What are my chances? What schools should I look at? All help is appreciated!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>OK, just checked my GPA. GPA sits at 3.2 weighted currently</p>

<p>Factors that will affect my GPA in the coming months </p>

<p>-Taking all APs/Honors classes senior (current) year, currently have straight A's, should be very helpful </p>

<p>-Took AP classes online with straight As that need to be included in my GPA</p>

<p>-Have several attendance related F's from 11th grade that will be fixed in November (Mix of As and Bs) </p>

<p>Other things to note: General upward trend in grades from 9th grade. During my entire high school career, I've taken only AP/Honors/Pre-IB classes with the exception of gym and art. I'm definitely hoping for something in at least the mid-3's by the end of my first semester of senior year, when I begin applying. </p>

<p>SAT: 2200/2400, will retake in Oct., aiming for a 2300+ </p>

<p>AP Scores: </p>

<p>Mix of 3s, 4s, and 5s </p>

<p>AP Exams I've taken: Euro History, World History, US History, Biology, Micro Econ, Human Geography, Lit & Comp, Lang & Comp, Statistics </p>

<p>AP Exams I will take in Spring 2015: Calculus, Macro-Econ, Government, Latin, Environmental Science, Psychology </p>

<p>Extra Cur: </p>

<ul>
<li>Attended MAO, Model UN, and JCL throughout high school although I never placed or won awards or anything.</li>
</ul>

<p>Couple hundred hours worth of volunteering</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Interned in the hospital: Internal Medicine, Emergency Room, Endoscopy, Intensive Care Unit</p>

<ul>
<li>special jobs and responsibilities not given to other students, night-shifts, etc. </li>
</ul></li>
<li><p>Volunteer work at low-income school clinics </p></li>
<li><p>Public health academic & research work (breast cancer) w/ my dad </p></li>
</ul>

<p>-SAT tutoring </p>

<p>-Interned w/ a elementary school teacher, mostly grading work and organizing </p>

<p>Misc. </p>

<p>Parents are professors/physicians with good relationships with both medical schools and partner hospital, Dad is a faculty member for a school I am applying to. I would consider my essay writing skills to be above average and I'm social/prepossessing enough to thrive in regards to networking and stuff of that nature. I understand that expressing myself as very driven and determined with a clear plan of my future in mind, while highlighting my assets and improvements will be beneficial for me, which I can do. I have a strong passion for medicine and I'm confident that emergency medicine is the path I want to take in life after spending so much time there because of how well it fits my interests, goals, and personality. </p>

<p>Currently looking at </p>

<p>University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, Auburn </p>

<p>I'm interested in some bigger private schools such as Emory, Notre Dame, and University of Miami </p>

<p>And then there are more competitive private institutions such as Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, etc. although I'm not confident in my qualifications</p>

<p>Any help & advice is well appreciated. Just help my point myself in the right direction! </p>

2

<p>I currently go to Vanderbilt. I have to warn you: our application pool has become exponentially more competitive in the last 5 years. If rankings matter to you (which they really shouldn’t, since it’s a label and labels are never accurate), know that we have raised from number 18 in the nation to number 16 in the last 3 years, and we are STILL CLIMBING due to the amount of money the board has been investing into the departments here, as well as the impressive results of applicants we have enrolled. Students here are extremely qualified or athletic (we are a D1, SEC school), making the diversity factor high and the skill sets essential. </p>

<p>I will say, your SAT score is already phenomenal. Improving it will always be better, but focus on getting that GPA near a 4.0 (almost all the students here had a 3.95-4.00 unweighted GPA and took several more AP classes). If you can show improvement in your grades to all As, it will really resonate on your application. However, I do have to say that online courses are NOT looked as comparable in difficulty and credibility as actual high school AP courses. </p>

<p>Your volunteering is good, but almost all students here have that accredited to them as well. Furthermore, students arrive here with projects they INITIATED. In other words, they created a project that really expressed what they feel about an issue their community or region is dealing with, and drew upon resources, personnel, and planning to successfully carry out their project. </p>

<p>You have a good shot. But if you can, and if it’s not too late (I cannot tell if you are a senior or junior), you need to have a project that sets you apart from the other applicants that are applying to schools like Vanderbilt and the top 20 equivalents. Don’t give up, and don’t think that because of this that you shouldn’t apply. YOU SHOULD APPLY. It’s always better to take a risk, rather than regret it later on. </p>

<p>I would say the first list of schools you mentioned are back-ups. The second list is more where you are at now, though Emory and Notre Dame are also highly selective and elite. Duke, Vanderbilt and Rice are more of what you should reach for, and therefore should be where you should aim to get into if you can.</p>

<p>I hope this helps!</p>