<p>I graduated early at 16 years old from my high school through the California High School Proficiency Exam. I didn't do very well in high school; I was never motivated. I have now been attending community college for three years. My first year I was unfortunately still unmotivated so I did poorly during that time as well, including dropping an entire semester, and then failing the other.
My second year of college I finally got it together. I decided to major in biochemistry, and make up all but one of the classes I failed, and received straight As throughout the entire year. In addition to taking classes for my major, I also took classes at another local community college for my EMT Basic certification. In the spring of my second year I completed 75 volunteer hours in the Emergency Room at a magnet hospital near my area. In the summer after my second year, I traveled to Ghana for three weeks where I used my EMT certification to assist doctors in basic care in an underdeveloped area. In that same summer, I also traveled to Sri Lanka for an additional three weeks to participate in an elephant conservation project, where I stayed near the elephants and interacted with them daily. (That was a wonderful summer).
In the fall of my third year, (which I just completed) I applied to the paramedic program at the other college and got in for the next spring. I also applied to my college's honor program and was accepted there as well, and took two honors classes that semester. In addition, about half way through my fall semester I landed a job through a private ambulance transport service and have been working there for about 7 months now. I received straight A's once again this semester.
In the spring of my third year, I picked up an additional honors class and took three. (Five total at that point). I moved out of the house and put in more volunteer hours in the ICU at another hospital (an additional100 hours) that wasn't a magnet hospital but much much closer. (Gas is SO expensive in California!) I started in the paramedics program in the beginning of the semester with my EME 175 class which I got an A in. Also I received A's in all of my classes but one where I received a B+ this semester.
This past summer I took 2 classes and received all A's in them as well and continued my paramedics training with similar success.
Going into my 4th and hopefully final year I hope to transfer to one of those places in the following fall. Assuming I continue this fall and spring semester similarly, and possibly (hopefully if I can!!) go back to Africa (or maybe India this time) the summer before I would start. That's the idea. Is it too far fetched? Am I kidding myself trying to get into these schools because of my first year? Or have I essentially made up for that year already? What else would you reccomend I do to improve my chances?? </p>
<p>Note: I tried to stick to the advice that I got from everyone that said I should concentrate my ECs in a field I'm interested in, which is obviously the medical field. Was this good advice and did I do well in that regard, or was it pointless?
PS: PLEASE excuse my grammar and typos. I'm using a really old phone to type this out. </p>
<p>Any polite advice/input is welcome! Thank you!</p>