Need Help... Am I on the right track?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Hey Guys! I posted a thread just a month or so ago, however I updated it and there have been many changes.

I’m a current sophomore in my extremely competitive high school.
Be absolutely BRUTAL in your reply’s. The more I need to work on the better!

State: Illinois
Income: 200k +
Indian

Unweighted GPA: 3.8(9) Will Go Higher in the Future
Weighted GPA: 4.1(9) Aiming for 4.5

PSAT: 1200 Aiming For 1550 On SAT

EC’s
Swimming Team JV (9)
Debate (10)
Sophomore Class Board (10)
Vex Robotics (9, 10)
NHS (10, 11, 12)
FMP (Freshman Mentor Program) (11)

Community Service: Aiming for Leadership and 350+ All Hours documented
Senior Home Care 32+ Hours (10) Aiming for 200 Hours, very consistent time set, and the volunteer manager loves me
Sophomore Class Board 5+ Hours (10) will receive about 50 hours by the end of this year, planning a lot of big events in our school
Library Work 10+ Hours (10) just over the breaks and summer, probably 40 hours by the time I apply
Innerview Community Services 10+ Hours (10) Probably 100+ and very consistent
Leading a Group In Senior Home Care Activities 0+ Hours (10) I lead a bunch of my friends at senior home care activities, probably 75+, just started

Fundraisers:
Give - a - thon (30+ Hours) (10)

Medical Related Activities:
Senior Home Care (30+ Hours)(10) Aiming for 200 as listed above
Physical Therapist Shadowing (2+ Hours)(10) Aiming for 50 hours
Northwestern Medicine Discovery Program (10, 11) Very hard to get into, will be attending for next two years
Some sort of a Medicine Program (11)

Research Studies:
Bio Studies at UChicago (11)
Dr. Rubins Medical Camp (11)

Research Internships: None Yet?
Aiming for a Research Internship at Stanford (11 or 12)

Awards: Need MANY more awards
NHS (10)
Vex Robotics Design and Judges Award (9)
Participated in National Tournament in Robotics and was Team Designer (9)
Merit and Honor Award In Community Service (10)

Personal Notes:

  • Honestly, my GPA is average, and I’m trying to improve it to atleast a 3.85
  • My SAT is pretty weak, I just started prepping a lot. (As of now I’m doing Khan Academy practices)
  • I need more awards, hopefully I’ll get some in the future
  • My EC’s are pretty good, 3 clubs (hopefully will be leader or captain in all 3 by junior year) and 1 sport as a freshman
  • My community service is outstanding (I feel like)
  • I’m attending many Medicine programs so that’s good (especially ones that I’m applying/applied are very hard to get into)

Am I on the right track for my colleges that I have researched? Am I on the right track overall?

Major: BioChem

Far Reaches: Stanford, Cornell, Duke, UChicago (Any I should look into)

Reaches: Tufts, Carnegie Mellon (Any more?)

Matches: Not sure at all (need help lol)

Safeties: UIUC, UIC

BSMD: Case Western, Drexel, Brown, Northwestern, UKMC

I guess that’s it, help needed! Thanks so much!

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the BS/MD programs are HIGHLY competitive, so continue to have an upward grade trend. Freshman year is excusable in most colleges because of transitions and what not. You have a long time to retake tests so focus on your grades primarily. I see you’re involved in a lot of STEM extracurriculars, but try to do more for your community too. You’re on the right track! Update CC with good news in two years! :slight_smile:

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@Aneem00
Basically I should really focus on my grades! Thanks!

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Bump

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UIUC is not a safety for STEM majors, even for Illinois students. While the overall acceptance rate is high, the acceptance rate for some of their STEM departments is as low as some of the Ives. You are on track to have a great application overall (sophomore year is a bit too early to chance anyone), but you need one or two more true safeties.

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Makes sense. Bump?

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I think the main focus should be the ACT or SAT. You need to get a 34 ACT or eq. SAT. or higher. That should be your goal.

We are in IL. My D19 isn’t really considering at UIC or UIUC. She loved Loyola here in IL. We visited Pitt and she loved it. She wants an urban setting. She hated UChicago. Basically she is looking all over. Going to BU next weekend. While we are there visiting Brown.

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@bearsfan21 IMO, your academic stats is fairly typical for an ORM applicant for the reach/+ BS/MD schools on your list. So, you need something, something that defines “You” from the rest of the crowd in the application. I don’t believe more awards matter, but rather, think about what kind of activities you enjoy the most, and you have really dug deep into such? and why? I know more than a few kiddos in the same demographic grp, similar academics and medical/research hours like yours in my practice, and those kiddos who got into BS/MD or the super-reach schools have something else in their resume. One competed in annual local cooking competition to raise money for veterans, and one excelled in mountain climbing and have conquered many well-known peaks by age of 17. Having the amazing stats is one thing, they get you through the initial screens, but at the end, with those super-reaches/BSMD schools, you need something else that truly defines “YOU”. What is your passion? What do you do in your spare time? What activities make you think - wow, the hard work is so worthwhile (and why)? Why do want to study medicine/biochem or whatever…

If you have the 3.8+ uw GPA, 1550+ SAT, 35+ ACT, plenty of medical/research hrs + garden variety of clubs, focus on things that define “YOU”. Time is actually not as abundant as you think if you are a sophomore already. Admissions committee usually can tell the difference if an activity is a late “padding” or a true “passion”. Best of luck. JMHO.

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@Mickey2Dad Thanks so much for your reply!

I’m not sure what to do that truly defines me. I like sports and all and pretty interested in that and a few other activities but colleges could care less about those. For my Northwestern Discovery Program, i wrote a 400 word essay on why health care is the choice for me.

Even so, I’m not sure on what I can do that colleges will take interest in looking at and that’s also worth my time. As a normal Sophomore, I like sports (as mentioned), play games sometimes in the free time and hang out with friends. I do enjoy volunteering, not just for hours, but helping others and doing it with friends. That’s why I’m a leader of a huge group at a senior home care facility.

Thank you very much!

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@bearsfan21 “I do enjoy volunteering, not just for hours, but helping others and doing it with friends. That’s why I’m a leader of a huge group at a senior home care facility.”… even in the short answer you wrote, you already have something that defines “YOU”. Nobody can replicate on the insight, how do you feel, a specific incident etc from the home care facility. The key is what kind of insight do you have? Are they the cookie cutter type - say - wow, it is nice to have served in the facility and how happy I feel when I see “Rosie - the always lonely and grim elderly resident” smiles… or are they the more insightful ones - like a “very personal specific encounter you have with Rosie” and how her stories made you realized the healthcare profession (or caring for others) is your life’s calling etc… these things matter A LOT in the highly competitive schools. Do not assume what makes an admissions committee tick. My own son had a disastrous freshman yr in HS due to a very serious sports injury in 9th grade. Needless to say, his overall GPA was greatly affected by that. But his essays, his recommendations all talked about the challenges and insights during the recovery process, and clearly those were far more important than another 80 SAT points (from 1510) or another 0.2 improvement (from mid 3.6s uw overall GPA) - and he is now a Frosh studying biophysics in one of the top 20 schools (USNWR). Do not manufacture something you don’t really “have a feel”… focus on things that makes you “YOU”. JMHO…

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@Mickey2Dad

That makes a lot of sense! I’ll figure out what insight that I have and make sure to include this on my essays. Thanks! (btw nice job by your son getting in a top 20 school after dealing with an injury)

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@GoldenRock @rk2017

DD scored 770 chemistry and 800 math2
Does she need to retake chemistry to aim 800 to be competitive ?

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@whitecane No.

For any posts related to BS/MD, there are year specific threads in this section. So make future posts there.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/

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@whitecane,

Depends. What percentile does 770 correspond to? also check from their chart what is the score corresponding to mean + standard deviation? How much time does your D have at this time before applying? Is she planning on applying to NW or BU direct med programs? (which may give more importance to the score).
If she is a senior, don’t bother. But if she is a sophomore or junior, why not retry? My D took it as a sophomore and got a 800 first time, so we never had to think much on these lines. GL.

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@GoldenRock

Thank you for response…sure will do that.
@rk2017
She is a senior now and not interested in taking one more time.But she has AP 5 in chem.I just looked at Hpme program website says average sat chemistry is 777.
She has recommendation letter from her chemistry teacher who mentioned her hard work in getting Ap 5 in 9th grade.She brushed up her chemistry skills from 9th grade over summer and took the exam.Hope her Ap 5 score and chem teacher recommendation helps her lower subject score.

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Don’t go by the stats they post on the web sites. They don’t bother to update them in years. Most people applying there may be doing so with 3 800s,but no guarantees on who will get called for interview and who won’t be. They look at so many things these days and with increasing competition year after year.

And yes, Sure a 5 in Chem coupled with the reco can help to some extent and more so if she has a 5 in Bio. Let her not bother taking any tests at this time.

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@rk2017 Just thought I would let you know that those scores are updated–it says clearly on the HPME website “Average Test Scores from 2017-2018 Application Season”