Help a Rising Senior Find More College Matches

didn’t mean to imply you had a 0% chance at JHU, and yes, you should apply if it fits your profile, and IF you can get that ACT score up to where you are predicting. But as you yourself admitted, your score isnt there yet and you said your EC’s are nothing special. regardless, JHU remains a reach for almost anyone. I prefer to recommend matches that are more realistic- especially for pre-med kids who need reputable schools but don’t need tippy top schools on their applications.

I am pretty hesitant to recommend top 15 schools to anyone these days. Not to say don’t apply, but just don’t count on them. too many insane stat and EC kids based on youtube and CC posts. I don’t know your high school or your demographic profile so maybe you have a better chance than most.

I may be wrong but my hunch is that if you are thinking about Cornell and Hopkins, you haven’t given up on the med school aspirations enough to commit to applying to BS-PA programs.

You have a good state school system in NY- I would add SUNY Albany and Buffalo.

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How will you pay for JHU or Cornell? One of my kids applied to JHU (3.9 UGPA, 1 B freshman year, 34 ACT, rejected, I don’t know why she applied since it’s not affordable).

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Yup that makes sense! I may not actually be considering either of them. It’s kind of a pipe dream, as it is for most people. Was just curious. Nothing concrete.

Thank you for the recs.

As I said, my parents would be more willing to contribute for elite universities. The college that I would be looking into for Cornell would have reduced tuition for instate students. Still, it’s really just idealism. Wasn’t trying to come off like I feel like I deserve admissions there. I know there are many, many more kids that have worked extremely hard to get a chance at these schools. And yeah, I realize there are many kids that apply with competitive stats and get rejected.

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I agree with your counselor about Cornell if you’re considering CALS or Human Ecology.
See

Also seeking diversity

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If you’re planning on going to med school, don’t start at a CC. That’s a known “risk” factor for getting in. Any other school is fine, even those not in the Top 100-200. Students get into med school from all sorts of colleges if they have the MCAT, GPA, and ECs to do so. One med school dean told us (at a pre-med event) that they are teaching doctors for all aspects of society and want students from everywhere to help meet that goal. But they also want to see rigor and a “life.” CCs aren’t always as rigorous which is why they toss up a caution flag at many places. It’s not always a dealbreaker, but when overall med school acceptance is around 40% (60% of applicants don’t get in anywhere), do you really want any caution flags you don’t need? Each individual med school has an acceptance rate in the single digits or close to it.

I often post U Rochester’s Med School Profile. It’s a good source to see what med schools are looking for in successful applicants, including colleges they came from. You can google other years and see that the writing is a template. They look for the same things year in and year out. Be someone your future med school can write about. You can do all that and not pay top dollar for an undergrad degree. Roughly 5900 applications for just 711 interviews. That’s only a 12% chance of getting an interview and who knows how many of those 711 they accepted for their 105 slots. I’m sure other med schools are similar.

There’s nothing wrong with pretty much any school you choose for your undergrad degree, but there’s a lot of negative with high debt. Apply where you like. Choose keeping debt in mind when you see where you’ve been accepted and what the final financial offers are.

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Yes, but I know a number of nurse practitioners who worked as nurses and got paid well…while they took courses towards their APRN. And in a few cases, their employers did a partial reimbursement for the APRN coursework.

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Where I live a student can move directly from college to grad school for nurse practitioner training. I know that there are some programs and/or states which require a year or 2 of experience. The key, however, is that the applicant must have passed NCLEX and be certified as an RN. It is common for nurses ro take time to study for NCLEX and then take the test after graduation from their undergrad college. More often this explains the lag.

But this happens with med school as well. The average age of first year medical students is now 24. A friend of mine sits on the admissions committee of a medical school and tells me that they prefer candidates who have done something else for a year or two after college. Another friend tells me that this she finds this also to be the case for schools of social work.

With regard to nurse practitioners, they can diagnose and prescribe, in many cases just as a doctor would. They can maintain an independent practice as well. This freedom is the real advantage of an NP certification. By contrast, a PA can only work under the supervision of a doctor. So, there is a different level of freedom and responsibility for NPs over PAs.

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Boy, isn’t this the truth!

Johns Hopkins just admitted 1,586 new students from a pool of 31,500 applicants fir an acceptance rate of 5%. Cornell just accepted 4,908 students from an applicant pool of 49,118 for an acceptance rate of 10.7%. And who even applies to these kinds of schools except students who are at or close to the top of their class in the first place?

These numbers are just staggering when we look at the number of top applicants who were left by the wayside. Just in terms of raw numbers it’s overwhelming. There simply aren’t enough seats for all of the qualified applicants out there.

Submitting an application to schools which only accept 5-15% of their applicants is like buying a lottery ticket and hoping you have a winner. The odds are very long.

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The point is that you DO deserve admission. There just aren’t enough spots for all the deserving kids. Take a flyer. Maybe you’ll get lucky.

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Yes - do consider applying to Cornell as a reach especially if your guidance counselor is suggesting it. They can give you more information about the admission and tuition advantages of applying to the land grant (quasi SUNY) colleges at Cornell.

https://www.suny.edu/campuses/cornell/

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Right now OP needs to get solid numbers on budget from the family. In the beginning commenters were dealing with an unknown budget, then a $20-30k budget, and then to the fact that OP’s family is likely unwilling to pay for a SUNY. If the family is not interested in financially contributing to OP’s college education, then yes, that is going to make a huge difference in what colleges are being recommended. OP has stats that can get all or nearly all of the college costs eliminated. I suspect/hope that OP would get some generous scholarships from SUNY, but right now OP can’t even pay for SUNY tuition with a federally subsidized loan. I suspect that OP will get sufficient merit aid to afford tuition at a SUNY, but then that brings up the issue of where OP is going to live.

Unless OP’s family decides to contribute, and gives clear outlines of what they will pay for (what is an “elite” school and how much would they pay for that vs. getting nothing to go to a non-elite?..or what parameters are in place for the family to help pay for college?), I think that commenters are going to continue to focus on finding affordable options for this student that aren’t dependent on the family contributing financially.

Not to discourage the OP, but while Cornell is officially withholding their acceptance rate/number of applicants, it is believed that they had 71,000 applicants this year (based on a comment from an admissions official which described a percentage increase from last year’s 67,000), not 49,118.

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I’d suggest taking a look at Allegheny College. It’s in northwestern PA, less than a hour from the NY State border. The campus is classified as suburban - it’s probably a little closer to “rural” than you prefer, but it isn’t total middle-of-nowhere either. It’s a very good school but likely to give generous merit for your stats. (Probably similar to Rhodes in that regard - Rhodes is also a good suggestion and more urban than Allegheny.) Allegheny not only has strong pre-health advising; it also has a better array of cooperative arrangements with medical and PA schools than most colleges. These include (copy/pasting from website):

Drexel University College of Medicine Affiliation

Each year up to two Allegheny students are offered early assurance of admission to Drexel University College of Medicine if they meet certain criteria. These criteria include a GPA of 3.5 or better (with no grade less than a “C”) and the recommendation of the Health Professions Advisory Committee. The required MCAT scores will depend on the version of the test that is taken. Under the new scoring system the candidate must achieve a total minimum score of 506, with minimum subscores of 127 in the Chemical/Physical, Biological/Biochemical, and Critical Analysis sections of the test, and a minimum of 125 in the Foundations of Behavior section. Candidates who qualify will interview at the College of Medicine in June and gain early acceptance. Qualified students are encouraged to have early contact with the medical school and should see the Director of Pre-Professional Studies for further details.

Jefferson Medical College Affiliation

Under the Physicians Shortage Area Program (PSAP), certain Allegheny students who intend to practice in underserved rural areas may qualify for preferential admission to Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, as well as special premedical advising from Jefferson faculty. Qualifying students have rural or small-town backgrounds or family ties and intend to practice in non-metropolitan areas, preferably in Pennsylvania. Allegheny is one of six Pennsylvania colleges and universities whose students are afforded special consideration as PSAP applicants, of whom a maximum of 24 are admitted to the program each year.

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) Affiliation

Early assurance programs are offered with LECOM in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy for students meeting the criteria. Viable candidates for the medical school program must have an overall GPA of at least 3.4 and a science GPA of at least a 3.2. The MCAT may be waived if certain academic criteria are met. Applicants must: interview at LECOM; have completed the pre-requisite courses; and have the support of the Health Professions Advisory Committee. Qualified candidates should meet with the Health Professions Advisor for further details.

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) Affiliation

Each year up to three students are offered admittance to PCOM provided they meet certain criteria. These criteria include completion of the course requirements listed in the PCOM catalog, an overall GPA of at least 3.25, a minimum of fiftieth percentile scores in each section of the MCAT, and support of the Health Professions Advisory Committee. Applicants must interview at PCOM and are encouraged to submit their application as early as possible in the application cycle. Qualified candidates should meet with the Health Professions Advisor for further details.

Allied Health Professions

The following cooperative programs are available:

  • Nursing (3+3, 3+4) with the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing of Case Western Reserve University*
  • Occupational Therapy (3+2) with Chatham University*
  • Physical Therapy (4+2) with Chatham University*
  • Physician Assistant Studies (3+2) with Chatham University*

In all cases, students complete at least their first three years at Allegheny. In the case of physical therapy the degree is DPT and the undergraduate degree (including the Senior Project) must be completed prior to starting graduate studies.

Admission to all of the programs is competitive, and the existence of a cooperative agreement does not guarantee admission. The programs with Chatham University have specific criteria for guaranteed admission and guaranteed interview. Students are encouraged to see the Director of Pre-Professional Studies for these details as well as for the forms required of all students planning a cooperative program.

Students must complete the standard requirements of a major, a minor, FS courses, and distribution courses in order to obtain the Allegheny degree. Certain combinations of majors and minor work especially well to satisfy both Allegheny requirements and the prerequisite course work for the graduate program. Students are encouraged to consult with the Director of Pre-Professional Studies in their first year for this information. Careful planning is critical to success in these programs.

Allegheny has an interesting Global Health major that can be attractive to pre-health students, if that appeals. They also have a unique Integrative Informatics major that could open up some interesting alternative career opportunities, if you found the content appealing.

Juniata, which was mentioned above, also has an Early Assurance program with LECOM.

Another you might look at is Agnes Scott. It’s a women’s college in suburban Atlanta. They give good merit, and they have cross-registration agreements with Emory and Georgia Tech. They also have a very cool Public Health major in cooperation with Emory’s Public School of Public Health. Agnes Scott College - Public Health Program This is a great premed major but also opens up more alternative career pathways than an undergrad bio degree.

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Thanks for the correction.

This meaning that the stuff online that says an acceptance rate of 11% isn’t accurate then? Where would they come up with an 11% acceptance rate based on those numbers? Is it averaged with ED acceptances? Because that would be an acceptance rate of about 7%.

Would it make a difference if the majority of previous applicants to Cornell from my school with around my stats were accepted? My school is small, so I actually have exact numbers for it. 7 acceptances around my stats, 5 waitlists, 1 rejection. Though I’d have to note that the most recent acceptance was in 2019.

11% is probably accurate, but it sounds like it is from the class of 2023 or 2024.

Let me back up: starting with the class of 2025, Cornell decided to join Stanford and some others in not revealing its acceptance rate on Ivy Day. The idea is that the press surrounding these numbers is somehow fueling admissions anxiety.

Cornell participates in the Common Data Set initiative and also publishes its own highly detailed admissions data so the information comes out eventually, but a lot of advice websites don’t update accordingly.

The acceptance rate for the class of 25 was 8.7% and yes, the class 26 is believed to be under 7.

However, you could do premed at either CALS or Human Ecology: this is a very popular choice of students from the NYC specialized HS. They have higher acceptance rates; I think around 12 and 15%, respectively. As a NY resident you would get a small boost in your chances, and a nice discount in tuition.

You can see more admissions info here:

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If you like the school, try it. You have the stats and overall statistics are meaningless to the individual applicant. If your GC thinks you have a good shot, they’ll know more than those of us on the internet.

Just don’t get your dreams set on any “lottery school.” That goes for everyone, not just you. Have a quiver of schools you like, including some where getting in and affordability is pretty much a sure thing.

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Not necessarily. Competition is changing.