College Admission Help!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys! I am currently a high school student who plans to be a pre med student (majoring in Biomedical but unsure yet) in college and I would like to receive some input to improve my odds into getting in my desired colleges. Below I listed a general idea of my application. Any help is useful! Thanks!

Grade: Junior
Location: Northern Virginia
Current GPA: 4.12 (Hopefully around a 4.3 by end of senior class through my planned course load)
Current SAT (Attempted 3 times) : Math: 760, English: 680 (plan on taking it a 4th time in August for 1500)
Subject Tests: None (plan on taking Math 2 and Chemistry Subject Tests during October and November)

Extracurriculars:
-Volunteered at the DC VA Medical Center for the last 3 years in OR, ER, and Pharmacy. I was able to gain insight in the medical field by shadowing doctors and the medical staff and watching surgeries while also providing help in the hospital such as handling prescriptions for patients, inputting patient surgery information, and distributing medical supplies throughout the departments. Accumulated over 400 hours within this organization and recognized for it. I plan on volunteer here this summer in their Research Department and to reach 500 hours

-Volunteered at the Walter Reed National Military Center last summer in Occupational Therapy and Surgical Waiting Room. In Occupational Therapy, I helped my supervisor find technology for current and former US military personal who are disabled or impaired from combat to assist them in their current living situation. In Surgical Waiting Room, I comforted the patients families and helped them keep up to date on the current status of their loved one in the OR. Volunteered around 90 hours from Walter Reed

-Volunteered in the Red Cross for the last 3 years and accumulated 84 hours from this organization. Served as a Blood Donor Ambassador during this span and helped out in various events to promote general safety from homes to disasters

-Started recently volunteering in the Medical Reserve Corps to help improved health and safety of communities and provide emergency support in the case of a disaster

-Founded FBLA in my school and am a member of National Honors Society, Math Honors Society, and Science National Honors Society

Current Course Load:
-AP Language/Comp
-AP Psychology
-AP Calculus
-AP US History
-Academic Physics
-AP Chemistry
-AP Computer Science A
-Study Hall

Planned Senior Year Course Load:
-AP Literature
-AP Calculus BC
-AP Biology
-AP Physics
-AP Human Geo
-AP Government
-AP Statistics
-Study Hall

Schools I am interested in:
-VCU
-Virginia Tech
-Penn State
-UPitt
-William and Mary
-University of Virginia
-University of Southern California
-NYU
-Baylor

My parents are generous enough to pay for all or most of my tuition.

2

You should get a lot of merit aid from Baylor

3

Your volunteer activity is excellent and shows real commitment. Should definitely be part of your narrative. I assume you haven’t gotten any AP scores back yet. If strong, those can bolster your application, too. You’ve got a VERY heavy course load for senior year - is that normal for your school?

Make sure you apply EA to as many of the schools as offer it. Pitt, for example, offers EA and those that apply early are also in the running for merit scholarships. Penn State also has EA. UVA has EA - and this year is adding ED to the mix. It will be interesting to see how much of the class they fill ED. Getting in a couple of places early on takes the pressure off - and also gives you an indication if you’re targeting the right level of schools.

Otherwise, your list looks pretty good. NYU and USC probably the most “reach-y” of the list. As a VA resident, you’ve got an advantage at UVA, W&M, and VTech. You might consider adding 1 or 2 other OOS universities that have honors colleges you might be a candidate for. University of Maryland or University of Delaware, for example.

Keep us posted.

4

I think that you are doing very well. I would however seriously consider cutting back on the APs for senior year. You do not need to take 7 APs to get into good universities. To me your list makes a lot of sense for a strong student from Virginia who wants to go into medicine. I think that you have a great list of schools to apply to. However, you do not need 7 APs to get into most if not all of them.

The senior year of high school is a stressful one. You will need to put quite a bit of effort into applying to universities, and deciding where to go. You should plan to cut back a bit in order to have the time and energy to do this.

Other than that, to me it looks like you are going very well.

Given how strong your in-state public schools are, I would be surprised if NYU would give you enough aid to be worth the cost. If I were admitted to UVA and NYU at the same cost I am not sure which I would choose. Since you are instate for UVA it is likely to be quite a bit less. You should be planning on saving money for medical school. At a minimum I think that you should run the NPC on NYU and USC and see what the results look like.

5

Your extracurricular and grades seem very good for the college list that you have provided. I’m only a Senior myself and I take around as many AP’s as you. You’re on a good track.

However, I am curious of one thing. My brother is stationed in Virginia and he is aware of the DC VA Medical Center. How were you able to volunteer for the past three years in the ER, OR, and Pharm? Most places (and the DC VA Medical Center) take volunteers who are at least 18 years old, and at my hospital, you need to be at least 18 to volunteer in the ER. Anyhow, great work on that part - shows a clear spike.

Keep up the good work and you’ll be he in a good position for applying to the colleges you listed above.

6

Why not consider dual enrollment if offered. Not sure which school district but my son took English dual enrollment with Nova it helps to lower stress with a heavy AP schedule as it was at night one hour a week but with NoVa it’s a 6 credit load

7

DC VA Medical Center Volunteer Program starts at age 14 with paper based application submission.Most hospital requires age 17 or Above. Thx for your comments.

8

How many AP classes do students at your school generally take each year? Our HS offers many AP classes, but students can’t begin until their junior year and are advised to only take 4 at the most ( the recommended number is 3 per year).

What does your guidance counselor say?

9

And how did you score on the AP exams? That will play a part too.

10

@twogirls In my school, most students are recommended to take around 3 to 4 AP’s at max.

11

Well I do think even elite schools are leaning away from the crammed AP schedule…Your senior year will be really busy with applications etc. If I were you I’d plan for 5 Aps max.

12

I think you should reduce your AP load senior year. That schedule looks too difficult.

13

I would definitely not take 3 AP sciences – I would take EITHER AP Physics or AP Bio.

14

Prospective pre-meds should realize that college courses taken while in high school do count for medical school applications. Good if you earn A or A+ grades, not so good if you earn B+ or lower grades.

15

Hey! I was wondering if you can help me with my college admissions! Below are my stats and questions I have.

Grade: Senior Year Location: Northern Virginia
UW GPA: 3.69 Weighted G.P.A: 4.11 Class Rank: 141/468
SAT: 1470 (3rd Attempt – Super Score) Math: 760 & English: 710,
Non-Super Score: Math: 750 & English: 710
Subject Tests: Taking Math 2 and Chem in October 2019
ACT: Taking October ACT

AP Sores:
AP World History: 3 AP Language/Comp: 3 AP Computer Science A: 4
AP Psychology: 4 AP Calculus: 3 AP Chemistry: 2 AP US History: 4

Extracurriculars: Volunteer Hours – 750+ Hours
DC VA Medical Center and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center: 4 Years { Total 600+ Hours}
Dept: OR, ER, Surgery, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy and research at Calcium Signaling Lab.
Red Cross: 5 years as Blood Donor Ambassador (Present)
Medical Reserve Corps, VA (Present)
Founded FBLA, member of National Honors Society, Math Honors Society, and Science National Honors Society

Senior Year:
AP Literature - AP Calculus BC - AP Biology - AP Statistics
AP Physics - AP Human Geo - AP Government - Study Hall

  1. Advice for College Admission as per my above credentials for In State and OOS.
  2. My Interest is to become a doctor through EAP or Premed Track.
  3. Low Tier BS/MD Program like VCU or Howard? Any advantage with ED?
  4. Will my stats match any D.O. programs and what are the advantages?
  5. What are the advantages of Biomedical Engineering compared to STEM majors?
  6. I may consider Computer Science also if my stats don’t match with Med Program.
  7. What good colleges would offer good scholarship money based off my credentials?
  8. Appreciated for guidance to finalize my College List and helps to start Early App.
16

BS/MD programs are uber competitive. I think your grades and scores will be low for direct admit programs.

BME is being overrun with pre-meds thinking they are going to get a leg up somehow. It’s an easy way to tank your GPA which is uber important for med school admission.

CS is the hot major right now and an even harder admit than pre-med type majors at most schools.

Run NPC calculators for the schools you are interested in to see if they are affordable. In general, your best options for merit are instate, lesser ranked schools.

17

Thanks momofsenior1