Chances of getting in to prestigious schools?

[BrainFreak]

Hi all.

I've been browsing these forums for a couple months now, and I just decided to make an account. I've been interested in becoming a neurologist for two years, and that's whats kept me motivated (mainly). I'm also wondering what are my chances of getting into some good schools, is my course load is rigorous enough?


9th grade:
P.E
Honors World History
Algebra I
Honors Health Science 1
Physical Science
Introduction to I.T.
Honors English I
Honors Psychology

10th grade:
AICE General Paper AS Level (Basically English II)
Honors Geometry
AICE Biology AS Level
AP Government/Economics
Health Science 2 Honors
AICE Spanish Language A Level
Honors Holocaust/Contemporary History
AP Psychology

11th:
Honors English 3 (bumped back down to honors)
Honors Algebra 2
AICE Chemistry AS Level
Honors U.S History
Phlebotomy/EKG Aide (Health Science 3 equivalent)
AP Spanish Literature
AICE Sociology A Level
AICE Computing AS Level

12th:
AICE Global Perspectives AS Level (English 4 equivalent)
AP Statistics (could've taken calc, I didn't want to put up with all the work tbh)
AP Physics AS Level
AP Macroeconomics
Honors Allied Health Assisting (Health Science 4 equivalent)
AICE Thinking Skills A Level
AICE Human Geography AS Level
AP Computer Science

GPA: Unweighted: 3.8 Weighted: 4.5
SAT: 1520
ACT: 32

Clubs:
HOSA
National Honor Society
Science Honor Society
300 community hours at a hospital

I also attended the summer scholars program at the University of Miami. (I'm a Florida resident)

Now for the colleges I want to get into...
Well, I'm going to apply to about 12 colleges (too much? let me know)

My top choices are:
Northwestern
Berkeley
Tufts
UMiami
Johns Hopkins
Duke

I'm also planning on applying to:
UFlorida
FSU
NYU
and some Ivy's
Brown
Columbia
Cornell

Please let me know what my reaches are, and my chances. Also, any advice for college?








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[efle]

Yes, nearly straight As with 7 APs is going to be plenty impressive, assuming you also did well on the AP tests. With SAT/ACT scores in the top 1-2% you're looking good for Top 20s, as long as you can "sell yourself" well with your ECs too, you're in good shape. Exactly how strong your ECs / "why I'm special" narrative is will be a deciding factor for you much more than your classes and grades at this level.

The whole reach/match thing starts to fall apart at the top tier schools, it's more like apply to a dozen you like and hope to get into a few (or even one!). There isn't a whole lot of rhyme or reason to exactly where you get in, unless you have a special connection to one like alumni parents.

My top choices are:
Northwestern
Berkeley
Tufts
UMiami
Johns Hopkins
Duke

I'm also planning on applying to:
UFlorida
FSU
NYU
and some Ivy's
Brown
Columbia
Cornell

So based on the highly competitive bolded choices I'd look into WashU and Rice as well, two more top premed powerhouse schools. Similar for Vanderbilt, and then a step down in competitiveness but still absolutely excellent for premeds would be Emory.

Having schools like U Miami, U Florida, FSU should have you covered as far as safeties. I'd maybe look for 1-2 more safety level at most, and otherwise look to expand the bolded with another handful of top schools of interest - the trick to getting in at that level is to apply to a large number. NYU is a sort of lower match/not quite a safety, might want to add 1-2 more of that level as well (eg. Case Western, Boston College) if they appeal to you.

Post again when you have an almost finalized list of colleges! As for advice, you'd have to ask more specifically - for reference, I was a similar applicant by numbers that applied to about half of the current top 20, got into a few, and recently graduated from one (WashU)

 

[BrainFreak]

Yes, nearly straight As with 7 APs is going to be plenty impressive, assuming you also did well on the AP tests. With SAT/ACT scores in the top 1-2% you're looking good for Top 20s, as long as you can "sell yourself" well with your ECs too, you're in good shape. Exactly how strong your ECs / "why I'm special" narrative is will be a deciding factor for you much more than your classes and grades at this level.

The whole reach/match thing starts to fall apart at the top tier schools, it's more like apply to a dozen you like and hope to get into a few (or even one!). There isn't a whole lot of rhyme or reason to exactly where you get in, unless you have a special connection to one like alumni parents.






So based on the highly competitive bolded choices I'd look into WashU and Rice as well, two more top premed powerhouse schools. Similar for Vanderbilt, and then a step down in competitiveness but still absolutely excellent for premeds would be Emory.

Having schools like U Miami, U Florida, FSU should have you covered as far as safeties. I'd maybe look for 1-2 more safety level at most, and otherwise look to expand the bolded with another handful of top schools of interest - the trick to getting in at that level is to apply to a large number. NYU is a sort of lower match/not quite a safety, might want to add 1-2 more of that level as well (eg. Case Western, Boston College) if they appeal to you.

Post again when you have an almost finalized list of colleges! As for advice, you'd have to ask more specifically - for reference, I was a similar applicant by numbers that applied to about half of the current top 20, got into a few, and recently graduated from one (WashU)

Thank you! Also, all 4's and 5's on the AP exams.


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[Kurk]

Nice stats. Keep in mind that no one casually walks around saying yeah Brown is my match school and Tufts is my safety so all the Ivy's are reaches no matter your stats.
My counselor recommends no more than 10, but 12 is acceptable.

Let's see, based on my limited experience:
Northwestern: reach
Berkeley: upper match school
Tufts: reach
UMiami: safety/low-match
Johns Hopkins: match/lower-reach
Duke: reach

UFlorida: safety
FSU: safety
NYU: lower match
Brown: reach
Columbia: reach
Cornell: reach

With Ivy's there is too much variability; those stats just get you to the door. You go through based on extracurriculars and uniqueness.

 

[BrainFreak]

So I've replaced some and these so far look like my final choices and where I'm going to apply. I've also narrowed down my top choices to 3 schools. I removed Cornell because I don't really have a good feeling about it, and I'm applying to Columbia because it's been my dream school for a long time, even though I know it's quite a reach school.

Berkeley
Brown
Columbia
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Tufts
U Miami
U Florida
FSU
U Wash (Seattle)
NYU
Wash U


The thing is, I know there are some good colleges like Baylor and Rice in Texas, but I've lived in Miami nearly my whole life, and I just hate all the humidity and heat. Not feelin' Tennessee either. I'm only going to apply to in-state colleges cause they're cheap and safety schools. I'd like to go to a college up north as I've never seen snow before. I also want to experience a different sort of lifestyle. In my personal experience, Miami sucks. (the city, not the university, just to clarify)

 

[efle]

So I've replaced some and these so far look like my final choices and where I'm going to apply. I've also narrowed down my top choices to 3 schools. I removed Cornell because I don't really have a good feeling about it, and I'm applying to Columbia because it's been my dream school for a long time, even though I know it's quite a reach school.

Berkeley
Brown
Columbia
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Tufts
U Miami
U Florida
FSU
U Wash (Seattle)
NYU
Wash U


The thing is, I know there are some good colleges like Baylor and Rice in Texas, but I've lived in Miami nearly my whole life, and I just hate all the humidity and heat. Not feelin' Tennessee either. I'm only going to apply to in-state colleges cause they're cheap and safety schools. I'd like to go to a college up north as I've never seen snow before. I also want to experience a different sort of lifestyle. In my personal experience, Miami sucks. (the city, not the university, just to clarify)

13 schools is actually rather few for a very competitive applicant! Is there a reason you want to avoid applying to more?

Some other thoughts:

Vanderbilt, like Duke, is in a liberal bubble region and not going to really feel like the South. Nashville actually has similar climate to Baltimore regarding summer heat, much better than say Gainesville. It was one of the places I visited and nearly attended and I was similarly skeptical of anywhere Southern. Just thought I'd point this out because Vanderbilt has been very heavily emphasizing strong test scores in recent years, more so than many peers - having a 1520 SAT will go a lot further there than at, say, Cornell or others (eg 1430-1590 interquartile range this year for V, 1330-1530 for C).

Speaking of Cornell, if you were born and raised in an urban or dense suburban environment, moving to Ithaca would feel like quite a shock. I lived there for a year growing up and the nature all around is gorgeous, but a place with a population of 30,000 feels very very different. Winter out there is also brutal. Somewhere like St. Louis will let you see snow without burying you in it and making it too cold to do anything outside for 1/3rd of every year. Good first one to cut I think.

Not sure if the reputation has ever reached you before, but Johns Hopkins (along with MIT and U Chicago) has long been known for grade deflation. Together with insanely high numbers of premeds per capita (the highest of any college), you get a resulting environment that is infamously stressful and competitive. Berkeley and UCLA, being state schools, are also generally more deflating than private peers, so they get complained about a good bit as well. The Ivies, and actually Brown in particular, are the total opposite, known for being less intense/more inflated.

I think this group is a good set of lower match/safety:

U Miami
U Florida
FSU
U Wash (Seattle)
NYU

These are solid choices!

Berkeley
Brown
Columbia
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Wash U

But, based on what you've said so far, I'd consider expanding some more. It can really be a crapshoot getting into selective universities (I knew people with 34 ACTs getting into one or none despite applying to ~10). Consider perhaps a few more from:

Penn
Vandy
Georgetown
Carnegie Mellon
UCLA
U Michigan
whatever else might grab you browsing the schools with high test scores/low accept rates

I only say this because I think going to a school where you're surrounded by similarly capable peers proves invaluable for a lot of people. It certainly was awesome for me. Worth the slightly extra time and money for the best shot at having that option, or worst case, avoid being plagued by what-ifs.

I believe @WedgeDawg had a similar experience, applying to a bunch of top schools to get into a couple and then loving the students he was among there.

 

[BrainFreak]

13 schools is actually rather few for a very competitive applicant! Is there a reason you want to avoid applying to more?

Some other thoughts:

Vanderbilt, like Duke, is in a liberal bubble region and not going to really feel like the South. Nashville actually has similar climate to Baltimore regarding summer heat, much better than say Gainesville. It was one of the places I visited and nearly attended and I was similarly skeptical of anywhere Southern. Just thought I'd point this out because Vanderbilt has been very heavily emphasizing strong test scores in recent years, more so than many peers - having a 1520 SAT will go a lot further there than at, say, Cornell or others (eg 1430-1590 interquartile range this year for V, 1330-1530 for C).

Speaking of Cornell, if you were born and raised in an urban or dense suburban environment, moving to Ithaca would feel like quite a shock. I lived there for a year growing up and the nature all around is gorgeous, but a place with a population of 30,000 feels very very different. Winter out there is also brutal. Somewhere like St. Louis will let you see snow without burying you in it and making it too cold to do anything outside for 1/3rd of every year. Good first one to cut I think.

Not sure if the reputation has ever reached you before, but Johns Hopkins (along with MIT and U Chicago) has long been known for grade deflation. Together with insanely high numbers of premeds per capita (the highest of any college), you get a resulting environment that is infamously stressful and competitive. Berkeley and UCLA, being state schools, are also generally more deflating than private peers, so they get complained about a good bit as well. The Ivies, and actually Brown in particular, are the total opposite, known for being less intense/more inflated.

I think this group is a good set of lower match/safety:



These are solid choices!


But, based on what you've said so far, I'd consider expanding some more. It can really be a crapshoot getting into selective universities (I knew people with 34 ACTs getting into one or none despite applying to ~10). Consider perhaps a few more from:

Penn
Vandy
Georgetown
Carnegie Mellon
UCLA
U Michigan
whatever else might grab you browsing the schools with high test scores/low accept rates

I only say this because I think going to a school where you're surrounded by similarly capable peers proves invaluable for a lot of people. It certainly was awesome for me. Worth the slightly extra time and money for the best shot at having that option, or worst case, avoid being plagued by what-ifs.

I believe @WedgeDawg had a similar experience, applying to a bunch of top schools to get into a couple and then loving the students he was among there.

Thank you so much. I didn't want to apply to more than 12 because my counselor said I have a high chance of getting accepted to the colleges I'm applying to already. What number of colleges do you think I should apply for? (Max, min?) I'll reply back tomorrow with an updated list after I do some research. It's almost 1am for me, so goodnight and thanks again!


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[efle]

I didn't want to apply to more than 12 because my counselor said I have a high chance of getting accepted to the colleges I'm applying to already.

You have an extremely high chance of getting into the first five I quoted. The latter batch I'd say more likely than not you get into one, but it's best to maximize odds and can be very beneficial to get multiple acceptances - especially regarding financial aid. I only ended up being able to attend WashU, my favorite after campus visit, because they raised their financial aid by ~10k/yr to get closer to the better offer I had from Vandy. That kind of thing where similar schools offer significantly different pricetags is not rare.

Id say minimum would be about where your at, maximum would be something in the low 20s (what I did). If you found ~4 more really excellent undergrads you'd be doing enough imo. It will feel annoying at the time but in the grand scheme, those few more essays might have a profound effect on the next four years of your life, or beyond, especially if you stick with the medical plans. There are a lot of resources available to students at Ivy level schools that prove very valuable - for example here we have courses you can enroll in that get you shadowing hours, its extremely easy to get set up with science research projects/mentors, physicians with experience in medical admissions in the prehealth advising center, nearby hospitals at the medical center with lots of volunteering opportunities, etc.

Now you can def build a great application anywhere, so if finances are a big concern and you get a full ride to you state school for example, don't ignore that. But building that app can be done much more easily at some places than others (my sibling attends a fairly unknown liberal arts college and when they got interested in premed, they did not have nearly the kind of easy access I describe above).

 

[BrainFreak]

@efle So I took your advice, and I added a few more schools to the list, including some you suggested. What do you think?

Columbia
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Brown
UNC, Chapel Hill
U Washington, Seattle
Tufts
UC, Berkeley
UC, Los Angeles
Washington University, St. Louis
U Miami
U Florida
U Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Southern California
New York University
Vanderbilt
Georgetown
Carnegie Mellon

It's 19 schools, so you don't have to count.


safeties?
reaches?
matches?

 

[efle]

Columbia
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Brown
Washington University in St. Louis
Vanderbilt
Georgetown
UC Berkeley

UC Los Angeles
Tufts
Carnegie Mellon
UNC, Chapel Hill
U Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Southern California

New York University
U Washington, Seattle
U Miami
U Florida

I'd break it into these three groups, broadly. First group can be a crapshoot/reach on the individual school level even for extremely competitive applicants, but with 9 of them you're doing a good job maximizing your chance of at least a couple options there, as long as you can present your ECs in a convincingly impressive way!

Second group you start to be on the upper end academically and/or accept rates get more forgiving, and some of the really huge ones like UCLA, Mich, and Chapel have good odds of admitting simply for your stellar SAT (Berkeley is a bit of an exception to this rule).

Third group I'd expect you get into three or all four. No more FSU? Might keep them on the list if they're in the habit of giving large merit $ to way above average state residents

Overall I think that's a solid list for someone with no interest in a place too hot, rural, or similar to Florida!

 

[BrainFreak]

I'd break it into these three groups, broadly. First group can be a crapshoot/reach on the individual school level even for extremely competitive applicants, but with 9 of them you're doing a good job maximizing your chance of at least a couple options there, as long as you can present your ECs in a convincingly impressive way!

Second group you start to be on the upper end academically and/or accept rates get more forgiving, and some of the really huge ones like UCLA, Mich, and Chapel have good odds of admitting simply for your stellar SAT (Berkeley is a bit of an exception to this rule).

Third group I'd expect you get into three or all four. No more FSU? Might keep them on the list if they're in the habit of giving large merit $ to way above average state residents

Overall I think that's a solid list for someone with no interest in a place too hot, rural, or similar to Florida!

I might add FSU back. I was thinking of adding Drexel as a safety replacement for it, but I've read it's ''ridiculously expensive''

 

[efle]

Yeah I wouldn't go for Drexel, they charge private school prices and have poor financial aid. If you just want to get the hell out of Florida and are interested in adding another giant state school safety option on the cheaper side, maybe look at Colorado-Boulder (very popular) or other similar state schools outside the south (eg Uni of Iowa)

 

[BrainFreak]

@efle advice on studying? And on how to stay motivated? I want to be a physician more than anything, but sometimes I just feel lazy and slack off, causing my grade to go down, then I have to work my ass off to get it back up. I definitely don't want to do that in college. So how did you stay/are you staying motivated?


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[WedgeDawg]

@efle advice on studying? And on how to stay motivated? I want to be a physician more than anything, but sometimes I just feel lazy and slack off, causing my grade to go down, then I have to work my ass off to get it back up. I definitely don't want to do that in college. So how did you stay/are you staying motivated?


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If your motivation (and therefore your study discipline) goes up and down, best advice I can give you is learn how to cram.

 

[efle]

I actually had a very bad habit of procrastinating when I entered college, was too used to being able to do well with cramming. I understood conceptually that it was stupid of me, because it's the same amount of work to do regardless of when you do it, and it will always be safer/smarter to get it done as soon as it's convenient.

Experiencing some consequences is what really sets you straight though. All-nighters absolutely suck and make you feel like crap for a couple days after because of the messed up sleep cycle. Staying in and working on that paper you blew off when your friends are going to a great concert sucks. Doing a lot worse than you should've on a test, so that now you have to study a lot more to take the optional final, makes you kick yourself a lot when finals week rolls around. That sort of thing.

As for motivation, again for me it comes from experience. I worked a full time summer as a lab assistant doing some very dull grunt work before college. It made it very clear to me that it is worth busting your ass in school to get a job you really want and can be excited about doing for decades.

 

[efle]

best advice I can give you is learn how to cram

Yeah, even for people reasonably good at managing their time and working hard, there are going to be unavoidable cram sessions. Especially if you have overlapping midterms and during finals weeks. You just want to minimize them!

Oh, plus the MCAT. No cramming for that. For most people it's the biggest barrier to med school admission and it requires a lot of studying over a long time (months), and since you have to report all scores you ever get to med schools, it can be very punishing to take it under prepared.

 

[BrainFreak]

@efle @WedgeDawg Thank you!


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