1710 SATs 3.85 (W) GPA and looking to become a doctor

Applying to College
1

Hi guys, i posted a topic before and it was very helpful, so I am trying a differnet view on it, thanks for all the help i’m sure to recieve :slight_smile:

Ok, I live in Cali, im ranked in the top 10% of my class, if that helps?
I got a 1710 on my SAT 570R 640M 500W

I have taken 6 AP classes total (including the ones next year)
My weighted GPA currently is 3.85

I am looking into some colleges that are especially good in biology because I want to do well on my MCATS (yea… already thinking of them :frowning: )

For my ECs:
I am in FBLA, i volounteered with them a couple of times, I am in USCF (i forgot the acroynm for it, but it is a club that you have to have a 3.7 GPA to be in) and I help my dad in his real estate company around 2-3 times a week]

My background:
I am Indian (born in america tho), its the one from India, not native american, I am first generation going to college

I think I have a pretty good shot at getting into one of the UCs, so if you wouldn’t mind giving me some feedback on some of these choices:

I would like to know my shots at getting into any of these schools and how good are they in the science fields like biology?

UCB
UCI
UCR
UCSB
UCSC
UCD
UCM
UCSD
UCLA

and some private schools

University of the Pacific
Santa Clara University
Whttier University
University of the Redlands

and if you wouldn’t mind naming some colleges out of state, I always want to keep my options open!

Once again, i’m very grateful for all the help, I’m just stressing out over college, because I really want to go out into the real world and start helping people

Thank you for all the help!

2

<p>You might check out Juniata in PA. I don't know the admission stats but I've heard they have a great med school acceptance rate.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>i think you need to start working a little harder in college or work on improving</p>

4

<p>I highly recommend you improve those SAT to a higher standard, at least 2000+ for the UC(s). you also might want to take SAT 2 bio, chemistry and Math 2c and scoring 750+ to be competitive.</p>

5

<p>all those UC schools are great in helping to get into med school particularly UCI UCSD UCB UCLA UCD UCR has a special 7 year bs/md program where it is affiliated w/ UCLA but only 25 people get in and you have to apply in your junior year of college Just improve on your SATs if you want to get into a UC especially writing/eng but SATs don't mean crap once you get into a UC it's all about college gpa when you ar there</p>

6

<p>alright thanks, but you guys dont think I would be able to get into UCSB or UCSC with my SAT scores and GPA right now? I am going to take the SATs once more, thanks for all the help however</p>

7

<p>With your current scores, you are in UoP, the lower tier UC's, and a match at SB, Dav, Irv; Berkeley, LA, & SD, would be a reach, as they are for most Calif suburban kids. Last year Berkeley rejected ~40 1600's. UCLA looks at the W component, and expects to see 600+. SD is very formulaic, or has been over the past few years.</p>

<p>Don't forget the SATII's.</p>

8

<p>you SAT's are very low, you're gonna have to raise them to at least like a 1900 or so. Buy practice books and practice practice practice</p>

9

<p>"i think you need to start working a little harder in college or work on improving"</p>

<p>Wow. That was stupid.</p>

<p>what was so stupid about that? if you want to be a doctor, a 1700 new SAT isnt great, and a WEIGHTED 3.85 GPA is NOT GREAT, and this person obviously needs to pick up their academic pace once in college to get into ANY med school</p>

<p>and yes, guitar, i reported your post as offensive</p>

10

<p>I think every pre-med has to "pick up the academic pace" to get into med school. Is it a walk in the park for anyone?</p>

<p>Hunter33X, don't get too depressed. If you work your butt off in college, there is no reason on God's green earth why you can't be a great doctor. If you can handle AP's well and keep a good class rank, obviously you have good study skills. Since there seems to be a general consensus that the SAT is a useless measure of intelligence, I think that it is completely wrong to write off your dreams based on low scores. Maybe you just don't do well on standardized tests, or haven't done a very extensive prep. Either way, just make sure you sign up for a good MCAT prep course in your junior year of college, and you'll do fine. </p>

<p>My dad has a joke: "What do you call the guy who graduates last in his class from med school? Doctor." A doctor is a doctor whether he (or she!) graduated from Johns Hopkins or a state university.</p>

<p>Your low verbal and writing scores are completely understandable if English isn't your first language, or if your parents perhaps speak broken English. The CR section is tricky to prep for, but it is easy schmeasy to bring up your writing score--get a good Princeton Review guide and hack away. </p>

<p>I'd definately try to take the AP sciences, but you might end up re-taking them in college. My cousin's fiancee was recently accepted to med school, and she told me that about 50% of the med schools won't acknowledge AP/IB credit. She had taken AP Chem and not retaken it in college, so she couldn't apply to those schools. (Another thing--she went to an unknown, religious school in the middle of Arkansas, and was accepted to every school to which she applied.)</p>

<p>All in all, don't get discouraged. Just set your mind on your goal and be prepared to sacrifice. I think you'll be a wonderful doctor.</p>

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<p>I'd recommend you look into the following colleges, all of which have excellent pre-med programs and do a great job of getting kids into med school: Washington & Jefferson College in PA, Juniata College in PA, Knox College in Illinois, Willamette College in Oregon. There are other schools like these out there, but do not let anyone tell you that you can not become a doctor because of your test scores -- that simply isn't true as the medical school acceptance rates of colleges like these testify to. PM me if you'd like to discuss this privately.</p>

12

<p>Thanks for the replys guys, and once i get me SAT2 writing book in the mail, I am going to work my butt off to raise those SAT scores</p>

<p>My household is really competitve, i have a sis that also wants to become a doctor, same age, and she got a good score on her SAT scores and i instantly got discouraged, I recently was going to give up my medical persuit to just enroll into San Jose State, but your good words have helped me.</p>

<p>I'm very glad that I at least can get into some UCs for sure, because then at least they have some name recognition when I apply to Medical School. </p>

<p>And yes I do come from a household, where english was kind of my first language, learned two at the same time, and my parants speak in english and Hindi some of the time.</p>

<p>I'm getting mixed reviews tho, some people say yea you can get into the lower tier UCs, some people say that for sure I am not going to get into any UCs, that is why I asked for some good alternate schools that are good in biology, like CSUs or private universities that look more on GPA and classes than SATs.</p>

<p>I might not be as smart as some people on this board, but I work extremely hard, i am not the best reader or writer, but will work twice as hard as anyone.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies so far tho :)</p>

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<p>as the cliche goes, never give up! if you really want it, you will get it.</p>

14

<p>Fact is, most US medical schools are hard to get into and typically require darn good college grades, MCAT scores and application package. Go for pre-med in college--organic chemistry is usually the class that separates the ones who continue pre-med and the ones who change direction. </p>

<p>You may want to keep in mind other health professions where you can help people out in the "real world" that won't require great grades in college and great MCAT scores. A pre-nursing major that I know just got back from working in a clinic in Ghana.</p>