Grade: Sophomore
Weighted GPA: 4.1923
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Class Rank: 3/455 (top 1%)
PSAT Score: 1160 (600 reading; 560 math)
Intended Major: Biology, Pre-med, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Neuroscience, etc. (really any major that will help me become a doctor, I don’t even think it has to fall within this realm…heck, you could even have a pottery/ceramics major undergrad and become a doctor, but these are my genuine interests at the moment)
Awards (only HS):
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FBLA, 2nd place regionally in Healthcare Administration
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Currently being considered for the Princeton Book Award
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Have been selected by the NSLC twice (9th & 10th grade) to represent my HS
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That’s about it…YIKES (lol)
Extracurriculars/Prospective ECs & goals
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Tutoring
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Piano, guitar
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Tennis
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Swimming
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FBLA (Secretary)
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Volunteering
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Taking care of a younger sibling (not sure if this is valid)
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//Prospective:
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Research (perhaps alongside a local/reputable university, ex: UVA, W & M, HMS & get it published in NCBI PubMed or something of the sort)
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Do a TED Talk
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Join more clubs, preferably through a virtual basis (ex: Debate, HOSA, NHS, Scholastic Bowl, etc.)
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Start up my own Biology/Pre-med club
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Start up a non-profit
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ISEF
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RSI @ MIT
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Take a college course through a reputable university (ex: ivies, mit, etc.)
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Get a 45/45 on the IBDP
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Rack up more community service hours (preferably ≥ 100)
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Physician shadowing
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Volunteer at a hospital/doctor’s office
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Do some internships
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Win a notable scholarship/national award or accolade
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Get some glowing LORs (I’m sure that my teachers will be able to say good words about me)
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Start writing up essays/supplements for the Common App/Coalition App (not sure if they change from year to year, I think when I’m officially obligated is 2022)
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Earn perfect scores on standardized tests (1600 SAT & 36 ACT)
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Take ≥ 3 SAT Subject Tests & get 800s
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Earn 4s & 5s on all AP exams
Courseload:
- 7th/8th Grade/Summer (these are HS courses & are included on my transcript)
- Algebra I
- Geometry
- Earth Science
- French I
- Psychology I
- Pre-IB Algebra II/Trigonometry
- Pre-IB English 9
- Pre-IB World History/Geography
- Pre-IB Biology
- Pre-IB French II
- Health and PE 9
- Economics and Personal Finance
- Health and PE 10
- Mathematical Analysis/Pre-calculus
- 10th Grade/(Possible Future Summer)
- Pre-IB/AP US Government
- AP Psychology
- AP Calculus BC
- Pre-IB English 10
- Honors Physics
- Pre-IB French III
- DE/Regular Art History/Art Appreciation/Music Theory (not completely sure yet, for the summer to fulfill a fine arts requirement)
- DE Microbiology? Or some college course (maybe take multivariable calc over the summer)…not sure yet
- 11th/12th Grade (Two Plans, not sure which would be better)
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IB Diploma
- IB Math AA HL
- IB English Lit A HL
- IB History HL
- IB Chemistry HL
- IB Biology SL
- IB French B SL
- TOK
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IB Certificate
- IB English Lit A HL
- IB History HL
- IB Chemistry HL
- AP Biology
- IB French B SL or AP French
- Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, or Diff Equations
- AP Economics, AP Euro, or something…not sure
- I will also ask my guidance counselor about anticipating (taking SL exams junior year).
with your psat score, you most likely will not be accepted to RSI. Make sure you are not killing yourself over difficult goals. If you were trying to be a science major, I would reduce on sports and music activities, so you have higher chance of stem competitions like ISEF. If you want to publish a paper, you have to do more than intern alongside in a university, otherwise, your name won’t be on the paper.
Should I consider studying for the SAT/ACT, then (at this point, I think I’d take it next year)? Also, do SAT Subject Tests or AP exams count (haven’t taken any yet, but I do plan on doing so in the future)? (Ik the PSAT was terrible, I literally didn’t study for it and I took it in Oct of 9th grade lol). I will keep your advice in mind! Should I start reaching out to faculty at local/reputable universities to see if I can participate in some of their research projects? How should I go about doing this? Should I quit piano/guitar, tennis, and swimming to focus on science-related activities?
I encourage you to do activities you find enjoyable…not ones that you believe will help get you into a highly selective college. Continue to get good grades, study for the ACT/SAT and enjoy being a teenager.
Lastly, among the most important determinants of where many students go to college is their parents’ finances and budget for college, which you will have to ultimately understand when it comes time to make your initial college list.
Thank you! I will try to keep this in mind. At the end of the day, I guess college admissions in itself is a crapshoot so even if you have perfect scores & GPA, outstanding ECs, etc you still may not get into the ivies, for example lol. I’d be just as happy, if not more happy, going to somewhere like UVA or W & M anyway. I know I don’t have to go to an overly prestigious school for pre-med (or even med school), in general. My ultimate goal is to become a doctor, not necessarily to be able to say I went to a highly prestigious, top-ranked school.
I would recommend you to focus on research because it really helped me out figure out my potential major and a lot of students I know involved in STEM. It is extremely difficult to cold mail professors because most people don’t have time. Try to study a specific topic and write an independent report or technical paper relating to your major. it doesn’t have to be complex or novel; make computer simulation of a chemical reaction, virus, etc and send it to professors that might take interest. This is why my advisor responded back, who helped me publish.
Thank you so much! I will try to brainstorm some research topics and send out my ideas/results to some professors. Hopefully this method will work well lol!
Highly selective college admissions is not a crapshoot.
For pre-med, choose a school where you will be able to get a high GPA and have access to patient facing ECs. The prestige of an undergrad college is generally not important in med school admissions.
It’s also important to not take out undergrad loans or use all of your college fund for undergrad, as med school is expensive.
Yeah, I agree. I think I’d be happy with going to UVA for pre-med (and even med school). Do you think this would/could be a good choice? Or should I look into something different? Ultimately, MIT is my dream for pre-med because the insane rigor of the math/science courses would make the MCAT very easy, but at the same time I’d be worried about maintaining a high GPA (as I said). Conversely, I don’t think I’d have any issues about access to patient facing ECs at MIT (or even UVA or W & M).
A pre-med should also consider which college will be most fulfilling in terms of academic and professional goals other than medical school.
Most frosh pre-meds do not eventually apply to medical school (either lose interest, or see that their grades and/or MCAT score are too low, or get advised by the college’s pre-med committee that applying would be a waste of time and money and that the committee letter will not be favorable enough to get admitted). Of those who do apply, only about 40% get admitted to a medical school.
So every pre-med needs to consider academic and professional goals that do not involve medical school, since the most likely outcome for a pre-med is to get weeded out.
I think in addition to goals beside medical school, I think I wouldn’t mind doing more research-type stuff (as opposed to a traditional, clinical setting) or become a professor.
Be aware that becoming a tenured professor in most subjects is even more competitive than getting into medical school (college faculty jobs are trending toward contract/piecework adjunct jobs for various reasons*). Research jobs in science and many other subjects can also be very competitive to get. You may want to consider what less reachy career goals you may like if you do not get into the reach careers that you have mentioned.
*The various reasons include lower cost, and lack of the long term commitment (tenure) that makes it more difficult for colleges to adapt to changing subject area demand from students and research funders.
Hmm, well so far, I’ve noticed that math/science has been my passion. Although, I do have other interests. I don’t really know what else I would truly want to do as a back-up, per se. Tbh, I don’t think I have that many skills/talents, so that would probably serve to hinder me in the employment process. Heck, maybe I could become a YouTuber (although, I suck at editing xD).