<p>African American Female
Junior In Highschool</p>
<p>I dont remember my freshmen & sophomore courses and grades but no grades lower than a B.</p>
<p>GPA 3.97 (unweighted) 4.5 (weighted) -- top 10%</p>
<p>Junior Year (current year)</p>
<p>Calculus 1 IB (also dual credit) - A
Physics 1 IB - A
English IB - A
Psychology IB - B
Environmental Science AP - A</p>
<p>Senior Year (next year)</p>
<p>I know i will be taking calculus 2 ib, physics 2 ib and english ib .</p>
<p>My act scores... Im struggling...
Math - 28
English-26
Reading-30
Science-20 (Ironic my science score is LOW but I have no problems in the classroom).</p>
<p>My activities:
Basketball 4 years - 3 years varsity
Tennis 2 years - 2 years varsity
Cross Country 2 years - 2 years varsity
Science Club
National Honor Society
Summer Scholars: an introductory program to medicine held at UMKC school of medicine
Science Pipeline held at UMKC (engineering & medical program)
Saturday Academy (Medicine) held at UMKC school of medicine
I am about to start volunteering at a Hospital probably about 3 days a week, starting next month. I am also about to join Habitat for Humanity.</p>
<p>I really enjoy hands on learning and the school of my choice (North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University) offers a BS in Bioengineering. I am pretty sure that I am going to apply to Medical School after college. I don't want anyone to tell me that there is easier ways to medical school because I know that. I just want to know, (according to my academics) if you think it would be possible for me to do well enough in bioengineering/biomedical engineering to go to medical school????</p>
<p>Not only will almost any non-ivy university accept you but your college is basically paid for. Women in engineering is like winning the lottery.</p>
<p>If you are attracted to campuses that have significant ethnic diversity (or an HBCU), consider U of Alabama-Tuscaloosa ('Bama), U of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and North Carolina Central University (an HBCU).</p>
<p>Bama offers substantial scholarships to attract out-of-state students. UAB has a very strong reputation in the sciences. NCCU has the relatively new BBRI center, for biomedical research (Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute).</p>
<p>Your stats are great!..mostly. I’m a little concerned that your ACT scores don’t reflect your success in the classroom, particularly the science score.</p>
<p>You might try to figure out what the problem is…reading comprehension or speed? Not understanding concepts? Or simple lack of practice with the test format? </p>
<p>Because college (and Med school!) will be more challenging. Not suggesting that your current HS teachers spoon feed you and hold your hand, but in college you may be responsible for reading and understanding chapters yourself (because they will be on the test, but only briefly covered in class). </p>
<p>Or perhaps…there is grade inflation at your school? That’s why it’s good to take AP tests whenever offered. You can see if they are truly teaching you everything they are supposed to, and not just handing out As for “pretty good” work.</p>
<p>I would take the ACT again, and prep with the aid of a practice workbook. You can get more scholarships if you improve those scores. :)</p>
<p>My two kids both mentioned that they felt the Science portion of the ACT wasn’t really testing science knowledge. They said it was more about understanding charts, graphs, and tables and reasoning questions. If you haven’t already, I would recommend taking the ACT again and doing a little prep in the areas you felt you were weakest in. We have used books from the library and free online resources to boost scores.</p>
<p>You certainly have an enviable picture for college for next year. The one really sore point is your ACT scores. This may not accurately portray your understanding, but in order to show you’re a strong student (top 10%, 3.97 UW), those scores must reflect your grades. Otherwise, it looks as if you pushed for higher grades. (This may NOT be true, but that’s what they may think.) I suggest you take the SATs. Some people just do better in different tests. And be sure to take prep courses. Otherwise, you’re golden.</p>
<p>thanks for the feedback everyone… my problem with my act is that i never finish … i also dont completey understand the science section it is not what im learning in school right now (or ever for that matter) but im working with my science teachers to get it up. = )</p>
<p>As was said before, the science section isn’t really about what you know but about interpreting scientific data from charts, graphs etc. and thinking like a scientist. For many it’s probably the easiest to increase if you know how to attack it. If your science teachers are helping you on how to attack it, good, but you could also get a prep book to help with that.</p>
<p>I don’t know what your family’s financial situation is, but if med school is in your future keep undergrad loans and costs as low as possible, even if it means staying in state, if OOS/private aid doesn’t come through in the amounts you need. Med school is very, very expensive.</p>
<p>One of the usual test taking tips is that if a question appears to be too time consuming, skip it and come back to it later after doing all of the questions that you can answer quickly.</p>
<p>Also, for math-type of multiple choice questions, plugging the answer choices in may be faster than solving the problem the usual way.</p>
<p>Have you considered taking the SAT instead? There is no science section and there is more time to answer each question. Supposedly, the questions require more “reasoning” in that the are not written in as straight-forward a manner, but, with test-prep practice, you can learn to anticipate what to expect.</p>
<p>Your stats look great, but I’m confused why you’re focusing on North Carolina A & T? It seems like with stats like yours you would have a good shot at lots of much better known universities and colleges both inside and outside of NC. But then again, just cause I haven’t heard of it, doesn’t mean that others don’t know about or that it doesn’t have a great reputation or that it isn’t a great school, I’m just curious why that’s your choice.</p>
<p>well since im an african american im considering hbcu’s and North Carolina A&T is the most advanced hbcu for engineering. They recently received fundings for engineering. Also it is the second most funded hbcu (overall). I just think it has many opportunities for me.</p>
<p>I did a quick search on collegedata.com for North Caronina A&T and found statistics for the freshman class of 2009. Your 3.97 UW GPA would have put you in the top 5% of that class and your ACT composite would have easily put you in the top quarter. The only possible concern is that out-of-state admissions are capped at 18%, so the bar is higher for OOS applicants. With your stats, I would think you would sail over that bar. I assume you’re OOS since you mention attending two programs at UMKC.</p>
<p>You asked whether it would be possible for you to do well enough in biomedical engineering to be admitted to medical school. Your calculus and physics grades indicate to me (B.S., M.S. mechanical engineering) that you have the potential. The only thing your ACT scores really tell me is that you’re not an expert at taking the ACT. You’ve had some good advice already regarding spending some time with a good prep book; I agree.</p>
<p>People are asking, with stats like yours, why not a more prestigious school? My understanding is that for the right person, there’s no better “academic incubator” than an HBCU. As a parent, I think you should talk to one or more people you know (and preferably who know you) who have had the experience themselves to make sure you’re that “right person.”</p>
<p>I also understand that some medical schools make a point of recruiting at HBCUs. You should ask NCA&T if that’s true for them and which medical schools come to recruit. It might also be a good idea to ask the biomed department whether its graduates have had success at medical school placements (and where).</p>
<p>If you are certain you want to attend med school, you may consider NOT majoring in engineering and stick with a pure science major, such as Biology. Engineering can be a GPA killer.</p>
<p>However, biology in particular has rather poor job and career prospects at the bachelor’s degree level if you do not go to medical school. Probably because of all of the pre-meds who felt that they “needed to be biology majors to do pre-med” but did not get into any medical school. So they then flood the job market at graduation time. Medical schools give no particular advantage in admissions to biology majors over those majoring in other subjects who have taken the pre-med courses.</p>
<p>might you consider the biotech joint program at Emory/Ga Tech and then take classes at the Atlanta HBCUs? Agree that you might want to take the SAT</p>