Im a sophomore in high school, and I’m just starting to look around for schools.
Current Grades-
4.02 GPA
GPA Has already increased .1 in 2 marking periods since last year (did not try last year, now regretting it tremendously)
39th In class of about 200 (19%)
Taking 3 Honors This Year
Took 3 Honors Last Year
Taking 1 AP This Year
Will Take 3-4 Honors Next Year (Need To Decide)
Will Take 1 AP Next Year
Current ECs-
JV Soccer Team
Interact Club
15 Community Hours
Still-to-do
Will volunteer at animal shelter over summer (50-70 hours)
Will coach youth basketball next year (50 hours)
Will join key club (gets about 60-ish hours)
Will be in NHS
I really like the look of this school, and how prestigious it is not only athleticslly but academically, and would love to know if I had a chance to go there and major in pre-med.
pre-med is not a major, i love you are in interact btw I am the treasurer of my schools Interact Club. Really it is too early to say whether or not youll be a good fit for any college, there are a lot of variables that need to be solved in order to determine that. I like your ECs already, but take more APs as a junior, it will make you more competitive. gl my dude (or lady)
Thank you for the response, I’ll need the luck, but I am taking as many APs as my school allows junior year, APUSH and AP Economics, if there are any other APs that are reasonable, I would take them, but the school only offers those dor junior year (I’m mostly sure), But I will be taking AP Biology and AP European History, as well as honors human anatomy senior year (even tho schools won’t care as much, those classes really caught my interest
@Student25050 Test scores really need to come to the surface here to gauge things more. Also, really bring up that GPA as that is going to be another big factor.
Also, are you instate? The school has to fulfill a certain quota of instate students, so they have a better chance to get in. I calculate the OOS acceptance back in 2017 and it was around 4%!
@Student25050: Here are some thoughts in response to your question(s):
(1) When you write, “I really like the look of this school, and how prestigious it is,” you are considering this (or any) school for the wrong reason. Whether a university is “prestigious” or not has absolutely NO bearing whatsoever on whether it is a good place for YOU; and don’t fall into the trap of tying your concept of self-worth with where you ultimately get accepted to college or university.
(2) If you wish ultimately to go to medical school, the name of the undergraduate school is really not that relevant; more important in getting into medical school will be your undergraduate GPA, your MCAT scores, and your LORs. Going to a “prestigious” school because you think it will help you get into medical school is not necessarily a good choice, and it can be an extremely expensive one as well.
(3) Don’t obsess about any one particular school, and don’t develop tunnel vision about where you plan to attend a college or university. The guidance counselors at our high school like to say, “Don’t fall in love with a school; fall in love with several schools.” If you focus on only one place, and you are denied admission, what happens then? Take a look at the CC forums for other “prestigious” universities, and see how many students with exceptional test scores, GPAs, and ECs are getting rejected from “the school of their dreams.” So visit lots of different colleges and universities, and find out what kind of school fits you best – and “prestige” may not have much to do with it.
(4) Read this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/opinion/sunday/frank-bruni-how-to-survive-the-college-admissions-madness.html?rref=collection/column/frank-bruni&_r=0 . This is excerpted from Frank Bruni’s book titled “Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be” — which says it all, in my opinion. That book should be read by all college applicants and their parents.
(5) When you are researching schools, look at the Common Data Set (if available) for the school, and look at Sections C7, C9, C11, and C12; they will have important information about admissions criteria, and statistical information about recently admitted students.