Hi! I’m currently a junior in high school and I’m looking to go into the medical field.
SAT: 1st time 2200: 680R 770M 750W
2nd time 2280: 710 W 770M 800W
PSAT: 10th 197/240
11th 1490/1520 ( Hoping to be qualified for National Merit Semifinalist)
GPA: unweighted 3.98/4.4 (A is a 4.0 A+ is a 4.4) weighted (4.23)
B+ in bio, 2 A- in freshman year, Honors English, Pre-Ap World and A- in 8th grade Geometry Honors
The rest are all As and A+s
Hoping gpa will increase drastically after this year
Course load: All honors classes and skipped a year in math
10th: AP Bio, AP stats, AP World
11th: AP Physics, AP Lang, AP AB Calc, AP USH
12th (Expected) AP Chem AP Psych AP BC Calc AP Eco AP Lit
I know there are alot of other factors that are involved but what do you think my chances are strictly from my grades? I may take the ACT and I am planning to take SAT IIs in Bio, Math 2, USH. Also what do you recommend I build upon to help my chances? I currently volunteer at a hospital and I have 200 hours. I received the presidential award bronze and silver for volunteer service. I am a minority in a majority white town where all the kids commit to great schools with shit grades because they play lacrosse or soccer. I run track but not anywhere near getting committed. I still want to die whenever we have to run the mile in gym. Also I got 3s on all my AP exams in 10th grade because I discovered Parks and Rec during that week and I came down with senioritis. Yes. I know. I suck. But I am now finished with Parks and Rec and hopefully I will do well on my APs this year. Do colleges look at AP scores during admission? Sorry I’m rambling please help!!!
You are listing a bunch of very prestigious schools where the admissions process is very arbitrary. You have great stats and great ECs, but guess what? Pretty much everybody that applies has great stats and great ECs, and the majority of them still gets rejected. Even the best students will not be able to make such schools match or safety schools. These schools will always be reach schools for everybody. Nobody can chance you for such schools.
^ this guy does the same message for everyone. Don’t mind him.
Here’s my take: your stats are great. They’re exactly what these schools are looking for. But being in the medical field is always a bit harder to get in then arts and science. If you don’t have many ECs, start building them. Focus them on science and math only, don’t waste your time trying to be part of the school newspaper if you have 0 interest in it. I would try getting a spot to research at a local college, or start some sort of science/math club, or win some competitions. Anything u do that helps display that u r interested in the medical field is beneficial. Good luck!
^ I have been through the application process, you haven’t. I know a number of people with stellar academic records and great ECs who got rejected by every single Ivy. If you are asking about more predictable schools, such as umich, UIUC, UT-Austin, or UW-Madison, then asking somebody to chance you makes more sense.
No, wanting to go into the medical field does not make it harder for you to be admitted to undergrad. Trying to be admitted into medical school after undergrad is the hard part. And when it comes to applying to medical school, they are mostly interested in what you did after high school graduation. What you do in high school often does not matter to them. Sure, those activities can be something to put on your college applications, but not for graduate or professional school applications.
Regarding ECs, the important part is to be able to talk about them. You can have a huge list of what you did, but it won’t look good if you don’t have much to say about the majority of them. Colleges don’t want you just checking boxes. They want you to do something because you want to get something out of it, not just because it is something extra to add to your list.