Im pretty sure i can get into JMU with my 1300( =1950), 29 ACT, and 3.9 GPA I have tons of hooks and EC (ie. started my counts first American Red Cross youth chapter, 1500+ hours of comm service, county awards for EMS, school awards, all the honor societies. But do you think JMU is too low for me…i was also thinking about GW, thats my dream school id love to go there
<p>i assume you would get into both.</p>
<p>Yeah, you'd probably get into both. How are your grades and rank? Where do you live?</p>
<p>JMU is just as good as GW. Personally, I like JMU more.</p>
<p>What do you want to major in and where do you want to go to college? Now that's the real question. You are an easy in at JMU.</p>
<p>idk wut my rank is...my HS is really competative, its like among the top ranked in NYS so prob not too good with a 3.9 GPA. But i get A's mostly...im gonna be finishing HS with prob 9 AP's. Tough courseload, never a break or free period...never lunch, or band or anything like that, always academic classes...not slowin down next year either</p>
<p>wanna do pre-med and i know GW is better for it, but im liking JMU too...any suggestions on other schools?</p>
<p>American U, William and Mary, UVA, Georgetown, Mary Washington...</p>
<p>ahah i have NO chance at georgetown or UVA...ive been told my grades arent high enuf plus im from NY...u agree</p>
<p>Sry, I assumed u were from VA.... You could try, but IMO you need more of a 1400+ for W&M and UVA and GT. You could def get into AMerican and Mary Washington--probably with a scholarship. Try Virginia Tech too...</p>
<p>I didn't know JMU offers Pre-Med.</p>
<p>its not part of there academic programs but you can be pre-med anywhere really, as long as they offer all the pre-req sciences u need...but yea because they really arent known for pre-med im leanings towards GW. Open for suggestions tho.</p>
<p>You have worked hard in High School and taken a strong course load that shows initiative. Your ECs look solid. I know in-state students denied entrance to JMU with higher SATs but lesser grades than yours. Grades and test scores need to match. Here is my best advice. Go ahead and look for great schools that you like where you might be a top quartile or at least above the mean student. Don't forget to be realistic about whether or not you are likely to get merit or financial need aid at each place so your list is a list of schools you could realistically fund if admitted. (GW is very expensive as is living in DC..so make sure you would get financial aide if needed). You didn't mention if you had AP scores in the 4-5 range to throw into your profile. You didn't mention SATII scores. Those scores really strengthen your hand and if you do a prep book you might find yourself in a stronger position come January first. Don't give up yet on improving your 1300ish SAT equivalent...can you pace yourself better or learn to find answers better? 1300 will certainly get you into some very good schools and proves you are college ready, but it is not too late to increase your score some in the October sitting and you have the summer to do some Real SATs at home with a timer and pen and paper. Just make all practice exams real and you might surprise yourself. Make Vocab cards. Make the effort.<br>
Colleges that have good school spirit and classroom size and records of getting students ready for Grad School that would seriously look at you include Dickinson and Bucknell in Pennsylvania. Franklin and Marshall in Pennsylvania comes to mind. University of Delaware, honors is a great campus. I know kids like you who were admitted to University of Georgia this May, which is in a great college town. You ought to give some of the best small schools in the midwest a look. Keep your mind open if you are highly motivated. Maryland's honor college is St. Mary's and it is isolated but also has a strong student body with about your SAT score...small classes and good support for grad school, on the water for sailing. Mary Washington feels like a private school and has many kids from Long Island and thereabouts and is eager for strong male students in their quest to be fifty fifty re gender...I really like Fredericksburg. Wake Forest is a bit of a reach but not that big of a reach for a guy as well-balanced as you, and they do a great job with grad school preparation. Again...take a look at money issues realistically. University of Richmond has many kids from Middle Atlantic states and your profile would mean they would give you a good look. Furman is more Southern but would like your profile and they do a great job with grad school prep, small labs, great faculty mentoring. But your essays have to shine. Do you have an EC that would contribute to a campus community? If you are thinking premed, ask yourself if you can manage the requirements best in small or large labs and classrooms...
anyway...get a couple of books like Harvard Schmarvard and take a good look at top schools that are not the same ones flooded with applicants. Many other schools have excellent teachers eager to teach kids who want to achieve. Get out there and read up and visit this summer and make appointments to visit actual classes at your favorites this fall.<br>
best wishes to you!</p>
<p>think i have good chances at JMU...my AP scores r coming in july...physics was crazy hard but AP US History im looking at a 4</p>
<p>I am not discouraging you at all re JMU although they do sometimes turn down kids who make less than As and Bs on report cards with very nice SAT scores...and Northern Virginia high schools are generally very good so they do get strong applicants because UVa and Wm and Mary take so many students from out of state and can't take all Virginia's best students. I only suggest that spring of your junior year should be a time to cast your net wider...include a reach school or two and a couple more match schools...as it is hard to predict what your state residence in NY will do to your admission chances and it is hard to predict admissions. You might try an application at a good school that is underrepresented by NYers for instance. Your test scores might earn honors admissions or merit aide at some schools. If you are serious about premed, perhaps you ought to look at smaller private schools that have good track records with medical school admissions. I wouldn't get too focused on the first school you feel comfortable with no matter which school it is-keep your mind open. I do have friends with kids at JMU and my sister is a graduate. If you want to hear more feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>JMU isnt my first choice tho for that reason...it isnt known for Pre-med, ive been looking at GW, BU, and UCONN, UMASS those last 2 r most safetys...what do u think of my chances at those</p>
<p>well, I am ignorant of the schools you mention and mainly answered because I am familiar with JMU and was a bit mystified about your focus on it. GW can be a fun location school but there are some issues regarding lack of campus cohesion and sense of community. Also some of their Profs have exciting jobs in our nation's capitol which can be great for lectures but also can mean that they are sort of "suitcase" mentality staffers with compelling interests off-campus. I personally am prejudiced toward smaller classrooms and smaller labs and cohesive campuses for undergraduate educatioin for pre-med preparation and for learning in general, but I know some kids thrive in large schools. For that reason, I think you might also look at Pennsylvania schools where you would be about the mean or near the top quartile. You need a strong peer group and access to teachers to really max out these years and learn the most possible in my opinion. UMASS has an honors college but you will have to rely on better informed parents than me for comments on BU, UCONN ...my thoughts would be from Fiske or internet sources only.</p>
<p>Please look at JMU's website. It lists the class of 2004 profile. Look at the average GPA and especially the average SAT's. This guy is so into JMU. JMU would snatch him up, even out of state. I'm from Southern Virginia, people getting in JMU from my high school with a 3.2 and 1080...................come on.</p>
<p>I stated that I thought he was in JMU if his grades matched his scores but I actually know waitlisted and rejected kids with similar and better strong test scores (but other inconsistencies) who expected admission but were surprised/disappointed this year. I also know great kids with similar profiles who got in JMU in general but were refused music major or education degree tracks because JMU is very strong in teacher production and music education and they can fill these programs selectively...two historically strong programs from when the school was founded as women's teacher college...and the music programs are demanding and stronger than UVa's and Wm and Mary's. My point was that with his good scores and matching grades and eyes on med school, he might also be competitive in many other schools he has not mentioned yet and should check out. There are many other schools with good premed tracks that would also accept him.</p>
<p>Go with JMU if that's the school you really want. Truthfully though, you are an easy, easy, easy in at a school like JMU. No question JMU is considered a good school from Virginia standards, but still not in the leage of UVA and William and Mary with respect to selectivity. It's down there below Tech and University of Mary Washington. Just a big, well-known fun school, that's pretty easy to get in if you are an average high school student. Which by the way, your grades, EC's and SAT scores indicate that you are above average in at least the Virginia arena. You are in the position to find the school you really want to attend. Keep your grades up and take the SAT's again. Good Luck.</p>