I’m a senior in high school and I feel that I have done mediocre in high school. My EC’s were alright, I had a 31 superscored ACT, and I felt I didn’t take that many AP classes. I want to turn this around in college. I want to major in biochemistry and go into research. I’m particularly interested in genetics and i want to study genetic mutations in the future. I DONT want to go pre med. Genetics has been my passion since sophomore year and (i know this is too early) but I’ve been recently thinking about grad school. I want to get into a really good grad school. What are some tips on getting into a great Grad School? And what are some good grad schools that parallel my passion in genetics?
Goes without saying, first and foremost get great grades, as many A’s as you can in your science courses. Apply for SURP’s. (Summer Research for Undergrads.) Get involved with research on campus.
First of all, I am skeptical that you did “mediocre” in high school, if a 31 is your measure for mediocrity. A 31 puts you in the 95th percentile, which means you scored higher than 95% of college-bound students who took the ACT. That’s not mediocrity by any definition of the term. Any AP classes is more than the majority of students take. Consider that you might be comparing yourself to a cadre of especially elite students, or that you may be being too hard on yourself.
That said, none of that matters anyway because college is your opportunity for a fresh start. Graduate schools/programs do not care what you did in high school, so if you want to major in biochemistry, study genetics, and go into research - do that!
Get good grades in your classes, and start exploring on-campus research opportunities in the second semester of your freshman year in college. You can look at the profiles of your professors, see what they are researching, and see what projects are interesting to you and ask them if they need a research assistant. (Some universities and colleges hold open houses for their labs, so that’s an option too.) Cultivate relationships with professors - both because they are sources of great information and because they will write your recommendation letters for college.
Take a wide range of courses in your interest areas. Don’t get too married or pinned down into one area. You may discover your research project or passion in a class you take, and/or you may discover a cool interdisciplinary area or project you would not have considered before.
Definitely try to get summer research opportunities. Most are open to rising juniors and seniors, but there are a few for rising sophomores, so you can poke around a little bit late in the fall/early in the spring of your first year.
Do not worry about a great grad program yet. There are TONS of graduate programs that focus on genetics; that’s not narrow enough yet for you to start thinking of programs. Your interests will grow, evolve and change over the next 4+ years - and you should let them. I wouldn’t start looking at specific graduate programs until junior year of college.