<p>Rank: School doesn't rank (But based on what my counselor told me, I'm at the 7-8th percentile)
Graduating Class Size: ~650</p>
<p>4 A.Ps since 9th grade (World History, American History, English Language, and Calc AB), the rest are mostly honors courses.</p>
<p>Standardized Test Scores:
ACT: 35 composite (10 Essay)
SAT I: 2190 (690CR, 780M, 720W, 10 Essay)
SAT IIs: Biology (710), Math I(740), US History (760)
(Probably won't be sending any SAT scores unless I have to)</p>
<p>ECs/Awards: Extremely sparse; Internship at a national lab, a decent amount of hours volunteering at local hospital, youth group leader at church, varsity tennis, member in some clubs, etc. (I would be more optimistic about my chances at my target/reach schools if these were stronger).</p>
<p>I'm looking primarily for schools that are in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest. Any suggestions/input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Edit: By the way, I'd prefer if the schools weren't right in the middle of a major city. I'm not much of an urban person.</p>
<p>Yes, I believe Virginia is considered a Mid-Atlantic state. If I’m not mistaken, the cutoff line between the Mid-Atlantic and the South is between Virginia and North Carolina.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d call anything below Fredericksburg, VA, “South,” but that’s me. Like mythmom, now that I know the geography, I need to know what you want in a school.</p>
<p>I’d rather not go to a LAC (personal preference) and would prefer a medium/large school that is not too close to a major city. It would also have to have a decently strong biology/pre-med program. Basically, I’m looking for a school similar to Cornell that is of a lower caliber.</p>
<p>Well, lower caliber is a state of mind. For an undergrad, pre-med will be less competitive some places than others, and it may be easier to get a high grade in a class graded on a distribution, but intro organic chem is going to be challenging in a lot of places.</p>
<p>Here are some suggestions:</p>
<p>Penn State
Virginia Tech
one of the SUNYs
Any Big 10 school that isn’t Michigan, Illinois, or Northwestern (good schools, but you wanted safeties, Michigan and Northwestern are close to big cities)
Syracuse</p>
<p>I dont think there will be need to apply to other schools. Your stats are great.
I have little reason to doubt that you wont get into cornell.
You have the grades, and you definitely have the test scores.</p>
<p>I think you’re giving me a little too much credit there. Isn’t UMichigan much harder to get into if you’re from OOS? Also, I think Northwestern would be a match at best (it’s still a bit too urban though).</p>
<p>I believe many of you are overlooking the fact that my ECs are extremely weak, a fact that is evident when you compare them to those of other applicants that are applying to schools of the same caliber. The only one that’s halfway decent is the internship. I have held virtually no leadership positions during high school and the ECs that I do have fail to indicate any form of passion for anything. I only recently developed an interest in the life sciences but it’s a bit too late to participate in Intel, Siemens, etc.</p>
<p>If I was certain that I would matriculate at Cornell, I wouldn’t have posted this. High grades and standardized test scores do not guarantee admission once you begin to consider the top schools (I have been reminded of this many times). If I am not offered admission, I will need a Plan B, which is why I am asking for suggestions for good safeties from others.</p>
<p>U Mich is a pretty good bet for “overachieving” NY kids. But the trick is to get the application in ASAP (like tomorrow). U Mich has rolling admissions so it really helps to get the application in Pronto.
Your Ec’s are fine. Intern in a National Lab-- volunteer at a hospital–sports and some clubs.
Don’t downgrade what you are doing. You’ll be fine.<br>
My d is at Cornell- ILR. You look pretty good for admission.
but fyi- I do know a # of kids who were deferred ED round and later were accepted through RD. So don’t get disheartened if you do not get in ED, as Cornell seems to give the ED kids a second chance at admission.<br>
I still suggest you check out U of Rochester. It’s got a great reputation for pre-med. My d definitely was considering Rochester too!!
Good Luck</p>
<p>SUNY ESF (environmental science and forestry) is a little known but interesting program too. <a href=“http://www.esf.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.esf.edu</a>
it’s suny tuition( a bit more) and the program is on Syracuse U. You can major in a science (environmental science, bio etc)-- & get pre-professional advising for medical school through Syracuse.
any one interested in science and SUNY tuition and living on Syracuse campus , should check this program out.</p>
<p>Holy Cross-Top30 LAC-has a very strong pre-med program and the school is building a $60 million addition to its science facilities. HC has a nice campus that is 1 hour from Boston.</p>