college suggestions please

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a female junior at a public school in MA. I'm interested in going to medical school after college and want a strong liberal arts education with quality science classes.</p>

<p>I've played violin since 3rd grade and have been involved in high school orchestra for the past two years (2nd violin principal/a 1st violin, and projected principal or assistant principal 1st or 2nd violin next year. this year I'm doing orchestra as part of an independent study rather than as a full member because of scheduling around AP biology lab period, but next year I'll be a full member. as a sophomore I participated in the honors chamber program at my school.) I've also been in a respected local chamber orchestra for 3 years now (2nd violin principal/a 1st violin).
I've been in the high school FIRST robotics program for 2 years now, and this year I was the team leader of the Chairman's Award subcommittee, which prepares a submission for the Chairman's Award from FIRST. the results are unknown at this point.
I'm confident about my essay and recommendations, but I know I'm lacking in leadership positions/awards.
I've begun volunteering at a local free medical clinic, but only about 3 hours a week. This summer I'll be putting in 30-50 hours a week at a local hospital.
I'm in the school literary magazine, but not as any kind of leader. I'm on the Academic Decathlon team at my school and will probably be an officer next year. I'll also be in NHS next year (which doesn't really do anything at my school, although they do a service project every year; last year, for instance, they helped build a house for Habitat for Humanity). I'm also a mentor in a big brother/big sister type program at my high school, and I tutor math and science.</p>

<p>APs: Language (A-, projected 4), Bio (A+, probably a 5) and US History (A-, probably a 4---just guesses at my scores, but please work with these numbers). Next year I'll be taking AP Psych, Spanish, Lit and Calc. Other than that, all honors classes.</p>

<p>GPA: not official, but guidance counselor said 3.9 or 4.0 out of 4.0
rank: not official, but at least top 10 of 350
PSAT: 67 math, 74 writing, 80 verbal
SATII's: I've only taken bio, freshman year, and I got a 720. I'll be taking it again this year, as well as the math and some other one, maybe Spanish.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading. Please give me some suggestions!</p>

2

<p>What kind of school do you want? Size, politics, etc...</p>

3

<p>I've visited large and smaller schools, and although the experiences were completely different, I've found myself ok with either size. Politically, not a very conservative school. lol, I'm from MA. And geographically, not a place with a constantly hot climate.</p>

4

<p>Dartmouth and Cornell might be good Ivy reaches for you. They are quite different from each other but both offer good pre-med preparation (as do all the Ivys). If you are serious about violin, you might look into the University of Rochester. You could apply to both the Eastman School of Music and U of R for a dual degree program in biology and music. U of R also admits a few undergrad freshman directly and simultaneously into the medical school (but you have to apply to the med school and the bachelors program at the same time). Other colleges that you might consider are: Bates, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Swarthmore, Washington U St Louis, Amherst, Bowdoin, Haverford, Hamilton, Colgate, Bucknell, Tufts, and Williams.</p>

5

<p>see the thread "I have no idea what college to go to.." active today for some ideas of how to approach the college search.</p>

6

<p>hmm, thanks. I'm not serious enough about music to include or exclude schools based on it, although schools with a student orchestra are preferred. I probably will not go for a degree in music; it's basically a hobby that I like very much, and will certainly continue into college and beyond, with a teacher near or of the college I go to.</p>