<p>Hi, I'm a freshman in high school (for a week more anyway), and I would like to become a pediatric oncologist or neurologist in the future. Psychology also interests me, but not as much as the other two. Obviously I want to know which colleges have the highest acceptance rate into medical school, but I also want to be somewhere where I can have fun; preferable outside of state in an urban neighborhood (I live in California). I did a college search and Georgetech, Columbia, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern more or less fit my criteria. I don't know much about those schools, so if someone could tell me about them and suggest other schools I would really appreciate it. </p>
<p>It is too early to be picking colleges. Just do reading about them. Get a Fiske Guide or something similar. Talk to your parents about what the budget will look like.</p>
<p>Right now I think you should concentrate on your school work, your gpa and your EC’s. Get as high as you can in your gpa and be excellent leader in your EC’s, for PSAT tests, you try your best to become NMSF. When you are a JR, come back with your stats and ask the same question, you may get a better response.</p>
<p>Just enjoy you’re life for now. You don’t really need to think about college until junior year. You ideas about what you want to do will likely change.</p>
<p>Thank you for your response. The reason I want to know what college I should go to so early is that I like having something to work for. </p>
<p>Alright, thanks for your responses people. I can’t honestly say I won’t come back here until junior year, but I’ll try not to stress. Thanks 
</p>
<p>While its nice to have an eye on college admissions down the road, more important IMHO is to use these years to do things for yourself and your benefit. So here’s what I wish someone had told me when I was 15.</p>
<p>If you take care of the learning then the grades tend to take care of themselves. Colleges really look for students with an inner love of learning. Its a funny thing that in your 12 years of schooling thru HS graduation, you’ll probably never get even an hour’s instruction in how to learn; its just what to learn. There’s a I highly recommend called What Smart Students Know by Adam Robinson, written by one of the founders of the Princeton Review prep service. I have never seen a better explanation of the steps you need to follow to really learn the material. You can also find lots of material on the web</p>
<p>BTW you are not limited to the teachers in your school; I hate seeing kids whine in the forum “I had a bad teacher” to try to excuse a bad grade. There have long been workbooks and other resources out there, and in just the past 5 years or so programs like iTunesU and MOOCs have opened up avenues that were once unthinkable. You can watch some of the best profs in the country lecture on almost any subject under the sun, including ones overlapping what you’re learning in school. And this applies even if your teachers are good; watch some of these series to supplement what you’re getting in class.</p>
<p>There is a thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html</a> 2 very interesting articles about ECs that stand out and how to get them (same author, different examples) are at [How</a> to Be Impressive](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/28/the-art-of-activity-innovation-how-to-be-impressive-without-an-impressive-amount-of-work/]How”>The Art of Activity Innovation: How to Be Impressive Without an Impressive Amount of Work - Cal Newport) and [Save</a> This Grind?](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/09/12/case-study-how-could-we-save-this-ridiculously-overloaded-grind/]Save”>Case Study: How Could We Save This Ridiculously Overloaded Grind? - Cal Newport) While I don’t agree with everything in them, take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.
Actually you don’t. Colleges get a high acceptance rate one of two ways. Either they start with really bright kids (is it really a surprise that kids capable of getting into Stanford or Cornell get into med school too?) or the school uses their committee letter to dissuade any but their best students from applying.</p>
<p>Mikemac, thank you. I really needed to hear that. </p>