<p>Hi, there! Just looking for advice.</p>
<p>I'm currently a sophomore at a small Jewish private school in the Midwest. My school isn't very competitive, offers no AP classes, and I am taking the only two honors classes available (I have an A in both). However, since it's a religious school, it has a dual curriculum, which means I am in school from 8:30 - 5:30, and that severely limits extracurricular or volunteer work.</p>
<p>My cumulative GPA (both in Hebrew and English subjects) is approximately a 3.9. </p>
<p>Last school year:
• Around sixty hours of "petty" volunteer work (e.g., tutoring, old age home, local synagogue)
• Acted in school play (small comedic role_
• Had a couple of essays published in my school newsletter
• Won some awards (twice semi-finalist, once finalist, once third place)
• Awarded last year for the largest accumulation of volunteer hours in my grade
• Recognized for completing two categories of an academic school-wide challenge</p>
<p>Last summer:
• Attended a small, very exclusive creative arts camp that only accepts around 50 girls per year
• Went to Denmark with my family for a month</p>
<p>This school year:
• Won first place in an online writing contest
• Reached the semi-finals of an international math competition for teenage girls
• Acted in school play (medium-sized comedic role)
• Worked with the costumes and scenery committees for at least 70 hours
• Set up a nonprofit organization that provides books to low-class middle and elementary school students
• Co-started a school newsletter for the students
• Written a play that will hopefully be performed in twelfth grade at my school</p>
<p>This summer:
• Will be visiting Israel for a couple of weeks
• Either attending a summer school that focuses on medicine or shadowing a neurological surgery researcher</p>
<p>Next summer, I have plans in place that will help me to intern at a hospital in New York. I'm going to continue submitting contest entries and hopefully head the newspaper and non-profit for the next two years. In twelfth grade, my play will most likely be performed, and I am crossing my fingers to be drama head that year as well. Junior year I will act in my school play and also I have been told that I will be assisting with artwork for our school convention's sceneries. As for languages I know, I am rather fluent in Hebrew and I'm learning Latin with Rosetta Stone right now (and obviously, I know English). </p>
<p>So, other than that, completely lost. I'm extremely interested in the medical field - specifically forensic pathology, or any pathology, really. My school doesn't have a college counselor, my father applied to college thirty years ago when "everything was different," and my mother's not from the United States originally, so she's not especially well-versed in the admissions processes here. I haven't taken the PSAT or SAT or ACT, but I have taken some practice tests online, and I scored a 100% on the English section and I also did pretty well on math and excellently in science.</p>
<p>What I'd like to know:</p>
<p>• Realistically, what colleges (in the Midwest and the east coast) can I expect to be accepted to? Which do you advise me to apply to?</p>
<p>• How can I strengthen my extracurriculars and volunteer work?</p>
<p>• Is there anything you can tell me about the application process that will help me?</p>
<p>• Is there anything you can tell me about premed that will help me?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help (or just for reading)! I appreciate your time.</p>