Hey guys im freaking out right now. I am a 17 year old Indian male and am going to be a senior next year and I dont know if I will get into the colleges that i want to go to. My stats are:
GPA UW : 2.95
GPA W: 3.37
ACT: 26
At the end of High School I will have 5 AP classes and 10 honors classes.
AP:
Physics 1
Calc AB
Lang and Comp
Enviromental Science
Human Geography
Comp Sci (dropped after first semester)
Extra curriculars:
varsity tennis for 4 years
member of the math team
member of a top 10 finisher at state science olympiad team
football
volunteer at the local hindu temple
no job experience
plan to start volunteering at my local hospital
I kinda messed up freshman year and the first semester of sophmore and got myself a 2.8 , 3.0, and a 3.2 GPA, but after that I was able to maintain a 3.6 per semester or higher. I plan on doing pre-med in college.
The colleges that I am looking at are:
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Marquette
Loyola Chicago
Purdue
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)
Depaul
Universtiy of Tampa
Nova Southeastern
IUPUI
Please be completely honest with me and give me some feed back on what colleges are realistic for me.
Thank you so much.
Is your home state Illinois?
Link to the admitted 2016 freshman profile for UIUC (scroll down to see ACES, LAS etc):
https://admissions.illinois.edu/Apply/Freshman/profile
You might want to consider retaking ACT on 10 Sept. & What do you plan on majoring in since premed is not an actual degree program?
lol im planning on majoring in biology and going on the pre med track
All are realistic. Narrow down to your top 3-5 and go for it.
The only choice I have knowledge of is IUPUI and it is a direct route through Medical School. Your teachers early on are actually your mentors throughout your medical education. If you make to the Medical School, its a greased skid.
Candidly though, you will need to improve your grades etc to get though. You will get in for sure to undergrad, then you will need to kick butt.
Hey bhai, I think you’ve got a decent shot at IUPUI (avg GPA=3.33, avg ACT=22). You’ve had some tough classes and you are an athlete, and that’s what’s going for you. Although your GPA is an issue, it can be balanced out by your EC’s and essays, etc. I don’t know much about some of these schools on your list, but I think you have solid shots at IUPUI and IUC, but Purdue and UIUC are your toughest choices.
“I plan on doing pre-med in college” Are you in-state to IL?
You will probably get into a few on your list, assuming the same grades/test scores and well-written applications. Some schools will be significantly tougher than others on your list (esp. UIUC and Purdue).
Reach: Marquette, Loyola, Purdue, UIUC
Match: Depaul, UIC, Tampa, Nova SE
IUPUI is probably a safety; could be a low match
You would probably be good for UIC in state or Loyola. Both have amazing pre-med but your GPA is a bit low. Maybe you take summer school or online classes to boost it?
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I plan on doing pre-med in college.
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Then go to a school where YOU will be a strong students and get the best GPA.
What are your parents saying about how much they’ll pay each year?
I have to be honest with you…getting an ACT 26 does not bode well for the MCAT.
My parents are ok with paying up to 40k a year knowing that if I get into a college the scholarships may not be too deep.
A 2.95 UW GPA (even if you reached 3.6 as a junior) makes it HIGHLY unlikely you’ll make it through the first year as a premed whre you’ll have to be top 10-20% in every class.
What academic fields interest you? (premed isn’t a major, you need to major in what you’re the strongest academically.)
If you’re interested in the healthcare field, what about nursing, PA,OT…?
If you don’t make it, what’s your plan B?
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign => won’t happen.
Marquette => high reach
Loyola Chicago => reach
Purdue => won’t happen
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) => match, but not for the BS/MD program and thus not recommended if you’re truly interested in health sciences
Depaul => high match
Universtiy of Tampa => match
Nova Southeastern => match
IUPUI => match
You need to find two safeties.
Lincoln Memorial in Tennessee would be one: they have a DO school and lots of health-related programs. They’re easy to get into, even have an honors program, and aren’t very expensive.
Capital OH would be another one, for the same reasons.
Other possible choices: Eckerd, Flagler , Stetson (since you like Florida); Creighton, Doane, Earlham, Wabash (if a boy) or St Mary’s Indiana (if a girl), SIU Carbondale, SIU Edwardsville, SUNY Cortland, PA’s Slippery Rock.
Always listen to @MYOS1634 . He(?) is the most helpful person on CC.
Are you retaking the ACT? What about trying the SAT? The SAT has a far more generous time allowance. I urge you to do a few practice tests this summer. If you are going to stick with the ACT, time management is critical. For both tests, I recommend you start by doing them untimed to get a sense of how to answer questions, wording, etc… Do it untimed a few times,then take timed tests. A good test score can be enormously helpful in being accepted.
Some colleges do ask if your GPA and test scores reflect your ability to learn. I genuinely think that you work hard and try to do well, but you just dug yourself into a deep hole early on. I would say that if first semester ends before the regular decision deadline for those colleges, I would wait to apply regular desicion. That extra boost in your GPA (assuming you keep getting 3.6+) could make the difference even though you are applying regular decision. If your first semester grades won’t be ready by the time of regular decision deadline, then apply early action so it makes you seem like a more interested applicant. Also, start working on all those essays ASAP. Play your strengths in the essay like sports and your desire to be a doctor. Finally, find a place in your application to state that you are on an upward trend GPA-wise so they know that you are doing better than what is on the application. Good luck!