<p>My son is a rising senior. Here are his details</p>
<p>ACT 32
UW GPA 4.0
Asian (Indian)
Goes to a magnet school in south (TN)
School does not offer ranking or weighted GPA
11 APs (will be by next year)</p>
<p>Excellent Recommendations
Excellent ECs (like Gov school, Jazz band, winner of several quiz bowl etc)</p>
<p>Planning to apply to
HIGH REACHES
Yale, Columbia and UChicago (25% percentile in ACT)
UPenn, WashU, Vandy (50% percentile in ACT)</p>
<p>LOW REACHES
Emory, UC Berkley, Virginia and UNC (75% percentile)</p>
<p>SAFETY
U of TN (90% percentile in ACT)</p>
<p>Do you all think this is a good list? Which one he should take out to add safety schools? Which safety schools should he apply?</p>
<p>Just in terms of the distribution of your list, I think he should find some matches that he’d be happy attending. What kind of school is your son interested in attending (size, general atmosphere, greek life, etc)?</p>
<p>You might want to remove Berkeley because it is so far from home, and it is really hard to get admitted from out of state. Also, U.Chicago might be too demanding? Chicago is perhaps the most demanding university in the country. 32 ACT makes it even tougher…</p>
<p>^I thought I’d check that because I see many inaccurate comments about UM on this site. At our high school (not in MI or CA), according to Naviance, the average accepted student at UM had a GPA of 93.44 and an SAT score of 2097 while the average accepted student at UC-B had a GPA of 95.64 and an SAT score of 2140. Eight students have gone to UM in the last 3 years and 19 were admitted so the sample size is pretty reasonable. Based on this one data point, UM is not on par with Berkeley.</p>
<p>It’s odd but I’ve noticed that on this site the UM boosters regularly try to inflate the selectivity of the school. Its an excellent school, there’s really no reason for it.</p>
<p>Rhodes, Hendrix and Centre College are all relatively close and would likely offer him merit money to attend. All great schools with lots of kids with similar stats to your son.</p>
<p>CHD, I do agree that there is an excessive amount of UM boosterism here sometimes, but your data point is inaccurate (and surely you know your sample size is not “reasonable” given the thousands of kids who apply to those schools each year).</p>
<p>@sally305 - my data point was simply meant to show the experience of applicants from one school. From that perspective it is completely accurate (assuming we can believe Naviance). </p>
<p>If you disagree that 19 students is a reasonable sample size, I can’t really argue. I was doing a little research based on the excessive UM boosterism I’ve seen and the 19 applicant sample size from one school was as much as I could expect. Clearly the data point doesn’t prove anything but it was exactly in line with my expectations and, to me, interesting anecdotally.</p>
<p>He wants to study medicine later so Pre Med.
I agree UCB is too far and UCh is too demanding, but so is Yale and Columbia. I think his ACT 32 is slightly low but along with GPA 4.0 and 11 APs and magnet school he has a shot.<br>
He is pretty flexible, he does not care if it is big or small, private or public. Very high IQ kid (152) so I am assuming he will be able to tolerate the rigor of demanding schools. </p>
<p>CHD, I get it…but really, it’s only potentially useful as a data point to other students from your high school. :)</p>
<p>drsaheb, you really ought to look at LACs–they often do a fantastic job preparing kids for medical school, in a much less competitive environment.</p>
<p>“drsaheb, you really ought to look at LACs–they often do a fantastic job preparing kids for medical school, in a much less competitive environment.”</p>
<p>Sally305, Which LACs are you talking about?</p>
<p>I have another question which you guys can answer. My friends have been telling me that one should go to lower ranked school and get higher GPA if one wants to do medicine later. Medical Schools do not care where the UG is from if your GPA is low they will not admit the kid. Is that true? Any body whose kid has gone to medical school after attending elite schools??</p>
<p>I’m surprised by your figures for Vanderbilt and WashU. I thought a 32 was at the bottom of their median ranges (ie. 25%). I’d add Tulane as a solid match, where you would probably get a generous merit scholarship. UNC has a statutory mandate to admit 82% of the freshman class from within NC, and so their aggregate scores are misleading; the 32 is probably no better than average for out-of-state acceptances. Pitt is also excellent for pre-med, and would be a low-match or safe choice. </p>
<p>Yale: Reach
Columbia: Reach
UPenn: Reach
U Chicago: Reach
Vanderbilt: Reach
WUSTL: Reach
UNC: Reach
Emory: Match/High match
Berkeley: High match (can you pay full-freight?)
UVA: Match/High match
UTN: Safety</p>
<p>OP, I will answer your question about med school while the rest quibble about U of M & UCB selectivity and rigor…</p>
<p>Med schools really want 3 things other than completing the med school pre-req classes
High GPA
Strong MCAT scores
Some kind of experience in the medical field (volunteer at hospital or as EMT, etc.)</p>
<p>It can be very difficult to get the needed GPA at a top school. Also, keeping costs and loans down as an undergrad are a good idea. Med school is expensive, and you don’t want your son to have a lot of debt going into it. If you have money set aside for his education and could put some toward med school if he picks a cheaper undergrad college, that is also a choice.</p>