<p>My child is nowhere near that kind of award – His ECs may be as cookie-cutter as it could be come the application cycle. lol. He only wishes his numbers (GPA and MCAT) can help compensate for his not so stellar ECs. His science/total GPAs so far are relatively high. No MCAT yet. His 5 practice test scores so far appears to be so random (from 33, all the way to 42, according to the super lenient Kaplan’s curve) that it is hard to predict what his real score will be. He is not qualified for Kaplan’s HSG at this moment. (He took 4 of his 5 required practice tests in rapid fire within the last week or two.) He is trying to see if he can make it up to the extent that he could still access their course materials later on.</p>
<p>The family that I referred to sent ALL of their kids to a state school even though their stat/ECs were pretty amazing at the time they graduated from high school. I do not know how many or what medical schools their childs applied to, but the last time I heard about it, both of their children were at an in-state medical school – but it is a private medical school, the ONLY private school they have ever attended for their whole life.</p>
<p>MidWestParent, My kid needs to work very very hard for his grades too. He said that it is not so difficult for him to get an A- more or less consistently, but an A is sometimes hard to get. He probably can manage to be within the top 10% but not the top 5% of his class in terms of science/total GPAs. I heard that there are only about 80-90 science majors who manage to maintain a >3.76 GPA (which may be the top 30% cutoff). The class size is about 1300 only though.</p>
<p>What is the dean list? How competitive is it to be on the list? top 5%?</p>
<p>My child was from a public high school. The only comment he mentioned along this line is about his language class. He studied the same foreign language for 4 years in high school and got good grades (and on AP also.). But he notices that many other kids are so good at the language that those kids are almost like native speakers.</p>
<p>mcat2- If he contacts the Kaplan center they are usually pretty willing to give a 2 week extension of the course materials. If he doesn’t manage to finish then, the fee is like 200 dollars to resign up for a class. Not quite as nice as the HSG, but not as expensive as buying a new course.</p>
<p>mmmcdowe, You are always very helpful. Thanks.</p>
<p>Last time I heard from him, although he had completed the 5 required kaplan practice tests (the other 6 are optional), he still needed to view one lecture video on line. He skipped one class (not a very good student, huh?!) He has not taken any AAMC tests – This is what he is most concerned about.</p>
<p>He thinks he is still not ready for the real test so he plans to continue his study over the next semester (knock! knock! I hope he could manage to make time for this) and take the test after the winter break.</p>
<p>If he trusted the score that Kaplan gives him, he would probably take the real one this month. But he still felt uncomfortable to take it now, because he thinks he missed too many questions on these practice tests. (I think his 4th/5th practice score are 41/39 respectively. So it is not that he did not study at all as he had been improving his score from his 29 diagnostic test score. He just feels that he has not studied enough.)</p>
<p>He thinks highly of Kaplan’s course materials though. He hopes that Kaplan will allow him to access the course material in the next semester (maybe by paying some additional money if needed.) Is it possible at all?</p>
<p>If he fulfills the HSG, he will be given access throughout the duration of the next class. So, he should have access thru the fall semester. I would recommend that he try out 2-3 AAMC exams before he makes his decision, but that’s the nice thing about prepping for the MCAT at this time of the year. You have a year to take it.</p>
<p>OP, I apologize to you that I may have taken advantage this thread to ask questions about something not directly related to your question. But hopefully, some of our discussions here are remotely related to what you would like to know about some differences between a private/prestigious school vs. a public school (some of public ones, esp. their honors programs, are prestigious too.)</p>
<p>I think there are pretty balanced opinions from people with somewhat different past experiences. The bottom line is that, as it is often said, there are multiple roads to Rome. I personally think that there are enough resources at both places. Depending on personal traits and family situation, some people may slightly “fit” better at one place than the other. Also, it is often the case that your own perception may change the whole story. It is surprising that most students will eventually think that their own schools are very good for them (as long as they take advantage of the resources.) Thanks for bringing up this thread.</p>
<p>No problem at all! I do have kinda a follow up question…to a degree it was already answered, but I am one of those people who likes direct answers = D. Currently, my family is kinda divided over going to an ivy (I know it sounds cocky to say that…but I would be surprised if I was shut down from every ivy) or going to a state school like UNL or OU. We are in that upper middle class range where financial aid starts to decrease, so my mom is kinda “anti-ivy” and my dad (after hearing about potential scholarship opportunities that I cannot discuss until sept 16th = D) is starting to push going to a state school. I LOVE princeton and some of those other schools and if my some miracle I got in it would be hard to turn them down. However, if I went to OU, I’d get a full ride and study abroad stipend in addition to a floor on their honors college with other people who potentially got the same scholarship. So, I mean what I am curious to know is if I excelled at OU would top med schools hold the fact that I took the state school against me?</p>
<p>Not if you excelled, no. Similarly, if you did poorly, going to Princeton wouldn’t save you. In the intermediate ranges – especially if you have a low GPA with a high MCAT – I do think it’ll make a difference.</p>
<p>This app season is not over by a long shot OP, but based upon my D’s experience THUS FAR this app season I believe there may be another student that going to a name school “helps”- that kid shooting for a tip-top school with great everything except they are 2-3 MCAT points below the matriculated mean . Doesn’t seem to hurt much (or can at least be compensated for) at the schools below the top ten. There may simply be zero margin for error for an un-hooked kid at those schools. But then again, this app season is not over. Maybe they just don’t pass out interviews to those people till later in the process. </p>
<p>I have had her app reviewed by a friend of a friend (on the adcom at a top 5 med school) and was told quite directly that the combination of high GPA, not tip-top UG, and 3 points less than matriculated mean MCAT was a negative but …he specifically mentioned that had she gone to one of her 2 tip-top schools it wouldn’'t have been a problem.</p>
<p>When my D was deciding between “name” and “fit” (both financial and otherwise) I was worried about this possibility but she was confident that she wouldn’t be points short on the MCAT and took the cash and the very comfortable atmosphere (where she has excelled and had a ball). I’m not ready to say I have this figured out, but since her experience - so far- is on point, thought FWIW I’d share.</p>
<p>i went a state school over upenn. my school isn’t even the flagship. but i am getting paid every month to go to school. hopefully i made the right decision. i’ll see in 2 years when i apply to med school haha. but i am enjoying my time year and it’s close to home.</p>
<p>^ That’s the best advice all the people could use. Quit fretting about which school you’re going to when you haven’t even applied yet, much less when odds are against you that you won’t get it.</p>
<p>If you wanna talk safety schools, go right ahead. But don’t pretend you’re going to waltz into a top school.</p>
<p>With all due respect, I am almost certain I could get into some of the lower ivies. Even if I did get rejected there, I absolutely will get into some schools in the top 20. So, no at its core my problem will not change when I get admitted into some of these schools.</p>
<p>I sincerely hope you get rejected from every school you apply to except your safety with that attitude. A humbling lesson in modesty might do you some good.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to be arrogant…just realistic. The odds are I will get into a top 20 school…sorry if you don’t like that I think that. Additionally, I really didnt appreciate the reponse “wait until you get in and then ask.” How does that help either of us? More so, I might just go to my “safety” school since 1. prestige has little role in medicine apparently and 2. they will pay me to go there.</p>
<p>Ivy League is not the same as any ol’ top 20. Just because you backed down on your whole Ivy League guaranteed confidence doesn’t mean the posters are going to pretend you didn’t say it.</p>
<p>I agree that you should wait until you get in and ask. Trying to decide between Princeton and OU is kind of hard when you haven’t been accepted yet. There is no harm in waiting, unless you lose the scholarship offer before you could hear back from all of your schools that you applied to. Either way, as long as you are happy you will prosper at any school.</p>
<p>Ok a few things. One, I appreciate the civil reply. Secondly, I didnt “step down.” At first I did say that I would be surprised if I was rejected from every ivy school. Then, on post33 I qualified that by saying while I am confident ill get into some ivy, I believe I will absolutely get into a top 20 school. Lastly, I COMPLETELY understand I can’t say “Oh ya I am getting into Princeton.” All of those top schools are completely random with regard to their admissions…I get that. I mentioned Princeton just as an example of a school that I really liked that was prestigious and would cost my family alot of money. I could say the same about Dartmouth, Washu, or Rice.</p>
<p>Many top programs have excellent financial aid. You might find that going to Princeton or another top 20 program is actually reasonably priced. Once again, I encourage you to apply to all schools that interest you and, once you have all the cards on the table, think seriously about which one will supply what is important to you (be it fit, prestige, financial stability, opportunities, location, etc, etc). There are many reasons to go to a top 20 program and many reasons to go to non top 20 programs. I say this as someone who went to a state school but has received Ivy and top 20 acceptances. The trick is to get them and then decide what you feel is the right decision. Your parents have voiced their willingness to financially and emotionally support you in your choice of school. This is a blessing, use it.</p>