Chances on UConn BS/MD Admission?

<p>I'm an incoming senior, who's applying to the UConn combined program in medicine/dental medicine. I'm looking for my chances or recommendations on how to improve, if you would. I'm thinking its kind of a long shot, but I don't want to sell myself short before I've even sent my application:)</p>

<p>GPA 4.123 weighted last checked, will be higher after new grades come out
Rank: 23/280ish... again, may go up
SATs: My downfall agh. Best combined CR:680 Math:590 WR:650
SAT II: Taking Spanish, Biology M, and Math 1 in October</p>

<p>AP/Honors:
9th- honors english, honors algebra 2, honors oceanology
10th- honors english, honors biology
11th- AP english, honors physics, honors spanish 4, honors spanish 5, honors physics, honors anatomy and physiology
12th (prospective)- AP english, AP biology, honors psychology, honors precal, maybe AP calculus depending on how precal goes...</p>

<p>Extras: lacrosse (9), student council member (11), creative writing club (11), national honors society (11, hopefully 12), rhode island honors society (12)</p>

<p>besides that, loads of volunteering:
thrift store benefiting a local church + charities- 200+ hours
starting to volunteer in the emergency department of my local hospital, probably 100 hours before i send in the forms</p>

<p>summer internship at rhode island college analyzing small/large molecule interactions with DNA, with yearlong research, to end with a senior project demonstrating DNA melting curve analysis and molecular modeling</p>

<p>summer course at brown (summer @ brown) on medicine and society</p>

<p>I want chances, anything that can help me, the works. The only thing I really can't do is retake SATs. I've taken them 3 times, and any more won't help in my opinion. But I would really appreciate any input you guys can give. My parents aren't helpful in college-y things, since neither of them went to college. Any other information you might need just let me know.</p>

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<p>i would suggest taking the SAT a 4th time. if u do better, no one will look down upon it, but u should really take it again</p>

<p>i need to take the three SAT II's in october, and the deadline is early, maybe the 1st of december. i don't know if the november scores will come out before i need them?</p>

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<p>If the deadline is december, then yes, you can send ur november scores. but i would put the SAT I as a higher priority than SAT II, since the reasoning test is given much more weight than the SAT II. I'm telling you right now your EC's are good and so is your GPA, but at this point, your SAT scores are REALLY REALLY holding you back. Try to get 2100+ and i think you've got decent chances. but seriously, the thing you need to work on now is getting your SAT scores up. BA/MD programs put a lot of weight on that. so study up this summer.</p>

<p>good luck man, i'll be applying to some of these schools myself and i wish you good luck in the process.</p>

<p>good luck to you too. i've been figuring this out for a while, and i decided to switch and take the SAT in october, the subject tests in november, and maybe the ACT in october as well. i've never taken it before, so i might do better? i'm getting tutored in math this summer to increase my math score. i need 3 points to be a good candidate for the uconn program, since the average is 1300 cr/math...</p>

<p>can you think of any other bs/md programs i might have a shot in? most want top 5% of the senior class, but seriously, unless the 20something people in front of me move away or get stupider, i don't know what i can do about my rank. maybe if i was in-state i'd have a better chance, even though i'm right next door over in rhode island:(</p>

<p>where are you applying?</p>

<p>As a current student in a BS/MD program, I might have some insiders advice...First of all, to be perfectly honest, hundreds of students apply for just a few spots, so hopefully it is not a surprise that SAT scores (as subjective as they are in determining a students academic caliber) weigh very heavily in determining the first cut-off as to who may or may not get an interview. So on that note, I would definitely retake the SAT I to try and break 1300 for a CR+M combined score by improving your math score. As for the writing section, they basically want to see that you don't fail it, so it looks like you're all set for that one. I wouldn't bother taking ACTs if you can get your math SAT score up. Your ECs look great, I would definitely emphasize your volunteering and research experience, as it seems like something you are passionate about, and may "make up" so-to-speak for your rank (which by no means is inadequate) and non-CT residency. As far as other advice goes for preparing for a career in medicine, I would look at other schools that don't offer special combined programs, as they can also be just as good and have great pre-medical advising, especially with the smaller liberal art type colleges with a low student-faculty ratio. If you are determined to get into a combined program, I have heard that UMKC is pretty loose/generous in giving out admissions, so it might be good to look into.</p>

<p>Good luck with everything!</p>

<p>Thanks for the input! I understand the standardized testing is important when so many qualified people are applying, but I won't know if i've improved my score until after i've recieved it, and if I don't make the cut and don't sign up for the ACT, wouldn't that hurt my chance at getting an interview? Just because the testing dates are so close together, and the deadline is something like december 1st.</p>

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<p>As of last year experience applying and getting accepted to BS/MD, ranking and unweighed GPA is also very important in addition to scores. Top of class with perfect unweighted GPA were receiving rejections from much less known BS/MD. So, it is important to apply to many, if your goal is to go this route. Also, you should have calc in HS no matter how your precalc goes. Wasn't your Honors Physics using calculus? That is strange that you took Physics before you took calculus. Would not be possible at our school.</p>

<p>I am going to take ap calculas ap bio ap chem ap history ap english with german 5-6 and varsity track. Would this be a good year with like a sat that is gonna be around 1700 and a weighted gpa that is over 4.0 to eventually go to a b.s m.d dental program… would I be ok???</p>

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