Suddenly interested in US Colleges!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi there,
So here we go. I am a South Asian International student looking to go into pre med .I am in the IB program right now and have been thinking about US colleges for only a few months now. I do not need financial aid and i plan on applying ED somewhere. </p>

<p>If i had to summarize myself in one line: I am very sincere in what i do and am overall just a nice, laid back guy. </p>

<p>SATs: Math:760 Writing:720 Critical Reading:680 Total:2160
Rank: School does not rank but top 5%(Competitive IB school)
GPAs: Since I am intl. my GPA is not in normal 4.0 scale. But if i had to guess and i think i am accurate i would say: Freshman:3.63UW Sophmore:3.7UW Junior:3.85UW
Upward Trend? :)</p>

<p>I do not have any Bs in my Transcript. I have some A+, some As and a few A-. I know that my GPA does not feature my capabilities well. To tell you the truth, I had moved from Bangladesh when i was in Grade 7 and took me a while to adjust. Hopefully, my junior GPA will be considered more than the other ones.</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars/Volunteer/Research: I have volunteered for (~400) hours at many different organizations including the Red Cross, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Hospital,Youth Assisting Youth, Muscular Dystrophy etc. I honestly love volunteering and it is one of the most important aspects of my everyday life.</p>

<p>President of Cultural Club, International Relations Club...Secretary of Asian Club. Grade 10 Class Rep. Member of Empowered Student Partnership, Tech Crew and Debate Club. Absolutely love sports.. i play soccer, ping pong, squash etc. but not good enough to brag about.</p>

<p>I did research with a doctor at Princes Margaret Hospital(joined with University of Toronto) for a summer. I have also won some in-school awards(Bronze, Silver Medals for Math, Art etc. On my way to becoming Ontario Scholar(All As in school). Recs should be really good as teachers fortunately have a favourable impression of me.</p>

<p>I have tried fairly hard over the last couple of years in terms of school and everything. I would love it if you guys suggested some safeties, matches and reaches. I would LOVE to attend a top 25 college if that is possible.. Please feel free to suggest like this:
Maybe a few colleges for each category?</p>

<p>Reaches:...
Matches:...
Safeties:...</p>

<p>Every Response is appreciated and if you guys need any advice, i will offer the little i have :)Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Your grades, statistics, and ec are all very good. From what I have learned here, not needing FA helps. </p>

<p>How about your preferences? Do you like a smaller environment of 3,000 students or are you looking for a university or a place with strong sports teams to watch? Do you want to get out of a city? Dread being trapped in the cornfields? Want a campus based social life or head into an urban area? Like the cold? Want all four seasons? How many of the variables are preferences vs necessities? (For example, my daughter LOVES winter but will be going to college in California because we can guarantee a freezing winter break here at home.)</p>

<p>Have you been able to tour and visit any colleges or universities in your area? I had my daughter tour the closest ones to us to get an idea of what kinds of questions to ask and to have a baseline for comparing future visits.</p>

<p>Has your school sent students to the US before? Is there someone there experienced in this that you can bounce ideas off of?</p>

<p>Have you posted in the international forum here? There are some very knowledgeable people there.</p>

3

<p>You are too kind twomules:)
Well, i have lived in a city environment my whole so i would preferably like to continue that. However, that does not mean i am ruling out small colleges. That is why i am on CC so some people can give me an idea of my reaches, matches and safeties. I do not particularly mind the weather although summer is definitely more preferable. I live in Canada.. i can handle the cold! </p>

<p>My school does not often send to top US.. but almost all go to Top 3 Canadian Univ. because the majority do not apply to the US. I have no had a chance to post on the intl. forum yet. I will after i get a bit more familiar with some of my possible schools. Hopefully that answers some questions!</p>

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<p>I really need some more suggestions. Names of schools preferably. thanks.. bump</p>

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<p>I think you are a well rounded student... you are good at a lot of things.. nothing jaw dropping but you get the point. I think you should look at schools like Washington U. which is a reach. NYU as a match i would say. I am not sure about safety. But good luck. Just stress who you really are on your app.</p>

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<p>Just an FYI...on a normaly 4.0 scale A-=3.67 so that would have to be the lowest your GPA could be without getting any B+/B</p>

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<p>Jman21... if you are right i am going to be overjoyed... i assumed A + 4.0 A3.7 A- 3.4.. was i wrong in my assumption.. maybe my GPA is far higher?? and could you please suggest some schools:) thx for everything!</p>

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<p>Not knowing what your academic interests are makes it a little tough. However, the college search books can look overwhelming so I 'll throw a few names a you as a place to start. A lot of different majors work with premed. </p>

<p>You have international club and medical issues as ECs. Take a look at Tufts in Massachusetts and Macalester in Minnesota. Both have an appreciation for an international point of view as well as strong sciences. Macalester has internships and connections with medical research and device companies in the Minneapolis/St Paul area. Tufts has a med school, dental school, vet school and nutrition school.</p>

<p>My daughter is interested in biology and applied mostly to smaller colleges. The places that impressed her the most were Bowdoin, Middlebury, Williams, Pomona and Macalester. Her safeties were our Univ of Minnesota, and a couple of places deep in the cornfields.</p>

<p>Your SATs put you in the ball park for those places (680 is maybe just a hair low). Have you taken the SAT 2 subject tests? The problem with the schools I listed is that no one is a sure thing - their admit rates are low.</p>

<p>We didn't look for safeties on either coast so I can't be much help with that. She has friends going to St Olaf, Univ of Wisconsin, Crieghton and Marquette (which one local medical researcher said is really good for the health sciences).</p>

<p>At least you have some names to start looking up.</p>

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<p>twomules thanks a lot for the names. However, like i states below, i would prefer an urban environment and a larger place. I will definitely check out Tufts and the other one though. Any more names?</p>

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<p>bb uu mm pp . i still need some names please</p>

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<p>bump one more time!! i really need some names!would appreciate it. bump bump</p>

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<p>Since you are interested in bigger colleges, look into JHU or Washington but like i said they are hard but you have a good of a shot as anyone.</p>

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<p>thx a lot.. i will add those. any more?? please please</p>

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<p>You need to do some of the research yourself. Go to a bookstore and buy Barrons Guide to the Most Selective Colleges and at least one more of a similar type. Read through it and flag with a post it note ones that you might like. Look up their web sites and get a view book sent to you. This is a very personal process and no one can predict your feelings towards a college.</p>

<p>Have you looked at the websites of the colleges listed on CC as "top colleges" and "top universities"? Look at the websites and have the view books sent to you. All of these colleges and universities will give you a good foundation for med school.</p>

<p>Perhaps keep a Canadian university as your safety. Why is it you don't want to go there? They offer a good education at a good price.</p>

<p>Speaking of price, have you been discussing the cost of an American education with your parents? Do they know it will cost roughly $50,000 per year, not factoring in price increases over the 4 years? Perhaps they can pay it, but check that they want to. That is a lot of money that could be going into their retirement fund. Every year in April students come on CC complaining that their parents want them to go to a cheaper alternative. It is best to know early on how they see it fitting into their financial plan.</p>

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<p>twomules.. i lucked out.. parents are willing to pay for all my education expenses .. they are very supportive. i do like some canadian univ. such as u of t and McGill to an extent.. U of T mainly... it sis very good education and awesome price for me. But i would just like a change.. studying in the states would give me that. thanks for your help</p>