<p>I agree fully with your last paragraph. I know many, many doctors who were successful coming from small schools, that would not have made it in a large university or a tough premed program. Some of them bombed out of such places freshman year and did magnificently later at such schools. My UG school had a gauntlet of sorts for the premeds. Many very smart kids just did not make the mark that could, would have in a gentler climate. I saw some of the premed programs in some of the smaller schools where the effort was made to get as many of those kids into med school instead of the Darwinian approach the bigger universities have, and the success rates, given the calibre of the kids in the program are terrific. Their numbers are more clear cut because they actually have a premed program designation. Unless someone is very well qualified having had tough AP type science courses and/or high test scores/grades, the best chance for getting into med school is going to these gems. College That Change Lives features many such schools.</p>
<p>You can always go "top school" for your Graduate years. I don't have a list of colleges or anything like that for you. My advice, make good grades, and get into a program that you will enjoy, so what if it's not a "top school."</p>
<p>I don't know what kind of extra effort there is to apply to "top" schools. Many use the common app these days. You should be putting your best foot forward for all of your apps, in my opinion. Nothing wrong with having some reach schools on your list and giving it a try if you have some that you like. It should not just be because they are reach schools, however. If you like some schools, and they are highly selective, that's fine. Just make sure you have a varied, realistic list with some safety features in there.</p>
<p>I will only be applying to five schools next year</p>
<p>Ohio State University-Columbus
Rutgers-New Brunswick
Texas A&M-College Station
UConn
Penn State-University Park</p>
<p>I will not be pre med. Ivies and almost all the top 50's are too competitive for me. I think even now I have a great shot at Ohio State. Can anyone comment on that? Am I not applying to enough schools?</p>
<p>Are you from Ohio? Wasn't sure. But my neighbor just took an "official" tour of OSU and was told point blank that the school was going to adhere strictly to certain admissions standards in most cases with GPA, ACT, etc.. I'll have to double-check with her but I think they said 27 ACT and 3.5 or 3.6 GPA...! And that is especially if you are from Ohio. Not that you can't apply without those, but they were told they wouldn't be given much attention (unless you play football!! ha ha). </p>
<p>My neighbor said a couple of kids actually started crying because they were so direct about it, basically telling them "don't bother" if they didn't meet those standards. </p>
<p>There is a lot of controversy in Ohio about how OSU is using those stats, with most people figuring that it is simply to weed out Ohio kids to get more money from OOS students (Ohio is in a bad financial bind, as always but worse than ever). It's made many people angry and is talked about a lot on local talk radio and such. I'm applying as are many of my friends, who all fall well within the "requirements", but none of us has much hope of getting in without knowing someone or some relation - of the only two from my area who got in this year, one has a parent who works for the OSU system and the other's uncle is a very well-known Ohio congressman. Afraid I don't have any connections except for being a born-and-bred Buckeye, which doesn't mean anything there anymore.</p>
<p>Hmm. Well even though I have screwed up I think I can pull a 3.6 and that ACT score with probably even a better SAT score. My best friends mom went there and she is a huge buckeye fan and visits there at least four times a year and is still really involved, she doesn't work there though so I guess that doesn't really mean anything. They accept a good amount of people though I am surprised you said it was kind of hard to get in :/ because she said I had a pretty good shot. I have three uncles who went there if that helps at all. What are they looking for?</p>
<p>Besides that I am taking two AP classes, all honors next semester (I have College prep this semester and was in regular class the passed two years). All honors and AP next year, taking all my tests this year, PSAT next month, SAT this year, next year in spring, ACT next year and some subject tests. I volunteer at a hospital. Summer is open next year to build up my app.</p>
<p>If I can pull all of this off do you think I have a shot? I mean besides the ACT score and GPA which I am perfectly capable of.</p>
<p>I'm not from Ohio either. Lol why? Is it harder to get in from being from Ohio? 75% are from ohio, the last 25% are OOS. I'm in New Jersey.</p>
<p>bump thread</p>
<p>Absolutely. Try harder, you can get into a top school. I was in your position, but managed to do well Jr and Sr years and got into a few top 50 schools. I did have a 1500+ SAT score though.</p>
<p>BUMP THREAD. So what do you think?</p>
<p>Don't put too much into the idea that you have to "know someone" to get into Ohio State. There are some aspects of that post which are accurate, the increasing stringency of Ohio State's admissions have been controversial. They, however, have the full blessing of the Governor, the state legislature, the Ohio business community and the major newspapers' editorial boards (except of course the Toledo Blade which loathes anything about Columbus), so they're not going to change.</p>
<p>And Ohio State is being very blunt with prospective applicants about their chances to get in. Unfortunately, this is somewhat of a necessity as many Ohioans' attitudes are still influenced by the period in the 60s and 70s when Ohio State was forced by a populist, anti-intellectual Governor to have very lax admissions standards as well as the non-stop negative recruiting by The Other State Universities who are constantly trying to tell people that there's really no difference between themselves and The Ohio State University--rankings, admissions standards, multi-billion dollar endowments, and nationally renowned faculty be damned ;).</p>
<p>One thing that is inaccurate is the idea of having to "know someone." Given the p.r. disaster that would ensue, Ohio State has been absolutely adamant about no admissions preferences for alumni or donors. In fact, I know for a fact that in the last several years, the kids of more than a couple state legislators have been rejected for admission.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have had NO honors for freshman and sophomore years (goodbye Ivies).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not necessarily, ace the SAT and you could be Ivy-bound.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to imply that you necessarily must "know" someone, such as with Boston U; however, these two people are the ones in our area (with several top-notch public schools and stellar students) who got in. Just a fact, and it makes people suspicious. I'm aware of the attitudes from past decades, my parents told me about how much things have changed, although they wouldn't agree about the other state schools - they think a few have really improved and are getting much improved reputations and encouraged me, for instance, to look at them.</p>
<p>Fair or not, OSU is starting to get a reputation here for making themselves "falsely selective", as someone we know who works there called it - not more selective by improving the academics even more (which are obviously already good) but by super-selectively weeding out Ohio kids who are well over the qualifications. I think with the higher tuitions in Ohio and the financial issues here, it's just fostering a lot of resentment from kids here who have excellent GPA, scores, courses, and stellar ECs and achievements but can't afford an "equal" OOS school.</p>
<p>I am working my butt off to go to Notre Dame, Coast Guard or Naval Academy, and I get really good grades, pretty good EC's, but I want to be in the military and then become a social worker and you don't need to go to a great college to become those.</p>
<p>I don't think that Ohio State is choosing to unfairly "weed out" Ohio kids. They still have one of the lower OOS enrollments among Big Ten schools. Also, they've made several strong initiatives to ensure socio-economic diversity in their freshmen classes that are aimed solely at Ohioans (i.e. the Land Grant Scholarships and Young Scholars Program).</p>
<p>The reality is that Ohio State is getting 24K applications a year for 6000 spots in its freshmen class. Inevitably, that is going to result in there not being a spot for some kids who undoubtedly would do well were they admitted.</p>
<p>Also, if the taxpayers and parents of Ohio have a problem with any public university regarding the OOS enrollment issue it should be Miami of Ohio. Their OOS enrollment is pushing 40%, and because they can no longer compete with Ohio State for the top in-state kids have focused almost all of their recruiting efforts out of state. Miami of Ohio is the university which is turning its back on the state and taxpayers which own and support it.</p>
<p>I'd say it's worth it. You'll never know if you don't try. I took my first AP class junior year, and it was only one AP, compared to many who take 5 junior year. Also, my only significant EC was tennis, and I wasn't even good. JV sophomore and junior year; I only made varsity senior year.</p>
<p>However, despite all this, I'm at a top 10 school according to the US News list.</p>
<p>You should worry less about your EC's and more about your self-defeating attitude. Plenty of kids with your stats from mediocre public schools make it into top fifty schools by getting great grades and great test scores their junior year. Writing a book is an excellent EC. Continue working on it. Contrary to popular opinion, it does not have to published in order to be considered a good use of your time while in high school. Get straight A's this year and good SAT's and you will get into a lot of schools. Take a college class over the summer and that will boost your GPA (colleges will likely include it when they recalculate your gpa) further. Your high school sends out a profile to the schools you apply to explaining what they offer, what the average sat's and gpa's are, how many AP's people take, etc. You do not have to compete against the whole world... you have to excel at your school by taking advantage of the opportunities available there. You are only a junior so if you want to start an EC activity, go ahead. Yeah, you probably will not be going IVY, but you can get into good schools. Good luck this year.</p>
<p>I think that is true about Miami, too. I've only gotten one thing from that school while others have gone crazy with stuff. </p>
<p>My parents graduated in the 80's and said nobody bothered to apply there except for the local country-club kids - literally - who were practically expected by their parents to go there. They have encouraged me NOT to look there, lol! Said I definitely would not fit, and I agree.</p>
<p>oh Joe, all I have to say is "sigh." c u Monday.</p>
<p>I get exactly what you're talking about. Although, my situation is kind of the opposite, and it puts me in an even worse situation. I have strong stats (excellent ECs) but a low GPA just because I spent so much time on extracurriculars during sophomore year that I ended up with almost all Bs. Anyways, try looking into colleges such as Tulane, etc. that have great potential but are not the ivies. </p>
<p>You're in a better spot than you think you are. If you're thinking about top colleges, maybe try Princeton? I think they are more oriented toward strong GPA than ECs.</p>