<p>I've heard great things about the academics, housing, food and sciences and pre-med. I don't think I'll get into their medical school when I graduate (their average is almost 3 points on the MCAT higher than Harvard :eek:) but I think coming from Wash U in St. L will give me a better shot of getting into my dream medical school (Vandy), granted I do well of course. So here are my stats:</p>
<p>UnWeighted GPA: 3.91
Weighted GPA: 4.43
Rank: Top 10% (specifically, I'm about number 13-14 in my school)
SAT: 2010 (re-taking in Dec and confident I can do well over 2100 but I don't want to get my hopes up so I'll just say 2100)
ACT: 32
ECs: National Honors Society (Vice-President), National Science Honors Society, 100 hours volunteer work at Arnold Palmer Hospital, National BETA Club.
APs: Human Geo (4), World History (4), US History (4), Chemistry (5), Biology (4), Statistics (3), Lang and Comp (4), Psychology (5), American Government (4).
Others: NMSF, National Hispanic Scholar, low-income bracket, Florida resident.</p>
<p>Oh and since this is supposedly a big deal I've had a massive upward trend. By semester my GPA (w) has gone from: 3.92 to 4.08 (freshman) to 4.21 to 4.36 (sophomore) to 4.64 (All-year junior year) and so far a 4.70 for senior year. Freshman and sophomore years I didn't do perfect (1 AP each year, 2 honors freshman and 4 sophomore) with 2 Bs 1st semester of 9th and 1 2nd; and 1 B in Spanish 3 10th. But last year and this year I'm pulling straight As with 3 AP classes (4 this year) and rest honors. </p>
<p>And I'm not sure if this matters but I'm taking Experimental Science which is a class of like 6 really good science students who got to our local college (UCF) to do research with a professors and researches for an experiment of our own design to be entered in a National competition. I could write about it in my essay if nothing else. </p>
<p>Sorry if I'm too detailed lol I just really like this school and I just got my senior review with my transcript (which is where I'm getting all the GPAs and grades, I didn't memorize them lol).</p>
<p>One more thing lol. My 8th grade year I took 2 high school classes (Algebra I Honors and Spanish 1) and the GPA for those two are on my transcript… I did very badly. My GPA for both semesters is 3.25 (both Bs 1st semester and a C in Spanish and an A in Algebra 2nd) but I’m retaking Spanish I online, which will make them into a 3.75 1st semster and a 4.0 for 2nd if you replace the grade (which my hs does). Does Wash U just replace the grade or do they take an average?</p>
<p>I don’t think they will really care. They will probably just look at your overall GPA and it will be a plus to have such a good upward trend.</p>
<p>Your chances look decent (considering that you are applying RD right?), granted that you get your SAT above 2100 (or just use the ACT 32 - I think it will convert to about the same). Just curious, any particular reason for medical school at Vandy? That seems pretty specific.</p>
<p>Pre-med here is hard, for most people anyways. I know many people who have dropped from straight As in high school to straight Bs here. Many premeds reconsider their options due to the difficulty of the material. (BME and Gen Chem are especially infamous) If you want to be a premed and plan to stick with it, WashU has definitely one of the best premed programs in the country with many resources, but be prepared to work hard.</p>
<p>Because Vanderbilt (the university hospital) is one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country and that’s the field of medicine I want to go into (pediatric surgery). While WashU (the hospital) has more ranking in pediatrics, I much prefer the geography and weather of Tennessee (I like the cold but I don’t think I could live the rest of my life in Missouri). </p>
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<p>Is that a typo of ED or is RD something I don’t know what it is? If you mean ED, it depends. I need as much as possible, and EDs are binding. If I get accepted ED and the aid isn’t enough, can I tell them that and not go there?</p>
<p>And I don’t know what BME stands for but I took Gen Chem in high school and got As all year and a 5 on the exam, so although it’ll probably be more difficult at WashU it’ll likely just be a very intense review.</p>
<p>Gen Chem at WashU is NOT an intense review. First semester deals with quantum theory of the atom which is completely different from AP Chem and very difficult. Second semester Gen Chem deals with the subjects that you would normally associate with an AP Chem course.</p>
<p>Isn’t quantum theory of the atom just the behavior of the atom and other particles (attractions, movements through different things, formations and structure, bonds, etc)?</p>
<p>Believe me, jasonleb1. We wouldn’t be saying it’s difficult if that weren’t true. I know people who got a 5 on the AP exam and are still struggling in Gen Chem.</p>
<p>^That’s what I would think. I had a fantastic Chem teacher though (she was my honors teacher in 10th grade and my AP teacher in 11th), I’m not trying to be over confident but the majority of her students are breezing through (at the very least getting by decently) Gen and Orgo (and about 20 of the ones I know personally go to top 10 schools).</p>
<p>Orgo may be a bit more notorious than gen chem. I’ve heard it referred to as the class that really determines who is pre-med and who isn’t… </p>
<p>jasonleb1:</p>
<p>I would say the majority of students here have taken AP Chem and done well on the test. However, the class average for the gen chem tests so far have been a 57 and a 66. The quantum theory has to do with calculations of energy levels, photons, wave/particle-like qualities of electrons, and wave functions of orbitals. Just know that WashU gen chem is very different from any other school’s gen chem.</p>
<p>First semester Gen Chem has almost nothing to do with AP Chem (at least the 2/3 that we have already learnt anyhow). It’s actually better to have a good physics background than anything else to be successful in Gen Chem. The tests are quite difficult, though they do curve it up if the mean is less than they expected. (even though the first test was a 57 average, they boosted everyone up by 8 points to get a 65 average)</p>
<p>^Oh god that is not good. I am AWFUL at physics. I’m taking honors now and it’s killing me (I have an A but I work harder in that class but all my others combined). I would take AP next year for preparation but I know I would fail.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to sound antagonistic but why do doctors need physics? What does normal force and wattage have to do with diagnosing diseases and performing surgery?</p>
<p>Well you don’t need to know normal force or wattage, more like physics stuff needed for atomic theories and quantum mechanics.
And you’re right, doctors don’t use them explicitly in real life. However, they are the foundations for stuff later on that you will learn. This may not apply for quantum mechanics though, since I don’t really see its usage later on in life. However, WashU still makes you take it since it’s like a pre-req for pretty much anything related to bio and chem.</p>
I’m assuming the physics class you’re taking right now is based on Newtonian physics:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Fortunately for you, the physics background that you would benefit from having for Gen Chem is based on quantum mechanics, not Newtonian physics. Those are very different things. You may be bad at Newtonian physics but end up being good at quantum mechanics.</p></li>
<li><p>Unfortunately for you, quantum mechanics and Newtonian physics are obviously both classified as “physics” topics, so you may struggle with quantum mechanics as well if it turns out you’re not good with physics in general and not just Newtonian physics.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>And if the physics class you’re taking right now actually is NOT the traditional high school Newtonian physics class, then I fail epically for basing this whole post on a false assumption.</p>
<p>I second the sentiment that doing well in GenChem is more based off of your physics background than your chem background. However, your AP chem will certainly be a help in Chem Lab. As a matter of fact, Dr. Mao expects everyone to have taken AP, and doesn’t cover the concepts that she expects you to have learned in AP whatsoever. </p>
<p>As an aside, I heard that the 8 points on the last test came from the mass spectrometer question that everyone but 6 people missed. It worked as a curve, but idk that it was given as a supplement to improve the distribution.</p>
<p>Yeah I think it was used to both fix the question and supplement the curve. They say in the syllabus that they’re shooting for a 65 average on all the tests so it makes sense that if it’s not quite there they would just tack on the last couple points. Good luck with test number 2 guys! we find out today…</p>
<p>Well technically there were quite a few people who didn’t get tricked; it’s just that only 6 people got it completely right (they screwed up something else on that question or forgot something in the explanations.)</p>
<p>They were really generous with the last question on test 2. I can’t believe I got full points on everything but the explanation since I randomly guessed the wavelength…</p>
<p>Anyways… the point we are all trying to make is… Gen Chem is hard, and does not really require a strong AP Chem background since it is more based on physics in the beginning. (though for Gen Chem Lab, a separate course, AP Chem really helps.)</p>