Stanford and Ivy League Schools?!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey!
I am just another girl from the Bay Area! I’m not sure if I should find a school with a BA/MD program, but if not, I would like to major in Biology and minor in something like Psychology/Communications with an emphasis on Pre-Med.

Schools I’m looking at:
(Reaches) Stanford, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Princeton
(Matches?): UCLA, USC
Note: I probably will not apply early to any of these schools because of time constraints, but if I were, which school would be the best choice?

Unweighted GPA: 3.94
Class Rank: 10/692

AP Courses taken:
9th: Environmental Science (5-Self study)
10th: Calculus AB (5), World History (4), Psychology (5- Self study)
11th: Biology (5), Calculus BC (5), US History (5), Literature & Comp (4)
12th: Spanish, Chemistry, Statistics, Language & Comp, Physics II (Self study)

SAT: 2340 (1 sitting) (CR:740, M: 800, W: 800 Essay: 12)
Subject Tests: Biology: 800, Math II: 800, US History: 770

Extracurriculars: (Position) — I love my clubs!!
Key Club: 9th-12th; 10th (Activities Coordinator), 11th (Vice President), 12th (President!)
Interact Club: 9th-12th; 11th (Secretary), 12th (Vice President)
Red Cross Club: 9th-12th; 10th (Treasurer), 11th (President), 12th (President)
National Honors Society: 10th-12th; 11th (Secretary), 12th (Secretary)
Class Of 2016 Officer: 9th (Public Relations), 10th (Public Relations), 11th (VP), 12th (Public Relations)
Volleyball Team: 9th-11th; 11th: Team Captain until I injured myself :frowning:

Hospital Volunteer: 10th-12th: 5 hours/week. So far I have over 300 hours, and I now have the ability to recruit/interview new volunteers.

Summer Programs:
2014: COSMOS science camp at UC San Diego
2015: UCLA Internship: Research on Cancer

Recommendation Letters:

  1. (Teacher) AP Biology teacher: 10/10
  2. (Teacher)AP Calculus AB/BC teacher: Hopefully 10/10
  3. (Other) Hospital Volunteer Manager: Should be great, 9/10
  4. (Counselor): My counselor doesn’t really know me, so 7/10

Please chance me, I really appreciate your time!

2

I really think that you should apply early to at least one of these schools. It will show your interest and you will have a higher chance of acceptance.
UCLA USC in my opinion are not matches for anyone, they are extremely selective, even though you are a competitive applicant for them. You should add another two schools in case

3

As I’m sure you know, you’re applying from the most competitive area in the country. Your grades and test scores are all great and so are your HS activities. Do you have any achievements that are on the state and national level? (I am assuming you are a National AP Scholar.) You are competitive for Stanford and the Ivies but it’s impossible to know if you have the “wow” factor that will make you stand out from the crowd. Good luck with everything!

4

As @Falcon1 notes, your grades and scores will make you competitive. That only goes so far.

You have the beginning of a coherent “narrative” in terms of your biomedical interests, and a lot of your ECs fall under that interest: Red Cross Club, hospital volunteering, UCLA internship, COSMOS science camp. Beyond that you have some generic clubs with some leadership and public affairs/communications emphasis, plus volleyball. The good news is that your ECs don’t seem all over the place; the bad is that they won’t necessarily stand out. You will have to focus in your essays to create a compelling narrative around your medical interests.

How do you see your psychology/communications interest relating to your basic medical interest? That could be an interesting connection to explore.

It’s hard to “recommend” a school for you. I think that Duke is worth looking at seriously, given their biomedical resources and service/engagement emphasis. They have a school of public policy, and they have a policy journalism track (and certificate program) which might connect nicely for you. You can also design your own curriculum (Program II) integrating different elements. Duke only has ED, not EA, so you’d have to be fairly certain before going that route, but I’d at least take a hard look at it.

5

Because you are in the state of California, you have access to multiple excellent state schools. That said, there are some schools in the Midwest that are excellent in the things you wish to study, in case you are interested in experiencing four seasons and different geography and culture:

Michigan - High match/match
Wisconsin - Match/low match
Minnesota - Match/low match

You are probably going to get into at least one of your reach schools, but there are no guarantees, so expanding your list of matches is not a bad idea.

6

@prezbucky There’s no point applying to other state schools if she’s out of state due to the higher costs. I would say to do Duke ED since your chances are greatly increased.

7

@aik257 @Falcon1 @renaissancedad @prezbucky @Oberyn
Thank you all for your time. Do any of you know any great BA/MD 6-7 year programs? How does the application process differ from that of a regular Bio major?

8

@aik257 Do all schools have higher acceptance rates for early applicants?

9

A few questions:

  1. what is your ethnic background ?
  2. any connections to these schools? Prior coursework, contacts with professors, legacy, etc?
  3. is your school public or private?
  4. any students in your class also applying to these same schools?
10

@sgopal2

  1. Asian
  2. Not particularly. I’ve had a cousin go to Princeton and another Yale. Stanford is relatively close to where I live.
  3. Public
  4. Yes, a few are applying to Ivy Leagues. .
11

Being Asian is a disadvantage as I’m sure you already know. Applying to Stanford with your stats would be tough. Your stats are good but I don’t see a hook strong enough that will distinguish you.

You stand a decent shot at JHU or Duke via ED. I would suggest one of these two schools as your chances are higher.

12

Some combined BA-MD programs at top 25 schools that might interest you:

Brown PLME
Northwestern
WUSTL

I’m still wondering why Stanford is your dream school.

13

Brown’s PLME program is well regarded.

14

@Oberyn

I mentioned Mich, UW and Minnesota just in case the OP wanted a change of scenery – all three are very strong in Biology, Psychology, and many other areas. I’m aware of the costs… though Minnesota is really a pretty good deal OOS – about $31,000 per year. That figure includes OOS tuition, room & board, standard fees, and estimated book costs.

15

USC, UCLA: Almost safety

JHU: Okay Chances
Duke: Low Reach
Stanford, Yale, Princeton: Very low chances

16

@enjoyyy colleges won’t admit to it, but because less people apply ED they have more spots to give out, so yes - at most schools that is true

17

^^ I’m not sure how having less applicants affects the number of spots they have to give out which is relatively fixed from year to year.

The early acceptances rates are higher at most top schools. However, after you take into account recruited athletes, legacy, and other hooked kids the disparity between Early and RD rates starts to really narrow narrow. Also, the early pool at most top schools is filled with superstar applicants so the competition is brutal. Anyone who thinks that applying early to Harvard with its 16.5% acceptance rate means they have a three times better chance than the overall rate is seriously misguided.

18

UCSD and UCLA/UCR has BA MD program.

19

Thank you all for contributing!

@Wje9164be I will definitely look into Brown’s PLME program.

@renaissancedad Here in the Bay, almost everyone would like to go to Stanford. My parents do not know much about schools on the east coast, so they want me to stay nearby and go there.

Are there any other advantages of doing the BA/MD or BS/MD besides not having to take MCAT /go through the application process? How different is the curriculum?

20

@enjoyyy, I grew up in New England but went to Stanford, a long time ago. Part of the appeal was experiencing a very different environment. I’d encourage you to broaden your perspective, and think about what kind of place would vest fit you. Duke and Brown both come to mind right now.

I’m not well versed in those combined programs, but besides the reasons you listed I can think of some others:

  • Being able to enjoy your undergrad experience without the pressure of maximizing your GPA for med school purposes
  • Having freedom to explore without concrrn about how it will look to med schools
  • Earlier access to advising through a select program