<p>But the thing is, woof, it doesn’t seem that you have researched these schools at all–or at least you haven’t spent any time realistically evaluating your chances. And if you want to get into medical school, you are going to have to get used to people being direct with you. Opinions are not only “actually helpful” when you agree with them.</p>
<p>@sally305 What do you mean? The only reason those responses were good and helpful were because they were actually specific and they HELPED. Instead of criticizing my research or my thought process they told me what I needed to change in my list, which if you remember, was my original question. :)</p>
<p>Here are the schools from your list that I think you have a realistic shot at based on your GPA and test scores:
Rutgers
Penn State
Njit
Suny
Of the schools I didn’t list, I think you should pick 3-4 (try to make them lower reaches, like Northeastern instead of Princeton) to add to that list of 4 and move on. I was able to narrow down your list simply by looking up the Common Data Sets and Freshman Class Profiles for those schools and looking specifically at average GPAs. I think that is how you should start working on your list.</p>
<p>We are ALL trying to help you. Read the thread again. By post #6 you were getting defensive for no reason. And this after you said all opinions were welcome.</p>
<p>I know it’s hard to read “tone” in cyberspace but please know that most of the adults here genuinely want to help kids like you avoid a lot of disappointment next spring. There’s a lot of good advice here if you are willing to accept it with an open mind.</p>
<p>@430ktk @sally305 Good to know guys, thank you. :)</p>
<p>strengths: 2140, good school, 3 APs coming year, 3 APs already, volunteering, school leadership
weaknesses: GPA, no evidence that the SAT is not a fluke (SATII scores, ACT, letters of rec, etc.)</p>
<p>If we plug in your 2140 we get a lot of schools that look like the ones on your list. However, there is one, probably two, problem(s). Your GPA is not in line with their average GPA for admitted students. In addition, at these schools your ECs will not wow them, and the AOs at these schools are often wowed by their applicants.</p>
<p>So I suggest we look at schools like Scripps, Occidental, ColoradoC, Miami, New College of Florida, UIllinois, Wesleyan, Tulane, Colby, Brandeis, Northeastern, UMN-TC, Davidson, Kenyon, Bucknell, Bryn Mawr, URichmond, WhitmanC that are on the edge within this “Top 70.” Then we remove any colleges in this list that accepts less than 30% of their applicants. These are your “reaches” until such time that there’s more evidence the 2140 isn’t a fluke.</p>
<p>Then we could drop your SAT to an imaginary 1940 that more closely approaches your GPA at a good school. Take a look at this list of schools:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.collegesimply.com/guides/1890-on-the-sat/#.U_1XMkvs4pE”>http://www.collegesimply.com/guides/1890-on-the-sat/#.U_1XMkvs4pE</a></p>
<p>Forget about the GPA in the right column; it’s not helpful. Look for schools on this list where your 1940 falls close to the middle of the SAT 25th and SAT 75th columns. (The way this works is that the closer your “1890” is to [or above] the SAT 75th, the better your chances of acceptance.) These “middle” schools are your “matches.”</p>
<p>I’m hoping that my algorithm will raise some protests from CC members (that you haven’t already angered L-) ). I’m hoping that they can suggest changes to the algorithm that make more sense to them. I personally think it is a conservative approach. </p>
<p>Jkeil911 has a good list of some matches and safeties for you. We might be able to suggest some more based on answers to the following questions:</p>
<p>Are you looking for a rural or urban school?
Big or small?
LAC or research uni?
Any geographic or climate preferences?
And most importantly:
Do you have any financial constraints? </p>
<p>Here are the schools on your list that I think you have a shot at</p>
<p>Rutgers
Penn State
Gw
Villanova
Northeastern
Njit
Case Western
Oxford college at emory
Nyu
Boston university
Stevens
Universit of Illionis Urbana Champaign
Suny</p>
<p>Let’s go through them
Rutgers - definitely apply
Penn State - expensive OOS, little to no financial aid forthcoming - ditch
GW - reach, might give aid
Villanova - reach, some aid, probably not enough
Northeastern - reach, little to no aid
NJIT - definitely apply
Case Western - interesting choice. I actually think that you will get in and this might be affordable. They provide a lot of merit aid, which is really a discount to their list price.
Oxford college at Emory - good choice, I am more positive toward this than some people
NYU - fuhgeddaboudit - Horrible horrible aid. They like money - your money.
Boston University - probably insufficient aid, similar to NYU
Stevens - definitely apply, you might get some aid, not sure though
UIUC - expensive OOS - same deal as Penn State - ditch
SUNY - excellent choice, not too bad OOS, though not sure why you’d go there instead of Rutgers</p>
<p>So to trim your list down I have
Rutgers
NJIT
Case Western
Oxford College at Emory
Stevens
SUNY</p>
<p>You might add GW and Nova if you want, but you might drop them. The chances are slim of you attending, either from an admissions or financial perspective. </p>
<p>I’d definitely add College of NJ. </p>
<p>Other schools to consider
Ursinus, they have a remarkable pre-med record, not sure how generous, but it might work
Lawrence University - generous with aid
University of Rochester - probably a reach, but generous with aid
Mt Holyoke - great aid, great school, your SAT might carry the day
Smith - same deal as Holyoke, but a little more competitive
Bryn Mawr - working up the food chain, probably a reach, but full need</p>
<p>I’ve reviewed these schools on our competitive HS’s Naviance and think they are reasonable choices given your stats. </p>
<p>@jkeil911 Thank you so much!</p>
<p>@ButterFreeSnd Urban school, big, not sure (anyone care to explain?!), nope, and well I/m planning to go to med school so… :)</p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad Thank you soooooooo much haha that was extremely helpful :)</p>