Guaranteed admissions programs

<p>DS is interested in majoring in biomedical engineering in undergrad and then moving on to an MD or MD/PhD program. He wants to stay in the eastern third of the country and will not consider attending a school that doesn't have biomedical engineering as an undergrad program. He does not want to attend a school that has a fast track program as he wants to keep his options open concerning grad school; he wants to finish his undergrad degree and then move on to the grad school portion. The schools that we've found that match his requirements are Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) and U Alabama - Birmingham. He seems to be competitive for these programs (although not a slam dunk as these program appear very competitive) but wondered if anyone is aware of any other program he would at least be competitive for. Any help would be appreciated. The other schools he's applying to are JHU, UVA, Duke, MIT and Ga Tech. His stats are below. Thanks for any advice.</p>

<p>DS is a senior in a competitive public school – stats:
GPA: 4.0 / 4.81 (unweighted/weighted)
Rank: 1/305
SAT: 2220 (740 math, 760 reading, 720 writing – taken once, taking again in October)
SAT2: Math 2, Biology, US History – all 800s
AP scores, so far: Calc (BC), Euro, US History, Bio(M), Spanish and English Lang: all 5s</p>

<p>Course load (as rigorous as possible at his school, * indicates dual enrollment/college credit):
Freshman: Honors English, Precalculus, Biology, World History, Spanish 3, Chinese 1, Band
Sophomore: Honors English, AP Calculus (BC), AP European History, Chinese 2, Spanish 4, Chemistry, Honors Anatomy, Band
Summer: AP Biology
Junior: AP English Language, AP US History, AP Spanish, *College Physics (Mechanics), *Multivariable Calculus, *Linear Algebra, *Research Methods
Summer: Differential Equations
Senior: AP English Lit, AP US Gov, AP Chem, AP Psychology, *College Physics (E&M), *College Prob/Stat, *Environmental Science, *Mentorship</p>

<p>He attends the regional governor’s school for science and technology – research, science and math classes are taken there junior and senior years and are dual enrolled with a local college.</p>

<p>Awards: Boys State, summer 2012; West Point Leadership Award, 2012; Science Fair award, 2012; National Merit Semifinalist at least; AP Scholar with Distinction, 2012; Scholastic Bowl Award, 2011;</p>

<p>ECAs:
Clubs/Organizations:
Mu Alpha Theta, Spanish, Chinese & National Honor Societies, Scholastic Bowl, Science Bowl, 4-H Patriot Shooting club (treasurer last year, president this year)
Athletics:
-3 time Junior Olympian in Air Rifle, competes regularly, most recently, silver medalist
-4th degree black belt in tae kwon do
-2nd degree black belt in combat hapkido (in ‘Who’s Who in Combat Hapkido’ 2012)
Volunteer:
-100 hours of volunteering at local hospital this summer, continuing during senior year
-shadowing an orthopedic surgeon 5 hours per week this year for senior research project related to knee replacements
-has volunteered w/Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue for 6 years (~250 hrs)
-coach of middle school MathCounts team for 4 years, head coach for 2 years (~200 hrs)
Work:
-Instructor in tae kwon do and combat hapkido for 7 years (~6 hours / week)</p>

<p>I think your son has very competitive stats and will get into all the schools he is applying, not sure about MIT. You have to be very strong in certain areas to get into MIT.</p>

<p>A quick question for you - where did he take AP biology or math in the summer? At local colleges?</p>

<p>MIT, Renseleer/AMC combined and Carnegie Mellon in Tenn. are places I would research since they met your geographic criteria. MIT is as hard as Harvard so it is like winning the lottery. </p>

<p>If you read student doctor.net about JHU it is great for med school, however, the UG is know for an extremely high stress level higher than Harvard or Yale. Ren is a 7 year program but the work level is manageable per a senior I know who has a 4.00 gpa.</p>

<p>Another friend’s son wins robotic completions and even won a competition with NASA for a science experiment on the Mars probe. He is interested in Carnegie Mellon since he is a true genius in robotics since the 7th grade and that is one of the centers other than MIT.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Remember combined programs and many Honors programs with their academic scholarships ( not need based ) have November cut offs so time is of the essence.</p>