<p>I nearing the end of my junior year and college applications and deadlines are right around the corner. Those who have previously applied and are familiar with the process, any advice? </p>
<p>Couple questions I have:
1) I heard it is really stressful, is that true?
2) I also heard to start early but how early?</p>
<p>It depends on your situation and where you’re applying to. The higher the chance of getting in, the less stressful. But be prepared either way for the workload.
Start now. Earlier the better. Work on scores, GPA, ECs, scholarships, tour colleges…start now</p>
<p>Things to consider:</p>
<p>Take the ACT and SAT (take both, some do better on one or the other)</p>
<p>Ask your parents how much they’ll pay each year.</p>
<p>Have your PARENTS run the Net Price Calculators (NPC) on the college websites of schools that interest you.</p>
<p>If you have a Non Custodial Parent, then the NPCs may not work well. Also, ask your NPC how much they’ll pay towards college. If your NCP won’t fill out the paperwork, then the schools that require that info won’t give you institutional aid.</p>
<p>If your parents are self-employed, own their own business, have business deductions, then the NPCs won’t work well either.</p>
<p>Be sure to pick out 2-3 financial safeties. These are schools that you like, have your major, and you know FOR SURE that you have all costs covered by family funds and/or ASSURED merit or need-based aid.</p>
<p>Narrow down your list and start your essays over the summer. Ask for teacher recommendations now. You can start to fill out the common app on August 1. Good luck!</p>
<p>yes, it is very stressful. no getting around it. but the earlier you get things done, the less stressful that it’ll be.
start filling the commonapp out during the summer if you can. there’s a lot of tedious, basic info. you need to put in. might as well get it done as soon as possible. it’s not a big deal if you get it done later though.
how early you need to start writing essays depends on how many essays you have to do and when you’re submitting your apps. think about people you could show your essays to for critique. your GC is a good choice, and if you’re close with some of your teachers, show them too. you could also show it to your senior year English teacher. they’re used to helping for college essays</p>
<p>Also…</p>
<p>Does your screenname mean that you’re going to be premed?</p>
<p>Edited to add…it seems from your previous posts that you will be premed.</p>
<p>IF, so then pick some schools where your stats are WELL-WITHIN the top 25% of the school (well-within…not just barely in). You’ll need to be in the top of your classes to get the A’s needed for med school.</p>
<p>Yes pre-med but more importantly, BS/MD. I have all the grades, and EC’s to get in but my SAT is still a work in progress. My score is good enough to apply but not good enough to be competitive. I know that these applications can be a lot more work because of all the supplements. So I guess my first step would be to create a list of all the programs/colleges I’m thinking about applying to and then narrowing down my choice based on my limitations. Is that about right?</p>
<p>It doesn’t have to be stressful. I was aiming for merit money so I applied to all safety/match schools, and so I wasn’t stressed out at all. I also had 2 good backups in my local public flagships (I’m from GA, so we had HOPE, and that was back when the HOPE covered all in-state tuition and fees). You don’t have to be stressed, either, if you apply to a good mix of match, safety, and reach schools. In my opinion, you should have more match and safety schools than reach schools.</p>
<p>BS/MD programs are always a reach. I think you should apply to several and then narrow down once you get accepted, although don’t apply anywhere you absolutely wouldn’t want to attend.</p>
<p>But don’t underestimate going the regular ol’ BA -> MD route. The BS/MD programs only save you 1 or 2 years, which is really not that much in the grand scheme of things. The biggest advantage is sure admission to a med school. And if you have the stats for a BA/MD program, you probably have the stats to get significant merit aid somewhere.</p>
<p>Yes pre-med but more importantly, BS/MD</p>
<p>well, since those programs can be harder to get into than med school itself, you need to have adequate back up plans. </p>
<p>Those BS/MD programs have to reject students with perfect stats because they get so many apps. </p>
<p>What are your test scores?</p>
<p>Which BS/MD programs are you considering besides Brown PLME??</p>
<p>*But don’t underestimate going the regular ol’ BA -> MD route.
*</p>
<p>I agree. My younger son opted for the BS -> MD route over a BS/MD program because he really wanted a “full college experience” for undergrad, which he got. He’s going to med school this August.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>The BS/MD programs only save you 1 or 2 years, which is really not that much in the grand scheme of things. The biggest advantage is sure admission to a med school. And if you have the stats for a BA/MD program, you probably have the stats to get significant merit aid somewhere.*</p>
<p>And, a number of the BS/MD programs don’t save you any time at all. A number of them are 8 years.</p>
<p>Its more about security of getting into med school than saving time. I don’t want the pressure during undergrad doing everything I did in high school again. </p>
<p>And PLME is kind of a reach for me. All of them are but that especially. My combines M+CR is about 1400 but I’m retaking in October for at least 1500 which I’m pretty sure I can get.</p>
<p>Bump
10char</p>
<p>Don’t search based on a school’s prestige, search for a school that fits you. That’s the problem I had but since I realized that I’d rather go to a school I’ll enjoy than a school just based on name, searching has gotten easier.</p>
<p>If you’re asking strictly about the application process, it’s really not that bad. Not including essays, the Common App and all other apps can be completed in an hour. And I wrote my essays in the span of a weekend~ish, though I did spend a few months thinking about exactly what I would write.</p>