<p>I'm a junior in high school right now, and I'm interested in premed and pharmacy later on. I'm struggling with choosing the right college, as well as wondering if premed/pharmacy is suitable for me. I don't have many stats yet, but I'll try to list what I have:</p>
<ul>
<li>Consistent 4.0 weighted GPA for freshman & sophomore years (I used to have a 4.4 at a public high school, but when calculated in my new private school, it dropped to a 4.0 +_+)</li>
<li>Strong grades in math/science courses, not as strong in social studies</li>
<li>189 PSAT (70M, 65W, 54R)</li>
<li>Taking AP Bio and AP English, having a B in both</li>
<li>Taking as many honors courses as possible (for the mandatory ones)</li>
<li>Not too many service hours... 10 if I remember correctly</li>
</ul>
<p>I have never been interested in doing community service, since I'm generally a lazy person (I can spend hours and hours reading news/wiki on the Internet, which is the primary distraction :D). Besides, I can't drive yet, so my transportation is very limited. Please give as much criticism as necessary, because I'm going to need all of it. My PSAT score doesn't mean much to me b/c I'm international student and therefore cannot participate in the NMSQT thingy. It pretty much serves as a practice for the SAT. I think people seem to do better on the SAT than on the PSAT, but I'm not sure if I'm correct. Oh, and one more thing... this is my first post on CC, so hello to everybody.</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about community service. Some schools care a lot about it, but many do not. It’s just important to do some kind of activity, if only to show that you care about your school and are not a withdrawn person. Get a book and study for the SATs- it will help. Northeastern University in Boston sounds like a match for you- they have pharmacy, and you can of course do pre-med there as well. Case Western and U of Rochester are also good for pre-med without being impossible to get into.</p>
<p>What are my chances at Northeastern University? I thought that its admission is very competitive. How many ECs do I have to do? I want a high-ranked school but I think my GPA and EC (well, non-EC is more correct) are gonna drag me down. At the end of my senior year I’d have completed 100 hours of community service (school requires it), does that count as an EC?</p>
<p>OK, I just calculated and my unweighted GPA right now is only 3.6. Is this good enough for Northeastern? Also, do colleges look at my senior year’s GPA or do they look at an average GPA of all 4 years? I’m confused on this one.</p>
<p>I think schools consider GPA or EC as important factors, but that is not important as you SOPs. If you have any activities that you think will useful for administor to learn about you more clearly, attach them to your application. Personally, I think there isnt any standardized form for this, the way you choose what to show shows what you are made of.(im an international too and i guess we have something similar ^^)</p>
<p>In addition, I think the schools will look at your average GPA for 4 years, you also have to attach your high school transcript right?</p>
<p>I read several posts in this forum and found out that some colleges calculate a student’s GPA using their own formula. I guess I feel less nervous now ^^
SOP - Statement Of Purpose? You mean the entrance essay? It’s very important but not something I should worry about at this moment - my English teacher could certainly help me form some ideas.
What kind of things about a person that colleges are looking for? “Activities” and “motivation” sounds too general for me. What activities should I describe - things I participate outside of school, or my overall lifestyle/personality?
I try to gain as much ground as I could b/c I (can) do almost nothing out of school except homework, reading books/news and playing video games (if they also count what I did back when I was in middle school then I would have something to talk about). Would the admission officers sympathize if I explain how limited my accomodation/transportation is? I want to go to a prestigious school, but my lack of ECs are making me look like a slacker to colleges.</p>
<p>P/S: Kha, I knew at once that you’re an international b/c not many Vietnamese Americans have a full Vietnamese name like yours. Where do you study? Are you still in high school?</p>
<p>I’m not at America now, I’m studying at a university in Vietnam. I’m a sophomore but I still want to apply to an Am uni!! I jumped in to this topic just because your name sounds like a Vietnamese: Hữu Vinh, right?^^. Are you now living in the US? </p>
<p>Turn back to our main story, I think they consider the extra curriculum activities like volunteering serving the poor, organizing a club,etc. rather than games playing:). In addition, your personalities should be showed in your SOP(yeah, that’s ‘statement of purpose’). However, I’m sure ECs is not either the first or the most important criterion they consider, maybe it’s only useful for differentiating 2 applicants similar in other principles. Anyway, since your ECs is not strong enough, you should try more in the rest. I think your GPA is really impressive!! Now my problems are TOEFL and SAT, I am taking these tests soon, but if they are low, I have no chance for any of the Ivy!!;(</p>
<p>huuvinh - Northeastern’s pharmacy school is competitive to get into, as most are, so keep your grades up and do well on your SAT’s! Many people find NE unaffordable, even with merit money, and at most schools there’s a tuition increase for pharmacy students in year 3. </p>
<p>For pharmacy, I would recommend applying to at least 3-4 schools. Be aware that an average student’s “stats” and other rankings for a college do not generally apply to their pharmacy school. There are alot of good pharmacy schools in the northeast, if that’s what you’re looking for, as well as UT Austin in your home state which might have an instate advantage (and a financial one too!). Take a careful look at the requirements to stay in the program - gpa, PCAT scores - and if they give preference or guarantees to their own students. Here’s a link to all the pharm schools and other useful info:</p>
<p>As far as EC’s go, I would suggest motivating yourself towared getting some medical/pharmacy exposure. It can be a job, volunteering, shadowing, etc. - your HS may even have a program that offers this. I’m sure you probably do have some EC’s - even taking care of a sick relative or younger sibling is an activity. But, if you’re thinking pharmacy, most schools will ask you to write about why you’re interested in the field and it doesn’t hurt to show that you’ve done some shadowing in other medical fields too. Good luck!</p>