Junior in need of Match Schools and EC advice?!?!

College Search & Selection
1

I have been trying to compose a college list for a while now, but I have only been able to come up with a bunch of reach/my-parents-want-me-to-apply-here colleges. I was wondering if anyone could make suggestions on schools I should consider.

My App:
SAT:1500
ACT:34 → might take again
Haven’t taken SAT II - planning on Chemistry and Math II
GPA: 4.0UW and 4.5something Weighted
Rank: 11/52 ← I was forced to take some online course that was non-honors in an all honors school during freshman year because I was ahead of everyone. Totally screwed me over. Hoping to make it up through other parts of my application.

Some stuff about me:
Asian/Indian (Born in US)
Female
Lived in India for 5-6 years
Currently live in North Carolina
Fam income will definitely not qualify me for any scholarships however my parents are willing to pay as long as I get somewhere good

Interest: Medicine/LOVE Chemistry/Business

School: I go to an early college school that basically makes you take all the courses (as honors) you need to graduate and then we take courses at UNCW. We had to apply to get in (50-60 per class), so everyone is smart I guess??
College Course Load so far: Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Intermediate Spanish, General Chem 1, General Chem 2, English 101, Special Finance Course

EC:
A bunch of out-of-school medical programs
Starting a medical club w/ my friend
Started a non-profit (did this because he had to do something we were passionate about for our graduation project and I basically pack medical kits and response cards and provide to rural/low-income communities. I have made 15 so far, planning on more. Should I or should I not include this? I don’t want colleges to think I’m just doing stuff to do stuff, this is something I really cared about and loved doing) - I raised the money through grant writing and fundraising (each kits costs 50-70 dollars))
Science fair(won some stuff)
Science olympiad(won some stuff)
Couple of service clubs (WEE, Interact, etc)- fundraising
Fbla(won some stuff, went to national - hoping to go this year too)
Did some med camps over the summer
I did research over the summer (around 30hr each week)
I am doing research at a uncw lab this year (whole year- 6hr a week)
250+hr volunteering at the hospital
Nothing like huge- I’m not sure what I should do to strengthen my application ( I applied to GPSA which is a program that takes you either out of the country or a different state and we learn and provide healthcare for people in rural communities- its not really a “prestigious camp” as in free application and competitive admission but it is something I truly love and want to do in the future )

I have minor leadership in some clubs and am starting the medical club with my friend - I am hoping to conduct a blood drive through the club because it is something we think would be a huge community involvement by our school as we as a school never do anything for our community.

Things I am looking for in a university/college:

  • My main priority is somewhere that will allow me to get good clinical experience opportunities and has good resources for premed
    -I don’t care about the weather as long as it isn’t too hot/humid
  • Size of the campus is something I literally do not care about. As long as I can learn something and the campus isn’t like so huge that there are 300 kids in chemistry, I am fine
  • Financial: like I said before my parents said they want me to go to a good college despite the price.
  • I want a place with a nice library

My List so far:
Reach: Columbia, UPenn, Harvard/Yale(my parents want one of these on there lol), Duke, Northwestern, John Hopkins
Match: Emory, UNC- Chapell Hill, NEED HELP HERE
Safety: NC-State

2

Since students of Indian heritage are ORM in the reach schools, it’s a good thing you’re seeking out match schools. You will get college credit for the courses at Uncw, correct? Will most transfer to UNC or NC State? If so, you can start college with actual credits, as med schools do not accept AP science credits.

I see a lot of my friends and relatives kids in the Indian community essentially check off the same list of medical related ECs for reach undergrad schools and for med schools. Some get in. Some don’t. Many have abandoned the med school quest altogether. If you’re passionate about medicine, try to get some hands on experience, like getting training to work with a rescue squad, or something along those lines. With the extra credits you have, you may be able to take a lighter load freshmen year of college and have time to make these activities a more integral part of your background. And you will be dealing with actual people of varying backgrounds.

You have two great option in your state with UNC Chapel Hill and NC State. Emory is possibly a match only if you do ED. For high stats kids, sadly, there are lots of reaches and lots of safeties. If you are willing to consider liberal arts colleges, you may be able to find more matches, academically. You will need to decide whether their social life aspects is a fit for you.

3

I agree UNC CH is a great option. What about Wake Forest University, Vanderbilt(might be a reach), USC CA,
Case Western Reserve, University of Washington. Good Luck!

4

Look at U of Missouri BA-MD program as it saves time and money in becoming a doctor. Its located in Kansas City Missouri, hard to get into this program.
http://med.umkc.edu/bamd/

In Missouri, you are not an overrepresented minority either.

Focus on schools in urban areas so you can get clinical experiences, and schools that offer a high rate of acceptance into medical school.

Add U of Rochester in upstate NY, and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio, which is located next to Cleveland Clinic.

U of Rochester offers a fifth year of undergrad education FREE OF CHARGE for premedical students who want to study for MCAT and take more academics to beef up their application. You can volunteer and work in the medical school in Rochester as well.

While its in a small college town, Ithaca NY,
Cornell University has a binding ED program, making it much easier than Harvard or Penn for admissions, and 76% of their premedical students got into medical school in 2016,
which is quite high. Cornell’s medical campus is down in NYC 4 hours away, but Cornell premed advising is excellent.

Look into larger public programs in urban areas–

U of Maryland in College Park, Ohio State, GaTech is in the heart of Atlanta,
loves premeds and offers lots of work with Emory,
may be easier for admission than Emory but not easy, but for a science major much easier than computer science or engineering as they need more science students.

5

U of Washington Seattle is one of the best public programs in terms of research and primary care, so undergrads benefit from this strength. Look carefully at public programs as well as cities with lots of clinical medical options. Philadelphia area school that are not Penn, maybe, but I am not coming up with one in Philadelphia right now thats a fit.

Vanderbilt weeds out a lot of premeds.

Also, O.D. programs are really undersubscribed and lead to the same residencies as MD programs.
Look carefully at OD programs which you may be able to get admitted to with a much lower MCAT score, if
needed.

No one has to give up on medicine if they understand the system, which is lower ranked schools still lead to a medical degree and a job as a doctor.

6

Sorry that should say D.O. programs.
https://www.aacom.org/become-a-doctor/us-coms

Also New York State has physician assistant programs that you apply to from high school, and go straight away to medical school.
http://www.nysspa.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=147581&module_id=230962

I think it pays off to understand the medical field options better,its no longer just MD programs, D.O and PA should be considered and understood.

The route of four years of undergrad and then four years of medical school and then residency is starting to get outmoded and changing, much to the AMA’s chagrin, and its a good idea to understand the trends in DO medicine and PA medicine now, and think about how many years you want to go to school, and how much debt you want to incur.

7

UVA and UGA for match schools

8

You’ve gotten some good recommendations…I would also consider some of the PA schools - Lehigh, Bucknell, Pitt. Case Western would be a match too.

9

As stated before on a different pre-med thread, be very wary considering DO programs as they, and the Caribbean med schools, are the losers when it comes to getting residencies. For more info see the pre-med forum on this site.

Otherwise, for undergrad there are oodles of options that can work well since finances aren’t a concern and you’re open to several campus types. Since you have a safety, you’re set. You have a nice list.

I agree with previous suggestions like U Rochester (especially if you like research) & Case Western if you want to add more. Both schools tend to focus quite a bit on science. Pitt could be another safety if you want one of those with a lot of medical opportunities right around campus.

10

Regarding DO, read posts #119 and #120 on this thread for more information. I don’t want to sidetrack this whole thread, but those thinking about med school should be aware of what’s going on with the various options, especially when it’s implied that the options are more similar than they are. Both are options, but are likely to lead to different outcomes. Whether DO will work depends upon what one is looking for as an end result.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/2083706-2018-19-medical-school-applicants-and-their-parents.html#latest