premed and honors?

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>given that GPA is really important for med school, would going to the honor's college be a smart thing to do, or would it be better to go to the normal college?</p>

<p>the way I see it, here are the pros and cons:</p>

<p>Regular:
+Not as smart students = higher GPA
-Bigger classes = worse LORs (but you can still get close to profs probably if you try right?)
-Might have worse research options (thats just speculation though)</p>

<p>Honors:
+Smaller classes = better prof interaction = better LORs.
+required to write a thesis = better research oppurtunities.
+Enjoy the small community feel inside a huge school.
-More competitive = worse GPA</p>

<p>So what would you do in my shoes? I've heard, however, that sometimes honors programs are easier because the classes aren't graded on curves, so does Oregon do that as well?</p>

<p>Oh, and do I have any shot at financial aid (I'm instate btw):</p>

<p>demographics:
*I am an Asian Indian Male
*From a competitive public high school in Oregon: Beaverton High School, which was also rated the best AP school in Oregon, so yeah, its a smart school. (On top of that, our graduating class is rumored to be the best class of all time, so yeah, its tough but not necessarily super private school level)
*student body at school = 500+</p>

<p>The Numbers/ECs
*ACT Composite 30 (8/12 on essay) (DANG IT!!!)</p>

<p>-English 30 (Usage/Mechanics 15 Rhetorical Skills 16)
-Science 24 (ouch)
-Reading 31 (Social Studies/Science 17 Arts/Literature 15)
-Mathematics 34
(Pre-Algebra/Elementary Algebra 18
Int.Algebra/Coord.Geometry 16 (ouch)
Plane Geometry/Trigonometry 18)</p>

<p>*Freshman year:
Language Arts (Honors): A/A
Social Studies 9: A/A
Advanced Algebra 2: A/A
Bio/Chem/Phys 10 (Honors): A/A
SAT Math Prep: A
SAT Verbal Prep:A
Spanish 1:A/A
Team Sports:A
Health 1:A
Web Design:A
Computer Programming:A</p>

<p>*Sophomore Year:
AP Chem: B/A
Lit Comp 10 (Honors): A/A
Physics 2: A/A
Pre-Calc: A/B
Social Studies 10 :B/A
Spanish 2:A/A
Symphonic Band: A/A
Team Sports: A
Health 2: A</p>

<p>*Junior Year
Human Anatomy: A/A
IB Biology: A/A
Spanish 3: A/A
IB Calculus: A/A
IB Psychology: A/B
Team Sports: A
IB Seminar: P
IB English: A/ A
IB TOK 1: A</p>

<p>*Senior Year Anticipated Courseload If I get my choices:
IB Physics SL
IB TOK 2
IB Biology HL 2
IB English HL 2
IB Math HL 2 (Calc 2 basically)
IB Spanish SL
AP Statistics
Biotech/Economics (not the same course...the slash indicates I'll take one or the other for 1 semester)</p>

<p>In summary: I currently have a 3.913 UW GPA, and 4.152 W GPA. UW class rank = 31/520 and W = 17/520.</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
*NHS (2 years)
*OHSU Dental exploring program
*Doing research on anti-viral medications.
*Will probably volunteer at a hospital and then OHSU during the summer.
*Varsity tennis 4 years (possibly captain next season).
*Science Team 4 years.
*World Quest Trivia 4 years
*Portland Youth Philharmonic Organization (2 years)
*Mathfest Participant 4 years
*Oregon Museum of Science and Industry Rising Star Program (will have 150-175 volunteer hours done)
*Mathcounts Tutor (about 50+ volunteer hours)
*Model UN (1 year)
*maybe DECA next year</p>

<p>Awards/Honors/Leadership:
*Possibly tennis team captain
*Science Club Treasurer (1 year)
*Science Club VP (2 years)
*Math Club (4 years) (VP 2 years)
*IB Diploma Candidate
*6th Place at World Quest out of 32 10th grade
*Mathfest Algebra 2 1st place freshman year
*Oregon Invitational of Mathematics Tournament Participant Fresh Year</p>

<p>If you want to get a good scholarship to UO, doing Model UN can land you with a nice 1000 per annum scholarship</p>