Chances and ? about major and CC

<p>Hi... Pomona is my #1 choice and I really want to know if I will have a good chance or not. Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>About Me!
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Location: California
School Type: Small Public (1400 students), Very uncompetitve (only about 1/2 even goes onto college, most of those are Community College)
Income: $80,000/year, both parents over 50 working full time (my mom will stop working soon due to disease dropping out income down 20,000/year)</p>

<p>I'm a first-generation college student who has 2 parents who didn't finish High School.</p>

<p>GPA:
Un-weighted: 3.9ish
Weighted: 4.4
Rank: Top 5% (10 out of 350+)</p>

<p>SAT I:
1970: 760M, 630 CR, 580W (9 essay)
These are probably my weakest points, I'm assuming. Hoping to raise these, I was out until midnight then had the tests 7 hours later, hoping not to do this again :P.</p>

<p>SAT II:
750: Math 2C
710: Biology</p>

<p>Classes
9 AP planned
-Biology (4)
-Statistics (5, only me and 1 other person got a 5)
-Calculus BC (5)
-Chemistry (5)
-English Language (3)
-US History (4)
-English Composition (Next year)
-US Government (Next year, Independent Study)
-Possibly more, this is all my school offers</p>

<p>Community College Courses
-Finite Mathematics (A)
-Sociology 101 (A)
-Pyshchology 101 (A)
-Art 101 (A)
-Cultural Anthropology (A)
-Calculus 101C (third-year Calc, Next year)
-More classes, not sure yet</p>

<p>My class schedule is weird because our school has a block schedule. Similar to another poster, who I am also friends with and goes to my school hahaha.</p>

<p>Frosh:
Bio H A/A
Spanish 1 A/A
Spanish 2 A/A
Health/Geography A/A
Computer Basics A/A
Algebra II/Trig H A/A
Pre-Calculus H A/A
English 9H A/A
P.E. A/A</p>

<p>Soph Term1:
AP Stats A/A
AP Bio B/B
Digital Photo B/A
Psychology A/A
P.E. A/A
English 10H B/A
Geometry H A/A
World History H A/A</p>

<p>Junior:
AP English Language B/A
AP History A/A
AP Calculus AB A/A
AP Calculus BC A/A
Chemistry Honors A/A
AP Chemistry A/A
Psychology 101 A (local community college course offered at my high school)
Sociology 100 A (local community college course offered at my high school)</p>

<p>Senior Schedule: AP English Literature, Goverment/Economics H, Physics H, Leadership, Spanish 3, Spanish 4 AP, Calculus 101C/Calculus 3 (another college course at my HS)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Basketball:
-Frosh Year, got "Academic Award"
-Soph Year, got "Most Valuable Player Award"
-Junior Year, got "Academic Award"
-Planned to play Senior Year, <b>possibly will play in college? (Will that help???)</b></p>

<p>I've done about 200+ hours of community service so far.</p>

<p>DOD Math and Science Bowl or Academic League:
Played in this for three years on the Main/starting team. Hoping to do better the fourth.</p>

<p>World Affair Challenge:
Two years, helped start this at my school. My Junior year, our team won "Best Team Overall" and I got second or third best in the Quiz portion of the competition as well.</p>

<p>Tutoring:
I've tutored, for free, at my school for math after school my freshman and junior years... about 50+ hours total.</p>

<p>Kids Breakfast Club:
I volunteer at the KBC, a program that gives meals and education to poorer families on a reduced or free lunch at elementary schools.</p>

<p>LEO Club:
I am officer of the LEO club, an organization that helps in things like AIDS walk, breast cancer walks, seniors nights, ect.</p>

<p>CSF:
I am the President of CSF, a nationally-recognized scholarship organization.</p>

<p><b>Other Questions</b>:
Can anyone tell me about the Neurology Major at Pomona? Is it good? I am hoping to into research on either Neurological disease or possibly neurological/psychological disorders. My mother suffers from MS so I want to be able to possibly find a cure for this disease...</p>

<p>Community college classes: How will Pomona view all my community college classes? Will they help me a lot? Will I get credit for them?</p>

<p>Thank you very much!!! :D</p>

<p>You wouldn't specialize in neurology until medical school, but Pomona's neuroscience program would be outstanding preparation for that path of study.</p>

<p>Can you do anything in Neurology w/o going to Med school? Because I was hoping to go into research, not medical neurology. Is this possible? There is no way me and my family could afford med school, and I have no real interest in become a doctor -_-.</p>

<p>Medical school often leads to research, but you'd have to look to see if there are grad programs (in either neuro or biology) that cover your area of interest.</p>

<p>saasaa--</p>

<p>No, you do not have to go to medical school to do research. You could get a PhD. My personal bias is that medical school should be for future practitioners, not for those who decide to pursue research solely. This bias does not apply to practicing physicians who also do research, as in teaching hospitals.</p>

<p>Thank you very much for the replies. I think I'll continue my education after my 4 years at whatever school i go to (hoping it's pomona veyr much haha).</p>

<p>Does anyone have any ideas? What score on the SAT1 should I need in order to have a better shot at pomona? Would a 760M/700CR/700W look good? Is everything else fine?</p>

<p>Having all your scores in the 700s will make you a strong candidate, once you cross that line, your scores aren't as important as the soft factors to your application, which you seem to be doing well with. Your CC classes will also help a lot, because they like when students go beyond their boundaries to further pursue their interests.</p>