Chance me for Ivies, John Hopkins, and Northwestern please!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Planned major: Biological Science, maybe Biochemistry
Pre-med

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown out of 1600): 1550 (790M, 760R)
SAT II: Math 2-750, Biology E-800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.83
Rank: My school does not rank
AP: Stats (4), Biology (4), Psychology (5), English Lang (4), World History (4), Calc AB (4), Calc BC (5), Chemistry (4), Physics 1 (3), US History (5),

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: State President of HOSA, co founded a meditation and healthy body club, semifinalist in several HOSA national competitions, I am currently conducting research at a local small university (but nothing published as of yet), Varsity Softball
Job/Work Experience:Have worked at a bakery for 4 years, I also work as a CNA at a hospital
Volunteer/Community service: I really only volunteer at the hospital once or twice a week, sometimes I tutor for free as well.
Summer Activities: Baylor Surgical Summer Program, in freshman year I went to a selective health-careers camp run through my state.

State: WI
School Type: public high school
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Female

My top school would probably be JHU, but if I got into an Ivy, I would be thrilled and likely would go there (depending on the one).
Thanks!

2

So, since you asked…

imo JHU is NOT where you want to do undergrad if you really, really, really want med school.

I know. It has a great reputation. And I do know a couple of current med school students who did pre-med there. I also know a LOT of grad students getting PhDs in top-tier programs who had planned on going to med school who did pre-med there- but were not high enough in their class to make the cut.

It’s just that getting to med school is a LOT harder going through JHU.

3

Really? I’ve never heard that before. There a specific reason that the problem can be pinpointed to? And does the slump go through all majors or just the science related ones for pre med?
Thanks for responding.

4

It’s not a problem, and not a ‘slump’. It’s that the cuts for med school are made on GPA + MCAT. There are different opinions as to whether/how much the name of the school is considered, but it seems fairly clear that it is a secondary criterion.

In the meantime, JHU tends to admit very hard working students. JHU tends towards grade deflation. JHU writes ‘committee letters’ of recommendation for medical applicants. 2/3 of pre-med students give up along the way (though to be fair, a high % of people who start college planning to be pre-med change their mind at all colleges).

So, to get a GPA that will make the cut for med schools, you can expect to work really really hard, with other students who are really hard, motivated workers. In 3.5 years, the committee will write their LoRs. Will yours stand out?

It’s not that it can’t be done- it can. And obviously, nobody on CC knows anything about you as a person or a student. But you asked for opinions, and mine is that if your clear goal is med school, picking a school where you will be a star is more likely to get you there. Could you be a star at JHU? I have no way of knowing, but your AP scores make it at least a question.

5

You are a competitive applicant. Your ECs are good and your stats are great. Write amazing essays and you could get accepted to any of the schools on your list, even the Ivies. Apply early to a school to increase your chances of acceptance

6

@Premediehead going to echo previous posters, beware of the grade deflation and cutthroat-ness of pre med at Hopkins. It is brutal. most ivies (probably Cornell is the exception) would provide a substantially easier path to med school.

You are competitive for all these top schools, but of course you never know. All these places routinely turn down people with your profile. That said, I think you got a good chance of having at least 1-2 choices from this group of schools.

7

Thank you for letting me know!

8

If your goal is getting into med school, consider going to a school where you could get the best GPA, since GPA is more important than school academic reputation for applying to med school (unless you can get a 3.9-4.0 at JHU, in which case you’re set).

That being said, your academics and experience are extremely strong for a high school student. It’s very hard t predict who will and won’t get into the top 15 schools simply because so many qualified students end up getting rejected. That being said, you’re a very qualified applicant and should certainly be competitive in the application process. I would imagine that you will get into a few of these schools that you’re targeting, but I wouldn’t expect that you get into a majority of them. Again, you are extremely qualified, but with so many applicants for so few spaces, very few can run the table with this caliber of schools. You’re chances at ending up at a top school are good though; good luck!

9

I didn’t know the premed environment at Hopkins these days was so bad as far as “getting in”. That is sort of consistent with my experiences in the dark ages, around 1980. The school was incredibly intense. The classes were a lot of work, they graded hard, and everyone studied all the time.

They took students with really strong academics, and were not so interested in SAT/ACT aptitude tests, ECs, geographic balance, etc. They didn’t generally take students from weak inner city, blue collar, or rural schools. So the difficulty level of the classes was very high.

My experience was sort of in line with what others describe here, as they made trouble for me. I transferred in as a sophomore. I was told my test scores etc were not good enough for mathematics and I should major in mathematical science. I was offended and responded I could do mathematics. I did not understand that they were giving me a run around, as they did not really have a mathematics major or upper level classes, only really graduate classes. Also it was this weird theoretical mathematics. This messed up my education, GPA, etc.

The premed environment was different then. Most of the premeds were Jewish or Italian and their fathers were doctors. The fathers couldn’t buy them into the preppy LACs that many doctors got their sons into. It seemed like most premeds “got in”. The ones I described were medical school legacies and the others were usually better academically than the doctors’ kids. Many of them dropped out or changed majors because they were pressured into premed, but didn’t want to be doctors.

I don’t know what went on elsewhere. It wasn’t all that cutthroat then, as students tended to collaborate, but it was bad with the angles and so on. They had eliminated the honor code because premeds were openly cheating in groups.

Most premeds forged their advisers’ signature on their schedules. The advisers didn’t care and had lots of premeds to advise. The premeds got informal advice as to classes to take to get grades. The professors taught classes on their research areas, and the classes offered weren’t set up that well for the students. So they would figure out classes to get grades in. Some of them seemed to take messed up schedules in terms of learning anything.

Then there were all these “guts” they took as electives. One was “Medical Sociology”. Another was “Astronomy of the Solar System” called “astrogut”. It was supposed to be science for non science majors class, but all the students were premeds and about half of the premeds took it. I don’t think the “professor” had a PhD in Astophysics. He was on the school board and apparently was allowed to teach the class as a political favor, and so they could make it look like they had one minority faculty member.

I knew someone who had a 4.0 as a premed and was a recruited athlete. I assume he had a merit scholarship. He went back to California spring break senior year and couldn’t go back to school. Apparently, he went to UCLA for a year, and then went to medical school.

Sorry this is long. What I know about is very dated, and other have given a better description of the current problems. In general, there is a lot to be said for the school being so intense and so on. However, I have PTSD and many memories have come out, some of which I can’t post about. I saw enough that I would not recommend it for premed.

It didn’t seem as bad as far as getting in then. However, I did know someone who did not get in from Hopkins premed, who went to Hopkins School of Public Health, and later got an MBA from Wharton! I also have met two people who went to colleges with 70+% acceptance rates and got into medical school instate coming from rural areas of the state.