<p>Hello, I'm a high school junior at one of the top public high schools in California (Piedmont High if you really must know), and we sign up for naviance, which is supposed to give you ideas for colleges. It's being useless, and so I turn to you for help. Like I said, I'm a junior, I have a 3.6 GPA and I want to be a doctor, so I was wondering if you all had any ideas as to premed programs that might work.
Thanks
-Chris</p>
<p>Start here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1122176-bluedevilmikes-ten-step-guide-picking-premed-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1122176-bluedevilmikes-ten-step-guide-picking-premed-school.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks, but I just started thinking about college seriously recently, and I really don’t know where to start. I just need names of schools that would be realistic for someone like me to get into. Like I said, Naviance (which is supposed to do this for me) keeps telling me that I want to go to Hampshire college (I don’t), and so much of what is out on the internet about this stuff (this site and others) is about getting into the really top-tier universities. However, such schools are beyond my reality. I really just need ideas so that I can do some reading/talking/visiting and come to some conclusions. That said Mike wrote a damn good premed school choosing guide there.
Thanks,
Chris</p>
<p>Look at your state university system for starters. California has many excellent public universities.</p>
<p>The truth is that almost any college in the top 200-250 or so can adequately prepare you for med school. </p>
<p>There is no “magic” perfect pre-med college out there. </p>
<p>Your goal is to find a school which you can afford and can get accepted into and is one where you can be reasonably happy spending 4 years of life. There are probably hundred of colleges that fit that description.</p>
<p>What you need to do now is start thinking about what kind of school you would be most comfortable at: big? small? urban? rural? LAC? research U? rah-rah sport school? big Greek influence? quiet, intellectual campus? single sex? geographic location [east coast, west coast, mid-Atlantic, South, someplace else]? religious? political leanings?</p>
<p>Also, right now or in the very near future, you need to sit down with your parents and have an open and probably painful talk about finances. You need to have some idea of how much they are able to afford each year for college costs. Ask them to be honest with you since it does you no good to be accepted at school you can’t afford. If you’re the first kid in the family to head off for college, college costs and finances are going to be a shocker for them. </p>
<p>Once you can be a bit more specific about preferences and costs and your GPA, course rigor and test scores, you can come back here and ask for suggestions. (But you might try asking in the Parents Forum since more people read it and may have better suggestions for you.)</p>
<p>Piedmont HS is an excellent school, but a 3.6 uw gpa will make the mid-tier UCs a stretch. A lot will also depend on your test scores.</p>
<p>In California, look at Pacific, Santa Clara, U-San Diego, Redlands, Chapman…</p>
<p>Up north, consider Puget Sound, Portland, Lewis & Clark, Gonzaga.</p>
<p>Visit, talk to current student. Your concern is 3.6 in HS. College 3.6 is a bare min. for pre-med. You will have to find the way to get it higher. Any UG that personally fits you will be just fine as long as you get high college GPA, decent MCAT, participate in reasonable medically related EC. No software and no advice from a stranger will substitute your personal feel for certain campus and the student body there.</p>