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<p>If med school is really the goal, the learning how to do that is important. But life is very rich and many many happy people did not do that. Many people who go to med school do not do that. Furthermore, the level of anxiety in our HS population is too high, and too many kids don’t get enough sleep to the point that it damages their brains. </p>
<p>Both of my kids found college to be easier than HS, and my D1 went to what is considered to be an extremely hard college. </p>
<p>D2 could not sustain the intensity in HS and found a college that was a just the right level for her. In her junior year, because of her sleep deprived state, she made a mental error in an athletic practice and was seriously injured. This began a chain of events that caused all kinds of health problems that continue to this day, though are under control. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, she found a more moderate, though very good school that she is excelling at. She told me that she felt like a slacker in HS because she couldn’t start a piece of HW after midnight without falling asleep. At her college, she is near the top of the class, and feels a lot better about herself. </p>
<p>In my opinion, a junior in HS is old enough to say “Enough! This is the level of effort that I am willing to work at to keep my sanity, and whatever the consequences so be it.” </p>
<p>A parent who demanded more would be doing damage. </p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions, Mt Holyoke as google says is a all-women school. And Amherst college has a tuition of 65k! Do you mean that they have some generous financial aid? </p>
<p>^ Those 65k include room/board/etc. too lol, but yes, Amherst is very generous. Try the calculator: <a href=“Net Price Calculators | Financial Aid | Amherst College”>Net Price Calculators | Financial Aid | Amherst College;
<p>Getting into Amherst is almost as hard as getting into the Ivys. </p>
<p>Mt Holyoke is far more forgiving. If you do reasonably well in school this year and get decent SAT scores, it should definitely be in your sights. Many women’s colleges are fantastic schools but not nearly as competitive because they’ve already filtered out half the population in the men, and a significant fraction of the other half of the population who insist on a coed school. </p>
<p>^ Hmm yeah, Amherst is a reach, sorry OP, didn’t mean to add false hope/any pressure.</p>
<p>It’s alright, you guys have any other good suggestions of colleges I could bring up in my next discussion with my mom?</p>
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</p>
<p>Which will be in the Spring at or after the GC discussion, unless deep down you really enjoy fighting with her. </p>
<p>Before that, it’s
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Dartmouth
Brown
Cornell
Columbia
Penn </p>
<p>:-)</p>
<p>I think I’d start small with your mother. Find a school that offers both science and music, that is a good quality, if not Ivy. Like RIT. Get some literature. Show your mother how your scores and grades, and interests, aline with the school. Then find another such school, maybe a state school where the tuition is much lower. Find out how many from that school get into med schools. </p>
<p>Don’t forget to mention that the Ivy league is just an athletic conference, and that the schools, while all good, don’t have a lot in common beyond that - city/rural, traditional curriculum/interest based, etc.</p>
<p>I think you should concentrate on studying, get grades up, prepping for SAT or ACT - no matter what school or major you choose, these are important.
Tell your mom you just want to concentrate on getting the best grades & scores you can and you can’t really think about picking schools yet.
I think if you do that she will back off and support you in your sincere efforts to study.</p>
<p>Maybe your GC could give your Mom a shot of realism?<br>
Let’s start with your Regents grades. Regents exams are fairly basic, and despite your dismissal of the grades that you received, they are indicative of your grasp of the courses you took. An Ivy caliber student would not need to study specifically for the exams to score really well. I think those grades are very telling, and also speak of the grade inflation at your school perhaps? Your GPA is also low however. Also, based on what you wrote, you have no ECs of real significance.
I wouldn’t worry about any of it right now. You have another year before you get deep into the application process so just go with the flow. Either your Mom will realize that you can’t get into those schools, or the rejection letters with prove it to her.</p>
<p>RIT seems pretty easy to get into, seems they have an average of 3.0 GPA/1550 SAT acceptance rate. Do they have nice financial aid or something? </p>
<p>Also, planner03, when you say my EC’s aren’t of real significance, what would you suggest I add or improve upon. My friend who’s a VP in my key club is going to give me a few hundred hours of community service and I plan to volunteer somewhere during the school year, like a medical center. And beside making the school tennis team, I don’t see what else I could improve upon. </p>
<p>Another option that I’ve been considering is going to college, get a degree like aerospace engineering and go to the Air Force and graduate as a officer, enlist for 4 years, and then go back to college and finish med school with the government giving me financial support. But that’s just an option that I’ve been pondering. </p>
<p>You are a NY state resident which means free tuition at the SUNYs if you are a STEM major and work in a related field for 5 years thereafter. Look at that option carefuly. Your Air FOrce plans make no sense the way it works. Getting into med school is a tough proposition, and if that is your goal, doing well in college is essential. Your big problem right now is doing well in school in current subjects and getting test scores up. That is where your focus should be and it’s enough of a challenge. Get that as your base and then you can think about the next steps.</p>
<p>Cpt, is that true about complete free tuition? So all I have to do is go to a uni like Stony Brook or Buffalo? But can you explain STEM majors and working for the related field. Like do you mean if I get a degree in Science and work in a related field? </p>
<p>@temir100 I didn’t mean to be insulting about your ECs, I meant it more as an example of a reason you can show your mother that he Ivy focus isn’t realistic. You have normal ECs, and Ivy hopefuls tend to have more extraordinary ones when they don’t have a perfect GPA.</p>
<p>@planner03 yeah I know that my EC’s are way too weak for Ivy, I know for a fact 100% that I don’t have any ivy chances. </p>
<p>@cptofthehouse I can get full free tuition if I apply to Stony Brook or Buffalo? Can you elaborate on STEM majors please.</p>
<p>@planner03 damn I think I screwed myself, my average is like 89% freshman and soph year. I have 250 students in my grade, I doubt I’m one of the top 25 people. </p>
<p>@planner03 I actually talked to one of my friends just now, he has like a 97% average and is one of the top 10% in his school, and he told me even if I don’t get into that top 10% tier of my grade, my application can still beat others for the STEM scholarship. Is this true?</p>
<p>The initiative is brand new so the details are a big unknown. Don’t skip the part about the commitment to work in NYS for 5 years after you graduate. if you plan to go to medical school, that will be a long, long, way off and what are the odds you will be in a position to remain in New York? With tuition at only 6k per year at SUNY is it really worth it? AND the STEM scholarship will replace need if you are eligible for FA–if you can get 6K in any type of grant why give that up for a scholarship with a commitment attached?</p>
<p>@planner03 Okay, do you think Stony Brook U is a good fit for me? What I’m looking at right now is that they accept B+ students and SAT scores of 1700 or higher. They also have a 8k in-state-tuition and a 11k room and board. They are also associated to the University Hospital and reading other forms, it’s a good uni for future med students. </p>