<p>So-- I'm definitely not a top student or anything, but I've worked hard.
And I'm starting my college search a little bit late. I'm an incoming senior and I've barely looked at colleges. That's what summer is for, right?</p>
<p>I have no idea what kind of colleges I would be able to get into...
So if some of you wise people could help me that would be great!</p>
<p>Okay, so..
GPA unweighted: 3.97
Weighted: 4.2 ish?
ACT: 31, but will retake (hopefully up to a 33)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: female
Activities: Varsity tennis, LINK, NHS, Rebels (an anti-tobacco group), Science Research Club/ and I participate in an annual science fair, a Indonesian performing arts group, and I work part time at a retail store.
Income: low, parents are divorced and I live with my mom, who has gone through much financial trouble recently and is currently working at a part time minimum wage job
Career interest: Pre-Med, interested in naturopathy or med research. Possibly traditional med school but leaning towards natural medicine</p>
<p>I'm an atheist and would really prefer colleges with no religious affiliation. I also currently live near Portland, OR and I love the pacific NW and how liberal, open and beautiful it is here. However, location would not matter to me if the college is perfect for me. </p>
<p>Thanks so much, any advice or college names that I could look into would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I should also mention that I’m planning to take SAT subject tests for Biology and Math II in October. I’m also set to be the leader of the anti-tobacco group next year.
I haven’t gotten my SAT score yet b/c i just took it this month on 6/1.
My recommendations would be stellar, I am very close with 3 of my teachers and have shown growth in those classes.
I also really like writing, and I <em>like</em> to think I’m good at it-- my essays should be pretty good.</p>
<p>Thanks again!!!</p>
<p>Okay… is that the best college I could get into? :(</p>
<p>What kind of activities should I do to beef up my resume?</p>
<p>In addition to the list in #3 for the safeties, you may also want to consider the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15889078-post29.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15889078-post29.html</a> for the non-safety part of your application list.</p>
<p>Some of the super-selective reach-for-everyone schools have good need-based financial aid, so check their net price calculators. You may also want to run the net price calculators on Oregon public universities (or Washington public universities if you live on the Washington side of the border near Portland).</p>
<p>
I assume you are asking about LC? I doubt you would get into Reed, though grades and scores only count for ~20% of admissions (per VonLost). LC is a great school. My DD loved it, just graduated and her HS stats were better than yours. You can get into many colleges with that resume. The hard part is finding ones you can afford to attend.</p>
<p>I think you have a lot of potential for a good college, I say apply to Reed; you have a good ACT score and a 33 would look all the better, your gpa is pretty good, everything looks great, and you’re background should help some. If you are willing I would consider some schools in the east, which would give you the added factor of geographic diversity. Here’s my eastern list for you: American University, NYU, BU, North Eastern, maybe Bucknell, Skidmore, Wake Forest University, Bates College, Colgate University. That’s just what I think and a lot of these are pricey I know, but you never know how much aid you will get! any idea as to what you want to major in? My philosophy on where to apply, is to apply everywhere you could possibly dream of, if you don’t apply you will never know if you could have gotten in! So just apply!
P.S. went on a month long hike down the coast of Washington and Oregon, I agree it is beautiful!</p>
<p>sorry i just realized your desired major, my bad haha. How rigorous have your classes been? for pre med leave out American, but look at Furman, Wofford, and UNC Chapel Hill (I just talked to the Chancellor Holden Thorp recently, wonderful school and wonderful place).</p>
<p>TheGoober, that seems like a completely random list of colleges… no idea why you would recommend those over hundreds of other possibilities. NYU, for example, has a reputation for poor financial aid with large loans. And the OP said they like the beautiful, open spaces of the Pac Northwest – so why would NYU (or American) be appropriate schools? OP, don’t just apply to a random list of colleges… being a little more focused in your search will pay off.</p>
<p>OP, the good news is that you can be successful at pre-med at many, many schools. You want to go someplace where you can get a good GPA and good MCAT perperation, and keep your costs down because med school is expensive (don’t take out massive loans for undergrad, as you would already be taking out big loans for med school).</p>
<p>I would suggest that you get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and look through it with a pad of post-it notes to mark the schools that interest you. Then go out and run the net price calculators for those schools to see how the costs look. However, you have to be careful about that if your parents are divorced. Ideally have each parent run it and see how much the colleges expect each one to pay; that is about how it often comes out in real life when you have divorced parents. Also consider some schools with good merit aid – one school to consider on the west coast that has some nice, large merit scholarships is Scripps. Reed gives NO merit based aid, so if you think you need that, don’t bother applying there. Also look at your state schools and see if any of them will be more affordable as a financial safety.</p>
<p>@IntParent I agree my rec for NYU and AU were a bit off, my bad. However i did not say to apply to a random list, I said don’t be afraid to all the colleges you could dream of(suggesting reach schools). Other than that the list was not random at all in my opinion. However I apologize for the NYU and AU I had forgotten the type of setting you wanted.</p>
<p>I have taken:
AP Chem: 10th grade, A
AP Bio: 11th, A
AP Lang: 11th, A
AP Human Geo: 11th, A
other various classes that don’t matter I guess</p>
<p>Next year: planning to take
AP Calc AB
AP Environmental Science
AP Japanese
Writing 121/English Lit Survey
- Advanced Health Careers (where I do hospital rotations and shadow med professionals)</p>
<p>Also, thanks guys. This really helps a lot!</p>
<p>Will you be taking physics in high school? High school physics is often recommended as a prerequisite to physics in college.</p>
<p>Freshman year, I took a Bio/Chem/Physics class, but no class focused solely on physics. Should I take AP Physics? Is it that potentially valuable?</p>