Hello all! I am currently in my first semester of Sophmore year.
My Highschool GPA: 3.5 (Although I was able to maintain a 4.5 GPA during my last semester before I choose to graduate early)
My ACT Composite: 24 (Mostly due to English)
Major(s): Molecular Neurobiology and Psychopharmacology; Vocal Performing Arts
My College GPA: 3.9 +, after I conclude my Sophmore fall season.
During my Winter semester of my Freshman year, I took 19 credit hours in:
Anatomy and Physiology
Calc 2
Gen Chem 2 + lab
Gen Bio 2 + lab
My current Fall schedule for Sophmore year is 22 credits in:
Microbiology + Lab
Physics + Lab
Psychology
Senior level Pathophysiology (nightmare)
Voice
Piano
In my free time I write many theoretical papers on various subjects from QCD to Molecular Neurobiology. I am also a model and I participate in many medical shadowing programs. Every single teacher I’ve ever had has written me a letter of recommendation. Recently, even my professor who was the runner up for a Nobel prize in Chemistry, has written a recommendation for me.
I am a first generation college attendee who can’t smell or taste (hence why I want to be a Neuroscience major). Although I don’t show it here - I am capable of writing at a graduate level. So my essay game is ‘properl’y on fleek’. But on a real tangent, I have felt so limited at all the institutions I have attended and almost alienated from my peers because of my intellectual capacity. People like to say I have a photographic memory, although I argue that no such case of an eiditic memory exists in the world. Yet there is some validity to their statements and I see the repercussions manifest themselves as a desire to obtain more. See to me, knowledge is like an itch - a fervor that is never saitiated. I always wanted to become a Surgeon in some facet and the more that I learn the closer the reality seems. Anyways, if I can’t get admitted into MIT for their Spring Semester I plan on taking:
Advanced Pathophysiology (Graduate Level)
Molecular Neurobiology (Senior Level)
Statistics
Genetics
Neurobiology and Psychopharmacology (Graduate Level)
Orgo I
Which is about 23-24 C.R. Would this help me in the admissions process? Thank you all for your input, everything helps!
(Side note: A lot of people call me crazy for taking ridiculous credit hours but at the end of the day I find that is truly my place and I perform exceptionally in them nonetheless. Plus in all honesty, these types of schedules are common place in many medical schools as well.)
Hi there. About your letters of recommendation: I suggest you submit only two, or three if the three you select all show a different, yet important side of you that admissions officers must also take into consideration. Quality over quantity here. Your courses in college seem fine, and so does your college GPA. However, your ACT will probably disqualify you immediately, as a composite score of 24 on the ACT is like 9 or 10 points below the mean score… I highly suggest you take the ACT again, or decide to take the SAT, where you will need to score much, much higher to have a chance. Because your application seems fine if we do not consider your ACT score, it’d be a real shame if you get auto-rejected because of a bad ACT score, while you could have done way better.
Good luck!
Thank you for the input Tomas! As a Neuroscience major I had always shied away from standardized tests like the ACT and SAT because they really only predict your success as a freshmen and are poor indicators for later performance in University and Colleges alike. That being said, I had never realized this was an issue because I thought after completion of a certain amount of credits (67 now) that I would not be scrutinized based on my past performance and emphasizing my current academic achievements.
So I guess my question now is do I really have to take the ACT again, even though the low score might automatically disqualify me? Honestly, I refuse to learn to study for a test that is not indicative of my future performance. But if it has to be that way so I can surround myself with like minded individuals, then so be it. Will the SAT Math II and a SAT Molecular Biology as well as a SAT Chemistry suffice in place of my poor ACT score? I am more than confident that I will get 800 scores on both science portions without much studying, but for the math with a little bit of practice I think I could get a low to mid 700 score. All input is welcomed!
Bonjour. A quick tip, if you just reply and do not tag someone (like this: @(name): @Pericles22 ), he or she does not get a notification 
(because I just tagged you, you should be getting one.)
I strongly agree they’re poor indicators of performances in college/university. However, admissions officers seem to care a lot about the ACT and SAT, so yeah, I’d really recommend taking it again, even though I also do not like the exams. The SAT Subject Tests show your “proficiency” in a particular field, so they could definitely help you in the process, but the SAT and ACT are regarded as more important (roughly a 1 to 4 ratio when comparing their importance: I’ve read that the SAT Subject Tests account for about 5 to 10% of your overall application, while the ACT accounts for roughly 30%).
Here are some links to the pages containing the admissions statistics (some including those specifically of transfer students) for top universities:
Stanford - https://admission.stanford.edu/apply/selection/profile16.html (incl. transfer applicants)
MIT - http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats
Princeton - https://admission.princeton.edu/how-apply/admission-statistics
UChicago - https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/page/profile-class-2020 (including the lowest ACT score someone had who was admitted)
If you go to the website of prepscholar, you can find more information and sometimes a bit more detailed breakdowns of scores and admission rates for people that score within a certain range on the SAT/ACT.
Good luck!
Likely approaching zero. Stanford’s acceptance rate was 2.1% (42 people) last year. MIT was 4.7% (27 people). I wonder how many of the Stanford ones were athletic related? They both require high school transcripts and standardized test scores. If you have an essay anything like your posts here, I would put your chances even lower.
He was nominated pre 1967?
From nobelprize.org
Thanks @Eyeyore123,
I am sorry about the confusion, I had myself thought that was the case from things I’ve heard from other students. After talking with my counselor, I believe the best choice right now is for me to take the SAT in lieu of my poor ACT performance. I will let you all know how it goes!