<p>Hi all! I'm currently butchering my potential college list to (hopefully!) 7. I started with about 16 and have been working my way down. Hopefully I did it right!
Right now, the list is 10.</p>
<p>Reach:
-Stanford University</p>
<p>Match/Reach:
-Pomona College
-John Hopkins University</p>
<p>Match:
-Emory University
-Pitzer College
-Grinnell College
-Whitman College</p>
<p>Safety:
-Ohio Wesleyan University
-University of Washington-- Seattle
-Carroll College</p>
<p>Info about me:
-Currently going into HS 12th grade. Japanese Permanent Washington state resident. Came to US 10 years ago. Moved to WA from NY 1 year ago. BOTH parents completed Bachelor's in Japan. ≈70k Annual income.
-3.94 (Unweighted) GPA. Cumulative ACT: 31. ACT Math Score: 29. ACT English Score:33. Have not taken SAT, aim to retake ACT in Oct.
-High honor roll since 7th grade. :)
-Want to work for M</p>
<p>There is no such thing as a “pre-med” major. This dichotomy you see between pre-med and non-pre-med schools does not exist. Going to a university that has a medical school for your undergraduate education has nothing to do with ultimately getting into medical school.</p>
<p>All the colleges on your list offer the necessary coursework to qualify you to apply to medical school.</p>
Let me clarify. When I said, “Schools with Pre-Med,” I meant a Pre-Med program. I know there is no Pre-Med major. I personally feel that a Pre-Med program would help me because I am the sort of person that does much better if there is a class/person/program giving me a constant check-list of what to do. I hope that makes sense.</p>
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Of course. That’s why I ended up with these 10. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas of which ones to cut, or if I should replace a school with another. Nevertheless, thank you-- it gave me a reassurance that I picked the right ones!</p>
<p>with a 31 ACT, Pomona and Hopkins are also reaches. Unless you have a hook, Stanford and Pomona are super reaches. If you need to whittle your list down, I’d drop 2 of the these 3, and take a shot at one. If you prefer a LAC, keep Pomona as a super reach. But if you want engineering, than a Uni is pretty much your only choice.</p>
<p>Since you are lower income, check to make sure that the colleges to which you are applying meet full financial need. (Hopkins does not.)</p>
<p>btw: with a 29-Math score, you have a tough road ahead. Most successful premeds easily ace high school standardized math tests. And quite frankly, you will have little chance at any top Eng school with that math score, unless you take the SAT Subject Test in Math and score 750+. (Adcoms at Stanford and Hopkins would be too concerned that you would not be successful in their rigorous curriculum.)</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by not having a pre-med program. Both Whitman and Grinnell send plenty of kids to medical school. Both Whitman and Grinnell have faculty advisors dedicated to “pre-med” advising. </p>
<p>Many of the schools on your list don’t have engineering programs. If you think Biomedical eng. is a potential major for you, then you should swap out a few of the liberal arts schools for for ones with engineering. Keep your options open! Many pre-med students change their minds along the way, so I think it is important that you explore many options that are related to medicine.</p>
<p>UAB in birmingham al has biomedical engineering. your scores would get you automatic merit leaving about 10K per year to pay… home of a top med school. great honors program (sci tech). campus surrounded by 7 hospitals for shadowing, volunteering etc Tier 1 research university. good premed advising</p>
I do.
“-College-Level Research Mentorship since Summer 2011 at the University of Washington…Won 1st place in Categories for both Regional+State Science and Engineering Fairs.”
What do you think?</p>
<p>
Ah, I see. I think I’ll drop JHU then, thank you.</p>
<p>
Yes… that’s one of my top concerns… the ACT Math when I took it seemed especially hard (after talking to others who took it). I’m hoping it’ll be better next time.</p>
<p>
Aha! Thank you! I thought Grinnell didn’t have anything since I didn’t find a specific page for Pre-Professional programs. I’ll check out Willamette as well.</p>
<p>
Ok, thank you!
I’d like to point out though that the option of biomedial eng. is a big Maybe. I just chose it out of whim, and didn’t even check my colleges for it. I’ll probably end up changing it if I go to a college w/o it.</p>
<p>@parent56: Thanks for that info! I’ll definitely check out UAB!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input everyone! It helps out a lot!</p>
<p>P.S. I forgot to state that I would prefer colleges more to the West and/or south, although this is more of a “want” than a “must have.”</p>
<p>Any school with the needed pre-med prerequisite courses (common ones like lower division biology, chemistry, physics, math, statistics, psychology, and sociology, and maybe upper division biochemistry) “has pre-med”.</p>
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<p>$70,000 per year is not lower income (probably around top third of US household income), but needs substantial financial aid at many colleges. Checking the net price calculators at each school can get estimates of need-based aid. If need-based aid is insufficient, check for merit scholarships. If neither can make a school affordable, remove it from the list.</p>
Let me try to clarify further. If a school has some sort of program and/or person that specifically caters in some way to pre-med school undergrads, I consider that a “Pre-Med program.” Does that make sense?
Now that I heard from some people, it seems that almost every school on my list (if not all) has something like that; I just didn’t look deep enough.
Can anyone clarify?</p>
<p>
Yes… that’s one of the problems with me… I’ll be trying for QuestBridge, but I may not be a qualified “low-income” student because I’m on the very edge of “low-income.”</p>
<p>lol yoshi… 10 isnt that bad… btw if you run uab net price…they put about 4300 for travel so take a close look at the numbers? as well as 3400 for food, which is really high. thats the top meal plan which you will never use.</p>
<p>i you qualify for questbridge then you will most likely get need aid as well as the automatic merit. dorms at uab are 5200 per year. food can be from 450 to 3400. dorms are apartment style with full kitchens (stoves, fridges, even some with dishwashers) so if you cook you can definitely keep food cost down. S2 has a much lower plan</p>
<p>Just beware that only 12% of Questbridge Finalists have household incomes above $60,000. You may want to make two application lists, one if you are a QB finalist and one if not. While some QB schools will waive the application fee even if you are not a finalist, many do not. What QB schools are you applying to?</p>
<p>@GA2012MOM:
of course, that’s why I was concerned about app fees before. It doesn’t hurt to try for QB, but it would be a miracle to get in.
QB Schools: Emory, Grinnell (If I keep it), Pomona, Stanford, and MAYBE Caltech (not likely, since it’s insane hard.)</p>
Of course. That’s why I ended up with these 10. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas of which ones to cut, or if I should replace a school with another. Nevertheless, thank you-- it gave me a reassurance that I picked the right ones!</p>