← Full detailed plan

Zara Okonkwo

Grade 12 · Data Science / Statistics · GA

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Portfolio read

Competitive

1 High 1 Medium 1 Low

GPA

3.94

SAT

1530

Target major

Data Science / Statistics

Schools analyzed

Activities

Days to RD

174 days

Schools

verdict · committee confidence · drill in

High University of California-BerkeleyData Science / Statistics High confidence Analysis →

Low Carnegie Mellon UniversityData Science / Statistics Medium confidence Analysis →

Medium Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusData Science / Statistics Medium confidence Analysis →

Priority actions

ROI-ranked · what moves the needle now

Release the police use‑of‑force analysis as a full technical project: open dataset, documented statistical methodology, reproducible code, and a public GitHub repository demonstrating advanced modeling (e.g., regression, causal inference, fairness analysis).

⭐ Wanted by 2 schools 🎯 University of California-Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University ⚙ Medium effort 🕒 within 1–3 months

Explicitly document your highest math and quantitative coursework (e.g., AP Calculus BC, advanced statistics, multivariable, or similar) and emphasize it in the activities/additional information section if not obvious.

🎯 University of California-Berkeley ⚙ Low effort 🕒 Immediately when preparing the UC application

Turn the policing dashboard into a technically robust data science project (publish the dataset, document modeling methods, release code, and show real users such as journalists or nonprofits)

🎯 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus ⚙ Medium effort 🕒 before EA or early RD

Use UC essays to explicitly connect your civic data work to Berkeley’s ecosystem (public mission, open data, civic-tech communities, or data science labs).

🎯 University of California-Berkeley ⚙ Low effort 🕒 During UC PIQ writing period

Add explicit evidence of mathematical rigor in the application: clearly list highest math courses (multivariable calculus, linear algebra, statistics) and any proof‑based or college‑level coursework.

🎯 Carnegie Mellon University ⚙ Low effort 🕒 immediately when finalizing applications

Strong academic baseline with a 3.94 GPA and a HiMCM finalist result demonstrating mathematical modeling and analytical thinking.
Civic‑focused data initiative ('Data for Good') that produced a county‑level dataset on police use‑of‑force and was presented to a city council with local news citation.
Leadership and sustained engagement: founded a Girls Who Code chapter (~40 members), mentored 15 students in Python, and served as varsity track team captain while holding the school record in the 800m.
Strong academic baseline with a 3.94 GPA and 1530 SAT, indicating readiness for selective universities.

Lack of visible course rigor detail, especially math progression, making it hard to evaluate preparation for Berkeley’s Data Science/Statistics curriculum.
Technical depth of the 'Data for Good' project is unclear (uncertain whether the student performed statistical modeling or mainly compiled/visualized data).
Open‑source contributions are mentioned but not described in enough detail to judge significance or technical complexity.
Limited visibility into academic rigor: the file shows a 3.94 GPA and 1530 SAT but provides no course list, class rank, or evidence of advanced math coursework.