<p>Alright, so I posted my stats about a year ago, but I decided to update them and see where I stand, since its now time to fill out college applications.</p>
<p>1st/2nd Pick - Duke/Vanderbilt (too close to call)
3rd - Rice
Others - UNC, Tulane</p>
<p>Wanting to follow a Pre-Med curriculum, not sure in what specific major yet.</p>
<p>I'm currently a white, male heading into Senior year at Scott County High School in Kentucky.
One aspect of this that you must know is that my school does not offer many opportunities at all....only 6-7 AP credits are attainable.</p>
<p>Stats:
-4.0/4.0 Scale
-Rank 1/386
-ACT - 32 (taken 1.5 years ago...+8 week AP class before Oct. 22 date...hoping for a 34-35)
-Most challenging classes offered at school:
*Honors classes 9th, 10th, 11th
*AP US History - Scored 5
*Senior year - AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Span, AP Eng, AP Calc AB, Health Care Core Skills (get CNA license)
-ECs:
*HOSA State Vice President - '05-'06
*HOSA President - '04-'06
*HOSA Parliamentarian - '03-'04
- note: HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) is my largest involvement, as I spend about 10-12 hours weekly due to my positions on local and state levels
*FCA Co-President - '04-'06
*Spanish Club VP - '04-'05 (possibly to '06)
*Founder of Teenage Republicans Chapter (coming in '05-'06 school year)
*Student Council VP - '02-'03
*Community Hospital Volunteer - '05-'06 (approx. 100 hours)
*Rehabilitation Hospital Volunteer - '04-'06 (approx. 50 hours)
*Student Leader in Church Youth Group - '03-'06
*Member of HOSA (3 years), FCA (4 years), Spanish Club (2 years), Beta Club (2 years), Student Council (3 years), Youth Group (3 years)
*School basketball team (9th and 10th grade)
-Awards:
*1st place Extemporaneous Writing at the National HOSA Conference
*2nd place Extemporaneous Writing at Kentucky HOSA Conference (yes, weird that I got 2nd in state but 1st nationally, lol)
*1st place Creative Problem Solving at Kentucky HOSA Conference (last year)
*Algebra II Highest GPA
*Honors Social Studies Highest GPA
*Spanish I Highest GPA
*Kodak Young Leader Award (University of Rochester)
*Various recognitions (National Honor Roll, Who's Who, etc., etc....basically all those type of things)
-Other:
*Participant in National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in Chicago in '04 (10 days)
*Should have excellent letters of rec. and a very good essay</p>
<p>By the way, Junior year I took a college class as an elective from Georgetown College, called Appreciation of Theatre and Film. Got a A in it as well.</p>
<p>Your standardized test scores could improve but is still very good. Do you plan to take the SATI and II? Your EC's and grades are excellent. </p>
<p>So far I'd say you should be good (match) at rice, tulane, and vanderbilt. UNC out of state is a little reach and Duke is a reach for (almost) everyone.</p>
<p>You've got great stats and good chances at all those schools. </p>
<p>On your resume, you need to eliminate your "highest GPA" awards and your "National Honor Roll", "Who's Who" stuff. Don't mention that in your application. The fact that you are valedictorian makes your "highest GPA" awards superflous and makes you look like you're scrounging for stuff to put on there, when, in reality, you've got a lot of stuff you can market as a whole picture. I'm not trying to be harsh, and I may have misunderstood. Just don't put it on your apps. </p>
<p>You've got all the hospital stuff, HOSA, the volunteering, the medical forum. You show definite interest in the medical career. </p>
<p>Why did you only take one AP last year? I'm sure you would have done fine on Bio and you could have shown your score to the college. . . . </p>
<p>Have you taken the SAT yet? </p>
<p>You're definitely a strong applicant, and you've got great ECs. </p>
<p>Word of advice. I wouldn't choose Tulane. I work in a hospital (clerical, teenage job) with Tulane residents. There are a TON of residents who have been through undergrad, med school, and residency at Tulane. They are not the sharpest rocks in the box. They are very "academic" doctors---they do a lot of thinking before they ever actually do anything. The PY-3 surgery residents are NOTORIOUS for their post-op complications. There are at least 5 people who come back to the hospital for post-op pain every week. That's just been my experience with Tulane. I think that both the undergrad and the med school is terribly overpriced for what you get in return. </p>
<p>Just curious, what speciality are you interested in?</p>
<p>ExRunner - Because of the cost of applications and stuff, I don't want to make my parents pay for the SAT and SAT II tests when I prefer the ACT anyways. Besides, I'm not applying for any colleges that require SAT.</p>
<p>Note - Just checked, Rice requires ACT + 3 SAT II's??? Odd...but I guess I'll have to do them then.</p>
<p>EuropeGirl - Thanks for the advice. I knew the Who's Who definitely didn't need to be mentioned, but you do have a point with the GPA awards. Juniors can only take AP US History at my school. As I stated earlier, my school only offers 6-7 APs anyway. I will be graduating with 6 AP classes, which is the toughest schedule available at my school. I'm really not sure what speciality I want to go into yet. It changes monthly, but here are the most recent ones, lol - Cardiologist, Allergist, Radiologist, and my newest interest is in the research occupations instead of practice.</p>
<p>Ah, I see about the APs. That really sucks! That forces kids like you to kill themselves senior year. . . . </p>
<p>Becoming a radiologist or an allergist is a great choice! Very little call, and you'll have a nice lifestyle. Radiologists are expected to be in hot demand until 2015 (wouldn't recommend interventional, though, that gets messy) and allergists enjoy a field that's not that competitive.</p>
<p>Vyse - Haha, thanks for the tip!!! I have a feeling they don't take much consideration into the fact that I love rock music, lol!</p>
<p>EuropeGirl - Why are radiologists only in hot demand until 2015??? Or do you mean by 2015 there will finally be enough of them?</p>
<p>Any more opinions on my chances? Also, new question. Do you think my chances are good enough to apply only to the places I mentioned....or should I still find a couple of safeties???</p>
<p>I would be surprised if you didn't get into at least one of the schools listed, but I'd add UK (or another state school) to your list to be truly safe. Alternatively, you could apply EA if any of the schools offer it.</p>
<p>Ack, no, not UK. I'd rather not go to college, lol. Maybe UofL tho if I had to....</p>
<p>None of the schools I'm applying to have EA, they only have ED. So I'm stuck on whether I want to apply ED to Duke or Vandy. Hard choice right now.</p>