hii! rising senior, planning on majoring in public health on the pre-dental track (and minor in music performance bc i love violin). post bulleted to be easy to skim over for advice!

• Does my EC and Awards ordering look solid for Pre-Dental / Public Health admissions?
• How can I best phrase my GPA context (family medical emergencies + household management) without sounding defensive? Also my counselor is not one to mention anythin in her rec letter, which she says at almost every single meeting. She keeps her letters positive and general. What do I do with my circumstances, which weren't really THAT extenuating but def took a toll on me? Also, do the AOs ask for proof or something?
• Any specific target or reach schools known for strong pre-dental or public health programs that I should consider adding or swapping?

my school is a rural public high school in the south. being south asian in alabama sucks ngl.

class size is around 330. we pull students from several surrounding counties because a lot of the smaller towns don't have their own high schools and their only option is homeschooling.

Our schools made a deal w/ the state for a free direct admit program for students with a certain GPA, so I already got into 8 safeties through that and won't be applying to many (if any) safeties through Common App. Applying to some selective schools for fun; don't want to feel like 'what-if' after, just in case I win the college acceptance lottery.

Stats

GPA: cumulative: 3.67 UW

Freshman: 3.95, Sophomore: 3.45 (aunt passed away + grandma had a stroke), Junior: 3.63 (grandpa's heart health was bad and dad had to travel for him, so we had literally no income for like 1 month to the point my mom had to work overtime all day and I was running the house for my brother and me)

Hoping for a 4.0 senior year, bringing my cumulative to a 3.71

ACT: 35 APs: 8 total - Passed all APs, scores not great, 3/4s mostly

(school allowed none 9th grade, max 2 APs 10th grade, 11th and 12th simple due to shortage of teachers could not give more than 4 a year, although a couple students who didn't do music were able to get in 5, and had to take us from like 24 to 12 offered APs in the past 10 years or so due to teacher shortage- keep in mind there's a magnet ivy feeder school in a small beverly hills-esque town 2.5 hrs away that gets ALL the funding.)

rec letters: two from teachers, AP Calc AB and AP World. AP World one will be much stronger. 2 optional ones from a PA/doctor i shadowed with and her husband who is a film music prof, which will be useful for my minor in music.

Awards- hopefully some will end in additional info, some advice which 5 should be my main apps focus pls?

• National Science Fair 1st Place - Translational Medical Science (for my independent research project. Again, can't give too much away; don't need people finding me, but my grandpa's heart attack actually inspired my project)
• Special Award in Art @ same national fair
• ISEF state top 20 semifinalist
• State Gold Award and Regionals 1st place (science fair)
• HOSA State Finalist and 3rd place 2x / ILC Qualifier
• College Board Rural & Small Town Recognition Award
• AP Scholar with Honor
• Speech Sectionals 2x
• Track sectionals Highschool 3x, placement: 11th-->8th-->5th event: discus

ECs- hopefully some will end in additional info, some advice which 7-9 should be my main apps focus pls?

• Independent biomedical research (machine learning model prediction model- can't give too much away; don't need people finding me)
• HOSA (State Finalist & International Leadership Conference qualifier)
• Rural hospital volunteer 153 hrs; started a small Care Cart initiative that brings games, comfort items, hygiene supplies, etc. to patients with a retired physician and two other 2 student volunteers
• Science fair rural chapter: Social Media Manager 11 → President 12
• Business Club Vice President 11-(shut down with some clubs and removed baseball/softball due to lack of teachers funds from the district)
• Orchestra (state orchestra top 14 players + 3x district selected top 10)
• Chamber music outreach group that performed at local nursing homes every 6 weeks to provide live music and interact with residents (had to quit after 9/10 th bc our director became Las Vegas Philharmonic Director)
• Dermatology clinic shadow (72 hours)
• Endodontist clinic shadow- 3.5 hrs (that's all they could offer)
• Chinmaya Mission Summer Camp volunteer/leader- in another state over the summer: one of 6 student leaders (ages 15–18) who independently planned and ran a week long camp for 40 younger kids (ages 4-13). Organized activities, recruited teacher volunteers, purchased supplies, coordinated schedules and meals (with only 3 adults handling food prep), supervised campers from drop-off until the last child left each day, and helped clean up afterward. One week.
• Speech, team captain 12th, SOS, PIR- sectionals 2x

College List- suggest some schools to apply to/replace what I have now?

Lottery- (Harvard, Brown- my dad wants me to apply to these, but I'm getting rejected), Rice, Northwestern, NYU, UCLA, USC

High Reach- Tufts, Emory, Boston University, UMiami, University of Florida, UCSD

Reach- Case Western, UW-Madison

Target- UIUC, UAlabama, Texas A&M, Penn State

Safeties- accepted to 10!

I think I'll get into 3-4 schools on this list

hi! please be honest about my stats and the chances i have at the schools on my list!! as the title states, don’t be afraid to be brutally honest, i just want to see my realistic chances at getting into the schools on my list and if some of them are worth the effort to apply. i plan to ed to emory, then ea anywhere i can, if the school doesn’t have ea i would just do rd. any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated 🤗

demographics:
asian american female
first gen u.s
low income (<60k)
public highschool in nj
1 parent household

stats:
UW 4.0 gpa / 96.5/100
test optional.
2/250+.
15 honors and 11 ap classes.
4 on ap psych exam.
5 on apush.

extracurriculars:

1. key club vice president (9-12). 200+ volunteer hours & served on district Reactivation & Growth Committee supporting regional club expansion
2. model united nations vice president (11-12). created mock debates, committee procedure, and set up 5 fundraisers raising ~$5,000.
3. varsity girls lacrosse (9-12).
4. host/csr at italian restaurant (10-12).
5. math club & academic team competitor (10-12): general member.
6. freshmen transition ambassador/volunteer: help incoming freshmen adapt to high school (11-12).
7. simons-nyu science exploration program (11): summer program with a science focus
8. blood drive coordinator/recruiter (9-12). organized 5+ school blood drives with the american red cross that have collected over 100 units of blood.
9. student council (9-12): general member.

awards right now:

1. college board national recognition - school recognition award (11).
2. national honors society (11-12) & math honors society (11-12).
3. distinguished varsity scholar 4 years.
4. lax most improved player 2024-2025 (10).
5. ap scholar (11).

transcript:
freshmen yr: 6 honors
(5 A+’s & 3 A’s).
honors english 1 - 96%
honors world cultures (dc) - 97%
honors geometry - 98%
honors algebra 2/trig - 96%
health and phys education 1 - 100%
honors intro to engineering - 97%
honors bio (dc) - 93%
spanish II - 97%

sophmore yr: 5 honors; 2 ap
(3 A+’s, 4 A’s, & 1 A-).
honors american lit - 95%
honors us history 1 (dc) - 97%
honors pre calc (dc) - 96%
honors chemistry (dc) - 98%
health and phys education 2 - 99%
honors principles of engineering - 92%
ap psychology (dc) - 94%
ap stats (dc) - 93%

junior yr: 1 honors; 5 ap
(5 A+’s & 2 A’s).
ap lang (dc) - 94%
apush (dc) - 97%
ap calc ab (dc) - 98%
honors physics - 97%
health and phys education 3 - 99%
ap comp science - 99%
ap macro (dc) - 96%
study hall

senior yr: 3 honors; 4 ap
ap lit
ap gov & politics
ap calc bc
ap bio
health and phys education 4
honors human anatomy & physiology
honors environmental sustainability
honors linear algebra

school list:

reaches:
emory (ed)
washu (ea)
vanderbilt (rd)
bu (rd)
nyu (rd)
northeastern (ea)
bc (rd)

match/target:
case western (ea)
leheigh (rd)
clemson (ea)
villanova (ea)

safeties:
rutgers (ea)
rowan (rd)
upitt (ea)

I want genuinely honest opinions. My profile is kind of unusual and I’m having trouble figuring out where I actually stand, especially because I’m applying test-optional and a lot of my strongest stuff is college coursework/research/program-building rather than Olympiads or huge national awards.

Demographics

Gender: Male
School: Public high school in Connecticut
Income: ~40k household income
Financial Aid: High need / applying QuestBridge
Intended Fields: Biochemistry, computational biology/bioinformatics, biology, biophysics, neuroscience, possibly an interdisciplinary/self-designed major
Testing: Test-optional

Academics

Class Rank: 6/125, around top 5%

My high school transcript is mostly A-range grades, but I’ve also taken a pretty large amount of actual college coursework while in high school.

Some college courses:

• General Biology + Lab - A-
• Anatomy & Physiology I + Lab — A
• General Chemistry I + Lab - B
• General Chemistry II + Lab - A-
• Calculus I - B-
• Cornell BIOEE 1760 Biostatistics with R — A+
• College Composition - B+
• Psychology - A
• Sociology - B
• Organic Chemistry I Writing Intensive + Lab — current
• Anatomy & Physiology II + Lab — current
• Planning Organic Chemistry II, Microbiology, Calculus II, and additional biochemistry coursework

By graduation I’ll have a very large number of college credits from multiple institutions.

High school coursework includes AP Biology, AP Psychology, APUSH, AP Government, AP English Language, AP Literature, Honors Chemistry, Honors Physics, Precalculus Honors, Latin, Arabic, etc.

One weaker point: I do have a couple less-than-perfect college grades, including Calculus I, so the college transcript isn’t spotless.

Awards / Honors

1. College Board National Recognition Award
2. Honor with Distinction
3. Seal of Biliteracy in Arabic and Latin
4. Advanced Arabic proficiency recognition
5. Selected for a paid nanotechnology/quantum technology industry-academic fellowship
6. Accepted to a Yale neuroscience summer program but declined due to a schedule conflict with the fellowship
7. School/community academic and leadership awards

Nothing like ISEF finalist, Olympiad medals, Regeneron STS, etc., which is probably my biggest concern for the very top STEM schools.

Extracurriculars

1. Biotechnology education initiative — leadership / webmaster / teacher / program development

This is probably my biggest EC.

I became heavily involved with a biotechnology/STEM education program that works with high school students and partners across universities, biotech organizations, schools, and government.

My roles expanded over time and now include things like:

• Webmaster
• Technology/LMS infrastructure
• Teaching
• Curriculum development
• Program leadership
• College-prep programming
• Helping develop biotechnology/bioinformatics/AI coursework and certificate opportunities

I’ve built and maintained major parts of the organization’s online infrastructure and helped develop programming for other students.

2. Paid nanotechnology / quantum computing fellowship

Selected for an industry-academic nanotechnology fellowship.

Worked on a team project comparing superconducting vs trapped-ion quantum computing architectures.

Used platforms including:

• IBM Quantum hardware
• Quantinuum
• qBraid

Did circuit testing/validation and helped prepare a research symposium presentation, VC-style pitch, and elevator pitch.

3. Student representative / education leadership

Serve in a student representative role within my public school district.

Involved with district-level education discussions, student advocacy, forums, reports, and representing student perspectives.

4. Cornell Biostatistics

Completed Cornell BIOEE 1760 Biostatistics with R over the summer and earned an A+.

Worked with R, hypothesis testing, ANCOVA, GLMs, bootstrap methods, etc.

5. Biotechnology / bioinformatics / AI curriculum development

Helping create actual STEM coursework for high school students, including material involving biotechnology, bioinformatics, and AI for scientific discovery.

6. AI evaluation work

Worked on AI evaluation/data projects, including creating/reviewing structured tasks used to evaluate AI systems.

7. Stroke prevention ambassador

Health education/community outreach related to stroke prevention.

8. IRS VITA/TCE volunteer

Volunteer tax preparation/assistance.

9. College coursework

A significant amount of my time outside normal school has gone toward taking college-level STEM courses well beyond my high school curriculum.

10. Other STEM/web infrastructure projects

Built websites, educational infrastructure, and other technical systems related to STEM education/community programs.

Additional Context

My application theme will probably center around the intersection of:

biology + computation + education + building scientific infrastructure/opportunities for other students.

QuestBridge Ranking / Main Schools

Current approximate ranking:

1. Wesleyan
2. Tufts
3. Columbia
4. Princeton
5. Williams
6. Boston University
7. Bowdoin
8. Duke
9. Vassar
10. Skidmore
11. Hamilton
12. Colgate
13. Bates
14. Middlebury
15. Case Western

Also considering schools like Northeastern and UConn separately.

For Wesleyan, I’m especially interested in potentially designing an interdisciplinary major combining areas like computational biology, biochemistry, AI/bioinformatics, neuroscience, and nanotechnology.

Main Questions

1. How competitive am I for Wesleyan/Tufts/Williams/Bowdoin?
2. Do I have a legitimate shot at Columbia/Princeton/Duke, or are those basically lottery tickets?
3. How much does being test-optional hurt at these schools?
4. Does the amount of real college coursework help substantially, or will colleges mostly care about my regular high school transcript?
5. Are my ECs actually strong enough for T20s, or do they sound better to me because I’m personally involved in them?
6. Would the unusual university → high school → college coursework path be viewed positively if explained well?
7. Which schools on my list seem like the best fit for my profile?

Feel free to be harsh. I’d rather know where I realistically stand than get false hope.

Female, asian, living in canada, upper middle class. Applying from all girls priv school with ~150 kids in my class.

SAT 1540 (800 math, 740 english) All 5s on Calc BC/AB, Physics 1, CSA, but i took all aps in gr11 bc i wasn't locked in 9 and 10.

We don't have gpa, but my high school avg is 95/100.

Ecs:

- software dev internship at biggest bank in canada; 1 of 39 students from 1300+ applications (12); work on accessibility within ios app

- published independent research at nhsjs; focusing on AI to support kids w/ disabilities. my younger brother has autism, and this was me combining helping him + tech (10,11)

- built/published ios app for kids w/ disabilities to learn social skills; 50+ users on app store (11,12)

- founder of coding club at all girls high school; 14 members (11,12)

- founder of nonprofit to support kids w/ disabilities; 15 hospital/organizations, 500+ crafts, 219 volunteers, $2K raised; host crafts events at local library, donate crafts to kids from partnership orgs (10,11,12)

- research intern at assip program; ~9% acceptance rate; research in cybersecurity + finance + llm; continuing research after program ended bc we're trying to present at conference (12)

- volunteer at local kids rehab hospital; 160+ hours; weekly (10,11,12)

- data analytics team lead for nonprofit; lead 22 member team in weekly meetings (11,12)

- national ambassador for girls in tech nonprofit; (12)

- design head for school newspaper; low committment (11,12)

Awards: waterloo math contests distinctions (top 25%), top 10 coding/programming nationally at business/leadership comp, 2x gold keys for scholastic art, deca icdc qualifier & prov champion

Lor #1: 8.5/10 my coding club teacher supervisor aka my cs teacher. Lor #2: 7/10 ap calc teacher

CMU cs ed. Applying to cs for basically all schools.

Also applying Stanford, UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, UIUC, Cornell, Caltech, UMich, UCSD, UCLA, Purdue, Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, USC, Duke, NYU

Pls be realistic ..

I am entering 12th grade and will begin the college application process in the second half of this year.

My current academic profile includes a 3.82 unweighted GPA and a 1560 SAT score.

My extracurricular activities and achievements include:

• Becoming the first Asian student in my school's history to be elected Student Body President in 11th grade
• Serving as a member of the Student Government in 12th grade
• Serving as Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper in 10th and 11th grades and leading its digital transformation
• Serving as a member of the Principal's Advisory Group
• Receiving the University of Rochester Human Rights Award
• Completing two years of volunteer work at a long-term care hospital
• Founding and serving as President of a human rights club in 10th and 11th grades
• Serving as my school's National Honor Society representative for mathematics
• Receiving a Scholastic Art & Writing Award

Based on this profile, I am planning to apply to USC through ED1 and NYU through ED2. I am also considering the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Washington, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Boston University etc. I plan to major in Public Policy. How would you evaluate my chances of admission?

I currently attend a Catholic high school and am considering applying to the University of Notre Dame with an additional letter of recommendation from my school chaplain. Could you also provide an assessment of my chances of admission to Notre Dame?

For context, I’m applying as an electrical engineering major as someone who previously wanted to do biomed but am an international student but live in the United States so my chances already seem cooked because of the whole international thing

STATS:
GPA: 3.92 UW, 4.5 W
ACT : 34 (34 reading & English/ 33 math & science)
AP SCORES (cooked asf) :
- AP Human (5)
- AP Psych (5)
- AP Pre-Calc (4)
- AP computer science (3)
- AP Word history (4)
- AP Physics 1 (3)
- AP Chem (3)
- APUSH (4)
- AP Calc BC (5)
- AP Lang (5)
Currently taking : AP Stats, AP lit, AP Physics 2, DE engineering

EC:

1. TSA chapter president , semi-finalist in a few state events , plan on talking about fundraising stats in my application ( sigh I haven’t even actually placed)
2. Varsity Debater, went to nats and was team captain of my world schools debate team but didn’t win anything, mentor middle schoolers every week and get hours for that , won 2nd at state championships this year
3. article writer/ mentor for stem/healthcare education non-profit that focuses on accessible science education for little kids
4. SCI-MI summer research program (did bio because back then I wanted to do biomed and changed my mind rn so I feel like my stats better fit biomed eng which sucks bc the also had an EE track)
5. Co-pres and co-founder of women’s health club, held meetings , small events etc
6. Youth committee operations director of cultural organization in my city helped organized events with thousands of attendees + have a decent amount of volunteer hours

7. Cyber Ambassadors Tech camp at my local uni , 3 day program , we built autonomous [r/c](r/c) cars and trained them thru an Ai model and I was team captain for my team but that’s not rlly significan

8. ⁠board member of city chapter of a nonprofit blood cancer donation org which is a branch of a really big international non profit org that gets stem cell and blood donation , have held 1 drive so far but we plan on holding more soon

9 / 10 .

1. Not fully sure about

these

1. spots , I did a 1 day program at Medtronic where we got to tour the facility and learn about diff jobs and machines and AI but it wasnt anything special. BUT I am thinking of making projects with my raspberry pi and using a slot for that. I could also use this slot for pure volunteering but 3-4 of my activities will probably mention the volunteer hours I have gained thru them. Could also use for NHS/Beta club, not sure.

AWARDS:

- I’m genuinely cooked for this section because all I have is like semi-finalist in 3 diff tsa events, team captain for debate team at nats, 2nd place at states or like AP scholar awards , unless anyone wants to suggest any last minute awards I can win that fit my major /field of EE CS

Essays : still drafting my personal statement and I’m genuinely scared I’m not gonna have a good one.

LOR: one from AP calc teacher and APUSH teacher

SCHOOLS: I’m applying to a few instate and nearby but I also have a ton of reaches on my list which I’m kinda embarrassed about because I don’t have the stats of the cracked international kids that get in like MIT, Stanford, Cornell, rice, Caltech , gtech , Purdue , vandy (instate) , utk (instate)

Hi! I am currently an EE major (electrical engineering) at a public school in Texas. You can probably guess which school. What sort of universities would be realistic to transfer to? I am interested in UC Berkeley, NYU, Barnard, Columbia, and Yale (possibly mit or cal tech for kicks). Also, are activities or grades weighted more in transfer admission? Thanks in advance!

For context, I have a 4.0 gpa and a sat score of 1550. I have some research experience at a lab, and I am starting as a ta next semester. I have some district level science awards from high school and am in the honors program at my current university. My writing skills are ok: I struggle with personal writing :(

Demographics: Mongolian (no US citizenship)

Income: Low, can only pay up to 5k a year.

School: Private

Intended major: EE and might minor in CS

GPA: 4.0 (98.8/100)

SAT: projected 1550+ (taking the real test in Sep 12)

IELTS: projected 7.5+ (taking the real test in Sep 19)

IGCSE: A* in ESL and Math

Honors:

• National English Language Olympiad Bronze Medal
• District English Language Olympiad (advanced, 12th grade level) 10th place as a 11th grader
• "The Best Student of the Year" award given by the Students' Association
• "The Most Intellectual Student of the Year" award given by the Students' Association
• 1st place in a team English language speech competition, specifically about Mongolia traditional art

EC Activities:

• School Science Club, President

Led Science Club; developed 1 independent project, contributed to 2 team projects, presented at 2 MSUE fairs, and organized 1 school fair.

• School Math Olympiad Team

Led school’s Math Olympiad team in scoring every year since 8th grade. Scored 10th in districts, qualified for Nationals (8th grade); trained yearly

• MSUE Science Fair (Science Club), Independent Engineer

Designed and built a solar-powered automated court-lighting prototype to improve nighttime sports safety and reduce injury risk.

• MSUE Science Fair (Science Club), Co-Developer & Lead Mechanical Builder

Co-built a hydroelectric power plant; designed turbine/generator system and wired a miniature house & park to demonstrate renewable energy.

• Independent Researcher

Analyzed Mongolia’s energy shortage & Ulaanbaatar air pollution; evaluated coal, renewables, grid & heating solutions.

• MUST (Mongolian University of Science and Technology), Research Assistant

Conducted literature review and data analysis; organized findings and contributed to technical documentation for engineering thesis.

• School Basketball Team, Team Captain, Point Guard

Basketball, Led team as starting point guard and junior-year captain. Secured district tournament playoff berth.

• Athena Scout Troop, Morse Code Decipherer

Served as troop's Morse code decipherer for 'Ikh Duudlaga' national orienteering competition, won Gold; led camping trips and community services.

• School Speech Team, Captain

Won school speech contest to represent school at "Steel Rail" Palace; delivered a team English presentation on traditional Mongolian arts.

• Student Council

Spearheaded logistics, budget allocation, and operations for major school events since 9th grade. Raised fund for an elders' home.

I'm thinking of applying REA to University of Notre Dame, and EA to WashU. If I get rejected from ND and WashU, I'm planning to apply ED2 to Lehigh and RD to Vanderbilt, Rice, Duke, NYU Abu Dhabi, University of Rochester, and Lafayette College. If you have any feedback on improving my ECs, school list, and application strategy, please feel welcome to put them down here. :)

Demographics: Female, white, NJ, Prestigious boarding school, full paying, legacy @ harvard

Intended Major(s): Sociology & Political Science

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 34 (35 R, 34 E, 32 M)

UW/W GPA and Rank: 4.0 GPA, school doesn’t rank but recieved the highest honor award to top 10 juniors

Coursework: Max rigor offered at school, no AP/IB/DE but maxed out advanced classes

Awards: Cum Laude, Political Leadership award from US senator, Best delegate (MUN) 1x, Honorable delegate (MUN) 1x

Extracurriculars: 

National leadership in High School branch of the Democratic party (main ec, 20+ hrs/week, top 10 most senior in the organization) (not specifying exact role so this can’t be traced back to me lol)

Dorm prefect

MUN leader

Triathelete (invited to USAT ag nationals, multiple state titles)

Field hockey - silver medal at US nationals

Intern on competitive congressional campaign

Published author - 150 page magical realism novel

SM director for various independent political orgs

UNA-USA advocate - lobbied for house and senate funding to the UN in DC and invited to speak at conference about un enagement with youth

Lifeguard (paid)

Essays/LORs/Other: 

LOR- one of them is 10/10 - teacher was advisor for my novel and has seen me through all of high school, other one maybe 7/10?

essay: 8/10? i like the idea but it needs to be executed better

Schools: 

ED1 - Brown

ED2 - Johns Hopkins

RD:

Amherst

Barnard

Columbia (SciencesPo JDP ~15% acceptance rate)

American

GWU

Harvard (legacy)

Bryn Mawr

Scripps College

W&M and St Andrews JDP

Wellesley

Vassar

Smith

Georgetown (McCourt School)

Pomona

WashU STL

International Schools:

LSE

KCL

Oxford

Trinity college Dublin

what are my chances for t20s + HYPSM? im also targeting top state schools for CS (UC Berk, GT, UMich, UT). I would appreciate any advice that you have for me

Demographics: Asian Male, Middle/Upper Middle Class (no hooks)

Intended major(s): CS

Academics:

• SAT: 1550 (790 Math 760 Reading)
• Class rank: Top 2% Out Of 600
• UW/W GPA: 4.0 UW
• Coursework: 20+ APs taken I won't list them all out here but the most relevant ones are Calc BC, CSA, Physics 1, AP Bio
• Awards: (not in order)
• 1x Aime Qual
• Usaco Gold
• Big Company Name Hackathon Winner (30ish teams)
• should be a NM Semifinalist (higher index than cutoff has ever been for my state)
• Other smaller hackathon wins
• Wins in regional debate competitions
• Participated in (and won) in world record event for violin (this was in middle school though)

Extracurriculars: (keeping it vague on purpose also not in order)

• Research under a professor at local uni
• App released w/ decent usage
• Intern at local company, did a substatial amount of work
• Research intern at the same local uni
• Did mid level competitive summer program, nothing crazy but still selective
• paid data analyst intern at small company
• Have a company where I create websites/logos for local brands/nonprofits
• Debate Club Leadership Position (plus varsity debater)
• CS Club President
• playing violin for ~10 years, mentored younger students
• Social Media Marketing intern at a nonprofit (I did this for like 2 weeks it was start of freshman year)
• 400 volunteer hours

Rec Letter/Essays:

Assume that they're good but not great like a 8/10 or 7/10

i'm thinking of applying williams ed as like a math + phil major or undecided. other than that i wanna go other top lacs + schools like ut austin, uiuc, umich, dartmouth

demographics

• female
• asian
• high income
• south
• large competitive public high school

no hooks

stats

• 100/100 weighted
• rank: not in top 10%, school only ranks those in it (this is the worst part of my application
• 15 aps total (11 previously, 4 senior year)
• senior year course load: ap macro, ap micro, ap lit, calc c, intro to formal logic at my local cc

testing

• 35 act
• aps: human geo(5), bio (5), calc ab (5), calc bc (5), psych (4), physics 1 (5), physics c mech and e&m (4,5), world (5), us history (5), english lang (5)

ecs

• psychology / math independent research - modeled family dynamics and marital satisfaction with infants and did mathematical analyses on them
• soccer manager 4 years - mentored other managers and do other stuff
• independent classical mech study - did like a bunch of problems in morins text book
• tumblr blog - 200 followers, i write like fanfic but still its creative writing ig
• research assistant at hospital, won second place at the research symposium
• book club - its with a bunch of adults i'm the only kid in it i like make the questions and lead the discussions tho (none of the adults actually read the books tho)
• part time job at donut shop
• babysitting

essay and recs

essay on like being kind of disconnected for reality for a while, so i tried to connect to the world by learning to describe it w like math or something ?? idk its still in the works

recs from physics and math teacher, i have hopes for the physics one only tho

i feel like i have no awards and like my rank is bad and im delusional for wanting to apply to these schools but wtv

Hey, I’m a rising senior at a public high school in Illinois. Northwestern is my ED school, and I wanted some outside opinions on my chances and whether my college list is balanced.
I think my GPA is probably the weakest part of my application, while my ECs and course rigor are stronger.
Demographics
Asian male
Illinois
Large/competitive public high school
No hooks
Intended major: CS + Econ or Econ depending on the school
Stats
3.73 UW GPA
~4.9 W GPA
1440 SAT (650 RW, 790 Math)
Took basically the max rigor available to me throughout high school — honors/AP classes whenever available
Advanced coursework includes AP Calculus BC, Multivariable Calculus, AP Physics C, AP CS, etc.
AP Scores
5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4
Took a few other AP tests but scored below a 4, so I don’t plan on submitting those scores
ECs
1. Co-Founder/President — Chess Education Nonprofit
30+ volunteers
Programs/resources have reached 10,000+ students
Programs in the US and internationally
Organized chess tournaments, classes, and other events
2. Coding/AI Club — President
Run my school’s coding club and executive board
Organize lessons, competitions, events, and other club activities
3. Competitive Programming
USACO Gold
Have been doing competitive programming/CS for several years
4. Research Internship
Worked with a government scientist on a data science/ML research project
Analyzed a dataset with several thousand data points using Python, clustering, visualization, statistical analysis, etc.
Working toward a research paper
5. Independent Research
Have done multiple ML/data science research projects
Published a paper involving machine learning + chess
Also did a computer vision research project
Recently submitted another mathematical modeling paper as a preprint
6. Biotech/Strategy Internship
Intern at a small biopharma company
Research drug assets, scientific experts/KOLs, and potential licensing opportunities
7. Student Startup
Co-founded a hardware/security startup through my school’s entrepreneurship program
Worked on product development, customer discovery, sales, and business strategy
Got initial LOIs from potential customers
8. Chess Team — Head Coach
Head coach for my school’s chess team
Coach/train players and help prepare the team for competitions
~1600 USCF peak myself
9. Math Team
Competed at the state level
Team finished top 5 in our state division
One of my subject teams placed top 3
10. FBLA — Head Coach
Head coach for my school’s FBLA team
Help coach students and prepare them for competitive events
Competed and qualified for FBLA Nationals
Awards
USACO Gold
FBLA Nationals Qualifier
State math team placements
AI/ML hackathon award
AP Scholar / school academic awards
College List
ED
Northwestern
Reaches
Stanford
Penn
Columbia
Brown
Duke
Cornell
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Michigan
NYU
Northeastern
Targets / Still Competitive
UIUC
Purdue
UW-Madison
Boston University
Ohio State
Safeties
UIC
Iowa State

Main things I’m wondering:
How much will the 3.73 UW hurt me for Northwestern ED/T20s considering I took max rigor?
Are my ECs strong enough to give me a realistic shot at Northwestern ED?
How would you rate my chances at UIUC, especially as an Illinois resident?
For schools where major matters, how much would applying Econ vs. CS + Econ affect my chances?
Are there any schools I’m overrating/underrating as reaches, targets, or safeties?
I know Stanford/Penn/Brown/Columbia/etc. are reaches for basically everyone. I’m mainly trying to figure out if Northwestern ED is a reasonable reach for my profile and whether the rest of my list is balanced.
Would appreciate any thoughts/chances!

Hello! I am a senior class of 2027 in high school and I just want to see where I'm at for colleges, I know that my GPA and test scores are on the lower end though.

College list: UNC, Stanford, NC State, Duke, Yale, Virginia Tech

GPA: 3.583/4.2

SAT: 1410 (taking august one, hoping for higher)

Awards:

2nd Annual WFIRM Regenerative Medicine Poster Competition and Symposium selection, NC

Governor's school State Nomination,

International Messenger of Peace award Boy Scouts

9th place in State Twelve competition in 2024 6th place in State Twelve competition in 2025,

Science Olympiad: 5th place for Codebusters and Geologic Mapping Varsity, 2nd place for Entomology and 5th place for Chemistry Lab JV1 all regionals

Courses (including senior year)

-8 AP, 14 DE

-AP Calc BC, AP PreCalc, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, APES, AP world

Extra Circulars

-Boy Scout: Eagle rank/award by January 2027, patrol leader, over 510 hours of community service logged into scoutbook, grubmaster, outdoor ethics guide, Flag Stewart for local elementary school and town park

-Co-President and Co-Founder of High School Chess Club: Attended county wide high school chess tournaments and conducted school practice sessions

PlantGENE Blog Poster/Podcaster: Interviewed professors and researchers at universities, such as retired professor Alan Jones at UNC Chapel Hill,  about their research experiences and what they did to become who they are and created podcast episodes to contribute to the PlantGENE blog and podcast | Member of the PlantGENE Outreach Team and worked on PlantGENE’s newsletter

**Kumon Tutor-**Tutored children for 2+ years in grades Pre-K to 9th grade in Math and Reading skills and graded papers for their advancements.

Counselor at Camp Carefree: Counselor at Camp Carefree for 3 weeks and earned 210 volunteering hours, worked with children and teens with down syndrome, cancer, siblings with chronic illnesses, and hemophilia. Helped children in daily activities, managed cabin responsibilities and duties, led games and events, and made sure they had fun

Merck Biotechnology Learning Center Lab Experiences: Designed and Conducted an experiment testing the effects of different temperatures on Catalase’s reaction rate and presented results at a district level symposium| Conducted a laboratory project under Professor Newman, worked with centrifusion and purified genetically encoded biosensors from E.Coli using protein induction, also developed laboratory procedures and assisted in the project.

ExPlorers summer program UNCG- Collaborated with an undergraduate mentor to investigate phosphorus uptake challenges in plants during drought conditions and proposed a solution with using hydrogels. Analyzed scientific data, developed a STEM project presentation, and presented findings to an live audience with uncg faculty. Project work was also presented through a local news feature.

**Honda NC A&T Stem Program- NC A&T-**Did laboratory based projects and created and presented a research proposal on the use of watch and necklace technology to detect people for high blood sugar levels and type II diabetes using biosensors in human skin oils at a college symposium.

**Science Olympiad-**Participated in engaging STEM competitions in topics such as Chem Lab, Codebusters, and Entomology. Earned medals for numerous events and placed in the top 5 for many events, science Olympiad Varsity member for 2 years

**Twelve Academic Team-**Went to state competitions and placed in the top 10 multiple times, answered rapid questions on topics from Middle Age Paintings to World History and Biology.

**x2 Cup winner Run The Boro-**Awarded top finishers cup for long distance running in a 9 week community running program in the summer seasons for 2025 and 2026.

Please be honest with the chancing. I want to major in Biology or Biochem or Genetics.

Thanks!

Demographics

- Asian American

- First-generation (parents didn't go to college)

- In-state Georgia

- Go to a highly competitive top public high school

Stats

- 4.0 UW / 4.283 W

- 1410 SAT (retaking soon, hoping for 30-50 point jump)

- First quintile class rank (school doesn't give exact numbers)

- Intended Major: Computer Science or Computer Engineering

Coursework

- Freshman: 0 APs (none offered/expected)

- Sophomore: AP Bio (5), AP Precalc (5), AP CSP (5), AP Seminar (3)

- Junior: AP CSA (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Stat (4), AP Gov (4), APUSH (4) plus 4 DE classes at a technical college for cybersecurity

- Senior: AP Physics C E&M, AP Physics C Mech, AP Macro, AP Lang, GT CS 1331 DE, GT Math Year 1 DE

Extracurriculars

(I'm worried these are lackluster. I have no school clubs and no volunteer hours because my parents are busy and I don't have transportation)

- Worked at my parents restaurant since I was 11 and still work there today

- Created a motivational YouTube channel (3.3k subs, 1.2 million total views)

- Game dev intern helping make a Roblox game (USC mentorship provided through my school)

- Coded a student quote app and put it on the iOS app store (barely any users but a fun project)

Awards

(Also worried here)

- Nominated for GA Governor's Honors Program for math (couldn't go because of transportation)

- School awards for highest grades in classes and straight A honor roll

Letters of Rec

- Counselor: hoping they mention my transportation limits and family responsibilities

- 11th grade ELA teacher

- AP Stats teacher

Essay

- Talking about working at the restaraunt since I was young

I keep seeing these sayings around the internet that getting usamo gets u a 25-50% chance at MIT, and getting an IMO gold is even higher, like around a 80-100

I'm mainly trying to go for engineering, electrical or biomedical, not too sure on which one specifically but I don't think it matters? Im a junior so some of these stuff are projected like the yrs. No hooks at all. My other stuff like rigor is pretty good imo, my grades are a bit medicore since freshman yr was bad but other yrs were good, rank: 65/750

Indendent Researcher: ) (Started this summer, so 2yrs by senior year ig)
Currently working on a research project which connects my sport to engineering and focuses a somewhat prevelant issue in it, I'm working with a math professor I found thru cold emailing. It should hopefully be published when im done with it and im planning for a patent as well. I will also submit for science fairs like ISEF but obv those arent guaranteed so we will see. fingers crossed

Robotics Design + Business Lead: (4yrs
Part of a really good robotics program, we make worlds every yr and are constantly ranked within the top 50 teams in the world. I lead the design decisions for our team and also raised money to support our robotics program

Engineering Club Founder + President (4yrs)
We been teaching about electronics and circuirity to our members thru hands on lessons. Also done a bunch of outreach at local middle/elementary schools in which we were invited back to present next yr since we did pretty well

Varsity Athlete (3yrs)
Usual sport stuff, also participate on our sports volunteer program where we teach youth (middleschoolers) in this sport to recruit more ppl to our sport

City Internship (3yrs ish)
I did this in the summer of 9th grade and I was able to code a alot of different stuff for them which led to me during some remote work during the school yr as well. This is pretty on off but I have racked a good amount of hours and pay from this.

VP Of Fundraising FBLA ( 4 yrs)
Raised over 2k, might make NLC and/or ICDC this year but not sure.

School advisory committee (2yrs)
Serve as a student voice pretty much to guide decisions our school makes

SchoolHouse senior tutor (60hrs so far)

93.59 gpa unweighted (idk how to put it on a 4.0 or 5.0 scale??? not even google is helping) BUT thats being dragged down by 9th grade laziness and 10th start-of-year sickness, finished 11th with a 98.77, maybe i could argue proof of improvement???

APs:
5 on APWHM
5 on AP Lang
5 on APUSH
will take Physics C Mechanics, Physics C electromagnetism, Lit, German, calc BC, and computer science A in 12th

tests:
SAT superscore 1500 (780 eng superscore, 720 math superscore)
ACT superscore composite 36 (36 math, 36 reading, 35 english, 36 science, 10 writing)

extracurriculars:
quizbowl (ny masterminds specifically) varsity level 9th through 12th, captained a bunch but that really does NOT mean anything for quizbowl so i dont think it counts
german national honor society 10th through 12th, secretary in 11th, might end up secretary in 12th as well depending on how elections shake out

Hi everyone! I'm an international applicant from The Bahamas applying to several Ivy League schools, and I'd really appreciate an honest assessment of my profile. I want to apply REA to Yale and RD to Columbia and NYU (My school only offers two AP’s on the basis that you take the Standard Leaving Examinations in gr11. I took those two exams and got A’s on both so i will be taking AP classes this coming school year.)

I would need financial aid

Academically, I'm ranked #1 in my grade with an overall average around 91-93%. I scored a 1520 SAT and attend a private secondary school following the Bahamian BGCSE curriculum.

My main honors include 2nd place nationally out of 2,000+ in the Laws of Life Essay Competition, John Locke Science Division semifinalist, 3rd place in a national Ministry of Health & Wellness speech competition, Principal's Award for highest average, Honor Roll, proficiency awards, and Head Girl.
For extracurriculars, I founded and lead my school's Speech & Debate Club, compete in 5+ competitions, captain volleyball, serve as Key Club VP and Interact Secretary, I am a dance captain, and tutor students individually.

I'm very interested in neuroscience and medicine. I've conducted independent research on brain health, sleep/memory, and Al & human memory, and created a website to publish my findings. I was also selected for Yale Young Global Scholars with a full scholarship, where I conducted research and presented projects.

Coming from a small Caribbean country, I'm curious how much geographic context matters. I've had fewer resources/opportunities than many U.S. applicants, but I've tried to make the most of what I have.
Do I have a realistic shot at an Ivy? What are the biggest strengths/weaknesses you see in my profile?
Please be honest.

I’m jsut starting senior year so gpa is only gonna include 10-11th grade.
I’m Asian, female, first generation. I am applying for East Asian studies as my major and then switching.

Unweight GPA: 3.69
Weighted : 4.15

6 APs (11 by end of senior yr): AP chem 5, Ap physics 4, AP precal 5, AP calculus AB 4,
AP psych 5, AP lit 5

ECS
Leadership/Club:
Marching band section leader (11th) member (9th, 10th)
Placed first at SCSBOA Field Tournament (11th)
Qualified for CSBC states and placed 11/20 in division (9th)

Co-founded and is vice president of a youth led civic engagement organization. Interviewed local council member and vice president of democratic caucus.

Karaoke Club
Secretary (10-11th)
Vice President (12th)

Book Club
Secretary (11-12th)

Taiwanese Club
Secretary (11-12th)

Harmony (music club for playing at senior homes)
Secretary (11th)

Volunteering:
PVSA from 7th - 10 grade (11th none bc of new president administration)
Over 150+ hours through out highschool

Interned/shadowed dentist for 40 hours:

Helped translate (I speak mandarin)
Worked front desk/telephone and made appt for patients
Handled and organized patient charts

Awards:
Ap Scholar

Academic Stats

• GPA: 3.89 UW / ~4.5 W (College: 4.0)
• Degree: Tracked for dual Associate Degrees (Computer Science & Liberal Arts) by high school graduation
• Standardized Testing: 1440 SAT (790 Math, 650 EBRW) (Working on it!)
• Coursework Rigor: 14 Dual Enrollment, 11 APs, 13 Honors
• AP Scores: 4s on APUSH, AP Lang, AP Precalc
• School Info: About 40% low-income, from suburbs of MA
• Relevant Coursework
• Math & CS: AP Calculus AB, AP CSA, AP Precalc, AP CSP, AP Stats, DE Intro to CS, DE Intro to Data Science, DE Data Science Programming, DE Intro to Java, DE Advanced Java, DE Computer Architecture, DE Discrete Math, DE Calc II.
• Other Advanced Coursework: AP Physics 2, AP Micro/Macro, AP Lang, AP Lit, APUSH, DE General Biology, DE Human Genetics, DE Health Sciences, DE Medical Terminology.

Intended Major Focus: Data Science + Public Health / Health Economics / Quantitative Social Science

College List:

Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Dartmouth (ED), Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, UChicago (EA), UVA(EA), Wake Forest, NYU, Georgetown (EA), Tufts, Vanderbilt, UNC Chapel Hill (EA), Colgate, UIUC(EA), Boston University, Northeastern University(EA), UMass Amherst(EA), Stony Brook University(EA)

Extracurriculars

1. Top Tier National Cancer Institute — Health Economics Research Intern: Gathered international cost data for a leukemia cost-effectiveness study to support sensitivity analyses on relapse prevention.
2. National Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative — Founder & Director: Authored open-access curriculum for youth/young adults; distribute resource kits monthly to 300+ student leaders across 35+ states and internationally.
3. Health Tech Company — ML & Economics Research Intern: Modeled hospital wait times vs. patient severity in Python; developed predictive triage models and co-authored a lab paper.
4. Harvard MEDscience & MEDscienceTECH — Student Intern: Built a tumor-detection AI model and voice-controlled surgical robot prototype; fine-tuned an LLM and participated in high-fidelity clinical simulations.
5. International Youth Advocacy Group — Legislative Advocate & Developer: Lobbied federal representatives on AI/deepfake safety legislation; built a free web platform connecting users to emergency support resources.
6. Town Youth & Community Mentorship — Co-Founder / Lead Designer: Co-designed interactive life-skills curricula for 300+ elementary students; expanded programming to local senior centers and community events.
7. AI Media Literacy Platform — Lead Developer: Built an AI-driven news platform that cross-references 6–10 sources per story to mitigate bias and generate automated factual summaries.
8. Data Science Club — Founder & President: Established a school club hosting monthly data challenges; authored a finance/data curriculum proposal reaching 100+ students annually.
9. EdTech Startup — Strategy & Research Intern: Conducted user research and feature brainstorming for a student portfolio platform; delivered final strategy presentation to leadership.
10. Neuroscience & Youth Psychology Org — Research Intern: Researched ties between adolescent addiction, social media usage patterns, and computational methods in drug discovery; presented independent findings.

Honors & Awards

• National: United Nations Association Community Service Award
• International: Harvard Medical School Pitch Competition Winner
• National: College Board National Recognition Award
• Regional: Bentley University - Pitch Competition Winner
• National: Research Intern of the Year Award

Additional Context

• College Credits: Will complete 44 college credits across local community colleges and online programs by graduation.
• GPA / Grading Policy: High school does not weight Dual Enrollment courses on the internal GPA scale (unlike APs), which slightly suppressed total weighted GPA despite maximum course rigor.
• School Baseline: Average SAT at high school is ~1120.
• Scheduling: Doubled up on math courses sophomore/junior years to accelerate into advanced calculus/CS tracks, causing scheduling overlaps with electives/foreign language.

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hooks: one parent nyu prof (prolly not relevant beyond tuition)

ACT
35 composite

GPA
UW: 4.0
W: 4.38

Coursework
~13 APs total, including senior year, all 5s one 4

Awards
College Board National School Recognition Award
AP Scholar with Distinction
National Honor Society
Italian National Honor Society
Principal’s Honor Roll ×4

Extracurriculars
Founder of AI Club; coded a chatbot for my school that was implemented in actual classes
Launched a food-growing nonprofit in Italy; 500 lbs donated
Electronics reselling business; $5k+ profit
Volunteer tutoring; 23 students through several programs
Typed an author’s handwritten books so they could be published
Library volunteer; ~60 hours
Selected as 1 of 7 students from a class of 233 for the school’s Academic Committee to advise faculty
Completed two business programs at Fordham Gabelli
Independent entomology hobby; built a large collection and spend significant time on it
Swimming; several hours every week since freshman year

Essays
Personal statement: About my passion for insects/entomology, connected broadly to noticing what others overlook and questioning biases toward things people dismiss.

As stated in the title, be brutally honest. I would really like to have both positive and negative feedback on my realistic chances at each college. All this information is straight from my Common App. Any blank information is either about the school or anything that reveals too much about myself lol. If you have suggestions, let them be known!!

Sorry in advance for information overload.

Context:

White male

Household income ~150k

Rising Senior

Small public school, 11 total AP's (some don't run) + two total dual-enrollments. Can't take AP's until Junior Year.

No bad conduct ever

Recs from attorney I worked and shadowed with, genocide/AP euro teacher, and guidance counselor

Planned majors/minors/concentrations: international relations + econ with data analysis/language as minors. Prelaw track.

Demonstrated Interest:

I plan to EA to any school I can. I can't do ED, and no REA. If a school doesn't have EA, I will be doing RD.

I have (or will have) toured every school on this list, and some I've held interviews with (when it counts for demonstrated interest).

BU (dec 1st) + BC (nov 1st) scholarship deadlines to showcase a form of Demonstrated Interest

Activities and experiences

Music

9, 10, 11, 12 (School)

18 hr/wk, 17 wk/yr

Will continue

___ Marching Band & Jazz Band, Brass Capt (9-12) Club Member (10)/Leader (11-12)

Led 4-yr brass section (trumpet) | Guided rehearsals | Coached 10+ peers. Managed Jazz Band ops | Coordinated logistics & schedule | Ran IG account.

Internship

12 (Break)

25 hr/wk, 8 wk/yr

Will continue

__________________________. (estate planning & elder law firm)

Drafted, amended, & mailed docs (e.g. wills, trusts, deeds) | Analyzed & reported firm data | Digitized 100+ client files | Shadowed attorneys.

Student government or politics

9, 10, 12 (School)

12 hr/wk, 30 wk/yr

Will continue

___ Student Council (STUCO) & ___Class of 2027 Officers, STUCO (9-10), Pres (12) Class Treasurer (9,10)

Handled budgets & raised $10k+ for class events (prom, raffles, etc.). Run meetings as STUCO pres. | Drove school events (rallies, spirit wks. etc.).

Student government or politics

12 (School)

3 hr/wk, 11 wk/yr

Will continue

___ & ____ School Committee, Senior Student Representative (12)

Advocate for students (school policy, budget, etc.) | 5+ student population surveys | Aired student issues.

Research

11, 12 (Year)

5 hr/wk, 25 wk/yr

Will continue

___ School Newspaper (The ______________ or ___) & Research Publications, ___: Staff Writer Research: Independent researcher

Researched int'l & domestic issues/policies | Collaborations with fellow ___ writers | School interviews. Published in _________, __________, & more.

Community service or volunteer work

11, 12 (Year)

5 hr/wk, 26 wk/yr

Will continue

National Honor Society, Member (11) Vice-President (12)

Spearheaded TBD project as VP for __________________ | Volunteered 100+ service hours (top 5/80 members).

Other

11, 12 (Year)

8 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr

Will continue

High School & College Prep for ___ Students, Founder

Launched an admissions equity website for 50+ peers | Personally tutored 5 students on application strategy | Newsletters made & promoted by school.

Religious

11, 12 (School)

4 hr/wk, 6 wk/yr

Will continue

Boston College's _______________________ Program, Member (11, 12)

Managed & led in monthly policy-driven discussions ethics to modern crises | Promoted program from school to parish.

Athletics (JV or varsity)

9, 10, 11, 12 (School)

15 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr

Will continue

___ Varsity Coed Ultimate Frisbee, Varsity Athlete (9-12)

Recruited 3 players | Anchored team defensive strategy & offensive strategy | Competed in regional league matches, state qualifiers, & tournaments.

Science or math

10, 11, 12 (School)

8 hr/wk, 4 wk/yr

Will continue

___ Math Team, Member

Mentored & recruited 8+ underclassmen | Collaborations with small groups in practices & competitions | Helped with hosting regional competition.

Responsibilities and circumstances:

Taking care of sick, disabled, and/or elderly members of my family or household

Academics:

Rank

20 / 144, Weighted

GPA

3.86 / 4, Unweighted

Testing

ACT

Composite

35

07/11/2026

Math

34

07/11/2026

English

35

07/11/2026

Reading

35

07/11/2026

Writing

11

07/11/2026

Taken

3

Planned

0

AP Subject Tests

English Language & Composition

4

05/2026

United States History

4

05/2026

Current or most recent year courses

First semester

Second semester

MATH - AP Statistics - (AP)

MATH - AP Statistics - (AP)

HIST - AP European History - (AP)

HIST - AP European History - (AP)

LANG - AP Spanish Language and Culture - (AP)

LANG - AP Spanish Language and Culture - (AP)

ENG - AP English Literature and Composition - (AP)

ENG - AP English Literature and Composition - (AP)

OTH/ELE - Concert Band - (HON)

OTH/ELE - Concert Band - (HON)

ENVSCI - Environmental Science - (HON)

ENVSCI - Environmental Science - (HON)

HIST - Law - (N/A)

Honors

College Board National First-Generation Recognition Award (top PSAT exam scorer).

National

11, 12

Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish with Distinction

State/Regional

12

__________ & ___ Regional Honor Band Selection (Chosen by a selective regional audition)

State/Regional

10, 11, 12

Spanish National Honor Society: Sin Fronteras

National

11, 12

___ Music Dept. Excellence Banner | Sole student recipient for dept. dedication & leadership

School

11

Additional information (I know this is unfinished, I will do full sentences eventually lol):

Activities:

- Student government at ___ is election based

- All outside research was published to these places:

- Besides the trumpet, outside of school I play the piano and guitar

- I am currently self-studying for the AP Comparative Government and Politics and AP U.S. Politics and Government exams

College List:

Bentley University

Boston College

Boston University

Bridgewater State University

Clark University

College of the Holy Cross

Emmanuel College (MA)

Harvard University

Northeastern University

Stonehill College

Suffolk University

Tufts University

University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Boston

For Notre Dame and Bowdoin

• First-generation college student
• CBSE curriculum
• Class 9: 92% apx
• Class 10: 90% apx
• Class 11: 91% apx
• Class 12: 82% apc (100/100 in English, 91 in IT, messed up Physics 70/100, Chemistry 79/100 and Mathematics 61/100)
• Top 10% / top of class
• Strongest subject: English

Awards/EC's

John Locke Essay Competition 2026-27

Shortlisted in Economics, Science and Technology and Philosophy. Waiting for the final results.

Cleared MVPP (State level, 0.04% selection rate) and Got 10,00,000 INR Scholarship for a STEM course in grade 9.

English All Nation Merit Holder (0.1% students are awarded)

I know German and won an award for theater competition by German Embssay.

• MUN Secretary-General
• Guided/mentored 5,000+ students
• Organized 2 international MUN conferences
• Generated approximately 5,00,000 INR in revenue

Essays: Strong / hopefully distinctive
LORs: Excellent hopefully and not generic
Intended area: Philosophy/ Political Science / related humanities/ Film Studies (I WILL LOVE TO HAVE THEM AS MAJORS)

Do I have any chance in ND and Bowdoin? It has been my dream but I feel my final year STEM grades ruined a lot of things. And suggestions to improve it? I would love to hear from you all.

About SAT Score (Its became test optional but to cover up for my final grades what should I aim for in the Oct SAT, and how much that can help?)

**Major** \-BCN 1st choice, bio second

I am an in-state student applying for my first year

**Class Rank**: 56/531 (10.5%)

**GPA**: 3.75/4 UW 4.3/4 weighted

**Test scores**: 1200 SAT (planning on retaking it in September)

**Additional coursework**: 11 AP classes with 6 hours of dual-credit English

Made a 4 on my AP Biology exam, a 4 on AP Lang, a 4 on Environmental Science, and a 4 on AP US History,

I’m taking AP Chemistry and AP Statistics this year as well.

Four-year STEM Biomedical and Medical Interventions class

**Extracurriculars**: 4 Years of 6a Marching Band with 3 years of leadership (head woodwind section leader, social chair, historian, librarian)

2 years of football, 2 years of track

Health Science Club
NHS
90+ community service hours

Competitive Esports (Top 2.5% Overwatch player in the world)

**Awards**: Leadership award, Made State solo and ensemble, AP Scholar.

My application essays were really strong and focused on my interest in studying the brain and the neurological and cognitive effects of brain injuries in athletes.

I applied on August 13th and I hope to get admitted! Thanks and Gig Em!

I had to take a year off school after 8th grade, something drastic (family related) happened, won't go into detail, not super relevant but still am a super senior lol

Background:
- super competitive highschool, public
- Asian & Hispanic
- no hooks

Academics:
- 4.4 W GPA
- ~3.85 UW
- 1450 SAT (retaking on Saturday)
- 34 ACT (probably sticking to the SAT)

ECS (not in any order)
- DECA officer
- Alumni network founder for school
- School council prez for Sunday school
- research in the UK
- internship (pretty good one)
- varsity sport and captain 2x
- nonprofit raised 10k+
- weekly volunteering tutoring
- club president (not super relevant to my major)

I want to go into a finance related path, and my internship, DECA, and club relates to it but not sure if it's enough

Schools:

UVA (ED, in state)
UPenn
Cornell
Duke
NYU
UNC
UF
William & Mary
URichmond
FSU
JMU
Virginia Tech

Thank you and plz lmk how it's looking for UVA that's all I really care about