I have a 4.54 weighted and a 4.01 unweighted (my school’s unweighted grades give an extra .3 for and A+. I have only had 1 B+ in high school (freshman year Spanish). All of my courses are honors. I have taken AP Bio and AP Chem. I am looking into taking AP Psychology, AP Calc AB and AP physics one next year. I have 92 volunteer hours with 60-70 of them from a local hospital. I got a 4 on my AP bio exam and a 760 on the biology molecular subject test. I have been receiving an 1860 on my practice SATs (pretend that is my real SAT score, which I will actually be getting in a few weeks). My extracurriculars include volunteering, NHS, Science Honor Society, English Honor Society, MUN since 8th grade, I tutored a freshman student in Bio when I was a sophomore, I was on the technology advisory committee since 9th grade until 10th grade (it kinda died down this year, haven’t had a meeting in a long time). I believe that is all. I am a junior by the way, I just need to start looking at colleges and where I want to go so I can visit.
Honestly, you can get into the majority of schools in this country. You need to narrow it down; here are some questions you should ask yourself. . .
(1) Is cost a factor in your decision?
(2) Do you want public or private?
(3) What general location do you want?
(4) Do you want a city school or a campus?
(5) Do you want to live on campus or commute?
(6) Do you want a big school, medium sized school, or a small school?
(7) Do you plan on joining a frat/sorority?
(8) Do you want a specific program?
…etc…
I was thinking about UCF in Florida because it is instate. I am prepaid for all four years: tuition, board, fees. I figure I don’t want to pay that much for college because I want to go to med school (although I am looking into the HPSP through the Air Force to get rid of that debt when the time comes). I don’t like the UF campus or I would try to apply there. I am mainly looking at UCF and USF. By having UCF as my top one at the moment (that may change when I visit USF, maybe I’ll like it better), am I selling myself short? All my friends are looking at colleges OOS that are a lot more well known for their academics: UCLA, Georgetown, GW, NYU, BU, etc. Also, I go to a private school with 200 kids in my high school. I do not want to go to a college with a few people, although I like the small classes. I want a small school feel in a large school, if that makes any sense. Well, please let me know your opinion on my choices of colleges.
@causticgas - Hard to beat already having your undergraduate degree paid for, so if UCF has the program you want and it is acceptable to you in other ways, by all means go there. Where your friends go should be of no importance to you when making the decision about where YOU want to go.
As was already stated (quite well) by @jamesjunkers, you have the stats to legitimately apply to any school in the country and you would be accepted to the vast majority of them, no question.
Do consider all the questions posed to you by @jamesjunkers. For the cost question, don’t assume anything. The colleges that annually make the “most affordable” lists tend to be Ivy League schools and other elite colleges. Even though their sticker price is HUGE, they give amazing financial aid based on need. If your family is wealthy, you will pay a lot for an elite college education, but if your family makes even as much as $150,000 a year, your cost will be significantly reduced. Please run the Net Price Calculators for the schools you are considering, and you can legitimately consider ANY college in this country with your stats.
I would also add Colorado College to that list as they are VERY close to meeting full financial need.
If you like smaller classes, you really might want to go to a smaller Liberal Arts College. Most of them are in the 2,000+ students range and would definitely seem bigger than your little high school. Also, don’t let the label of “Liberal Arts College” scare you off. LOTS of students go on to Medical School from Liberal Arts colleges.
If you are “guaranteed” at UCF, would you be interested in New College of FL? They have small classes, lots of independent study opportunities, strong Life Sciences, and a very good record for graduate and professional school admissions. They are a public college, and so they offer very attractive financial packages to FL residents.
@woogzmama @stepay I looked at New College, my only concern is the lack of a GPA. I am kinda worried about getting into med school. My college guidance counselor even mentioned that it might not be the best idea. I would preferably stay instate because tuition would be cheaper and it is closer to home too. If anything, the farthest I would go is GA but that would be up in the air. I want to go somewhere within driving range if I want to come home more often. I don’t want to have to fly home. I am also looking for a college with a big and active Jewish community. The less anti-semitism on campus, the better.
Thanks again.
Edit: Grammar
Edit 2: Also, my parents prefer if I stay in the South too. Since it is easier to get back home. I figure if they did the prepaid (which I would get back if I don’t go to a Fl public school), then I can at least go somewhere closer to home.
@causticgas - Seems like you have a lot of reasons to stay in Florida. I can see your apprehension about lack of grades at New College. Emory in GA could be a good option for you if you decided to leave Florida. I’m betting you’ll stay in Florida though. Hard to pass up a paid-for education. Good luck.
I think that NCF has an 85% medical school admission rate, which is well above the national average. That may fluctuate from year to year, considering how small the college is, but they do get students into medical school.
If you want a “small school” feel at a large school, avoid UCF. It’s mammoth, currently the largest university in the country I believe, and it’s quite overcrowded. In addition, you’d have to go to school for one summer (mandatory) and take some online classes (can be a plus or a minus).
Additionally, oing from a school with 200 students to a school with 45,000 to 60,000 would be quite a shock I think. Try to go on overnights where you attend a couple freshman classes, walk around campus, eat in the cafeteria, listen to what students are talking about, read the campus paper, ask them what they typically do on Wednesday (if the answer is “party” = bad sign! Nothing wrong with parties on Fridays and Saturdays, but not during the week…)
This being said, UCF is a perfectly good school for STEM subjects and since you’re prepaid, it could be a safety for you (you’d likely qualify for honors college, too).
I assume you’re prepaid for all FL publics, right?
Does some of it apply to FL privates like Rollins or UMiami?
Check out FAU’s Wilkes College, which has its own separate campus for about 500 students, but is part of FAU and all it entails (huge school, football, etc).
NCF is indeed a great option, but you have to be self motivated because it’s really intense.
Emory and Emory-Oxford would be two excellent options, too.
Are you a boy or a girl? Because Agnes Scott is another good option.
You could look into Davidson or Tulane, if you’re willing to go that far.