<p>Well as the titles states, I am currently a sophomore at the American University of Beirut which is in Beirut Lebanon, but it is chartered in New York, and i want to transfer to a great undergrad school that would help me get into a prestigious medical school.( I am a US permanent resident of Lebanese origin, currently in beirut due to some family issues plus i was a french bac student which is a 3 year long examination and i couldn't walk out at the time)
now i've read some of the post on this forum saying that there are tons of other colleges that make good doctors and sometimes better than the Ivies but the thing is my vision of a medical career has an academic side to it, although i am thinking of becoming a brain surgeon( still a bit early to make it a definite decision) but i also want to do research on the brain and brain function and unravel the brain's mysteries and that's why i am seeking a top Research medical school.</p>
<p>I want to know what will it take for me to get in, because i read that Harvard serves the best premed track. I was looking into WUSTL but learnt that it grade deflates alot and makes it very hard for it's students to get in although i will keep it on my " apply to " list.</p>
<p>i am currently majorless, taking calculus, intro bio, phys: electricity and magnetism, music theory, and english writing.</p>
<p>I have done alot of extracurricular activites during my school years:
I won medals and was karate national champ at a young age.
I won both first and second prize at an international arts competition ( Drawing competition sponsored By Fabriano which is a big name in painting and drawing material)
i also won a bronze medal in a national muay thai tournament.
I am a passionate musician and guitarist, and take it very seriously ( 5 years+ of playing) and taking lessons from a world renowned teacher and player.
Plus i'm participating in 3 clubs at AUB ( Toastmasters which is a public speaking and leadership mentoring program... it's everywhere; Music club which will give me the chance to play for an audience cause my guitar playing has been personal; Red cross club which is a civic engagement club at AUB)
Plus i received first aid training from the Canadian red cross and i am a certified First aider.</p>
<p>You might have noticed i haven't mentioned my GPA that's cause not tests have been given yet. but i will do my best to ace them.</p>
<p>So i basically want to know what i should add to these qualifiers in order to successfully transfer to harvard as a premedical student.
If any1 has other schools of equal standings as premed undergrad schools that get a high rate of students into medical schools i'll be happy to know them.
and btw AUB is the oldest and ranked best university in the middle east ( i hope this helps a bit)</p>
<p>Thank you for your help in advance.</p>
<p>PS: I wasn't trying to show off cause reading my thread again seems like it did, I just want to give a better view of what qualifications i have to help you have a better idea of my situation and where i stand.</p>
<p>At this point - Your extracurricular activities will not be what gets you into any school… It’s all going to be about GPA and if you did excellent on difficult coursework. But your chances (as fauve mentioned) are just about non-existent at Harvard… Expand your list…</p>
<p>Im open to any suggestions! WUSTL is also on my list… i sent them a couple of e-mails and the admissions people seemed nice but i guess that’s irrelevant since they’re paid to be…
i’m really open to anything you guys have to say .</p>
<p>It appears to me none of these ECs are related to your future premed career at a prestigious college in US. (athlete? artist? musician? and all of a sudden you want H to believe that you will likely be an accomplished medical scientist after you are there?) If a college like H really needs more premed students (frankly I think they may have enough of these already. I heard there are 500-600 students taking premed classes in freshman year there, even though only 300 or so apply to ANY medical school eventually, maybe even just mid-tier ones, not HMS), you need to show them in a concrete way why you are better than the existing premed students there, especially in science, research, etc. Many of these premed students were winners of major science competitions in US like Intel before they had entered H. If you have one of these science award under your belt, H may be more motivated to take you as a transfer “premed” student. Also, a very good premed student there often takes MCAT the summer after sophomore and gets a very good grade. If you show them you can get 40+ MCAT score at the end of sophomore year, it may help make yourself stand out, as compared to the current premed students at H.</p>
<p>Why only prestigious colleges though? Like the poster above said, you need a 4.0 grade at a major university (a school like UC Berkeley, U of Michigan) and/or an astonishing achievement while you are achieving 4.0 in a very competitive college that the adcoms at H may be very familiar with, in order for this kind of school to take you as a transfer student. This is just my subjective opinion though.</p>
<p>First of all, you absolutely do not have to attend a prestigous undergrad school in order to be accepted to a great medical school, and the medical school you attend matters much more, in my opinion. And what’s more, you’ll be able to be a doctor and have the satisfaction of working with patients no matter from which medical school you graduate. </p>
<p>Even though Harvard has a reputation for grade inflation, it actually does not grade-inflate that much in comparison to other schools. Also keep in mind that it is not easy to have good grades there because courses tend to be graded on a curve and you’ll be surrounded by a higher caliber of students who all had pretty good grades before they came to college. GPA means a lot for medical school admissions.</p>
<p>And lastly, for Harvard first-year admission at least, your declared major of study actually doesn’t matter at all-------it doesn’t matter what you declare as your major or whether you want to be premed or not, because adcom knows that most people’s intended major and career choice tend to change over the four years of college.</p>
<p>Since there is no definite premed track at Harvard, there is no class that is exclusively labeled as “premed”, so those interested in medical school would be taking the same classes as those majoring in the sciences, which, as one can imagine, comprise of a lot of people.</p>
<p>Well the thing is, I’m really stressed from the whole process of getting into a good medical school in the US. the College i attend in Beirut is chartered in the state of New York and medical schools require at least one year at a US college so does my university comply with this standard or should the campus be ON US soil ?
plus i think it’s because i have this misconception like alot of people do that Only the top 5 med schools are “good” but when i think of it, not all doctors graduated from HMS and JHU…
Any1 have any other suggestions of a good undergrad school for me to attend and transfer to ? ( that has a good rate of sending students to medical schools)
any insight is greatly appreciated!!
Thanks.</p>
<p>not sure i understand what you mean by extra credit section or what you’re trying to imply…can u explain a bit more, I’m still new to this site.</p>