Chance Me? Molecular Genetics Major

Colleges and Universities A-Z Ohio State University
1

Hi! I’m a current high school senior who has applied EA to 4 schools including OSU.

My ranking is as follows:
Ohio State
UC
Purdue
Michigan

OSU is my top school and I really, really want to go there. I toured the campus and just fell in love with it. My mother went there for two years before transferring but she still raves about her experience there.

I’ve been checking my OSU portal nearly every day even though nothing ever changes. I’m starting to get paranoid about whether or not I’ll get in because OSU is truly my end all be all, even though I know it’s probably not healthy to have that attitude about it.

I have already gotten notified of my acceptance to Michigan, and while that is amazing I am really, really hoping to get into OSU. I want to have some others look at my stats and kind of gauge how good people think my chances are.

Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Unweighted GPA: 3.8
Weighted GPA: 4.3
Location: Ohio
School Type: large competitive public school
Major: Genetics

ACT Breakdown
Highest Composite: 32
Superscore: 33
English: 35
Reading: 36
Science: 33
Math: 24 but I got it up to a 27 on my second sitting so that’s why my superscore is 33

I have gotten a 3 on AP US History, AP European History, and AP Composition exams. I am currently taking AP Statistics, AP Psychology, and AP Literature and am feeling pretty confident on all three subjects so far.

Extra Curriculars
Vice President of both ASL Club and ASL Honor Society
Tutors students in ASL
Volunteer at local church for two years
Advocate for Deaf Awareness
Participation in HOSA for three years - won 3rd and 2nd place at the international level in the Medical Reading Competition
Brown Belt in Japanese Budo
Participation in Global Language Initiative Club

Senior Year Courses
AP Literature
AP Statistics
AP Psychology
Medical Interventions
Honors Anatomy & Physiology
Biomedical Innovations
College 101 (1 semester)

In addition, I applied to the Morrill Scholarship as well as the Honors Program. For the Morrill Essay, I wrote it on my experience being a deaf student with bilateral cochlear implants and having yearly Q&A sessions during the cochlear implant lab in a class one of my teachers teaches. I also added my commentary on the Deaf community and my passion for ASL. I also touched on my passion for learning other foreign languages from native speakers at my school (like Russian and Spanish).

For the Honors Essay, I chose Hermione Granger as the fictional character that I most relate to. I realize that she might be a rather common pick but there’s truly no one else I could’ve gone with. We are alike in so many ways and I think I did a decent job justifying my choice.

Anyway, any thoughts on my chances would be welcome, and thank you to anyone who took the time to read through all that.

2

I have already gotten notified of my acceptance to Michigan - Unless you mean Michigan State University, you’re not being truthful.

3

Yes, I did mean Michigan State. I should have specified. I’m used to just calling it Michigan when discussing it with family and friends. I don’t know why I would have any reason to be untruthful about that.

4

tOSU won’t release any results until nov 22, at the earliest. You appear to be a strong candidate. Your only weakness is the low math score, given you want to be a genetics major which is a pretty analytical discipline. I would have advised you to take a stronger math than AP Stats in your senior year (and I am a PhD in stats!) to beef up your math mojo. Do you receive quarterly grades at your Hs? If you did very well, be sure those grades are sent in (and tOSU might require it).

Genetics is a tough major; your first year will likely be all basic science classes (I suspect chemistry, biology, probably calculus), but your HS record is not science-heavy. I do not know if genetics is capacity controlled or not. Your basic stats look totally fine for tOSU, but if you were going for a tough admit major (like engineering) I would be more concerned. But I don’t know the deal with a genetics major. You might be accepted, but not for that major?

5

@cypresspat thank you so much for the feedback! I would agree that my math score is definitely lacking. I chose to take AP Stats this year because I felt that I would genuinely enjoy the class and I really have so far, which is vastly different from my previous math classes.

As for the science in my high school career, I am actually pretty heavily involved in science classes. I am in the Biomedical Sciences program, which involves a four year track of classes that is associated with HOSA - Future Health Professionals. I’ve won two international level awards in medical reading. This teacher is also the one that I asked to write me my recommendation. I strongly considered taking AP Bio this year but I simply couldn’t fit it in my schedule with both Medical Interventions and Biomedical Innovations. Those two classes are the last ones I need to complete the Biomed course and receive my cords. I also get certified to work as a lab tech if I complete the program. I am hoping that my recommendation letter from my teacher will cast me in a good light for the genetics major because I am the only one of her students to ever place in the top three internationally and I am very involved in her class.

Anyway, that’s my situation. I’m still obsessing over whether or not I’ll get in but there’s really nothing left to do but wait.

6

@music394 You are right, all you can do is wait and see now. But I assume you wanted honest feedback, right? If you take a look at the curriculum for molecular genetics at OSU, you will see the pre-requisites are math, bio, chemistry and physics. The core courses include molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, …all tough basic physical and life science courses. OSU considers rigor in HS because they want to be sure you can handle that coursework. You did not take the most rigorous courses - those would have been more helpful for admission than the Biomedical Sciences track. Being prepared to be a lab tech is awesome. But being a molecular geneticist is a whole other league of rigor and is not at all the same career path.

I don’t want to freak you out but you don’t want to be hit with a shovel in a month or two either. I did a little reading on the OSU website and you may be admitted (and should be admitted!) but maybe not for that major directly. You might want to spend some time reading about different ways you could achieve your career goals while at tOSU, or what you’ll need to do to get into the molecular genetics major after a semester or two at OSU. I want you to have a Plan B ready in case that happens. It is not the end of the world and it looks like OSU has many ways for you to get what you want if not direct entry into that major.

So you know what I am talking about, my S20’s babysitter when he was little is now a medical student at tOSU. She was a molecular biology major at OSU (similar idea to yours). She graduated the same high school as my son and completed AP Bio, chemistry, both physics, and calculus BC. And AP Lit, history and both economics. She took the most rigorous possible science courses she could in preparation for her major. Not AP stats and psychology.

If you don’t get direct entry into your major, with your record, I think that will be why. Your stats are strong, but you lack rigor. I do think you will be accepted into OSU. More worried about the major. But…you should know very soon and I do hope I am worrying for nothing!

7

@cypresspat I am truly grateful for the honest feedback and your willingness to be blunt about it. I had never considered that I might not get into the genetics major, I was too focused on whether I would get accepted to the columbus campus at all.

Should I have applied as a Biology major if I wanted better odds at getting accepted directly to my chosen major?

I’ve tried to do some research but have come up with nothing - if I don’t get into the genetics major but I am accepted to the columbus campus, what happens in terms of declaring a major? Do I go in as undecided or something else?

I was also under the impression that OSU was major blind but apparently that’s not the case?

Sorry for all the follow-up questions!

8

Their website says they are major blind, but for the Various colleges (engjneering, etc.) it describes the path to being a major. Some are direct entry, some are ‘pre-majors’ and it looks like they have this bucket (can’t remember what it is called) where you are basically accepted to the university, but not the major you requested. That is better than getting rejected, period, right?

I don’t know if general bio is an easier major or not. I bet it is much larger than molecular genetics. I don’t think that your choosing a tough major will hurt you here in terms of getting accepted- your record is very strong. I am just not sure about the major. The website talks about first getting accepted to the university and THEN your desired major. So, I think that works in your favor if the major goal is going to OSU as opposed to that very specific major.
What are your goals? There should be many paths for you at a school as enormous as OSU.

9

You would be correct that I am just hoping to get accepted to OSU and getting into molecular genetics is secondary to that goal. I applied to the genetics major because I want to be a genetic counselor. I suppose I could get there just as easily by getting a BS in Biology, but I figured that the genetics major would allow me to see more subspecializations within genetics than biology would. In addition, this may be thinking a little too far ahead into the future, but I thought that perhaps getting my undergraduate degree in molecular genetics would give me an edge when it comes time to apply for my masters.

10

Hmmm… I would put genetics counselor in the category of allied health. It is a clinical occupation. Molecular geneticists are about as non-clinical as it gets! I think you’d be better prepared for a genetics counseling MS degree with a general bio degree, and a minor in something that has to do with health care (like public health, etc). Anything which exposes you to people as holistic entities, not a collection of molecules!

So, I think you are in good shape, then. Your scores are right in range for an Ohio resident. You applied EA, so that is a plus. I suspect you will be admitted.