What About Me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Personal: African American female, parents married, income little less than 30k, 2 sibs over 21, twin brother. First person to go to college in my family.</p>

<p>Academics: I go to an very crappy public school in Wichita, KS,
GPA: 4.00 Unweighted (cumlative)
4 honors classes (3 English, 1 US History), 1 AP (US History - Score 4)
Science: Biology, Chemistry, Physics
Math: Geometry, Algebra 2, PreCalc/Trig
Foreign Lang: Spanish 2, Spanish 3
Hardest courses available at my school, sadly.</p>

<p>College Credit: Wichita State University: 3 hrs Public Speaking - A, and will probably take 3 hrs General Psych this fall or spring.</p>

<p>Senior courses: My school may discontinue some APs due to lack of interest but the plan is to take AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP English, Government, maybe Anatomy or AP Physics.</p>

<p>ACT w/o writing (will retake): E:33 M:28 R:33 S:25 Composite:29
PSAT: 198 (maybe National Achievement scholar?)
Studying for SAT and plan on taking in October
Will also try to take two subject tests (Literature and either Bio or Math 1) </p>

<p>ECs: Scholars Bowl - 4 years, varsity captain, lettered twice
National Honors Society - 2 years, will be senior president
Will probably join HOSA senior year
20+ hrs of shadowing health care professionals
60+ hrs of community service (not in hospital, tho)
Will take year long senior course that will allow me to become a certified nurse aide then certified medical assisstant. Probably get a job at a masonic home after certification.</p>

<p>Awards:High Honor Roll
Student of the Month 12/05
AMC schoolwide winner: 9th - 2nd place, 10-11th - 1st place. Qualified for AIME this year.
Wichita State University Presidential Scholar, 2006
Phi Kappa Phi Junior Scholars award, 2006
Questbridge College Prep Winner, 2006
Ventures Scholar</p>

<p>I'd like to major in Neuroscience or Pre-Medical studies. After college I'd like to go to med school, preferrably in Kansas. </p>

<p>Here are the colleges I'm currently looking at:</p>

<p>Pomona College - 1st choice
Stanford University (really only applying to make a teacher happy)
Amherst College
Grinnell College
University of Missouri in Kansas City (interested in their BA/MD program)
University of Kansas
Wichita State University (I literally live like 4 blocks away from it)</p>

<p>So what are my chances for 2011? If anyone has any recommendations or advice I'd love to here it. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>from a "very crappy high school" to get into Stanford or Amherst, I'd think you'd need to be valedictorian. With SATs 2200+ I'd say you'll get into Pomona...</p>

3

<p>You definitely will be a National Achievement scholar. I have friends who got 20 points lower than you and still qualified. I think you have a shot at Stanford or Amherst due to your background. You'll still good without the background, although maybe Cornell level versus Stanford.</p>

4

<p>I think youre in everywhere really, but ill do chances anyway</p>

<p>Stanford- slight reach/reach
Amherst- slight reach
Pomona- match/slight reach
Grinnell-safe match
UMKC/KU/WSU- safety</p>

5

<p>Forgot to add that my rank is 1/287.</p>

6

<p>oh yeah well if you're val that kicks it up a notch</p>

<p>I'd agree with ckmets13 chances then.</p>

7

<p>You can go anywhere.</p>

8

<p>i basically agree, i just try to give very conservative chances because of my admissions experience</p>

<p>your stats in context are some of the most impressive ive seen</p>

9

<p>Your scores aren't bad, but try to get those math and science scores up and it will help a lot. I went to a crappy high school and was valedictorian too, so I wish you luck.</p>

<p>Have you considered JHU for pre-med?</p>

10

<p>i have a feeling that the only school on your list that you'd be happy attending is pomona? maybe i'm wrong but i think you should apply to more schools that you would truly be happy attending. say if you get rejected from pomona, amherst and stanford (reaches for almost everyone) would you be okay going to grinnell or one of the three state schools on your list? try adding some solid matches and safeties that you actually like. what about reed, oberlin, kenyon, macalester or sewanee?</p>

11

<p>Thanks everyone for your advice.</p>

<p>JHU is on my long list of "maybe" schools to apply to. I just don't know if it's a good fit for me, though.</p>

<p>If I don't get into Pomona, Amherst, or Stanford, I honestly don't know if I'd be happy at my "safeties." I don't think I even want go to a state school. I do need to do more research to find better match schools. Thanks for your recs, collegeprep11. I'll look into those schools.</p>

12

<p>what about women's colleges? wellesley and barnard would be solid matches, smith and bryn marw as matches/safties, mt holyoke and scripps as safeties. if you love pomona you might also be interested in applying to cmc as a solid match.</p>

13

<p>Pomona may be tough. Scores are a little low for Pomona, but those extracurriculars/gpa are looking good. Who knows, with some good recs and a polished essay,maybe you'll get in. </p>

<p>Condoleeza Rice is an excellent example of affirmative action by the way. Below average mind, but good school. Just something irrelevant I wanted to say. I hate Condoleeza Rice.</p>

14

<p>lgriffin,</p>

<p>You're in very good contention for the schools you have cited, given your stats. </p>

<p>I'd say the following:</p>

<p>Slight Reach: Pomona, Amherst, Stanford (I'd be surprised if you didn't get into at least one of these schools)
Match: Grinnell
Major safeties: WSU, UM-Kansas City, and KU</p>

<p>Admittedly, your standardized test scores are a bit low (for example, Grinnell's average ACT score is a 31); however, given your superior experiences and awards, background, and wonderful GPA, I think your 29 will serve you well.</p>

<p>I can't really say you'd prefer one school over another. You'll just have to visit and find out which institution best suits you. </p>

<p>While I can't tell you where to go, I'd definitely pick Pomona, Amherst, Stanford, or Grinnell over the three state schools you have down.</p>

<p>Cheers,
Tom</p>

15

<p>she got a 198 PSAT, so there is potential there for over a 2100 SAT, which would make her near a match at Amherst and Stanford and a definite match at Pomona. I got a 196 PSAT and then a 2180 SAT with barely any prep, so i know that its very possible</p>

16

<p>Thank you everyone for your great advice and kind words.</p>

<p>I think I'm going to take UMKC off the list. I don't like the idea of going to school year round and there doesn't seem to be a lot of scholarships available for the BA/MD program. Also, I haven't heard that many good things about the program.</p>

<p>I was considering applying to a women's college. A couple of them have already sent me letters and viewbooks. If I decided to, it'll probably be Scripps.</p>

<p>Also, I was recently accepted into Amherst's Telementoring program where current Amherst students will guide me through the college admissions process. I think it will give me more insight to Amherst and colleges in general and what I really want in a school.</p>

17

<p>I would second the recommendation that you look hard at Oberlin. Great neuroscience program, very strong record for med school admissions, state-of-the-art science facilities. See <a href="http://www.oberlin.edu/science/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.oberlin.edu/science/&lt;/a>. Good luck!</p>

18

<p>lgriffin, You have good stats and I think that you can get into any school that you want, especially if you do well on your SATs. Please remember that you are going to need 3 SAT IIs if you are going to apply to Stanford. Good luck - you have a lot going for you!</p>

19

<p>I thought Stanford only "strongly recommended" SAT IIs. Here's what they're website says:
"We strongly recommend that students taking the new SAT also take two SAT Subject Tests. We recommend Math Level 2 as one of these tests; the other test can be in any subject of your choosing."
<a href="http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/1_2e4_standardizedtest.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/1_2e4_standardizedtest.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I might still take 3, though. Probably Lit, Bio, and Math 2. I think I'd also do well on the US History since I got a 4 on the AP exam but do colleges find that repetitive? I hate living in the Midwest because I'd never even heard of the SAT subject tests until I started researching colleges this year.</p>

<p>Also, is the ACT Writing going to be required for Stanford in fall 2007? Here's what the website says on the same page:
"We will continue to accept ACT scores, but request that applicants submit the ACT with writing beginning with applications for fall 2007."</p>