help pleaseee!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>hey! i posted this thread before but stuff has changed since then (i narrowed down what type of school i want to go to more) & my gpa has changed. I want to major in Neuroscience or Psych as an undergrad & then go to medical school. </p>

<p>Gender: Female
State: CA
Race: Indian
Hook: dad went to upenn</p>

<p>Academics:
GPA: 3.75 UW, 4.1 W (However I go to a highly rated "feeder" school. We had 6 kids get in early to Stanford this year out of about 150)
APs taken : World History (4), Computer Science (4), currently taking : Chem, Calc AB and US History. Senior year I plan to take : AP Bio, AP Psych, AP Environ. Science, AP Stats, Madness in Literature, Adv. Journalism
My school doesn't rank. </p>

<p>Standarized Tests:
PSAT - 223 (NMSF)
SAT - 800 R, 800 W, 720 M (2320)
SAT 2s - 750 Math II (retaking), will take chem this year</p>

<p>ECs:
4 years Varsity water polo (went to Junior Olympics summer before my freshman year & my team placed 9th overall)...probably gonna be a captain next year. got second team all league this year. (CA water polo is the best state for water polo in the nation fyi)
Red Cross : officer my soph & junior year. Organized basic aid classes to teach younger kids . on the youth executive board at the Red Cross chapter.
Hospital Volunteer - 150 hours so far. Junior Team Leader for Maternity ward.
WISTEM : 2 years member (women in science, technology, engineering & mathematics
Journalism: 3 years reporter -- written for multiple section in the award winning publication(Silver Crown award paper) & the online website (Gold Crown award). Will be editor next year (guaranteed)
7 years - kathak (indian classical dance) : I have performed multiple times
National Honor Society -- tutor kids, blog posts about honor</p>

<p>Summer:
last year I went to the slums of Costa Rica to provide aid to the Nicaraguan refugees. I was very passionate about the cause (& it will be one of my essays). I received the Presidents Volunteer Service Award for my efforts.
this year I am hoping to get an research internship in psych or work under a psychologist </p>

<p>Recs & Essay:
My recs are gonna be pretty darn good. I know my teachers think highly of me.
I'm a natural writer & also getting professional help with my essays so hopefully I can convey passion in them. </p>

<p>I would LOVE to be able to get into the best possible school I can get into. (ie Penn, Duke, UMich, Georgetown). I'm looking for schools with a strongish sports program & good academics. I don't care much about the size but I don't want to go to a really small school. I also like WashU (the PNP program there). </p>

<p>Please let me know how you think I would look and what I can do to make my app better. Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>my suggestion: if you’re a natural writer, don’t get professional help with your essays. If you’re NOT a natural writer, don’t get professional help with your essays. They suck the joy and enthusiasm out of what a normal ebullient 17 year old has to say. Do your writing, have someone or a couple someones look at it, and move on. DON’T allow adults to professionalize your essay. DO listen if they say that you’ve said something stupid.</p>

<p>Write about what makes you you, don’t make a list of all the things you’ve done. Mention the Volunteer Service Award if you must, but make the focus of the essay more personal - the person who helped YOU, or the little girl who drew you a picture, or how you learned that you really despise Nicaraguan food, or even that you can now appreciate a long hot shower.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>thanks! i will definetely do that(: i was thinking that i could write the essays myself to start out with & then have someone look over them? or maybe just my english teacher & college counselor? </p>

<p>how much of a chance do i have at these schools / can you suggest other schools that i might like? i heard uva is a pretty good match (can anyone confirm this)?</p>

4

<p>Nice SAT scores, get that Math up even farther and you will have even more schools wanting you</p>

5

<p>thanks ill try to do that!</p>

6

<p>I think you’re in the ball park for all the schools, actually the infield in some cases. I agree with Geekmom about the essay part. The only other thing I would bring up is the cost of undergraduate and med school. If finances area a concern and you’re sure about med school, you want to make sure you target schools that will provide more merit money or where you’ll get in-state tuition.</p>

7

<p>thank you! for your advice, i have a lott of money saved up for school & my parents are…well off…lets just say. </p>

<p>im really concerned about penn…should i apply ed or should i go with a school that i also love but may have a better shot at? (i dont wanna risk losing my early if im never going to get in)</p>

8

<p>Do you know that legacy is only counted in the ED round at Penn? If you are absolutley sure Penn is your number 1, apply ED. You are more than qualified, and retaking any of your current standardized test scores would be a waste of time.</p>

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<p>I agree with dfree124 about the SAT, and so does MIT. Check out the fifth question on this page: [Ben’s</a> Third Semi-Annual Q&A | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/bens_third_semiannual_qa]Ben’s”>Ben’s Third Semi-Annual Q&A | MIT Admissions)</p>

10

<p>You will get into any school that you want. If you get rejected anywhere it will not be your fault – it will be the luck of the draw. So, knowing that you will get into at least one great school, concentrate on were you want to study. One thing that I noticed was that you are from CA but none of the schools that you are considering are in CA. Great CA schools with excellent premed programs are UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC San Diego and UC Irvine. All have notable sports teams. My kid is an engineer and applied to most of those that I mentioned and got in (did not apply to Northern Cal UC’s due to distance). In the end he chose Cal Poly SLO for the direct application teaching methodology for engineering specifically. However, UCLA and I think UCI as well, have research hospitals located right on campus. UCLA in particular has an excellent premed program and is far enough away from home for you to feel like you are going away to school. Consider California too! Oh one more thing, my kid says that the Biomedical Engineering major at Cal Poly SLO, one of the country’s finest programs, is populated with many students that plan to go on to medical school. If you have an interest in technology in addition to medicine you may want to consider that route as well. A Biomedical Engineering background for med school will give you an edge over your competition at med schools. In many ways, this is the future of medicine.</p>

11

<p>thanks! the UCs are on my list but i think (since the app is more numbers based) there isnt much i can do to change that. im applying ot the UCs…i visited UCLA & thought it was pretty nice (though the class sizes are a little bigger than i would like) </p>

<p>also i know that legacy for penn only counts ed but i really don’t wanna blow it by applying ed to penn when my chances are below 50% maybe applying to duke or brown early might be better? </p>

<p>@geekmom63 : thanks for your advice. i think i might want to take the math sat again bc i was really off when i took it the first time (i had been doing better on practice tests & family problems the night before) so when i retake it’ll be mainly just to make myself feel like i put my best foot forward, not so much for college apps</p>

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<p>if anyone else has anything to add, please feel free!</p>

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<p>USC would probably pay you to go there with your credentials, and it seems to fit what you want in a school. That is especially important since you want to go to medical school and the costs are extremely high. So, don’t spend a large amount of money on undergraduate education if you don’t have to.</p>

14

<p>pologirl, get a copy of “On Writing The College Application Essay” by Harry Bauld. It’s a short book and fun to read. It’ll help you find your voice for your essays so that they sing. </p>

<p>Take a look at stats for ED at Brown and Duke, and keep in mind that they’re also giving preference to their legacies. Ask your school’s GC for advice, since she or he will have the best sense of how students at your school do when applying to these schools. If Penn is your first choice then yes, play your legacy card early. Since you’ve got an alum parent, I’m guessing you’ve visited, but maybe do another visit where you sit in on classes and look at the other students to see if you feel you’d fit there. Apply EA to Georgetown.</p>

<p>Are the UCs your safeties, and would you be happy going to them?</p>

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<p>@tsdad - Thanks! that’s what my friends have been saying (that i could get into USC & get aid) USC is on my list but its somewhat of a match. not a reach really (i hope!)</p>

<p>@SlitheyTove - thanks for the suggestion, ill get the book for sure! Your advice is sound. I think I’ll probably apply ED to Penn. Therefore, I can’t apply EA to Georgetown (they only let you apply ED not EA) Some UCs are my safeties but UCLA & maybe Cal are reaches/matches. I don’t really like Cal that much (I like LA more) but I think I’d be happy at either school. I just want to graduate in 4 years so that might be a problem. Riverside & Merced I didn’t like. I want to be/need to be in a competitive atmosphere to thrive. It helps me stay on track. </p>

<p>Question: Should I apply EA to UMich or wait until senior year grades come in and apply regular? </p>

<p>Thanks again for all your help!</p>

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<p>Apply to Penn ED for your best shot at a top school. As an ORM from a competitive schools in an overrepresented state, the last thing you want to do is believe post #10. if you love Penn take the significant legacy boost which you’ll only get ED.</p>

17

<p>ok thanks, i appreciate people being realistic with me. </p>

<p>what do you guys think about applying EA to UMich? I know I want to apply there but for the best shot should I wait till first semester senior grades come in or will applying EA give me any sort of boost (i know most ED acceptance rates are higher)</p>

18

<p>bumpity bump</p>

19

<p>anyone wanna help?</p>

20

<p>I definitely think you have a good chance of getting into any of the schools
personally, i live in nj, so i’m not very familiar with west coast schools, but i would think that of the schools you mentioned, they’re all fairly within your range
what sold me was your summer volunteer work. hardly anyone does that, and you stand out significantly compared to those people
you’re ec’s are very very in depth and you show dedication to everything you’ve done in the past
gtown, umich, and washu are definitely targets for you, and duke is probably a target as well
ivies like penn are reaches for everyone in my opinion, like theres never a guarantee you’ll get in and it ends up being luck, but your chances are very very good compared to most other students</p>