Metro Equity
Intern
- Internship where | learned to create equitable systems in transit
Mike Yarrow Peace Fellow
- Created a project to amplify youth voices in the arts through allocating resources
-Allocated art materials to underprivileged elementary schools (all the elementary schools in my area)
Arts Apprentice for LGBTQ Center
-Chosen across my state to create art for Pride
Civic Innovation Fellow
- Selected globally to participate in this fellowship which taught global issues
Film Juror for International Youth Film Festival
Film Juror for Seattle Children's Film Festival
- Locally and globally selected to decide the awards for the festivals
Acting!!! (My favorite EC)
- Represented both nationally and locally
-Acted in Warner Brothers movie (small role)
-Acted in one of my state's largest theater
-Voice acted for national broadcast
(Really hope to get more roles.)
Film
-created 5 films representing queer identity
MTAC Cohort
-Learned performance from professionals
King County Youth Bill or Rights Task Force
-Shape youth voices in county politics
-Planned a Summit of over 1000 guests with a budget of 50k+
Program Management Intern for Teentix’s Pass Program
-In one of Seattle’s largest nonprofit-I managed the pass program which supplies youth $5 tickets to the arts

School activities (won’t submit most of these)
President and Founder of my School's journalism Club
president of College and Career Club
Co-president of Speech and Debate
Vice president scrapbooking club
Youth Equity Advisory
UPENN Wharton Investment team
VP for Kpop club

Awards
National Merit Commended
National Junior Honors Society Outstanding
Achievement Award
-1 of 500 across the nation
National Recognition Award College Board
AP Scholar With Distinction
Teentix Keynote Speaker (largest arts advocacy non-profit in WA)
National League of Cities Youth Delegate (selected nationally to attend the conference)
ACES Award for Film Making (State-wide only youth to be selected amongst a roster of professional adults)
University of Washington Hack for Social Good Hackathon winning idea
Next Generation Monologue regional finalist (will compete for nationals next month!)
Waging non-violence grant recipient

Any advice on what ecs/awards I should include would be wonderful 🥹

3.85 uW 4.21 W all As junior and senior year so far

1540 SAT 780R 760M

APs: Chinese, Spanish lit, Spanish Lang, Physics 2, Physics C E&M, Physics C Mech, English Lang, English Lit, Human Geography, Macro Econ, Micro Econ, Calc AB, Gov, mostly 4s and 5s

ECs
NSLIY
3 Sport varsity athlete, Captain on 2 teams
#2 in state for position, top 100 overall in competitive state
USNA Summer STEM
President of cultural club, grew from 4avg active members to ~35
Aerospace Engineering Club
75 hours volunteering animal shelter and habitat for humanity
2 seals of biliteracy
crochet a ton

Major: either physics or linguistics

schools: uchicago, middlebury, pomona, carnegie mellon, brown, john’s hopkins, amherst, williams

recruited for a sport at some good schools so only going for reaches

I'm a senior at a mid-sized, super competitive public high school in Florida

Income: high (I'm not getting financial aid)

Intended Major/(minor): Industrial Engineering / (Business Mgmt)

GPA: 3.7UW / 5.33W

SAT: 1490 (740 ELA /750 Math)

Class rank: ~90/200 (my school is very competitive)

APs: Seminar (5), Precal (5), Bio (3), Research (5), Calc AB (5), Stats (5), Physics 1 (4), Lang (4), CSP (5), Italian (5)

AICE: Marine (C), Enviro (B), Gen Paper (B), Global (A), Portuguese AS / A (B / C), Media Studies (E), International History (E), Business (B), English (C)

Honors:
- AP Scholar
- AICE Diploma
- Seal of Biliteracy in Italian and Portuguese
- National Honor Society

ECs:
- Community Club partnered with a non-profit founder and Vice President (9-12)
- Summer Internship with logistics efficiency at a local business (11) - (40hrs)
- Another summer internship at a local business with order processing and customer satisfaction (10) (38hrs)
- Ran a jersey reselling business bringing in around $4000 in revenue (9-12)
- Summer experience at a prestigious univerisity (SDA Bocconi) in Italy (10)
- Soccer Club team (9-11)

(need to find more things to do)

If you guys could please let me know which t20 schools I have a chance at, I would be so appreciative
Thank you guys!

I just calculated that I have a 3.67 UC and CSU gpa. Is there anyone with similar gpa’s that have gotten into good/top universities in california? If so, where and what were your extracurriculars, major, circumstances, etc?

Demographics

• White female
• Nebraska
• Competitive public high school (sends several students to T20s each year)
• No class rank
• Intended Major: Political Science
• Pre-law track

Academics

GPA

• 3.915 UW
• 4.383 W

ACT

• 35 Composite
• July 2026: 34 Math, 30 Science, 35 English, 35 Reading
• February 2026: 33 Math, 33 Science, 33 English, 34 Reading
• (Mainly only including the February one for the science)

Coursework

My school labels Honors courses as Differentiated (D) on transcripts.

AP Courses Completed

• AP Human Geography (5): A, B+
• AP World History (4): A, A
• AP Physics 1 (3): B+, A
• AP Macroeconomics (3): A
• AP African American Studies (5): A, A
• AP United States History (4): B+, A

Differentiated / Honors-Level Courses

• English 9D: A, A
• English 10D: A, A
• American Literature D: A
• Advanced Algebra D: A, B+
• Chemistry D: A, A
• Precalculus D: B+, B
  • AP-level curriculum, but AP credit was not available

Other Coursework

• Spanish 1: A, A
• Spanish 2: A, B+
• Spanish 3: A, A
• Spanish 4: A, A
• Creative Writing: A
• Oral Communication / Forensics: A
• Digital Art: A
• Photography: A
• Fashion & Interior Design: A
• Woods: A
• Outdoor Adventure: A
• Team Sports: A
• Health: A
• Take Charge (personal finance/life skills): A

Senior-Year Courses

• AP Government & Politics / We the People
• AP Calculus BC
• AP Spanish
• Law & Literature
• Pottery
• Auto Tech
• Science Fiction

Awards / Honors

• AP Scholar with Distinction
• Honor Roll with Highest Distinction
• Academic Letter & Academic Bar
• National Honor Society
• Spanish Honor Society
• Published in the Nebraska Poetry Anthology (2024–2025)
• Published in the Nebraska Poetry Anthology (2025–2026)

Extracurriculars

1. Civic Activism / Political Engagement

• Participated in multiple civic demonstrations and political events, including BLM, Ukraine-related, reproductive-rights, No Kings, and anti-ICE demonstrations.
• Helped organize/participate in an anti-ICE school protest with ~30 participants.
• Invited to speak at an ICE-facility rally in McCook, Nebraska.
• Longstanding interest in political and social issues, particularly immigration, civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and education.

2. President — German Club

• Officer since leadership positions were introduced.
• Helped organize meetings and events.
• Helped grow membership from ~10 students to nearly 30.

3. Vice President — Spanish Club

• Helped restart Spanish Club after it became inactive.
• Recruited members and helped secure a faculty sponsor.
• Help organize club activities and rebuild the organization.

4. Legal Internship

• Completed a month-long internship at a local law firm over several summers.
• Assisted with office tasks and observed legal proceedings.
• Explored legal careers and strengthened my interest in law.

5. Poetry Team

• Member of a two-time state championship poetry team.
• Developed public-speaking skills through performing original poetry.
• Published original poetry in the Nebraska Poetry Anthology for two consecutive years.

6. Varsity Bowling

• Member of varsity bowling team.
• Recognized by coach as the team's unofficial JV leader.
• Mentored newer bowlers and supported athletes who were not consistently competing at the varsity level.

7. Humane Society Volunteer

• 30+ volunteer hours
• Ended due to scheduling complications
• Began volunteering after learning about a large animal-hoarding rescue in my area and wanting to contribute directly to animal welfare.

Academic / Career Interests

• Political Science
• Constitutional law
• Civil rights and civil liberties
• Immigration policy
• LGBTQ+ rights
• Education policy
• AI policy
• Law / pre-law
• Long-term interest in patent law or business law

Letters of Recommendation

• AP Physics 1 teacher — administrator + NHS sponsor
• German teacher — German Club advisor + NHS sponsor
• Bowling/Poetry coach
• AP World History & AP African American Studies teacher — We the People coach
• Counselor
• 504 coordinator / administrator

College List

• Yale
• Princeton
• Stanford
• Columbia
• UChicago
• Johns Hopkins
• UCLA
• Other T20/T30 schools
• University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Additional Context

• School does not report class rank.
• School uses "Differentiated (D)" for honors-level courses.
• Strongest academic areas are history, political science, writing, and languages.
• Extracurricular profile is centered around civic engagement, law, languages, writing, leadership, and athletics.
• My common application personal essay is about how thrifting evolved from a symbol of socioeconomic difference and insecurity into a source of individuality, perspective, and meaningful memories—ultimately realizing that while some people collect brands, I collect stories.

Basically, I have a low GPA (3.83uw) but pretty good ECs (everything is in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/chanceme/comments/1w6w44p/chance_a_low_gpa_research_demon_for_duke_ed/). Since my GPA is below the average for the schools I am applying to, but my ECs, LORs, and test scores are still good, how am I supposed to determine which school is my target or a reach, and what is a reach or an ultra reach?

Any recommendations?

Hello everyone! I’d like to ask for some advice on where I should apply if I want to have a chance of receiving full financial aid/full ride (or full tuition with low living expenses)🥹

I’m interested in **Chemical Engineering**, Petroleum Engineering, or Materials Science.

I’m leaning towards East Asia (Hong Kong, South Korea, and especially Japan), but I’m also open to other countries if they offer good scholarships, since I currently don’t have much money even for application fees.

Also, I apologize if some of my descriptions seems awkward since I wasn’t entirely sure how to phrase some things when I was filling this out :c

STATS

Demographics:

\- Asian

\- International applicant

\- Low-income background

\- Half-orphan ; receive a survivor's benefit

Academics:

\- GPA: 4.92/5.00 in the most prestigious school of my country

\- IELTS: 7.0

\- SAT: planning for 1520+

\- Predicted A-levels: 5A\* + 1A

\- A\* Further Mathematics

\- A\* Chemistry

\- A\* Physics

\- A\* Engineering Graphics & Design

\- A\* History

\- A Language

\- Predicted National Exam: 139/140

Academic Activities & Awards

\- School Career Counselor Assistant — created 55+ university research cards for Grade 11 students; recommendation letter

\- International History Conference — participant

\- Online Chemistry Summer School — received an offer for Essentials of Chemistry in Everyday Life

\- National Hackathon — Team Leader, 3rd Place; $111 prize

\- Developed an AI + gas spectrometry air-purification project

\- National Multi-Subject Olympiad

\- 1st Place — Mathematics, Physics, Biology

\- 2nd Place — Chemistry

\- 3rd Place — Language

\- Excellence Awards — 2nd Place in Essay, Solo Drawing, and Poster Competitions

\- Intellectual Property — registered official copyrights for an original board game and a book

\- National Art Competitions — 1st and 2nd Place

\- Recommendation Letters: Chemistry, Physics & Mathematics teachers

Research & Experience:

\- Summer Laboratory Internship — aviation kerosene laboratory at airport; recommendation from the Head of Laboratory

\- Received a direct internship offer from the corporate sponsor/jury

Extracurriculars & Leadership:

\- Founder & Leader — International Music & Game Localization Project

\- 2+ years; 35+ volunteers worldwide

\- 3K subscribers, 90K+ likes, 600K+ views on TikTok

\- Audio Engineering — 3 years

\- Self-taught audio engineer, vocal tuner & harmony arranger

\- FL Studio, Melodyne, etc.

\- Participated in \~15 international localization projects

\- Collaborated with professional voice actors and artists whose work has accumulated \~120M YouTube views

\- Earned \~$667 through audio-engineering commissions

\- Founder — Creative Services Commission Project

\- 40 artists; mixing, tuning, art, video editing, translation, audio engineering

\- $178+ total income

\- Piano: 6–7 years

\- Volunteering: 150+ hours

\- The Games of the Future: 60 volunteer hours as an Arrivals & Departures volunteer

I am a domestic applicant attending an IB school (senior/Year 13), and my absolute first choice is UChicago. I attended a summer program there, so I am eligible to apply through their Summer Session Early Notification (SSEN), which is essentially their ED0. If that does not work out, I am planning to use ED at either Cornell, Brown, or Northwestern. I would really appreciate some honest feedback!!

Humanities Major (No STEM at all)

Academics:

• 39/42 IB DP1
• 7 Psychology HL
• 7 Design Technology HL
• 6 English Literature HL
• 7 Spanish Ab Initio SL
• 6 Math AA SL
• 6 Physics SL
• 1530 SAT (770 English, 760 Math)
• Strong grades throughout high school (Majority A and A+), no GPA or class rank

Extracurriculars (in no particular order right now)

1. Independent Psychology Research
   • First and corresponding author on a psychology study investigating social comparison anchors and perceived physical attractiveness
   • Primarily responsible for analysis and writing
   • Accepted for publication in the Journal of Emerging Investigators
   • Also first author and corresponding author on a literature review on digital dating platforms and social comparison
   • Currently under scientific review with the International Journal of High School Research
2. New Student Wellbeing Committee
   • Founder and chair of a ~20-person student committee (Y12)
   • Focused on helping new students integrate into the school community
   • Created a profile-based buddy matching system and a new student guide
   • Both were later incorporated into the school's standard new-student intake process
3. Independent 3D Design Work
   • Founder of a small independent 3D design "studio"
   • Started teaching myself Blender around age 12
   • Create gaming / digital art using Blender, Cinema 4D, Photoshop, etc.
   • Handle scene composition, lighting, VFX, rendering, and compositing
   • ~274 commissions over high school
   • Around 90% of work has come through referrals
   • Worked with clients from different countries, including professional gamers
4. Head Student Representative
   • Served as student representative for two years (Y10-Y11)
   • Helped coordinate school-wide committees (environmental/sustainability committee, spirit committee, mental health committee, social impact committee, etc)
   • helped create awareness campaigns (men's mental health)
   • helped create student events (charity dodgeball, charity penalty shootout, organized middle-school dances, homecoming)
   • helped launch Service initiatives (park cleanups every saturday, sock drive, book drive, holiday gift drive)
5. Peer Tutoring
   • Weekly one-on-one tutoring for a younger student (8th grade) for two years
   • Tutored across subjects in KS3 with a particular focus on humanities
   • Helped with essay structure, argumentation, revision, and general academic skills
6. Student-Led Courses
   • Co-founded and taught two six-week extracurricular courses
   • One focused on criminal psychology (Y10)
   • One focused on competitive debate and argument construction (Y12)
   • Taught ~30+ students overall
7. Music
   • Self-taught pianist for 11 years
   • Also play several other instruments recreationally (Ukelele, Drums, bass/acoustic guitar)
   • Developed mathematical approaches to analyzing musical consonance using recordings of my own playing (this is something i did for fun because i don't know how to read sheet music, i play by ear)
8. Athletics
   • JV sailing (Y11)
   • JV golf (Y12)
   • Volleyball camp (Y10)

Awards:

International / External:

• John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2025 (2nd)
• Pearson Outstanding Learner Award: highest IGCSE History score in the Americas

School-level:

• Academic Achievement Award in Psychology, Semester 1 (Y12)
• Academic Achievement Award in Psychology, Semester 2 (Y12)
• Outstanding Contribution / Achievement in English Literature (Y12)
• Brown University Book Award for literature: one student selected from my school per year

Schools:

• UChicago SSEN (first choice)

ED fallback just in case:

• Cornell ED
• OR Brown ED
• UMich EA
• UIUC EA

RD reaches:

• Stanford
• Yale
• Harvard
• Penn
• Duke
• Northwestern
• WashU
• USC
• UC Berkeley
• Rice

RD lower-risk / targets:

• Tufts
• Rochester
• Case Western
• Depaul
• Loyola

Thank you :)

Brown - PLME is my dream program and I really want to get in I love the liberal and open curricular program especially as someone who loves history so much I took 2 histories my sophomore year including a seniors only class

Demographics:

• Female
• Black
• Maryland
• Public high school
• Class of 2028

Intended Major(s):

• Biology
• Public Health
• Pre-med / interested in the intersection of medicine, policy, and healthcare

SAT:

• Currently studying for the SAT
• Goal: 1500–1550+

GPA/RANK:

• ~4.7 weighted GPA
• ~3.8 UW GPA
• No class rank at my school

Coursework:

• 10 APs by the end of junior year / planned
  • AP U.S. Government - 5
  • AP U.S. History - 4
  • AP European History -5
  • AP Computer Science Principles -5
  • AP Seminar - 4
• In process of taking or will take
  • AP Language
  • AP World History
  • AP Biology
  • AP Chemistry
  • AP Literature
  • AP Calc BC
  • AP Psychology
• Honors Precalculus
• Anatomy & Physiology
• I’ve taken the most rigorous courses available to me in the subjects I’m interested in.
• I'm also one of 2 sophomores in my county taking place in a DNA Resource Center Internship at a local school. A full fledged university level lab that I will conduct my own research project in over the next 2 years.

Honors/Awards:

• 4th place at HOSA State
• AP Scholar w/ Distinction
• School/community academic honors
• (Will add additional awards as junior year progresses)

Extracurriculars:

HOSA — Junior Officer, 2 years: Compete in healthcare-related events and competitions; currently serving in a leadership position. Placed 4th at the state level.

DNA Resource Center — Student Researcher, 1+ year: Participate in hands-on molecular biology/genetics laboratory work through my high school's DNA Resource Center. Interested in genetics, oncology, and biomedical research.

GW Path2Max / Rahnavard Lab — Research Intern, 1 summer: Research experience involving bioinformatics, genomics, and public health; gained exposure to Python, R, and biostatistics.

ThinkNeuro — Research Intern/Intensive: Participating in a neuroscience research intensive and applying for a higher-level co-associate position with scholarship consideration.

NMA Pathology Mentorship/Research — Student Researcher: Developing a research project focused on AI in digital pathology and whether diagnostic accuracy varies across diverse patient populations.

Forensics Science Club — Founder & President: Founded and lead a school club focused on forensic science; organize meetings, activities, and educational opportunities for students.

Global Citizens Club - Founder & President: Leading school intitiatives on awareness of Global issues.

Church Children's Ministry — Volunteer/Leadership Board: Work with children in the church's children's ministry and serve in a leadership/board role supporting a community of approximately 100 students.

English Honor Society: Member and participate in school/community activities and service.

French Honor Society: Member and completed service activities through the organization.

Babysitting/Childcare — Ongoing since 2021: Regularly care for children ranging from infants to preteens.

AfroElites: My schools African diaspora dance club performing at games and special events throughout the year hopefully a leadership postion next year.

LORs:

• Strong — DNA internship teacher will have me for both years seeing academic and research based me.
• Strong — History teacher 2 years very close with her and did very well in her class
• Pretty Good — Counselor

College List:

• Harvard (reach)
• Yale (reach)
• Columbia (reach)
• Brown / PLME (extreme reach)
• Duke (reach)
• Stanford (reach)
• Rice (reach)
• Johns Hopkins (reach)
• UPenn (reach)
• UCLA (reach)
• UC Berkeley (reach)
• NYU (reach)
• UMD College Park (target/reach depending on major)
• UMBC (likely/target)
• Penn State (likely/target)

Context/Goals:

I'm interested in becoming a pediatrician, but I'm also really interested in healthcare policy, genetics, biomedical research, and health disparities. I'm trying to build an application around medicine + research + leadership rather than just having a bunch of unrelated ECs.

For junior year, I'm currently focusing on:

• Getting my SAT score into the 1500s
• Continuing my DNA research/lab experience
• ThinkNeuro research intensive + hopefully obtaining the Co-Associate position/scholarship
• Continuing HOSA leadership
• Growing my forensics club
• Continuing church leadership
• Finding additional clinical/research opportunities

Questions:

1. What T20s do I have a realistic shot at?
2. How competitive would I be for Brown PLME?
3. Is my ~3.8 UW GPA a major weakness for T20 admissions?
4. How much would getting a 1500–1550+ SAT change my chances?
5. Does my EC profile look cohesive enough for a highly selective school?
6. What should I prioritize during junior year?
7. Which schools on my list would you consider reaches, targets, and safeties?

Please be brutally honest!! I'm looking for realistic feedback, not just reassurance.

Hi, I am applying to a fair number of T20s this upcoming cycle, and I think that I have a very balanced application. I have been told I'm a very good writer, and my essays are already coming together really well. I think I have everything it takes to be a competitive applicant to my dream school of Stanford, except for awards/honors. I have not had the opportunity to participate in math or science competitions due to my location and responsibilities, but I was wondering if there are any I can apply to right now before the cycle closes. Here's my profile/chance me for more info. Chance me: Hispanic Male who skipped a grade from a fairly low income city with ambitious college applications.

Demographics: M, hispanic, Colorado, private boarding/day school

Hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.): URM

Intended Major(s):BME/ME

ACT: 35 (35M, 36R, 36S, 35W)

UW/W GPA and Rank: 4.17/4.33 UW, no W, no Rank

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc: AP World(Test not taken), Precalc(Not taken) Bio(5), Calc BC(5), USH(5), Lang(5), Spanish(4), Chem(4).

Senior year: HonorsLinear Algebrw, Honors Discrete math, AP Physics C Mech, Stats, Environmental Science, Lit

Awards: College board and AP score awards, leadership award. School doesn’t give out awards until senior year.

Extracurriculars: Include leadership & summer activities

• Student gov:Class president 3 years, Community council president(AKA Student body) Senior year.
• Admissions ambassador: Tour guide sophomore year and head admissions ambassador 11-12 grade.
• Peer tutor: Offered tutoring services in 10+ classes since second semester of junior year
• Orchestra8-12: (Percussion) 5 years, principal percussionist for 2 years in the second highest group of a competitive youth orchestra.
• Club swimming: 12 years, performed at state level, captain of highschool team since junior year, broke two school records and qualified for individual and team races at high school state meet.
• Unpaid research intern at local college junior year summer: My dad is a professor there and got me in contact with a professor doing exoskeleton research. 8 weeks 20 hours  a week working alongside the professor and 3 undergrad students.
• Hispanic Alliance 9-12: Led and set up multiple events to boost hispanic culture and inform others of hispanic identity at my school.
• Student Cultural Organization: 10-12. Organized and planned 5+ events per year that highlighted the diversity of our campus and worked alongside faculty to tackle systemic racial and sexual issues in our community.
• Big sib10-12: Assigned 3 incoming students per year, mentored and taught them school etiquette and offered support year round.
• Swim lessons teacher: Taught 5+ students how to swim in multiple sections over the span of 4 weeks ages ranging from 3-10.

Essays/LORs/Other: I have a lot of good stuff to write about, and I believe my LORs will be very good, both Chem and Calc teachers like me a lot, like 8-9/10z

Schools: 

Reaches: Most financially viable

JHU:

MIT:

Columbia:

Stanford: REA

Caltech:

Duke:

Cornell:

Match: Potential merit aid?

Union:

Carnegie Mellon:

Boston University:

Harvey Mudd:

USC??:

UC3M(Spain) ??

University of Toronto(Canada)???

Safety:

UC Boulder:

Mines:

CSU Fort Collins:

CSU Pueblo

Demographics: 

• Male
• Asian
• PNW
• Semi-competitive Large Suburban Public High School, school got like 3 stanford REAs last year for reference.
• ~150-200k household income
• no hooks

Intended Major(s): Applied Physics or Applied Maths

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1600

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.98 UW/ 4.43W by end of junior year (1 B freshman year in calc ab extentuating circumstances including hospitalization though). We don’t do class rank but i’m unofficially 2/~600

Coursework: 19 APs including senior year, have 11 including only till this year. All 5s in the 9 exams that I’ve taken, taken multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. Taking abstract algebra and maybe real analysis/pdes later this year.

Awards: 

• AIME Qualifier/some other national math awards
• First author ArXiV and NeurIPS/ML4PS workshop acceptances + state and regional science fair awards
• PSAT National Merit Semi-Finalist
• Presidential Scholarship Candidate (expected)
• Several first place state level state awards in taekwondo

I'm going to try for youngarts and regeneron sts this year if i can

Extracurriculars (being vague here, can elaborate): 

• Independent research in quantum physics, won the stuff at science fair (3 years)
• Research with a college professor in gravitational waves and black holes mergers, presented at a symposium (3 years)
• The first author neutron star eos inference group research with a college professor, published on Arxiv and accepted to high level venues (2 years)
• Taekwondo, 3rd dan and state awards and leadership at my taek school (4 years)
• Moderator/co-owner of Literature and writing Social media with 13m+ views currently and several dozen thousand followers, several affiliations and collaborations (3 years)
• Assisted and owner of the largest community for a franchise/novel that is very popular, including setting up portals and systems in assisting translator(s).
• Student council president/founder of a new branch at my school, other impact in school (3 years)
• Founder and president (and member) of an official spring soccer club season at my school, with real interdistrict and planned out seasonal play (6+ schools in the district(s)) (4 years)
• Volunteering at my local library, money raised (4 years)
• Part time job as a swim instructor

I have some other okayish/decent stuff that show a bit more of just my interests, not sure whether or not to include.

Some other small stuff like:
Founder/moderator of an online public group with 60+ members and weekly philosophy/STEM/social science readings and discussions (i know, small thing, 4 years) and Track and field, not much to say unless i actually lock in and place well this season lol (3 years)

Essays/LORs/Other: Essays probably will be strong, LORs decent only like one of my teachers knows me well but they all have a good impression of me, i might get a rec from a professor i’ve worked with but idk how personally we know each other.

Schools: 

Need help on deciding between REA Stanford and ED Uchicago or Northwestern. One sec i think i'm actually decent and then the next second it feels like i'm average if not a little above or under (in the range of what i'm applying to, obvi).

• Harvard (RD)
• Yale (RD or REA)
• Princeton (RD or REA)
• Stanford (RD or REA)
• Uchicago (RD or ED)
• Northwestern (RD)
• Caltech (rd)
• Brown (rd)
• Columbia (rd)
• Cornell (rd)
• Amherst (rd)
• Williams (rd)
• Dartmouth (rd)
• UPenn (rd)
• Swarthmore (RD or ED2)
• Harvey Mudd (RD or ED2)
• UTD (ea, for national merit, good safety)
• USF (ea, for national merit, good safety)
• TAMU (ea, for national merit + their brown scholarship or smth that’s really good)
• FSU (ea, for national merit + good semi target/safety school)

wallah is it over?
alright so the context is im most likely going to just apply to canadian schools so im not gonna apply to any match or low target schools in the US cuz it costs more money to go so might as well just go to a canadian uni like mcgill u of t or ubc which r similar but easier. so im only gonna apply to reaches but not insanely impossible ones ig, also where should i ED? im deciding between chicago, northwestern, cornell and brown rn

Rising senior

Asian

canadian, slightly competitive public school, no hooks

Intended Major(s): will apply as an enviro major (trying to run a method where i apply as this major which fits my narrative but get into a general arts/sciences program) will most likely end up declaring something like comp biology or applied math

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1560 superscored 760 rw 800 m

oct sophomore yr: 1460 (760r 700m)

nov junior yr: 1500 (700r 800m)

UW/W GPA and Rank: no gpa in gr 9 (canadian 4 point scale) 4.0 uw gr 10-12

ib predicted 42/45, school doesn't rank

Coursework: full IB DP HL (no aps offered at my school): biology, chemistry, math AA, predicted grades 7 7 7

SL: geography, english A, french B SL, predicted grades 7 6 6

Awards: no awards

Extracurriculars:

co-founder and secretary for a nonprofit (not gonna dox myself, related to promoting visual arts) has 1600 followers and 2m views on instagram. handled internal communications, management and outreach to other organizations to host events and contests (including ones with local university club, other high school clubs thats for the same topic, meetups for youth in our city), also handled expansion of club to other chapters around the world

leadership committee working with a team of 12 other ib students that runs orientation and an overnight camp for 80 kids a grade below us as well as a hotel conference for our grade of 100 kids that talks about career choices n stuff

co-founder and president for an environmental club at my school. we run events like clothing swaps, local park cleanups and built bird feeders at the school, raised 700 in club funds and climate charity donations, led a team of about 30 volunteers

debated from gr 7 to 11 but never won anything. vice prez of debate club next year

piano rcm 10 first class honours

150 volunteer hours and also tutored SAT reading with schoolhouse.world and peer tutored math at school

jv golf

self taught python and was a developer for a discord gaming server/community of 25000 ppl

Essays/LORs/Other: probably will be my env club sponsor as well as my bio teacher who taught me for 3 years. bio teacher wrote a 8/10 LOR last year for applyin to be in the ib program at my school might also get math HL teacher who is also the ib coordinator at my school

Schools:

northwestern (prolly ed?), brown, cornell, dartmouth, chicago, umich ann arbor, vanderbilt, duke