<p>Hello, my name is Jose. I am a senior that has played soccer all through high school, I am a National Honor Society member, I was the treasurer for the DECA business club my sophomore year, and I frequently volunteer in my community. With high grades, taking AP classes with AP tests, and decent standardized test scores (25 on ACT), I decided to apply to the average colleges in Texas. They were UT Austin, and Texas A&M. I believed I would be able to get admitted since they both look into extra-curricular-activities, financial need, etc. Since I only live with my mother, my mother making 15K annually, I thought that was a good sign for financial need. Around March anxiety arose when I was expecting the colleges decision. I was suddenly appalled by each response and my self-confidence for my future plummeted. I was planning to enter a good college, then EASILY transfer to a renown medical college (i.e John Hopkins Univ.) to follow up the road to becoming a radiologist. Now since I have been rejected, I'm lost...</p>
<p>The two schools you applied to are very numbers based. They both have to admit any applicants in the top 10% of their classes. Texas A&M also has other criteria that guarantee admission. The rest of the students have a more thorough review and have to complete for the remaining spots. Also, your financial need wouldn’t have given you an advantage. </p>
<p>Finally, don’t be crushed. You can be successful no matter what college you attend. Going to any college will not guarantee acceptance to a prestigious med school. If you haven’t applied to any other colleges, you may want to either take a gap year and apply to schools then, or go to a community college and then transfer to a university (this will save money). Remember that there are always options.</p>
<p>UT and TAMU are not “average colleges” in Texas. They are top schools in Texas. </p>
<p>You were not advised well. You should have been told that most of the seats for those schools are given to the top 8% of high school students. Your stats are quite low for UT and TAMU. Your GC should have talked to you about this and had you apply to some match and safety schools. </p>
<p>Are those the only two schools that you applied to? Are any of the local state schools still accepting applications? If so, quickly apply to those schools. Try to apply to at least one that you can commute to if possible. Don’t apply to UT-Dallas; your stats are low for that school, too. Do you live near UT Tyler or UT El Paso? </p>
<p>Or, you may have to start at a CC and then transfer. You’ll need to do very well no matter where you go.</p>
<p>Jose, the advice given above is very good. This is a time to regroup, decide if you want to go to a community college or other college that has admissions still open – or perhaps do something else for a year. You can always transfer later. There is no reason you can’t meet your goals in time.</p>
<p>You could also try Texas Tech University.</p>
<p>Application deadline is still pretty far off.</p>
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<p>Exactly. These are your most obvious options, all of which are respectable. And hey, considering your financial situation, attending a CC for two years and then transfering to one of the schools that didn’t accept you this go-round may be the better option!</p>
<p>Look closer at Texas Tech. Your ACT score is in about the top 33% of their incoming class. (Compared to bottom 33% at UT and A&M.)</p>
<p>Plus, Tech has a great medical school right on campus.</p>
<p>Don’t get caught up in the hype of UT and A&M. They are getting so big that they have to limit acceptance to the top 10% of Texas high school students.</p>
<p>Tech is a great place to go to college, and it has an awesome campus, nicer than the other two you are looking at.</p>
<p>Thanks arrdad, I did apply to Texas Tech, I am just worried about attaining the money needed. I applied to a couple of scholarships that will hopefully consider me. If I do decide to go to Tech, I will plan to transfer to a better school but I am not sure how transfers work to a better school. Do they expect great? If so, how great?</p>
<p>Please don’t forget UNT! It’s a great school too :)</p>
<p>Is there another parent (such as a parent of a friend) you can ask for advice? I say that because it seems clear you don’t know much about the schools you have applied to, have left off the most important factor about getting into colleges (G.P.A.) and don’t know how to spell the name of your dream medical school. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, don’t waste any time thinking about schools you might be able to transfer to. Find a school that is a good fit and one you can afford.</p>
<p>I am a proud Texas Aggie and I am so sorry that (at least this year) you aren’t coming to College Station in the fall. </p>
<p>That said, however, I think there are tons of opportunities available to you and I hope you won’t hold this minor set back against us Ags down the road. </p>
<p>A&M has become huge. No kidding. It is gigantic. My freshman chem class had 400 kids in it (and that was 25 years ago). So you (for now) are closing the door on being a minnow in an enormous pond. </p>
<p>So look on your doorstep. What is available in your community or close by? Instead of freshmen chem with 400, is there a place that offers a more personal touch? You may not want to live at home but, wow, it could save you thousands of dollars. Also you could use your family and HS connections to open doors – like a summer’s job at an MD’s office that will give you a leg up in the field that may not be available to the massive number of lemmings at Big U. </p>
<p>I had a friend who worked in publishing in NYC. She said it was a standard exercise for new editors to read through the company’s “rejection” file. The well known publisher had rejected all sorts of winners – people who went on to fame and fortune as authors despite the fact that this big publishing house had given them the ol’ rejection form. letter. Dr. Suess collected some 27 rejections on his first book (being told by one editor “kids do not like humor”). </p>
<p>So, don’t let someone else’s March 2010 opinion undermine who you are or any of your dreams. Look at colleges within 100 miles of your doorstep and see if there is something there to help you on your path. (By the way, a fair number of people transfer in to TAMU as sophomores. It may be an option. . . ).</p>
<p>I’m in the middle of trying to transfer to UT Austin with a 3.7 GPA from UNT. I’d suggest going there! It is a bit of a commuter school though…I’m from Houston though so I didn’t commute anywhere! haha, but I’m not even sure if i’ll get into UT this time around. Just know that being rejected is NOT a sign of you’re intelligence. You’re very bright!! If I don’t get admitted this time, I’ll try one more time, but to other schools as well. Three times the charm! </p>
<p>I had friends get rejected from UT Austin but get into Yale, Berkley, and Princeton! Their whole processes is a bit skewed.</p>
<p>All is not lost! The 8% rule and the size of your state contribute to this situation happening every year with excellent students, but most of the time they’ve at least been advised to apply to some safeties and if they’re considering out of state, comparable out of state schools with tuition considerations for Texas residents but less competitive admissions policies. TAMU and UT are both top schools in Texas, not “average”, but luckily you can still apply to UNT and most of the UT branch campuses. You may stand a shot at aid at Tech, and “worst” case scenario, there are a plethora of quality community colleges in state you could attend for a year for very little money (or provided you have your FAFSA filled out and in order, possibly free after grants). Transferring is of course always an option, but be smart about it. Something to consider is no one, anywhere, gets into Johns Hopkins med “easily”, regardless of where they went to undergrad. You’ll want to make sure wherever you transfer to finish your undergrad has a good track record with pre-med advising and offers the resources you need to make your MCAT preparation and applications as painless and high quality as possible. Good luck in your process, but don’t freak out too much. You’re in crunch time now, but it can still work out fine.
-Matt</p>
<p>Guys this thread is two months old ;)</p>
<p>My mother is a radiologist…she just went to a career school!
For a job like that, she and her coworkers all get paid about the same…their pay depends on seniority not where you got the degree!</p>
<p>
I’m a bit lost on what you’re saying, and I’m not sure if it applies to the OP’s career goals or not. A Radiologist is a physician who is required to obtain a bachelor’s degree (or attend undergrad and obtain early admission) and get accepted to and attend medical school. By career school do you mean a technical college that awards bachelor’s degrees, or are you referring to a Radiologic Technician/Technologist/Assistant?
-Matt</p>
<p>Oops, she’s a technician. A great example of reading someones post too quickly!!</p>