Med school adcoms do not consider this. @WayOutWestMom
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So the history concerns me but I imagine your counselors wouldnât allow you to do what you are doing if itâs not ok.
I see you asked for some safeties.
Miami Ohio (great merit) and Pitt are both safeties and not huge. UDel too.
For private, a Butler, Elon, Tulsa are all safeties.
A Rochester or Brandeis type might work as low reach (depending on rigor which Iâm still unsure of since you said some standard classes in math, English, Spanish.)
Hope that helps.
IB requires that each student take 6 classes and Theory of Knowledge to be diploma eligible. Typically students take 3 standard level classes and 3 higher level classes. IB allows for students to take 4 HL and 2 SL but you must take at least 2 SL classes. My school discourages the 4 + 2 for most combinations of classes mainly because it makes scheduling more difficult.
My school also does not offer higher level versions of any of the 3 classes I am taking (I could have taken a different class of math or english as an HL but Spanish is strictly an SL).
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If youâre looking for other Top X colleges that you may want to look into, Iâd take a peek at these three which all offer a major in Native American Studies:
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Colgate (NY)
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Dartmouth (NH)
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Stanford (CA)
I narrowed my search by focusing on schools that offer majors in Native American studies. All but San Diego State would be extremely likely admits.
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Augsburg (MN): About 2400 undergrads and there are all the medical resources of Minneapolis for shadowing and clinical experiences
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Minnesota State â Mankato: About 13k undergrads and has a Mayo location in-town clinical experiences
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Portland State (OR): About 18k undergrads. Thereâs a more diverse student population here (including age diversity). Tons of clinical opportunities in Portland. WUE
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San Diego State (CA): About 31k undergrads. Fabulous weather and lots of clinical opportunities.
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U. of Hawaii â Manoa: About 14k undergrads and Honolulu has many options for clinical experiences. WUE
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U. of Montana: About 7200 undergrads and a few different hospitals for clinical experiences. WUE
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U. of New Mexico: About 16k undergrads and has an EMS program with a concentration in International Mountain Medicine that sounds super cool (undergrad program/a site with more picts). WUE and lots of opportunities in Albuquerque for clinical experiences.
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U. of Oklahoma: About 21k undergrads and several health centers in the area, too.
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U. of Wisconsin â Eau Claire: About 10k undergrads. Nearby hospitals for clinical opportunities.
Also, I indicated which schools are a part of WUE which can provide significant tuition savings. Although your family has the means and willingness to pay for your college anywhere in the U.S., it you can save any of that money for med school, that could very much benefit you in the long run.
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How? The student isnât an enrolled tribal member and seems to lack a tribal ID number, so will not have, in your words, ânative statusâ for admissions purposes.
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Again, how will it be a huge plus if this applicant wonât be able to check it on the demographics section of the common app? As this poster already knows, in order to claim Native American as his race/ethnicity on the Common App and other applications, he needs specific documentation that proves his ancestry. As he has mentioned several times, he does not have that documentation.
If this nomination was in middle school (I couldnât find the specifics on your list), you cannot include it.
To your question about medical schools and grade deflation, medical schools do not differentiate between GPAs based on undergrad college. Keeping all else constant including MCAT, an applicant with a 3.85 from UC Boulder is in much better shape for med school admissions than one with a 3.5 from Northwestern. Northwestern might be the right fit for other reasons, but a med school applicant isnât getting a GPA bump because he attended that school.
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So not being Native American - I didnât know or donât know if one proves or how they prove. Until Iâm reading it here, I didnât know it was a thing.
I mean, on most apps that ask demographics, itâs a box check - I mean, how do I prove Iâm hispanic or black, right?
If thereâs a differnet level of requirement to say Native American, I wasnât aware.
Ethnicity, to me, is just that. Whehter or not a person is immersed in a community based on their race or not - doesnât change their race. If someone is hispanic, they are hispanic, even if theyâve never been around another or involved with other hispanic people or even if grew up in a white family (maybe white adoptive parents, etc.).
I wasnât aware being Native American was different and if it is, then yes, that wouldnât work.
In the end, if someone truly is and checks the box, even if they donât put in identifying info or put in a xxxxx #, why is that wrong? I mean, I ask this for purpose of educcation (mine).
Theyâre also going to note in their essay the connection.
Yes, there is a different requirement. If checking Native American on the Common App, the applicant must also provide their Tribal ID number as evidence of tribal enrollment. I thought it was a requirement if checking, but I will go into Common App and test it.
Even if not requirement, it likely wonât be the hook that being an enrolled member would be because the school may not be able to count this admission in their NA numbers because it wonât be coded in that way.
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The best way to understand how a school will view an applicant without tribal enrollment/citizenship is to ask. It will vary by school.
Northwestern has an admissions director who specifically covers Native American/Indigenous student outreach.
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There is currently heightened sensitivity around the issue of Native American status, with the recent news out of Berkeley. Iâd recommend OP do a deep dive on how to present their ethnicity, with input from (tribal affiliated) nonprofit support groups.
The problem with the âlower GPA threshold at Northwesternâ argument is that in addition to med schools not really caring (they want the high GPA more than the Northwestern name), there will be many applicants to med schools from Northwestern who did achieve perfect or near perfect GPAs.
I believe you said you have a double Ivy legacy? Iâd make sure that it has applicability in RD. At least one Ivy has the legacy boost only advertised as applicable for early decision.
Take a peek at Macalester if youâd consider a small school. Also if that appeals to you and you want even more âlikely admissionâ small schools, maybe look at Lawrence and Beloit as well.
Good luck!
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Thats correct. Med schools could care less about prestige. Getting a GPA of 4.0 from State University will be perceived as much better than 3.5 at Northwestern. The MCAT also weighs heavily.
So the smarter strategy would be to go to a college where you can graduate at the top of your class, and get good merit money. Save the extra cash for med school.
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it is a super cool program, both of my daughters did wilderness medicine rotations at UNM. One year they went to Nepal and worked at the base camp at Mt. Everest.
I will also mention that UNM has a fairly large Native American population in its undergrad and has a special AIM (American Indians Into Medicine) program. UNM is the second largest producer of Native American applicants for med school.
Native Americans are considered in-state for medical school admission purposes at UNM SOM.
UNM offers an undergraduate Indigenous Scholars Scholarships for qualifying NA students that offers free tuition for all 4 years of undergrad. Additionally there is the Colorado Reciprocal Scholarship which gives in-state tuition to Colorado residents.
And, yes, @thumper1 is correct, med schools do not âadjustâ or reweigh GPAs just because a student has a âhardâ major or attends a âgrade deflatingâ undergrad.
The MCAT is the great equalizer.
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If you want to be premed, you should take Math A&A SL rather than A&I as itâll prepare you better for Calculus 1 (both classes includes calculus and statistics, but A&A SL actually covers a lot of Cal1, which most premeds will have done, so taking A&I would be detrimental).
You need to have 1 year of World/European history and 1 year of US history to be competitive.
IB Psych HL is very science-based so itâs half science half social science. Itâs very good to prepare for a Psych major but you do need to have the 2 years of history above (in addition to your special seminar).
I wouldnât apply for Biology, but indicate interest in being an Ethnic Studies/Native American Studies &Spanish major with premed intentions. (This typically appears in the CommonApp). If you really want to have another major, indicate Chemistry or Psychology. Too many students apply for Biology.
@tsbna44 : SL is roughly the same level as AP. HL is beyond AP. In addition, TOK is like a rigorous Philosophy&Critical Thinking college seminar.
Iâll be assuming you will apply to Northwestern ED and will apply to CU&its Honors program.
Suggestions:
For safeties: St Olaf - excellent for science and pre-Health advising, well-regarded for foreign language (excellent for study abroad and âexperiential activitiesâ in the language), 3,200 students. You would need to sign up (âjoin our mailing listâ) to âdemonstrate interestâ, opening the emails and clicking on links you find interesting, as itâs all tracked. The âconversationsâ programs would tie really well with your IB background. (This applies for most private colleges).
https://wp.stolaf.edu/spanish/spanish-major/
https://wp.stolaf.edu/race-and-ethnic-studies/
https://wp.stolaf.edu/chembio/
https://wp.stolaf.edu/chemistry/
For a match, what about Brandeis? Personal yet high-research, near Boston, excellent for science.
https://www.brandeis.edu/health-science-society-policy/degrees/index.html
https://www.brandeis.edu/chemistry/undergrad/
https://www.brandeis.edu/academic-services/pre-health-advising/index.html
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The Common Applicationâs question and race and ethnicity lists â American Indian or Alaska Nativeâ as an option, with a sub-question âAre you enrolled in a federally recognized tribe? Yes No If yes, please enter Tribal Enrollment Number _________â.
The way it is presented, it allows for the possibility of applicants who are Native American but are not enrolled, as well as those who are. How colleges handle those who are not enrolled (compared to those who are enrolled) is up to the colleges, and may vary across colleges.
So the OP can honestly indicate being non-enrolled Native American on The Common Application (and probably other college applications). However, for situations where a college or scholarship requires or considers tribal enrollment, the OP would not qualify on the basis of tribal enrollment.
Note that some scholarships and programs allow for a non-enrolled person who is a descendant of an enrolled person to qualify (e.g. UMN Morris AITW). Also, it does not appear that the College Board National Recognition Program for Indigenous students mentions tribal enrollment (Indigenous presumably also includes others like Hawaiian and Chamorro).
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We will know for sure in a month or so if that race/ethnicity question is going away, but that does seems likely by many accounts. If thatâs the case, itâs not going to matter if Native American students have a tribal number or not. Of course they can work their race/ethnicity/tribe into their essays or elsewhere (activities/honors/awards) on the app.
The question may not necessarily go away, but the answer would not be considered in admissions, if what you are expecting is the case. Many colleges that do not consider race/ethnicity in admissions still ask.
True. But the tribal number issue would only come into play if they are in fact considering race in admissions, no? Maybe some schools that say they donât, really areâŠI donât knowâŠis that what you are saying?
No. But nearly every college publishes race/ethnicity counts to NCES and/or its CDS, even those which have long had policies not to consider race/ethnicity in admissions (e.g. California and Florida publics, open admission community colleges), so they must be asking even though they do not consider it.
Tribal enrollment could be construed as a political status that is different from race/ethnicity status (UC does this).
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Some of the âpremedâ track courses at Northwestern are âgrade deflatingâ or as we used to say âweed outâ classes. I echo the sentiment that it is more impactful to med school adcoms to have a high GPA than a prestigious undergrad. My med school classmates came from every random college and university - and their alma maters (even the Harvard grads) were not at all predictive of their class rank in med school or the prestige/selectivity of the specialties and institutions where they matched for residency.
University of Minnesota is big but could be a consideration with strong sciences for premed, many undergrad research opportunities, and a Native American studies dept. I believe Minneapolis (at least at one point) had the largest urban Native American population in the U.S.
And if you are really interested in Native American health, UMN med school has a program specifically for this and is usually the #1 or 2 ranked med school for primary care overall.
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