Need help- Don't exactly know where I want to go

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
1

<p>here are my (now updated) stats</p>

<p>SAT: 2250 (might retake)
CR: 760
M: 690 (will this hurt me?)
W: 800, 11 Essay</p>

<p>SAT IIs: None taken, but I will be taking Math II, Chemistry, and Writing. (expecting 800s on them all)</p>

<p>APs: none taken so far, i am a junior now and I'm going to be taking 5 tests at the end of the year (US history, Chem, Bio, Art History, Stats)</p>

<p>U/W GPA: 3.8
W: 4.3</p>

<p>ACT: 33</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>-Cross Country JV for 2 years</p>

<p>-Boy Scout for 6 years (participated in a number of service project totaling 100+ hours)</p>

<p>-expecting Eagle Scout before I apply next year</p>

<p>-Worked for Dad's office for 2 years or more (my Dad's a doctor)</p>

<p>-Doing a senior project that involves hospital work starting next school year</p>

<p>-Played piano for 8 years</p>

<p>-Attended Harvard Summer School 2008, took a General Chemistry Class (got an A)</p>

<p>Recs: Strong recs from my AP chem teacher and my Harvard professors (chem)</p>

<p>-Planning to attend HSS 2009 to take organic chemistry</p>

<p>-Got accepted to the STARS (Students and Teachers as Research Scientists) program</p>

<p>Essays: will be good</p>

<p>So, the point of this whole thread is: Am I competitive? please be brutally honest. Where do I belong? Do I stand a chance at Northwestern HPME, or Brown BA/MD prog? UPenn BA/MD?</p>

<p>I would really appreciate input...I need help here guys</p>

2

<p>OP, You may apply to the HPME and PLME. From prior exp, I noticed that chances are low at PLME for SAT scores <2300. UPenn does not have BA/MD program.</p>

<p>I would keep some sure target schools in addition to the reach schools you mention above.
Math >= 700 is desirable for these programs.</p>

3

<p>690 to 700: Not much difference. I would just expand medical chances, then apply everywhere (not literally)</p>

4

<p>You need to work on your math score a little more, which is a lot easier to do then verbal. It's funny you're Indian, so you should be great at math. Just kidding. No but seriously, if you practice as much as you can for math, you'll hit it out of the park. Excellent Verbal and Writing - which are usually the harder sections for most people.</p>

5

<p>actually, math is my best section.
i was expecting it to be my highest...weird, huh?
i guess i just messed up.
i usually do the best on my math section when i do practice tests</p>

6

<p>your a junior atm, retake it!</p>

7

<p>pharmagal</p>

<p>where did you get your info from about Brown's PLME being a long shot for anyone with anything below 2300</p>

<p>according to their website...the average score is ~ 2190ish</p>

<p>"Students offered admission to the PLME for fall 2007 achieved an average score of 723 Critical Reading, 738 Mathematics, and 727 Writing on the SAT Reasoning Test."
Brown</a> Program in Liberal Medical Education</p>

8

<p>same thing happened to me with the SAT indianfoo. im alot better at math than verbal. got a 2250 on the actual thing with a 700 on math lol.</p>

9

<p>You're a junior!! You dope take it again!! lol. You have all year also to bulk up on extracurriculars and go for officer positions. What I would do also is go to combined BA/MD and BS/MD programs and get a copy of the application so you know what you will be filling out this time next year and can get ahead on essays.</p>

10

<p>Bicycleklick, Check out Brown's Archives of matriculants or acceptances. You will see how many students with 2200 SATs got accepted in the past.</p>

11

<p>Also, bear in mind that if you are of African American or Hispanic origin, the acceptance criteria for SATs and in general is not the same as expectations from other applicants. So, the 2190 they quote on their website may be from a Hispanic or AA student.</p>

<p>By and large, the bar is set very high for South Indian Americans (which the OP is)</p>

12

<p>My D. had very similar stats (her ACT=33, GPA = 4.0uw, top of her class). She applied to few bc/md, the most competitive was Case's PPSP. She applied to PPSP because of huge merit scholarships that Case is known to award. She was rejected from PPSP before interview despite of getting huge merit scholarship and great interest from Case's Varsity swim coach. She got couple other rejections. She made it to 3 programs at state schools. She is a sophmore at one of them. This was 2 years ago, she did not apply to any that you mentioned because they are way too competitive. This is just FYI for comparison. You should just apply and see what happen. However, I also strongly advise to apply to other less competitive bs/md programs.</p>