<p>I've been posting on here a lot lately, due to my anxiety over being deferred at all 4 schools I have heard from....
I want to go to a school that has a pretty good reputation for med school acceptance and is small in size. I want to go to a school with other smart people. Basically a school like Rice or Wesleyan..
I don't want to go to a school with a huge frat scene or bad to average academics. </p>
<p>Stats:
Top 5%, 95 unweighted average, white male, 2180 SAT, 32 ACT, 33 ACT ss
SAT 2s: 800 math2, 700 phys and 600 chem.
7 ap's this year.. 11 total
Schedule: Calc BC, Physics C, Chemistry, English Lit, Gov/Econ, Stats
2 years basketball
1 year working 16 hours a week at grocery store to help mom
Debate
Young Republicans
Academic competition regional qualifier
Teacher's aide
NHS + Mu Alpha theta
30 hours comm. serv.
Essays are about absentee father and about my leadership role in my family since we left my abusive, alcoholic father 8 years ago..</p>
<p>Any suggestions?
And do I have a good chance of getting into some of the LAC's like Trinity, Oberlin, Bowdoin, Colby?</p>
<p>Look at URochester as a safety. It’s a very good school (ranked 35 by USNWR but that doesn’t do it justice) and it is a beautiful campus. With your stats you would definitely get in.</p>
<p>Do you need financial aid? If you need a lot, this could severely impact your admissions chances. Honestly, your extracurricular activities are extremely weak, especially for the schools you’re aiming for. Have you thought about community college?</p>
<p>But yeah I actually have Rochester on my list, and I really like what I’ve seen from it. Just a little reactionary after all the bad news and worried that I might not make it in there…</p>
<p>And I won’t even respond to the guy who’s telling me community college. You’re an idiot if you think that the 98th percentile on the SAT/ACT is community college material</p>
<p>I wish you all the best! You’re lucky you still get to apply- my school closed off their early january common app counselor deadlines so I’m basically cut off from applying to any other school. I got my first college letter today and it was a flat out rejection. I’m slightly freaking out. I think you’ll be fine, though.</p>
<p>wavylays94, I would ignore howdoudo989, looks like a ■■■■■. If I were you, I would apply to WashU, I think their medical program is good, and you are definitely a match. Try and get some more community service hours if you have time.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>With your credentials, consider the flagship State University for you state. Most are pretty good, and obviously want to retain top residents. Would also save on tuition, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Imagine your perfect school. Now, find a school that meets these criteria, but where your stats are over the 75th percentile in all areas. Makes a good safety school, also, easy to show interest, write essays, since you basically love the school anyway.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I have same SAT as you, better e.c.'s and worse class rank.
Schools I’m looking at that may also interest you are Claremont Mckenna, USC, Emory, URochester, Brandeis, and Davidson. I think of Rochester almost as a safety. Pitzer was another school I considered applying to as an absolute safety. They meet 100% financial need and are in the Claremont Consortium, meaning you will be immersed with extremely bright students daily, despite being in the upper tier of students at your specific school. Look into it if you want.</p>
<p>Sorry didn’t see the SAT scores. I was merely citing that community college is a great deal and shouldn’t be overlooked. With those scores, you should easily be able to get some sort of merit aid from lower tier schools.</p>
<p>Deferrals aren’t rejections. Your other posts show you already have a good safety or two on your list–and all it takes is one.</p>
<p>Which of the four “deferral” schools do you REALLY want to go to? Still Rice, the ED school, or have you reconsidered? Although last year’s numbers don’t necessarily mean much for this year, which had the highest 2011 acceptance rate? Are they all under 25%?</p>
<p>I say go back to one, or maybe two, of the deferral schools. Rather than scratch on the door of someplace where you’ve had NO contact up to now (e.g. WashU, which is excellent but really hot/competitive this year), try to strengthen whatever connection you’ve already started. Contact the ADs about your mid-year grades; send along any updated achievements; at MINIMUM write and explain that they still are your first choice. I love what someone else did (Colgate, maybe?)–visited the school again, had a great one-on-one meeting with a prof, and got the prof to write something on their behalf. Anything to prove to the admissions office that you REALLY want to be there. </p>
<p>That might have been the reason for three of the deferrals–maybe the three EA’s thought (correctly) that they weren’t your first choice. This has been an awful year so far–lots of EA deferrals, most schools looking at significantly higher apps than last year–it’s like a game of chicken, they don’t want to extend offers to kids who will just turn them down. I heard about schools that asked kids to switch from EA to ED, and I think that’s very telling. It could get even worse with RD.</p>
<p>Your excellent stats obviously put you in the ballpark for each of these schools. I think it’s the personal appeal/devotion to school X that will make the difference and get you the acceptance letter.</p>
<p>Best of luck–you’ve worked very hard and you deserve to be happy with your choice.</p>