<p>Hi. I am a senior graduating 2013 with a 2.4 GPA and a SAT of 1550. I'm getting all As and some Bs this year (because I'm taking easy classes besides AP chem) but that doesn't really matter does it? My plan for college is to go to the college with the best premed program that I can still get into, then transfer from premed to med in another university (hopefully Hopkins) please tell me if this is over ambitious. Universities near me (all in md) are Morgan state, Stevenson (which I have no idea about) , towson (which I have been told has a good premed program and is close with Hopkins), umbc (which I have been told is practically community college), and university of Maryland Baltimore ( which I am very confused about their application for undergrads). I'm asking which of these has the best premed program. (I have already applied for towson.)</p>
<p>Also in my options I have university of Maryland college park which would be a dream to get into considering I only have three years of math and my low GPA and SAT. Is there still a chance I would get in here?? Perhaps if I applied for the January SAT?? </p>
<p>I have a list of 4 extracurriculars only one I had a leadership position and I had one year of international baccalaureate (IB) in my junior year (couldn't finish second year because I moved) and am doing very well at AP chemistry and AP English this year. </p>
<p>Anything I can do to make my application more appealing to colleges? Am I in over my head about med school? (If so I am also interested in becoming a researcher or a physics major), cost of the college does not concern me, should i retake my SATS or is it too late, I just want to get into a good premed school!</p>
<h2>iwith the best premed program that I can still get into, then transfer from premed to med in another university (hopefully Hopkins) </h2>
<p>You don’t “transfer” from premed to med school. You apply to several med schools and hope that at least one accepts you. You shouldn’t be focusing on any particular med school.</p>
<p>Your GPA and SAT score don’t bode well as a pre-med student, but maybe if you really study hard and are dedicated you can get the GPA and MCAT score needed to get accepted to a med school. Your current GPA suggests that you don’t have a sound foundation in math and sciences that are needed to do well in the premed pre-reqs and other courses.</p>
<p>What courses are you taking THIS senior year?</p>
<p>You say that the “cost of college” doesn’t concern you. Does that mean that your parents are willing to pay all costs no matter where you go? If not, then cost should concern you because money won’t fall out of the sky. How will you pay the costs?</p>
<p>You should pay a visit to the pre-med advisor at two or three of these places, and find out what you will need to do in order to be ready for med school. Your current GPA and SAT score don’t look like the typical GPA and SAT score for a pre-med. You will really need to step it up in college. If you do that, you will have good options for your future.</p>
<p>Of the public Us on your list, UMCP and UMBC are harder to get into than Towson or Morgan State, and are rumored to be more difficult. UMBC is in a semi-rural location, and many students commute. That may be why someone told you that it was like a community college.</p>
<p>Speak with your guidance counselor about your options. That person probably has a good notion of where you might get in. If your grades etc. aren’t quite good enough yet for Towson, ask about the CC of Baltimore City program that is held on the Towson Campus, and that allows CCBC students to live there as though they were full TU students. As soon as they show they are ready, they transfer directly into TU.</p>
<p>Just to clarify the process here, there is no such thing as a ‘pre-med’ major or program and you don’t ‘transfer’ into medical school. You major, as an undergrad, in anything you like, while making sure to take the classes required by medical schools (which are all graduate schools) for admissions. Those classes are typically a each of year of organic chem, inorganic chem, bio, and math, as well as some physics, and English. When you are a junior or senior in college, you take the MCAT, which is the med school entrance exam. Assuming you have a good score (over 29), a GPA of 3.7 or higher, good letters of rec, medical volunteer experience and have done research, you may get admitted to a medical school somewhere in the country if you are lucky.</p>
<p>For those who find this too demanding, there are many excellent careers in the medical field - physician assistant, nursing, physical therapy, etc…which do not require 4 years of medical school and a residency. </p>
<p>As for which school you choose, pick the one where you are likely to excel academically, incur the least amount of debt and get the most rigorous training in the basic sciences.</p>
<p>to: mom2collegekids
this year i am taking AP chem, AP english, 11, health (hon), technology (hon), english 12 (hon), art 1, and soon to be taking economics.</p>
<p>the reason there are so many basic classes is because i was required to take them all. Infact, the only class on this list which i was able to choose was AP chemistry. It also has alot to do with the fact that i transferred schools that i have to take these crappy courses. the health i took in my older schools was classified as a half health course, the tech course in my other public school wasn’t classified as a tech course in my current school either. this is also the reason i have to take english 11 (not becuase i did poorly in my english 11 class i actually got all As and 1 B in IB english 11). The IB program never had a issue with my lack of an art course. i wish i stayed in IB and never moved.
sorry for my rant
to answer your other question, no my parents are not willing to pay for any costs… i just really care more about my education then my future debts but i see your point. thank you for your feedback</p>
<p>to: happymomof1
thanks. i plan to step it up in college.
sadly my counselor hasn’t been as helpful, which is why i decided to find advice online </p>
<p>i will apply to umbc and umcp, what do you believe my chances are at these schools with my GPA/SATs?</p>
<p>no my parents are not willing to pay for any costs… i just really care more about my education then my future debts but i see your point. thank you for your feedback</p>
<p>Then money WILL be a concern. YOU can only borrow the following amounts: </p>
<p>frosh 5500
soph 6500
jr 7500
sr 7500</p>
<p>As you can see, those amounts won’t pay for much. To borrow more than that (which is a very bad idea) would require qualified cosigners…and they would have to re-qualify each year. If your parents aren’t helping you, then getting qualified cosigners isn’t likely. Again, bad idea anyway.</p>
<p>to: M’s Mom
thank you so much for clarifying this process, i don’t find it too demanding, i plan on becoming a physician specifically an internist or general practitioner. if not i will get a degree in either some type of biology, infectious disease, or physics. </p>
<p>i’m having trouble evaluating which of the colleges I’ve listed would give me the most rigorous training in the basic sciences. Do you have any opinions?</p>
<p>Note that primary care specialties are currently among the lower paid medical specialties. This may mean that (if you get into medical school) you need to be even more attention to keeping cost and debt low to avoid large debt pressuring you into going into a higher paid specialty that you are less interested in.</p>
<p>Note also that biology majors have poor major-specific job prospects at the bachelor’s level, so do not count on majoring in biology as a good backup for job prospects if you do not get into medical school.</p>
<p>Ask your parents how much they are able and willing to contribute, and for information needed to run the net price calculators at each college’s web site.</p>
<p>hey, thanks for your advice, its been a great help :)</p>
<p>do you or anyone else know which of these universities: stevenson, towson, umbc, morgan state university, or umcp would be best in their sciences. Which has the greatest reputation and resources in their science divisions. From my research i believe umcp would be the best but with my GPA/SAT with the fact that they require 4 years of math and i only have three. Any advice?</p>
<p>UMBC is strong for sciences, and is well regarded for their focus on undergraduate opportunities (US News has a list of schools where it ranks best for undergraduate education, and UMBC typically is on it). College Park is a very good school, but your stats are low. I don’t really know anything about Stevenson since it became Stevenson rather than Villa Julie. I had many friends who were very happy at Towson, but they were mostly studying either education or arts related majors, which is what Towson tends to be known for. I have no idea what its med school placement is like. I’m not familiar with Morgan State.</p>
<p>Tomorrow when you are back at school, stop by your guidance counselor’s office and set up an appointment to discuss your college list. The guidance office at your high school should have very clear records of where students have been admitted each year, which means that they are in an excellent position to evaluate your options. They will be able to tell you which colleges and universities in Maryland are likely to admit you. From what I’ve seen, your GPA would not be good enough for any of the places on your list. However, your high school is not Happykid’s so things might be different for you.</p>
<p>You haven’t given any clear indication to us about your financial limits. Your GPA and SAT scores are not likely to qualify you for any merit-based aid, so you will be limited to need-based aid. Sit down with your parents and work through the Net Price Calculator at each of the college and university websites so that you can determine whether or not any of these are affordable. If they are, then go ahead and apply wherever you want to. If they aren’t affordable, talk with your family about attending one of the Maryland community colleges for the first two years. Most of them are quite good, and all of them have guaranteed transfer agreements with some of the 4-year colleges and universities in the state.</p>
<p>I know that you are also worried about your math background. Are you not taking math at all this year? Calculus is required for the pre-med sequence, so if you have not completed pre-calculus or trigonometry in high school, you will need to get through that in college before taking calculus. Most community colleges offer the lower-level math courses that you might need to take on your way to pre-calculus, so do consider picking up extra math during the summer even if you get into a 4-year college/university for fall 2013.</p>
<p>Students get into med school from all kinds of colleges and universities. Don’t worry so much about which college/university, but rather about doing your very best so that you have a good college GPA and are well prepared for the MCAT.</p>
<p>I think you are getting good advise from happymomof1. I would also say that with a 2.4 GPA and an SAT of 1550, you are starting from behind - lots of pre-meds were at the top of their classes academically, took the most demanding course loads and had top test scores. You have some catching up to do if you don’t want to get ‘weeded out’ in those highly competitive and demanding pre-med classes that I listed. Plan on spending the first two years in college doing just that.</p>
<p>I’d like to add that many students say they want to be doctors because they really don’t have a good idea of all the other interesting professional options in the medical field. There are many. You would be doing yourself an huge favor by doing some medically-related volunteering starting right now: there are hospitals, nursing homes, rehab facilities, free clinics, doctor’s offices, hospice facilities, home health care organizations, radiology centers, urgent care centers - to name just the most obvious places that provide medical services. There are many non-profits with medical/social missions. There are public policy, advocacy, and health care administrative organizations (medical billing and collection, web-sites, govt. agencies, coding, etc…). Volunteer as an EMT at your local fire dept. Not only might you discover other potential careers that interest you, but medical schools also want to see that you know what you are getting into.</p>