<p>I'm going to be a junior next year, and my parents (keep in mind we are Asian), are putting some pressure on me to get into some top tier schools. I have a lot of expectations to live up to (go figure) as my dad was a Cornell undergrad and Columbia Post-grad. He's pushing me as well as my grandmother, aunt, and mom to get into Ivies and some schools like Duke, JHU, etc. I know I want to become a doctor, and I enjoy science a lot, so what are my chances in getting into some of these top schools, or what schools could I get into with the following credentials?</p>
<p>My school doesn't use the traditional 4-scale GPA
Freshman Year GPA with electives W:94% U/W:91%
Bio H-88
World History H-89
Algebra II H- 89 (I am a year ahead in math for my grade)
English I H-88
French-92</p>
<p>Sophomore Year GPA with electives W:96% U/W:92%
Chem H-96
Function, Stats, and Trig H (Soph. can't take Pre-calc unfortunately)-92
English II H-89
US History H-89
French-91</p>
<p>Junior Year Enrollment (No language after soph. because I want to take AP Stat and AP Chem, and it won't fit)
AP Stat
APUSH
AP Chem
Physics H
Precalculus and Discrete Math H
AP Lang & Comp</p>
<p>Senior Year Prospective
AP Bio
AP Lit
AP Calc BC
AP Gov</p>
<p>Practice SAT wasn't great 1700 first try
Math-630
CR-530
Writing-540</p>
<p>And so far 2 years varsity ice hockey and 9 years of ice hockey out of school. Also trying to get into NHS next year. Also, my year ahead in math was because I passed a 6 week condensed course of Geometry at the Lawrenceville School, and passed my school exam with a 94.</p>
<p>Truthfully, your grades are laughable compared to your peers. Cornell and Columbia get thousands of Asian applicants every year with grades a lot better than yours. I really hope that I am not sounding too harsh. Just think of things that you can do to set yourself apart from the rest of the Asian applicants. Also, reality is if you can’t get an A in an honors class than you probably won’t be able to in an AP Class. You could also get involved in something in the medical field such as shadowing a doctor or become a volunteer in a hospital like I am doing.</p>
<p>Cornell and Columbia are definitely not my top choices, but what about JHU, Duke, Northwestern, or UNC? And yeah, admittedly, my grades are horrible, and unfortunately, I’ve put the pressure on myself to pick up the slack that’s caused my low grades. I’ve realized that by now. Also about volunteering, most if not al the hospitals I’ve contacted about volunteer and shadowing have been booked before I was at the eligible age.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to the last poster. It is possible to get into a top tier school (and get As in APs) if you work hard. Go for it next year- study a LOT, prepare even more for the SAT (and ACT if you will take that too). If you want to set yourself apart, do ECs and activities that you LOVE- not what will look good on a application.</p>
<p>Well my goal for next year is a 93-94 minimum in my AP classes, which for my school is an extra 8% on the GPA. Now, I know some might say don’t bank on the GPA boost, but I’ve looked at some statistics of prior graduating classes at my school only, and noticed that my Weighted GPA only needs to rise a few percentage points to be in the range of some people that went on to top tier schools. Now my SAT on the other hand will greatly improve. I took the practice exam blindly not knowing anything about the exam.</p>
<p>Your prospects at the top schools are hard to figure becuase you are only a rising junior and have not yet had a final SAT score (or any subvject tests). </p>
<p>Still a few words of advice. Pick an activity and really excel at it and pick a school and apply ED to it. Also, do not forget about LACs, which may have less of an asian bias. Several are very good for pre-med, such as Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Carleton, Haverford, and Swat, among others.</p>