Guys, I need some advice.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am a Asian male who came to the country two years ago after got my resident card. Right now I am attending a public high school in LA county as a sophomore. My goal is to whether go to UCLA or USC to study pre-med or go to a 8 year program medical school. I will explain my situation and I want to know what should I do?

Last year was my first year of school in U.S., so most of my classes are ELD or SDAIE. I got mostly As except first semester bio and second semester Math Honors I got B+.

This year I have no more ELD classes although I am still in the ELD department and I got straight As, this is my schedule:

World History CP
Math 2 Honors
Chemistry Honors
P.E. 2
Chinese IV (As a native speaker, I took SAT II Chinese already and got a 780, and I signed up for the AP Exam also)
English II CP

For Chinese class, I thought it will be challenging, but when I got into the class I realized the “highest level” Chinese is just basic grammar and vocabulary. That is why I started learning Spanish after school now and I hope I can get into Spanish 2 for next year.

I got 1040 in my PSAT at the beginning of this year without any official SAT practice. I have already started doing SAT prep class(Reading and Writing) several month ago. The SAT subject test I planned to take are BiologyE/M, Chemistry and Level 2 Math. The class I am going to take next year are:

English III Honors
Math III Plus Honors
Spanish II
AP Chemistry
AP U.S. History
ASB(I got hired and my tutor said I should go)

I am also planning to self study Ap biology cause the bio teacher sucks, and I already have my asb period. Pretty sure my English is good enough (I am no longer in ELD but consider as English Proficient)

The potential schedule for my senior year is:
AP Physics 1
AP Calculus BC
AP Government/Politic
Spanish III
English IV Honors
ASB(maybe Ap psychology?)

Also, I am doing community service in a nearby hospital.

Is this schedule good enough to go to UCLA or USC? I’m not sure if I should take AP Lang since I do not want to exhaust myself and I am going to science field. I expect everyone’s advice.

2

What do the counselors at your high school tell you about this? That is where you need to start. They know where students similar to you have been accepted in recent years.

What is considered proficient enough to graduate you from full-time ELD classes by the State of CA, and the proficiency level you will need to have for academic purposes at a college or university, are two very different things. You need to be certain that you really will be ready for university-level work. Have a good long discussion about that with your ELD advisor.

Lastly, you need to know that med school admissions is numbers-based. Your MCAT score and your GPA will matter a whole lot more than where you complete your undergraduate degree. Any of the UCs or CSUs would be perfectly fine places for you to study. Don’t limit your application list just yet.

3

I see, I am thinking about other uc schools also like UCD and UCSD, but UCLA is the one which I have a keen desire to get in. Depending on my schedule, do you think there are any changes I have to make?