<p>I'm a Junior in an honors science program at my school. It basically means I've been taking advanced science and math courses since freshman year.</p>
<p>According to my transcript, my GPA is a 97.3 and I am in my school's top 10%.</p>
<p>I took my first SAT on Jan. 26th and I'm expecting anywhere from 1900 to 2100. </p>
<p>8th Grade:</p>
<p>-Honors Integrated Algebra
-Honors Spanish</p>
<p>Freshman Year:</p>
<p>-Honors Chemistry
-Honors Living Environment (Biology)
-Honors Geometry
-Honors Global History I
-Honors Spanish II
-Honors English</p>
<p>Sophomore Year:</p>
<p>-Honors Physics
-Honors Science Research
-Honors Algebra
-Honors Trig
-Honors Global History II
-Honors Spanish III
-Honors English
-College Marketing
-My elective was Council For Unity</p>
<p>Junior Year (this year):</p>
<p>-AP Biology
-AP US History
-Honors Pre Calc
-Honors English
-Honors Health (Required)
-Core Art/Core Music (Required)</p>
<p>-NHS
-President of Global Outreach Club
-Council for Unity
-SING (all 3 years)
-Passport Club
-Student Organization</p>
<p>I plan to get great recommendations (including one from a NYC congresswoman).</p>
<p>I live in New York, so SUNY schools would be awesome. I'm also interested in New England and Pennsylvania. I'd like a school with a great science/pre-med program.</p>
<p>Binghamton is definitely one of my top choices and so is Northeastern.</p>
<p>Just looking for some other school recommendations from you guys! Thanks a bunch! It really means a lot.</p>
<p>What else are you looking for in a school? There are several smaller LAC’s that would have good pre-med programs. Some schools may offer merit aid to students with good grades and high scores.</p>
<p>Premed and science majors are the most important to me. Also a good social life would be nice. The main reason I’m turned off by Stony Brook is that I heard a lot of students are commuters so when weekend comes, it turns dead.</p>
<p>Almost every college has a science and pre-med track- so this opens the door to a number of possibilities. Large universities have access to research, but they also have very large classes for introductory classes. Smaller colleges can be more personal, and can arrange internship and research experiences for individual students. There are many threads about pre-med topics on CC.
If finances are a consideration, some schools award merit aid that can make them more affordable. Certainly apply to the schools that you have so far. U Pittsburgh awards merit aid and has pre-med opportunities. Socially, most colleges have more than enough for everyone, but yes, you are correct about commuter colleges. Some schools have larger Jewish populations than others- and organizations such as Hillel if this is a consideration. (I saw your other thread about the Rabbi) Do you need access to Kosher food? For a pre-med, saving money is a consideration because of the cost of medical school. This can influence what you choose, but a private school with good financial aid may cost less than public. Since you don’t know this up front, include your state public schools in your application list and compare the costs after FA is awarded. This comparison is not possible if you apply to any schools by binding early decision.
Since pre-med is possible at almost any school, other factors such as the personal fit, other interests, and finances become important here, so it is hard to make suggestions. There are a lot of schools to choose from so it is important for you to visit them and see how you feel when you do.</p>
<p>I am Jewish but I don’t keep kosher. I’m more interested in a diverse environment ethnicity-wise. New York has so many great schools that it almost seems like there’s no point in paying so much for schools in different states.</p>
<p>Many people who have good in-state schools don’t look elsewhere. There is nothing wrong with only looking at your state if that’s what you wish to do. Apply to a few schools where you are likely to get admitted, along with your reach schools, (if you have any) so that you maximize your chances of getting admitted to college in general. If you see some other schools that, with financial aid, might be of interest, you can add them to your list.</p>
<p>about the only preference you have expressed is a non-commuter school. You say you can “adapt” to any location. I often recommend HS students visits schools of various types so they can get a first-hand sense of what it would be like to be a student there, but maybe that’s not relevant to you.</p>
<p>In that case, unless your parents are wealthy, then your primary focus should be on cost. If you end up going to med school then its best to enter with as little debt as possible.</p>
<p>And as far as premed itself goes, looking for a “good” program is not really a strong hurdle; most schools have a solid program, the variability usually is the advising support from skilled advising to “on your own”. As Amherst says in its excellent premed guide (take 30 minutes to read thru it)
As</a> a junior, I suggest you try to get exposure this summer thru either a job or volunteer work to a hospital or other health-care setting. If it turns out being a doctor isn’t right for you, better to find out now than 3 years down the road. If it is right, you’ll build motivation and also start building a track record of exposure to the field that med schools look for. You’ll also get a chance to see other careers in the medical field that don’t require 11-15 years of school/training after HS to enter. Spend a moment and think about what it means to be 29 at the earliest before you start on your career.</p>