Okay so I’m freaking out about the college application process!
I am currently a high school senior and I want to go to a selective college/ uni.
When I was a freshman and a sophomore, i didn’t really try to hard. Because of it my cumulative is 3.6 unweighted. My junior year I started realizing what I wanted to do (pediatric neurosurgeon) and started kicking ass and becoming a dual enrollment student. My yearly GPA was a 4.75 and I am taking two college courses over the summer that will factor in before admissions. My question is will colleges look at my yearly too? Because admissions are so early I dont have time for my senior year GPA’s to calculate in :(((((( Any advice and or knowledge on what could happen?
Colleges do look at your GPA each year, and they like upward trends. If you think that the trend will continue senior year, you should apply RD because RD applications include grades from the first semester of senior year.
Before anyone can help you, you need to provide more information. What classes have you taken? What have you earned in each of those classes? What were your year GPAs for freshman and sophomore year? What are your test scores? What are your extracurriculars?
Without that information, all I can say is that colleges do like to see an upward trend. Your chances at selective schools with your GPA are still strong, but top 30 schools will be unlikely.
^^Depends on the school. Mid year grades were only looked at by a couple of kids colleges. And RD deadline at some were before January. What they do see is what you plan on taking so they can judge the rigor of your senior year.
Read through some other threads with kids planning med school. You will see that your main concerns need to be finishing UG with high GPA and no/little debt and score on MCAT. You don’t need a “selective” uni whatever that means by your standards. It’s ok to apply to some but also have some safeties and matches with regards to cost and to where you can maintain a high GPA.
@scmom12 All of the schools I applied to RD required some form of senior grades in the application, whether or not the first semester had been completed. But I am only familiar with the 12 schools I applied to.
Go to a CTCL school with good premed advising.
CTCL.org
There are other schools similar to the ones in CTCL that are also not too hard to get into but still provide a solid education.
Also look long and hard at your state public universities, even if they don’t seem particularly prestigious. They are often a bargain, and premeds will be facing many long years of tuition payments so avoiding debt for undergrad is important.
@cc8912
-I am valedictorian ( i go to a small school).
-Sat= 1480
Freshman Gpa was 3.3
Sophomore Gpa was 3.5
junior Gpa was 4.75
-I am taking a bunch of college course and by the time i graduate i will have 36 college credits from DE
-last year took AP bio and Ap stats
-Bio=4
-Stats=4
I have 100+ hours of shadowing surgeons
and 200+ hours volunteering at LKMC hospital
-I am applying to
Boston Uni
Harvard
Princeton
Johns Hopkins
Vanderbilt
Umiami
Northwestern
Uni of Florida
NYU
-I took the most challenging course load available
College classes taken/ on my senior year(first semester) schedule in order from junior year to present;
Intro to Psychology
Online College algebra
Online Intro to ethics
(Senior year 1st semester);
English Comp 1
Anatomy and physiology
Anatomy and Physiology Lab
General Chemistry
General Chemistry Lab
All grades are A’s except for a high B in psych
I also am captain of the high school sail team
-I work as a US sailing certified sail instructor for little kids
-I sail in regattas for the South Atlantic Interscholastic Sailing Association
-I am highly determined and passionate about surgery and sailing
-I am president and founder of the schools American Red Cross and Homeless Outreach Program
-Vice president of the senior class
-President of the debate team
-Member Of NHS
Do you guys think I have a chance?
I have letters of rec from a neurosurgeon and an orthopedic surgeon saying how passionate i am about this and that I will make a good surgeon one day
I was also thinking of applying to some public states like UCF and FSU ( already applying to UF)
The reason I have to be so selective is because I want a degree in Neuroscience and not every small school has one
I also want to be close to boston so I can intern at the Bostons Children Hospital and HMS
@FriedlanderMD To be a pediatric neurosurgeon you have to first go to medical school. To go to medical school you need to have a very high GPA in university for undergrad and do well on the MCAT. However, you don’t have to go to a “big name” university for undergrad. You DO have to go to an undergrad program where you will do very well and get a lot of A’s. Thus “most challenging courses available” might be a good choice in high school, but “most challenging university possible” is probably not the right goal right now.
For most students in the US their in-state flagship public university would be a very good choice for a premed undergrad program. Also note that to go to medical school you have to be able to afford 8 years in university (4 undergrad plus 4 medical school) so you have to either have very rich parents or alternately be careful about going to a relatively inexpensive choice for undergrad (preferably with no or minimal debt, even better if you don’t fully use up your college fund for undergrad).
To me your list of universities is not obviously compatible with this advice. What schools do you think are your safety schools?
“All grades are A’s except for a high B in psych”
How did you get a 3.3 freshman year with all A’s?
@DadTwoGirls I moved to a new high school in junior year. I said that i had and have all A’s since junior year
University of Florida, UCF, FSU are my safety schools.
Btw i know all about the medical school process and what needs to be done. Im talking about going to a selective university because I will have access to high end research facilities and access to high end medical schools and hospitals.
Harvard, Princeton. Johns Hopkins are my reach/ dream schools
Everything else is medium to high probabilty I get in