I lack EC's...chance me anyway

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>-Male from the public school wasteland known as Arizona.
-Looking to major in Bioengineering though med school is my goal</p>

<p>GPA u/w: 3.83
GPA weighted: 4.5
Rank: 7/800</p>

<p>-SAT I: 2180 (740 M, 730 R, 710 W)
-Taking the SAT II in October, lots of studying to do...</p>

<p>AP:</p>

<p>-Human Geography (4)
-English (Predicting 5)
-Upcoming: Calc AB, Gov/Econ, Physics, English Lit</p>

<p>-I lack significant EC's simply because I was never into joining the clubs at school. Didn't get accepted into NHS.
-I do have 150 hours as a volunteer at the hospital and will soon start volunteering at a health clinic for the underprivileged. The clinic is in a really bad area and I have friends who worked there and they tell me they see A LOT of things there. My passion is medicine and I'll include experiences from the clinic in my essays...hopefully that makes colleges look past my lack of experience in school clubs. </p>

<p>What are my chances at:</p>

<p>JHU
WashU
U Penn
UC-Berkeley
UCLA
Georgetown
Brown
Georgia Tech</p>

<p>My safety is Arizona State. </p>

<p>Don't be afraid to tell me the harsh truth! I won't be terribly disappointed if I'm forced to go to ASU.</p>

2

<p>you've got a shot at some of the highest schools like UCLA and UC Berkeley, but your essays need to be stellar and you need to have some hook that sets you apart from other similar candidates. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>you have a shot at all, should be in at GT. Talk up your experiences at the hospital and the health clinic in your essay</p>

4

<p>I agree - you have a great shot...your stats are great, but maybe you could do something over the summer to improve your chances?</p>

5

<p>You guys have given me looooots of confidence, thanks for the comments.</p>

<p>dashboard - my main plan for the summer is to volunteer at the health clinic I wrote about. I know kids who have worked there and they ended up going to stellar schools. For example, I know a guy who did his undergrad at ASU and he got accepted to Harvard med school. Granted, his grades and MCAT were terrific, but he wrote about the clinic in his essays and I'm banking on my essays having a similar effect.</p>

<p>Other than that...I can't think of anything else to do. I do know some doctors and I may get a chance to shadow one. Other than that, what do you suggest?</p>

6

<p>Georgia Tech will be a breeze. I guess yeah, you have good shots at both of the UC's. The rest I don't know...good thing though, they say your grades/rankings/scores are more important than extracurriculars...you should be fine.</p>

7

<p>ECs are over rated IMO. I'd try to get math and CR over the 1500 market for a better shot at your top schools.</p>

8

<p>Yes, that is very true. When everyone has them, they can't differentiate. They don't have the effect they used to. Its basically the same thing as having a good GPA. You need decent ECs just to show you aren't a study/video game addicted loser, just like you need a good GPA to show you are smart. But there isn't much difference beyond that.</p>

<p>Essentially, ECs are more of a necessity (to the decent extent) than a way to differentiate yourself.</p>

<p>As for the thread, volunteering at the medical clinic for significant (i.e. 500+) hours this summer will make you look passionate about one thing, as well as meeting the "decent EC" requirement I stated above.</p>