<p>ACT: 24 (taking again in sept. expecting 25 to 28, taking a prep course)</p>
<p>ECs:
Captain of Varsity Wrestling Team
JV Cross Country
Internship in Michigan House of Representatives
Internship with University of Michigan Dearborn Professor
100+ Volunteer Hours
Student Council</p>
<p>Awards:
Honor Roll
Leadership Award
Science Fair Honorable Mention
Varsity Wrestling Award
Varsity Letter Award
Honors Courses: 3 </p>
<p>APs: 0 (school only offers 3 and they were all in history (hate history))</p>
<p>State of Residency: Michigan</p>
<p>Recommendations:
University of Michigan Dearborn Professor
A State Representative</p>
<h2>1 Teacher (very good recommendation and I can get more)</h2>
<p>I realize my credentials are pretty low for a top 50 university (by the USNWR) but I want to apply to one any way. What top 50 University could you see someone with my credentials attending assuming I dont get my ACT and then assuming I do get it up. I plan to study biology and go on to med school.</p>
<p>Penn State may be the easiest of the top 50 to get into and it’s a great school with strong athletics, good brand equity and a strong alumni base.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I agree with noobcake. Outside the top tier universities (I’d say top 30), it would not matter which school you graduated from.”</p>
<p>I disagree. If you know where you want to work, there a lot of regional schools that will offer local network advantages. For example, if you want to work in Colorado, it might be better to go to school in Boulder than Tufts or U-T austin, dispite the ranking chasm.</p>
<p>With your current stats, Penn State and Cuse would be the only schools you’d have any shot at, but people with your stats are generally rejected at Penn State with in-state standing.</p>
<p>You could easily get into Case Western. They seem to accept just about anyone. That said I wouldn’t reccomend it. It’s ugly, the people are very weird, and it’s in a terrible area. There is also Penn State and Cuse.</p>
<p>Well it’s not top 50 but with your stats you have a decent shot at getting into Michigan State (middle range ACT 22-27, 73% acceptance rate). It’s a decent school, ranked #71 national university by US News, and you’d pay in-state tuition. I think this is really your best best because if you go private or OOS public, you’re not likely to get into a significantly better school and you’ll pay a whole lot more. </p>
<p>If you’re determined to get out of Michigan and you get your ACT up several points you’d have a shot at some other Big Ten schools like Purdue (#64 US News, 1020-1250 median SAT, 85% acceptance rate) or Iowa (#64 US News, 23-27 median ACT, 83% acceptance rate), possibly Miami of Ohio (#67 US News, 24-29 ACT, 78% acceptance rate), Ohio State (#57 US News, 24-29 ACT, 68% acceptance rate), maybe Syracuse as a bit of a longshot reach (#50 US News, 1120-1330 SAT, 51% acceptance rate). But again, it’s hard to see that these schools give you anything more than MSU, apart from a bigger tuition bill.</p>
<p>John: If you want to study biology for its own sake, study biology. If on the other hand you think that studying biology is a good entry to medical school, that’s not necessarily the case. If you look at the CC medical school board you’ll see that medical schools look mainly at 3 things: your college GPA, your score on MCAT and your grades in the courses requred for medical school. Aside from those courses you should major in biology if you want to major in it for its own sake but be aware that it can be more difficult to get a top GPA in a science major. You may change your mind and for medical school decide to major in another subject that you like and in whch you can get top grades.</p>
<p>Have you considered the possibility that you may not get into medical school? I think you have a good shot, but it can happen that you don’t.</p>
<p>Then what?</p>
<p>If you have majored in pure biology, that is good for teaching high school biology, or going on to getting a Ph.D. </p>
<p>However, if you majored in something like environmental biology or environmental engineering, you would be in line for some kind of actual job while you continued to apply to medical schools (it took someone I know 5 tries before he got accepted to medical school). </p>
<p>Majoring in biology prepares you for very little in the job market. Go into lab technologist major or even biochemistry or chemistry so that you will be marketable should the worst occur.</p>
<p>Well… I don’t see Top 50 in the cards for your gpa and 24 ACT.</p>
<p>Michigan State?</p>
<p>Regarding Med School, med school accepted applicants tend to have College GPA of 3.5 and above, and high MCAT scores. You do not even have a high HIGH SCHOOL gpa, so what would change that would allow you to get higher grades in college? What would change that would allow your standardized testing score to go from 24 to about 32 or 33 (the ACT equivalent of the lower range of MCAT scores) ?</p>
<p>DadofSam just to let you know I am absolutely fascinated by biology and that is why I want to study it, if I dont get into med school its off to graduate school for Phd. Also to pplprsn I am still in high school so I am worried about med school right now but I have considered it and I am going to get a masters then retake the MCAT and reapply. I am going to get into med school eventually.</p>
<p>I’m just going to defend my school against Titan for a moment (for pride’s sake)</p>
<p>Case Western accepts such a large percentage of its applicants because it is self selective. Average ACT is something like a 28-29.
The 25%tile is a 26. That said, I don’t know that the OP would get into Case-unless he does raise his ACT a bit, especially since that GPA won’t make up for low standardized test scores.</p>
<p>John:
As far as biology, we have a great program here. I recommend looking into it, especially if you can raise your scores a bit.
good luck</p>
<p>EDIT: The school is actually not ugly, there’s tons of great architecture, old and new. Also, get off your high horse and quit judging people.</p>
(for pride’s sake)</p>