Help! Which schools should I target?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>With college application season looming, I'm getting pretty overwhelmed with my college hunt and I've researched countless schools and I'm looking for some help to narrow down my list! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you!</p>

<p>ACT: 31
SAT: N/A
SAT Subject Tests: Bio (M): 600 US History: 580 English Literature: 580
GPA (Unweighted out of 4.0): 3.64
Rank: N/A (my school does not have a ranking system)
AP Scores: European History: 4 US History: 4 Literature & Composition: 5 Psychology: 5</p>

<p>Gender: Female
State: California
School: Public, Highly Competitive
Major: Biology (considering: Medical Microbiology & Bacteriology, Biomedical Engineering, Microbiology & Immunology, etc...basically, aiming for medical school).
Family Education: Both parents have college degrees.
Family Income: High (seeking scholarships)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:</p>

<p>Classical Dance:
I have participated in Classical Dance for 10+ years and am currently a teacher in my dance school which I have been attending for 7 years. I have held a teaching position for 3 years and assume a considerable amount of responsibility within the school (I am a member of the faculty, I conduct administrative work and am responsible for teaching beginner students basics as well as running classes for older students (up to my own age)). I am incredibly passionate about dance as I hope my 10+ year commitment and leadership roles convey. I spend anywhere from 6-10 hours a week on dance (dependent on whether or not I take over an advanced class which I frequently do). In addition, this style of dance has a graduation of sorts, a solo debut in which an accomplished dancer performs a repertoire of 7-9 pieces onstage. This opportunity is a privilege extended to students by their teacher only after learning dance for a period of time and after demonstrating passion and responsibility. I will be completing my dance graduation in June of my Senior year. Although this event is after college apps are due and well after decisions are made, the preparation takes years. I intend to make this clarification on my college application as well.</p>

<p>Destination Imagination (DI):
An international organization devoted to the development of creativity. This activity is a competitive team event which starts at a local level and eventually culminates in the Global Final Tournament, a tournament in which the best teams around the world compete with one another for the champion title. I have participated in DI for 7 years and have made it to the Global Finals tournament 5 times, ranking high each year. At local and affiliate tournaments my team has consistently not only ranked high but also earned special awards {Renaissance Awards (for impressive engineering), DaVinci Awards (for creativity in presentation), Torchbearer Awards (for admirable service/contributions to the community)}. In addition to a strong winning record with my team, as an individual I have been serving on the Regional Operating Committee Board (a board of directors who oversee the tournaments and put together the affiliated events and activities). I am also the only teenager serving on the board. Through DI I have worked on and organized many distinct community service projects, each very unique and unconventional. I spend about 20 hours a week on DI.</p>

<p>National Honor Society (NHS):
Member for 2 years (only open to upperclassmen)</p>

<p>California Scholarship Federation (CSF):
Member for 3 years (senior year membership is in the fall)</p>

<p>Emory Summer Science Academy:
Attended twice; summers after freshman & sophomore years for both levels.
Year 1: Selected to present research findings at reception (two weeks)
Year 2: Selected to present research findings at reception & awarded highest academic achievement for scoring the highest score on the cumulative assessment at the end of the program (two weeks)</p>

<p>Hospital Volunteering/Shadowing & Research:
Volunteered during summer, shadowed physicians on rounds, accumulated 170+ volunteer hours
Worked with a physician from the hospital on a research project & published our findings</p>

<p>Youth Service America (YSA):
Member since freshman year, co-president junior & senior years
5-7 hours a week</p>

<p>Science Alliance:
Mentor for 4 years
2-3 hours a week</p>

<p>Model United Nations (MUN):
Member for 2 years
2-3 hours a week</p>

<p>As a resident of California, I am definitely considering UC's and CalPoly (also open to other CalStates).
I am also looking into 7-8 year medical programs as I am interested in pursuing healthcare.
Out of California I have looked into UT Austin, Emory University/Oxford College & Ohio State.
I am by no means counting out any options at this point, so any feedback or suggestions on other
colleges to consider are much appreciated!
Thanks!</p>

2

<p>To help narrow the list we could provide, could you please tell us the results of running the net price calculators at the schools at which you’ve looked: will your family be able to afford any of these schools? I know your family has reassured you not to worry about that now, but do you have a firm number they will commit to your education because it might be that you’re full pay and that could be a problem? Without an idea about what is affordable, there’s no point in us listing a bunch of schools.</p>

<p>as for merit aid, do not count on qualifying at many schools. Having said that, realize that you would be an automatic full tuition awardee if you applied to UAlabama, a school whose STEM resources are pretty nice. For chances at competitive merit, you should re-take the ACT or try the SAT. Nor is your GPA jaw-dropping in terms of the kinds of competition that you will be up against for merit. Your stats are not high enough to get into the schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need in grants, loans, work study, etc.</p>

<p>Your best bet may lie at the CSUs and some of the lesser UCs. Med schools won’t care where you went to school. they’ll care about GPA, MCAT, recs, research experience, etc.–what you DO rather than where you do it. </p>

3

<p>My son got into UCSD and Davis from out-of-state with similar stats to yours, but he wasn’t applying as a STEM major. If you are interested in pre-med/natural sciences, I would recommend applying to the regular arts & science colleges at UCs. You can major in Biology or Chemistry there, in most cases. Do they require you to declare yourself pre-med on applications? I think Emory is probably a reach, especially if you’re hoping for a merit scholarship. You can probably get into Tulane, but your stats might just be a little low for merit aid there, also. You’re probably on the borderline for out-of-state admissions to UT. I’m just not sure that there are many colleges that will provide you with as good a pre-medical education, at as low a cost, as the UCs. Berkeley and UCLA are probably reaches, but worth applying to anyway; UCSD is a high-match; the rest are matches or safeties for you, I’d say. Cal Poly SLO might be a high-match or reach for an impacted department - I’m not sure, so check with an adviser or an admissions officer.</p>

4

<p>You have an ACT 31. I dont think you will find a BS/MD program that will accept you. You are not a URM. BS/MD programs tend to choose students whose test scores are high enough that the school is confident that the student would do well on the MCAT (even if never taken). There will be too many higher scoring non-URM applicants to compete with. </p>

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<p>What does that mean? Many/most schools on your list (UT, Emory, the UCs) wont likely give you merit scholarships. Your parents may not fully understand the system here. At most “well known” schools, they don’t give or rarely give merit scholarships (and when they do, the student is exceptional (tippy top test scores, etc). </p>

<p>You need to ask your parents how much they will pay. If they will pay $30k per year, then the UCs and CSUs will be your targets, so find a safety or two amongst them.</p>

<p>If you are looking for merit scholarships then you need to fish where the merit can be found. Much will depend on how much your parents will pay.</p>

<p>Since you are premed, then I would choose a school where it is not too cut-throat. The top UCs will be filled with super-stats premeds all gunning for the limited number of A’s. You may find yourself weeded out. </p>

<p>You have a 3.6 GPA…that doesnt bode well for the top UCs anyway, but especially for premeds.</p>

<p>If you are truly serious about becoming a doctor, then don’t mess up the plan by placing you into a school where your premed classmates will all be stronger than you are. You could end up with a bunch of B’s (or worse!)…and then no med school for you.</p>

5

<p>Hi All, thank you so much for all of your feedback! My family can commit to an annual range of 45-50K (all inclusive) per year if required. The search for scholarships was a curiosity to see if I could expect anything. I hope that my price range can help to provide a better picture of what kind of schools I can consider. As always, any suggestions and feedback are greatly appreciated! </p>

6

<p>Retake those SAT Subjects (or others). These scores will seriously hurt your applications at top schools (where they want 700+ preferably 750+).
UT Austin is not a good choice for premed, and it’s very hard to get into from OOS.</p>

<p>You have intriguing, unusual ECs as well as dance, which shows dedication and talent. You’d do better with schools that have holistic admissions.
Good for premed: Rhodes College, in Memphis, which has a special agreement with St Jude’s hospital; Whitman; Dickinson, in PA (strong in the sciences); St Olaf, in MN (summer internship at the Mayo Clinic).</p>

7

<p>I like Muhlenberg, too, for this candidate, with her interest in science and dance.</p>

8

<p>check out University of Rochester. extremely competitive med school with a wealth of undergraduate research opportunities, one of the top 30 best universities in the country</p>

9

<p>Hi All, thanks again for all of this feedback! Definitely looking into the suggestions :slight_smile: </p>

10

<p>I’ve heard that CSU’s aren’t very good for pre-meds…If you wanna avoid the competition, mid-tier UC’s would be perfect. UCSB is one of the few UC’s which seem to prefer high test scores over GPA, for example. Do have safeties, specially since your GPA’s kinda weak, but your ACT & EC’s are competitive for any UC. What’s your UC GPA though (weighted)??</p>