Rejected from pretty much everywhere I applied - 35 ACT, NMF, 1560 SAT

Applying to College
1

To begin, stats, or test scores for that matter, of course aren’t everything.

Basically:

UMiami: Waitlisted (yield protection? Idk but it probably wouldn’t have been financially feasible anyway so oh well)
John Hopkins: Rejected (not too surprising)
Rice: Rejected (not too surprising either although it was my 2nd choice)
USC: Rejected ( :confused: oh well)
Vanderbilt: Rejected (was a bit upset about this one as it was my top choice)
University of Alabama: NMF Scholarship (May be going here)
Tulane: Presidential Scholarship 32k out of 64k (I’m from here - Awesome school and would be happy to go here but that’s still quite costly although I’m waiting on my financial aid award)
LSU: Accepted (but applied to late for scholarships)

My profile:

3.7 Unweighted; 4.3 Weighted; class rank: 40 something out of 110 - I think this was the killer.
In 8th and 9th grade I got pretty much all B’s in mostly non-honors highschool classes. I got a B in Religion (I went to a Catholic school at the time), Beginners band, and all my core classes both years but started to get A’s toward the end of 9th grade and decided to step up and challenge myself for my sophomore year. I moved up to all honors advanced classes and got all A’s as a sophomore. I went to a Private all-boys school at the time which I didn’t like very much and at the same time my dad got laid off out of the oil industry so I switched to a more competitive local public magnet school as a junior - partially for financial reasons and mainly because I wanted to. Although challenging and very different and much less funded than my previous private school, I fell in love with my new environment and I have continued to work hard to pick up the slack from 8th and 9th grade. My old school did not offer AP classes til Junior year so I missed that opportunity. I took APUSH and got a 5 and self studied for Environmental science in 5 days and got a 4 (as a junior). I now am taking AP Calc, AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Euro, and Physics H as a senior and got a all A’s and B in Calc 1st semester.

TLDR (of the above paragraph): Started off highschool poorly in every aspect and picked up the pace, attempting to pick up my slack later. My GPA and class rank were killer but I had hope that colleges would observe the positive trend as many had talked about being an important factor.

EC’s
-Football Tight End/Defensive End (as a senior - was ineligible to play as a junior because I switched schools - red tape rules)
-NHS 11th-12th
-11th-12th
-NSHS 11th-12th
-MAO 10th-12th got numerous awards
-Tutored for all 4 ^
-Key Club: Historian/Board Officer - Coordinated a charity race for neonatal tetanus this year and raised $5,000
-Youtube Gaming/Graphic Design Channel (I included this on my app - had 1,000+ subs and 250k+ views)

Awards:
-National Merit Finalist
-Gordon Wood Historical Thinking Award
-Lots of MAO awards

Essays/Recs:
-My essays I thought were pretty good for all of them (8.5/10?)
-Counselor (prob 9.5/10)
-Teacher (APUSH teacher 10/10 - counselor said it made her cry)
-Teacher (Pre-cal/Calc - I have no idea but I realize now he really doesn’t like me. I heard a story of him writing a really bad letter for someone for a small scholarship and the person got the letter back and it basically trashed the kid. Wish I knew this before. Although it probably was a fine letter)

White Male, Louisiana

Anyway,

Am I upset about it all? Not really. I’m just a lil disappointed. Going into Bio/pre-med and plan to work to get to the top wherever I go. I know the college you go to really doesn’t matter all to greatly but I really would’ve liked to attend one of my dream schools and leave my state/leave the south. It is what is is though - I certainly wasn’t guaranteed spots at any of these schools and they were definitely better applicants; I’ll do good wherever I go. I applied to Stanford and Yale, both of which I had obsessions with at some point in the past year. I’m not at all hopeful for either of course but I am curious to see what those rejection letters will look like. If you’ve made it this far, thank you a ton for reading. This is my first CC post although I read it quite frequently so I apologize for the formatting. Good luck to everyone and congrats to everyone who have been hearing good news.

2

Three admissions means that you did not get rejected pretty much everywhere.

Remember that medical school is expensive, so you want to avoid dragging a lot of undergraduate debt along if you go to medical school.

3

Congrats on your acceptances! You are obviously a hard worker and very bright, as evidenced by your test scores and NMF. Tulane, U of Alabama and LSU are all wonderful schools - you will do very well there no matter which school you choose. I know you are disappointed by the rejections, but focus on the positive - you have some great choices.

4

Keep the positive attitude and strong work ethic you’ve been developing and you can do great. You were denied admission to some incredibly competitive schools and offered admission at some other excellent schools. Go there, embrace the experience, learn from the amazing people around you, be kind and respectful.

5

Yea you guys are absolutely right. I should be grateful for the opportunities I have. Gonna save the money and grind through undergrad and enjoy it. Thanks for the responses. :slight_smile:

6

From how it reads here, your application was competitive at top schools. The only I detraction I can see is your class rank, but an upward trend should have helped that. It pretty much comes down to the fact that you got a bit unlucky, and since your school list was small, that bad luck really hurt in the end (it’s all about shots on goal).

If you’d still like to go out of state/to a dream school, you should consider transfer applications. If you work hard your freshman year and get a good GPA, it will erase any concerns adcoms had about your high school class rank, your ACT will still be somewhat considered so it will give you a boost, so you could have a shot at some very good schools for your sophomore year. At Vanderbilt specifically (since you say it was your top choice), if you can pull a 3.8+ your first semester, I’d say you’re almost a lock for transfer acceptance. You can still do fine no matter which school you go to, so if you decide you’d rather not transfer that’s a completely valid decision. But just because you hit a bit of a stumbling block here doesn’t mean you can’t keep your dream alive, if you really want it.

7

Although this may sound unrealistic, I definitely do plan to work extremely hard next year and plan to get a 4.0. You really think it’d be that likely to get in as a transfer with a 3.8+? I definitely would like to try transfer as an option. How competitive are transfer admissions as compared to RD for some of these schools?

8

If you go into a state school with the drive to work and don’t take a ridiculously hard schedule, you can definitely get a high GPA. I’m not sure about the reputations of your choices, but if you plan on transferring I would probably do some investigating to make sure there isn’t rampant grade deflation. Most state schools would be fine though.

As for competitiveness of transfer vs. RD admissions, it depends on the school. Harvard/Yale/Princeton take somewhere between 0-10, so those are highly competitive. Vanderbilt lets in a fair number of transfers, so I’d say transfer is easier than RD.

Yes, I can’t say for certain since I’m not an adcom, but your chances would be extremely high with a 3.8+, your highschool stats, and some solid recs from college profs. Chances would still be very solid with a 3.7+. If you do like you say and pull a 4.0, I would be really surprised if you didn’t get in (as long as your app is on time, you check the boxes, etc).

9

With a top college GPA, you’d have a decent shot at transferring in to Vandy or USC, IMO.

But I don’t know if they’d be generous with fin aid to transfers.

10

I think the problem is a bad recommendation, bad essay or a combination of the two. One mistake here was not applying to more schools that place high emphasis on test scores and not recommendations/holistic items. A variety of schools like ASU, Oklahoma, etc would have more than welcomed the OP.

11

@Zinhead: That’s possible, but that class rank could have sunk him as well.

And if he likes 'Bama more than ASU/OU, there’s really no need to apply to those places (except to stroke your ego). You can only attend one school, after all.

12

If you are going pre-med, save your money now. Alabama is the place to be.

13

There is some argument to be made for going to state school so you can save money and keep a high GPA as a premed.

However, it really depends on your goals. If you’re just trying to be some sort of doctor, pay as little as possible, and do it as fast as possible, then state school is your best option. If you are interested in MD/PhD or academic medicine/a career in research, the tier of your med school matters - and the high tier med schools tend to recruit from the high tier undergrads. This is due to general prestige factor, combined with the fact that top undergrads give you access to top medical centers, which gives you access to top tier labs and research training opportunities.

I’m also always of the opinion that life isn’t a utilitarian exercise where the goal is to die with maximum money. You can’t take any of it with you. If you have no preference, sure, why not save some coin. But if it’s something that you really care about, that you think will make your life more enjoyable (don’t just do it for the number on US news ranking), why not spend a little extra.

Also Vanderbilt seems to be just as generous to transfers as far as financial aid goes. N=1, but I know someone who was in a similar financial situation to me who was a transfer, (I wasn’t) and we got the same money.

14

Aren’t you eligible for a TOPS scholarship at LSU regardless of when you applied? Also, can’t you get some extra TOPS money for Tulane as well?

15

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Going into Bio/pre-med and plan to work to get to the top wherever I go. I


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Then going to Hopkins, Rice or the others wouldn’t have been a great idea. And for USC?? Omg…never go to a Calif undergrad as an OOS premed.

Vandy, like JHU, can be a total grind as a premed.

Premed will be difficult no matter where you go. Schools weed, and every school has a prof or two that everyone hates…lol.

That said, you’re more likely going to come out on top if you’re a tippy top student amongst the premeds.

<<<
If you are interested in MD/PhD or academic medicine/a career in research, the tier of your med school matters - and the high tier med schools tend to recruit from the high tier undergrads. This is due to general prestige factor, combined with the fact that top undergrads give you access to top medical centers, which gives you access to top tier labs and research training opportunities.


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There are about 40 med schools that have MSTP programs, and they don’t care where you went to undergrad. They care about what you’ve done. anyway, this student mentioned nothing about MD/PhD programs. But if interested, then he can get there from Bama.

Attending any of those 40 med schools whether or not you’re MSTP is a big deal, but really, attending any US med school is a big deal.

Attending one of those 40 med schools with fab research access is a big help with top residencies, but again, he can get there from Bama.

Top med schools recruit everywhere. They purchase lists which contain their desired MCAT ranges, and they recruit from there.

There’s a lot of assumptions about the premed/med school/residency process, and much can be counter-intuitive.

16

LSU’s scholarships aren’t that big anymore with the reliance on TOPS. Unfortunately, TOPS isn’t being fully funded. They do offer $1,000 extra if a parent is an LSU graduate.

It’s not too late to apply to Univ of Arizona if you are interested. With an OOS wavier, it works out to tuition plus $5,000 for NMF. Have to provide you an option other than Bama. :slight_smile:

17

Transferring is not necessarily great for premeds. You’ll want to get yourself established with professors and maybe work in a lab for recommendations, and if you transfer your window of opportunity is a year or possibly two (if you transfer as a junior) shorter.

Make sure to talk to premeds to see if they are happy with the advising and support available to medical school applicants wherever you go.

18

I agree with everyone here, if your set on going to med school after, then I’d recommend a cheaper school that isn’t too competitive. These lesser schools will be easier to retain a high gpa and get into med school after. Imo you should have applied to more schools with programs of guaranteed med school

19

<<<
Although this may sound unrealistic, I definitely do plan to work extremely hard next year and plan to get a 4.0. You really think it’d be that likely to get in as a transfer with a 3.8+? I definitely would like to try transfer as an option. How competitive are transfer admissions as compared to RD for some of these schools?


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Premeds should NOT transfer. Bad idea.

20

It’s correct that one negative of top undergrads is that it is harder to maintain a high GPA. A 4.0 from a state school will be better than a 3.5 from a top school (might be more equivalent at more famous grade-deflating schools like Princeton or MIT).

However, I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of undergraduate prestige in the medical school admissions process, especially at the top tier of research-oriented programs. In this AAMC report, adcoms at med schools ranked selection factors into categories of high, medium, and low importance. If you look at page 12, public medical schools list undergraduate selectivity under low importance. However, private medical schools list it under high importance. There are MSTP programs at state schools, but admissions to these programs functions more like the top research privates because there’s no in state bias/students are NIH funded.

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/7c/fb/7cfb5f43-f9cd-4a5a-bdad-36e735b5844a/mcatstudentselectionguide.pdf#page=12

It’s true that top research-oriented med schools/MSTPs care very about what you’ve done over everything else. However, it seems to be a misrepresentation to say they don’t care where you did it. Also, what you’ve done is heavily related to where you went - if there’s any benefit to attending a top undergrad, it’s most definitely having access to top PIs and labs, although not all students fully take advantage of this.

You can absolutely make it from anywhere, and Alabama certainly sends some kids to top programs. But performing well at a top undergrad will give you an advantage. Also there are your interests to factor in; if you want to do clinical research at Bama for example, it’s harder because the med school is in Birmingham. And it continues down the line. Top residences take people from top medical schools, top fellowships take people from top residences, and from there you can get jobs at top programs or jobs in competitive, saturated areas (the coasts). If you don’t care about academic med this doesn’t matter, but if it’s a goal, these things should be considered.

Also, transferring between freshman/sophomore year isn’t really an issue for premed (between soph/junior would be bad). The only thing you should really be doing as a freshman is learning how to perform in a college environment, getting good grades in your pre-reqs, and maybe getting in a little bit of volunteering/shadowing.

Good labs don’t take students for real positions until sophomore year anyway, since they want to see a GPA to make sure you’re smart. You can get stuff earlier, but it’s more tedious work a monkey could do. And you’ll get better recs from the smaller upper-levels classes in your major where you can show that you have skills other than memorizing text books, so building relationships with gen chem professors and such isn’t important.