<p>Hello, I am currently a senior in high school. I am looking to apply for colleges, but I'm not quite sure what colleges will be the best for what I am planning to pursue. I hope to go to a college with a good Pre-Med program. I am planning to major in Biology, but I'm not sure what I want to minor in. I have roughly a 3.4-3.5 GPA and I got a 1640 on my SAT (620 Critical Reading, 500 Math, 520 Writing) but I will be taking it again as I believe I did truly terrible on the Essay portion and I would like to get a higher score on the Math. I do not have many extra-curricular activities and I don't think that I will be able to get any teacher recommendations because honestly I slacked off all four years of high school lol, but I am extremely excited for college and willing to put forth all my effort when I get there so I'm not worried about how rigorous it may be. I am currently looking for colleges in Texas for financial purposes, but if there are any schools that you can recommend outside of Texas please do not hesitate to mention them. A college that I would be absolutely thrilled to attend outside of Texas is NYU. I know that is near impossible with my credentials, but I am still willing to apply in the off-chance that they will give me the time of day. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>NYU gives terrible aid, so even if they gave you the “time of day,” what good would it do to have an acceptance at an unaffordable school?</p>
<p>So, you’re a Tx resident? </p>
<p>Have your parents run the NPC calculators on a few Tx schools’ websites.</p>
<p>If you are a Texas resident, what is your class rank? Texas public universities have automatic admission criteria based on class rank or that and test scores, so you can determine which are admission safeties for you (of course, you still need to check the net price calculators to see if they are affordable).</p>
<p><a href=“Texas Public Universities - Requirements for Guaranteed Admission 2015 - State Forums - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/texas-colleges/1677484-texas-public-universities-requirements-for-guaranteed-admission-2015.html</a></p>
<p>NYU is expensive with poor financial aid. Check its net price calculator.</p>
<p>Well, my parents both work and make decent money and I’m sure that if I was actually accepted to a school like NYU they wouldn’t hesitate to help me finance it. I’m just a little worried of how much of a burden it will be financially but it is not a major concern. I’m more interested in the admission process than the financial aid process as it is not a huge concern, just me being overly cautious because I’ve never had my parents fund something that is so much money for me and on top of that my sister is only 1 year younger than me and she will need money for college too. I’m wondering if I even have the chance to get into the school and then after that I could look into really how much I am able to/need to get out of financial aid/scholarships/loans and of course my parents help. My class rank is pretty horrible lol, I don’t think that I will be able to get auto-admission based on my rank alone, I’m honestly not too sure exactly what rank I am, I will need to double check on that, but if I had to put a number on it I think I am only in the top 75%.</p>
<p>Financing a quarter of a million dollar education is REALLY a burden for most families, and my guess is that is what you would be asking them to do for NYU. If you are serious about med school, you also would want to minimize your debt as an undergrad because you will likely have to take out large loans for med school. And you don’t need to go to a fancy school for med school – a state university will do just fine if you get a strong GPA and can do well on the MCAT. However, I am going to say honestly that your performance to date in high school does not bode well for you succeeding at the level you will need to in college to make it into med school. Make sure you have a backup plan (and job opportunities are pretty poor for undergrads with a bio degree, so think beyond that as you make your plans).</p>
<p>Yes, I am serious about medical school. I am not asking only about NYU since I don’t believe I will make it through admissions haha. It’s just a place I would like to go. What universities, do you think have good pre-med programs that are within my range and will allow me to have enough preparation to be accepted into/succeed in medical school. Some colleges on my list, even though it might be a bit of a stretch, are Baylor, A&M College Station, UT Austin and UT Dallas. College will be much more serious to me than high school was, considering how much money is going into it, so please do not assess my success rate for medical school based on that. I will keep in mind to have a backup plan. I am aware that the job opportunities are not vast for Bio undergrads, but what do you recommend as a major/minor otherwise? Simply something that I enjoy and take interest in? I know that it is not required that you take a science as a major and that Biology and Chemistry etc. simply fill many of the pre-reqs for medical school, but if I am serious about it, is it good to major in a science? And what would a good minor be? Thank you for your replies guys I really appreciate it :)</p>
<p>KJoe, based on your stats, UT Austin and A&M College Station are probably no-go’s. You may have a chance at Baylor and UT Dallas - both good choices.</p>
<p>You’ll need good grades to get into Med school, so based on your grades after your freshman or half your sophomore year, you’ll be in a position to make a decision of staying in Bio as a major or switching majors, since there are limited well paying opportunities for undergrad Bio majors.</p>
<p>go anywhere, major in anything, take the courses required for admission to med school, save your money for med school. where you go won’t matter a lick to med schools as long as you have the GPA.</p>
<p>UT Dallas, but also look into St Edward’s, very good for B-students who want to go premed, as well as Trinity College, and Southwestern. Colleges in big cities where you’d have a shot: St Thomas, Hamline, and Augsburg in Minneapolis St Paul, DePaul and Loyola in Chicago, USeattle in Seattle, UPortland and Lewis&Clark in Portland, Whittier in Los Angeles, Ogglethorpe in Atlanta, Lesley in Boston.</p>
<p>Majors that can be a good Plan B if medschool doesn’t work out (as is the case for MOST freshmen): applied math, math, computer science, </p>
<p>Good intentions aren’t sufficient. If you’re serious about your goals, you need to get to work NOW and give yourself the goal of getting all A’s for this quarter. If you can’t do that, how will you be able to do it when it’ll be harder and faster paced? Give yourself that goal and see how it goes.</p>