Need answers to LOTS of quetions, please!

Applying to College
1

<p>Alright, so the deadline for many colleges, (Priority Deadline), is coming up, and I still have many choices to make, needless to say I also have many questions out there for you guys. Lets start out with the basics:</p>

<p>My list of colleges is quite large, and has around 10-15 choices as of now. Obviously, I'll be shortening it soon, but some advice from you guys would greatly be appreciated.</p>

<p>I'm looking into major'ing/advancing in things closely-related to law, forensic sciences, and med. I know two of those are different from each other in many ways, but if you could give me a list of majors, etc that can relate to that, it would be appreciated. Just a few would be good, and I can figure out whether or not I should add it to my list of things I'll be going for in college. Let me know if those colleges are actually good at things such as law/forensics/med, I've researched most and they've turned out to be good, but more info from you guys wouldn't hurt. :p</p>

<p>Secondly, I haven't had the chance take courses like many of you. My school doesn't offer AP Classes, and my EC's is literally empty, because I do go to small-new school. However, the school has gotten an "A" in the list of High Schools, and that's counting schools such as Stuvystent, and the specialized high schools found in New York. My GPA will be around 90-91 or so, and my SAT scores aren't that great either, my highest being 1,100 out of 1,600 so far, with one last time to re-take it. My question for this comes here; For colleges such as Boston University/College, you are REQUIRED to take two SAT II's, and they have a "Regular application deadline: 01-JAN ". So does this basically mean I've demolished my chances at getting in? I haven't taken any Subject Tests yet, then again I can always register for the ones on January 25th, but will that be too late? The same goes for schools such as Rutgers/Penn State/etc. They have a "Priority Date" of December 1st, but I'm taking the SAT Reasoning Test again on the 25th of December, so what happens with that? Will I be able to send it out in time?</p>

<p>Thirdly, on CollegeBoard, there are three categories for admission to certain colleges; "Very important admission factors", "Important admission factors", and "Considered". Would factors listed in "Considered" have a really big impact on the decision? I know for a lot of my colleges, things I lack in such as EC's are "Considered", so that's good. Is that how it's looked at?</p>

<p>Basically, my list of colleges is as follows;
Penn State (University Park)
Rutgers (New Brunswick)
U.Conn.
SUNY Stony Brook
SUNY Binghamton
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Albany
University of Maryland
George Washington University
University of Pittsburgh
UNC- Chapel Hill
University of Rochester
Syracuse University
Lehigh University</p>

<p>Yes, it's a long list, but I'll end up cutting a few out :p. So yea, I know the actual post was long itself, so I'll summarize it into a few questions for those who didn't read everything lol. :p</p>

<p><em>Also</em>-I know I should really post a seperate "Chane-Me" type of topic, but if any of you could give me an idea of whether or not my chances look good for some of those colleges would be great. My SAT scores range in the 1,100's for the two sections, and my GPA will be around 90-91%. My school doesn't offer AP Classes, <em>HOWEVER</em> the hardest/only tough class given is Calculus, which I'am taking and have gotten an A in for the first marking period. My essays will be really good, along with the recommendations turning out to be good too. I'am in the Honor Society, and that's considered an EC for my school, and the only other EC I'll have is one club, along with volunteer hours at the library which will count for something else.</p>

<p>-So does this basically mean I've demolished my chances at getting into Boston University/Boston College? I haven't taken any Subject Tests yet, then again I can always register for the ones on January 25th, but will that be too late?
-The same goes for schools such as Rutgers/Penn State/etc. They have a "Priority Date" of December 1st, but I'm taking the SAT Reasoning Test again on the 25th of December, so what happens with that? Will I be able to send it out in time?
-Would factors listed in "Considered" have a really big impact on the decision? I know for a lot of my colleges, things I lack in such as EC's are "Considered", so that's good. Is that how it's looked at?</p>

<p>I know it's a really long post lol, but I just didn't want to make a seperate topic for each, sorry. I'll think of more questions as I go along, and thanks for all the help in advance!</p>

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<ol>
<li>Law and med are pretty far apart; are you driven by the incentive to make $ in the future? Law (history, economics, literature, poli sci, basically anything) Med (Preferably science based, most popular, Biology, Bioengineering, Chemistry, etc)</li>
<li>Obviously if you do not send SAT II to a SAT II required school; you will not get in. You SHOULD ask them if they accept the test date you are taking the tests, despite it being later than the application deadline. Once again, ask your schools if they accept your Dec SAT I after you have submitted your application.</li>
<li>Considered is obviously less important than "very important or important." If you have EC; it will help; if you don't, it won't hurt you much. The schools you posted at not yet on the level of ivy where they place emphasis on the whole student, but it is not to say that they ignore EC.</li>
</ol>

<p>There are many reach school here due to your relatively low SAT; if their 25th percentile is 1200 and you only have 1100, your chances are quite low (especially if you are out of state)</p>

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<p>I'm not sure that you're aware of this, so I'll make it clear. Boston University and Boston College are two completely different schools, completely independent of each other. Boston College is significantly harder to get into, and it's way smaller.</p>

4

<p>Yea, I know that lol :p, I just decided to write them out the way I did.</p>

5

<p>Bumped :$. I need more responses, please.</p>

6

<p>Your gpa is good but sat's are low for BC. I would give you a reach for BC and BU.</p>

7

<p>Your sat's are probably too low for BC. I would give you a reach for BC and BU. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Any idea on other schools within the area of New York/Jersey good at Law, or even some type of science, such as forensic sciences?</p>

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<p>Penn State (University Park) - eehh maybe, if you were instate prob good
Rutgers (New Brunswick) - i dont know much about
U.Conn. - dk much about here
SUNY Stony Brook - slight reach
SUNY Binghamton - slight reach
SUNY Buffalo - fit
SUNY Albany -fit
University of Maryland - fit
George Washington University - fit
University of Pittsburgh - slight reach
UNC- Chapel Hill - no chance
University of Rochester - strong reach
Syracuse University - fit
Lehigh University - reach</p>

<p>Major in whatever you like, it doesnt matter for law school or med school, just take the pre-reqs for med school if you decide that path</p>

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<p>Does Penn State- University Park look at whether or not you're in-state/out of-state to the point it looks THAT bad for me?</p>

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<p>Wait a minute, you're going to be an undergrad, right? So a school good in law and medicine is irrelevant to you, right? Those are graduate-level programs. You won't be taking any classes in medicine and law.</p>

<p>What you'll want is a school that's good in some verbally intense areas that require a lot of reasoning, like English, history, philosophy, and the like. That's good for law. For medicine, you'll need to take certain required and/or recommended courses for med school, and do well in them. Most large school offer all those courses.</p>

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<p>If you're in NYC, check out John Jay College. Cheap & good at law/forensicsy types of things.</p>

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<p>Check out Ursinus outside Philadelphia and don't be put off by the name or if you've never heard of it. It could be right for you. I'm pretty sure they waive the fee if you apply on-line before December 15th for regular admission.</p>

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<p>I know Albright College which is also right outside of Philadelphia will get you automatically into Penn State's Medical School if you get your SAT's to 1250 and maintain a 3.5 GPA. If you want to study medicine. Ursinus is a very good school too.</p>

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<p>Any thoughts on chances getting into Rutgers? Or just thoughts on how their programs are in general?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
U.Conn. - dk much about here

[/quote]
</p>

<p>As a Connecticut student, I can tell you that UConn is an excellent school and many people love it (I'm not applying there, but only because I don't want to be surrounded by people I went to high school with--as I said, it's a great school, and the highest-ranked New England public school in U.S. News, I believe). It's harder to get in out-of-state, though, and it accepts 51% of its applicants -- not Harvard, but not a cakewalk, either. Your stats fit in well, though, so try and find out all you can about it.</p>

<p>In fact, that's probably good advice for everywhere that you're applying to. The best way to narrow schools down is to think about what's important to you. Try to figure out what the student body is like (Liberal? Conservative? Artsy? Filled with jocks? Partiers? Studiers?). Think about the location, the food, everything.</p>

<p>My cousin goes to Rutgers and he seems to enjoy it, but I don't know anything about the school otherwise.</p>

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<p>UConn is a great school but it is in a very rural area, with the University making up the complete social life. This is distinctly different from say, George Washington University.<br>
The OP really needs to narrow down some things: urban? rural? large school? small school? geographical area?</p>

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<p>Thanks :P. I noticed I still have a lot of time for U Conn., so that's a good thing. :)</p>