Getting into a good Pre-med school

College Search & Selection
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<p>I would like to know what school that some of you would suggest for me that would have a good chance of getting me into medical school. I go to a catholic school in ohio that is on the 7 point grading scale, I have good one recommendation that I can think of off the top of my head and that is Atrium Medical Center, is scored a 30 on my ACT with a 35 on reading, 31 on english, 28 on science, and 27 on math (this way my first go, if the college superscores it will probably go up at least too 31, I dont know what happened on science and math), I have extracurriculars but I wouldn't call them spectacular, the main ones being 3 years of football, and that 3 years of football ties into my GPA. The problem with my GPA is that it is an average of 3.38/4, I was forced to play football the past 3 years when I knew I wouldnt have the time or energy get good grades and play football, but I was still made to play by my parents and during the time I had football my GPA would be something like a 3.1 or I believe once I had a 2.83 for a quarter, but as soon as it was over it went up to around a 3.85-3.9, but still it really wasnt enough to make up for the damage the bad 1st and 2nd quarter GPAs had done. </p>

<p>This bring me to two more questions, will a college look at this and see it only as a whole? or will they look at the seperate quarters?</p>

<p>The second question is will they look at the weighting of my grades? my honors classes are weighted at 4.5, so around 4.26 is the highest possible, whereas a few schools I know of have outrageous weighting and easy grading scales like the public school near me that gives 5.33 for honors and has a 10 point grading scale, I know most schools take unweighted and then reward you just for the fact that it was honors and not on how much it was weighted, but it still worries me, and another thing is the grading scale, will they look at that? I'm just afraid of being put at the bottom of the stack because I have a lower GPA than another just due to the difference in what is and isnt an A. Thanks for your answers and comments and please ask any questions you think might help to clarify my academic record, this was typed in a hurry so I know I didn't get to everything.</p>

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<p>If your parents are still forcing you to play football, give them some reading about concussions and suicide among football players. They’re endangering your health and life.</p>

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<p>I’m not playing football anymore, but I really don’t think it’s risking my life. Thanks for trying to help though.</p>

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<p>^ I really don’t think they’re “endangering your health.” The risk of concussions is fair, but they’re mostly the player’s fault for trying to “suck it up” or “play through the pain.” I honestly didn’t even know suicide among football players was notably high…</p>

<p>I’m a little confused how your GPA was so much lower during football season. I don’t think the colleges will give you that much credit. I played football for 3 years and I was a two year varsity starter on a pretty solid team (in a large public school). I understand that football season is hectic and it is difficult to keep your grades up… but a 3.0 or less? That sounds a little ridiculous to me. Most people attending top schools participate in sports. You’re no exception. </p>

<p>They will not look at your weighted GPA very heavily. They may consider it, along with class rank. They will care more about your course rigor and AP classes taken/enrolled in. I’m also confused how a 4.26 is the highest possible; are students only allowed to take 3 honors/AP courses or something…?</p>

<p>Back to your original question though. Medical school acceptances have a strong correlation with GPA and MCAT scores. Med school is very expensive. I would recommend going to an inexpensive school where you will excel in (3.7+), while still challenging yourself to help prepare for the MCAT.</p>

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<p>Well what I was really going for was will they look at my whole 6 semester GPA avg. or see all the quarter seperatley and reject me because of the low ones, I may have worded that wrong in my post.
With the GPA, no we cannot only take 3 honors classes, that is acutally not the max GPA for a junior (taking all honors available) is a 4.29 somehow.
And as for the lowness of my GPA during football, ive had a job since summer before sophomore year, so that adds to it, and stuff at home that I really don’t want to put on the internet.</p>

<p>Finally, since you mentioned strength of course, I will put down all my classes i’ve taken, and all I will take next year.</p>

<p>Freshman: Honors Bio, Honors English I, Acc. Alg. I, Computer information processing, Health, Religion I, World history, Latin I, Band</p>

<p>Sophomore: Honors physics, English II, Acc. Alg. II, Geometry, Gym, US history I, Church history, Sacraments, Latin II</p>

<p>Junior: Honors chem., English II, Honors college alg. w/ trig., AP World history, Gateway to college, Christian lifestyles, Mortality, Computer tech, Botany/Zoology, Honors Latin III</p>

<p>Senior(mostly decided): Honors physiology, Chem II or AP physics, Honors pre-calc, World geography, English IV, Peace and justice, Life and death, Bio II, (final class TBD)</p>

<p>Hope this list helps any suggestions somone makes
Also, does anyone know if religion has to be factored into your GPA?, because I had a little trouble with my sophomore teacher and got some pretty bad grades. If you were allowed to not include that it would be fantastic.</p>

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<p>I don’t think they’ll reject you based on your lower quarters. They’ll probably look at your GPA as a whole, especially if you identify somewhere on your application that you have extremely time consuming ECs during the fall.</p>

<p>Your course rigor is solid but nothing exceptional. I don’t think it’ll set you apart or back. </p>

<p>I’m not sure if they’ll factor religion in your GPA. For your application you’ll probably have to put your actual GPA, but when they look at your transcript they may not consider it as much (or at all).</p>

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<p>Ok, ill have to ask my counselor what they do with religion grades. But it would make my GPA at least a 3.5, personally I think they shouldnt be counted because the teachers don’t even have to be liscensed. But i’m pretty sure my school and the colleges will see it differently</p>

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<p>Quarter grades aren’t usually on transcripts. Usually only semester grades or “year end” grades are on transcripts.</p>

<p>Some schools will include religion. Some publics don’t recalculate and will just take the GPA on the transcript.</p>

<p>As for premed schools…and good school is fine for premed. That said, you need to ask your parents how much they’ll pay for college. That will largely determine where you should apply. </p>

<p>Are you a junior? What was your PSAT score? You should take the SAT as well. Some do better on that.</p>

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<p>I go to a catholic school in ohio that is on the 7 point grading scale, I have good one recommendation that I can think of off the top of my head and that is Atrium Medical Center, is scored a 30 on my ACT with a 35 on reading, 31 on english, 28 on science, and 27 on math (this way my first go, if the college superscores it will probably go up at least too 31, I dont know what happened on science and math</p>

<p>Can you clarify the above. What are you saying about that Atrium Medical Center???</p>

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<p>A comment here. When you title a post “Getting into a good Pre-med school” I think you are presupposing that there are schools that have that special touch that makes them “good”. This leaves you ripe for the picking; soon to come in this thread will be suggestions of schools that are not too difficult to get into and yet have astounding med school admit rates. Often 90% or better. This seems to be proof there are “good” schools out there, right? They must have the right courses, advising, and opportunities to let even students without stellar scores and grades out of HS get a great shot at med school.</p>

<p>Actually its more a case of seeing what you expect to see. The way the schools get these great numbers is by screening their med school applicants. There is something called a committee letter, and if your college offers it you are required to submit it. With this letter colleges can head off all but their best students from applying, leading to the miracle numbers.</p>

<p>Some schools may be better for you than others in terms of premed, but there are many choices. As Amherst writes in its premed guide which I urge you to read

</a></p>

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<p>Atrium medical center is a large hospital in my area, I do lots of volunteer work there so they will be providing me with a some kind of scholarship and a college recmmendation
And thanks mike, that was helpful
One of the main colleges I am looking at are Syracuse and U of Cincy, UC because I live there and they have a med school, and Cuse mainly just because I like it. Syracuse is how high my price goes but lower is def. better</p>

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<p>My psat was a 200</p>

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<p>There are many schools you can consider. Since you appear to be liking Ohio → NY, then how about considering Case Western, Ohio State, Pittsburgh ¶, or U Rochester? All are in your stat range and provide good options for Pre-med.</p>

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<p>I see, didnt think of rochester, ive considered case western but ive been there and I didnt like the campus at all, but ill definitely look into rochester</p>

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<p>I’m confused about your GPA. What is your cum GPA now? It sounds like it may not be competitive for schools like URoch or some others. But, maybe I’m not understanding. </p>

<p>Have your parents said that they’ll pay the $55k+ per year to go to Syracuse? If so, then nearly any school will be affordable for you. </p>

<p>That said, if your parents will spend $200k+ for your college, will they also pay for med school? If not, would they agree to help you pay for med school if your undergrad costs less than $200k?</p>

<p>Are you a junior or senior?</p>

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<p>As others have said, there is no particular undergrad that can be defined as a “good premed”. There are some that tout a high med school acceptance rate (e.g Xavier). Heres a thread to read <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1279001-what-undergrads-have-highest-percentage-students-get-into-med-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1279001-what-undergrads-have-highest-percentage-students-get-into-med-school.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And are you sure you are guaranteed financial support from the medical facility for your volunteer position?</p>

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<p>Yes I am guaranteed to get a scholarship from the group of hospitals they are part of, not sure how much it is, it was 1000-2000 per year though. And I was actually looking at Xavier and I’ve visited it before, they never mentioned their med school acceptance rate even though I told them that I was wanting to do pre-med. Do you know if they inflate it by stopping not allowing people to apply or if it real?</p>

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<p>Read their site for the kids of schools their students are accepted to. Are you a URM?</p>

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<p>No I am white</p>

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<p>Bump…</p>