Will I Have a Chance at These Five Schools?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey everyone! I decided to attend CC when I was rejected by my number one choice university, University of Maryland-College Park. Next month, I will be attending Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, PA. I will transfer after I receive my Associate's in Biological Sciences. When I do transfer, my major will probably be Biochem since I do not want to major in biology, and also because pre-med is typically not a major (it is at Penn State, however). Here is some info about me:</p>

<p>High School: Highly regarded Philadelphia-area Catholic High School
High School GPA: 3.8 UW
SAT (superscored): 1570 (M:440, CR:620, W:510)</p>

<p>Residency: Pennsylvania
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Hooks: First Generation</p>

<p>Work Experience: POS Associate (cashier) at Kohl's since October 25, 2012</p>

<p>Colleges I will apply to:
Penn State-University Park
University of Maryland-College Park
University of Georgia
UNC-Chapel Hill
UCLA</p>

<p>Also, even though I have not started college yet, here are some things to consider:
-Northampton CC is a top 50 CC nationally
-I am a honors student. The requirement to stay in the program is to maintain a 3.5+ GPA
-Since the honors program requires a 3.5+ GPA, I will most likely be invited into Phi Theta Kappa
-I am a SMaRT Scholar. This is a program that is funded by the National Science Foundation which aims to help fund people who want to get involved in STEM careers with financial need. Out of 15,000+ undergrads, I am one of only 20 scholars.
-My mother is an executive at one of Pennsylvania's largest health care providers. Because of that, she told me that she will try to get me an internship next summer when I return home since I want to go into medicine.</p>

<p>Activities I plan to participate in:
-Model UN
-Engineering Club
-Instrumental Music Club
-Baseball
-Student Senate (sophomore year)</p>

<p>Finally, here is my course load for my first semester:
-College Algebra (I am eligible to take Calculus I; however, due to my BIOS107 class, which occurs during the exact same time as Calc I, I am trapped in college algebra.)
-Biology I
-General Chem I
-Honors English 101
-College Success</p>

<p>So far, do I look like a competitive applicant for the aforementioned five colleges? I know I have not started yet, but I think I have built up an impressive resume already. Also, what should I do to make myself look even more competitive for my intended transfer universities?</p>

2

<p>sounds like college algebra will be a waste of time for you…why not take an elective that sounds interesting? I took an intro to Islam class once b/c it fit my schedule and it ended up being a great learning experience.</p>

3

<p>Because, as recommended by the SMaRT Scholarship, I will be placed in classes along with other scholars to form study groups. College algebra will be a waste of time because not only did I take up to pre-calc in high school, but also because Maryland, UNC, and probably UCLA don’t accept college algebra. As a result, I will have to take pre-calc next semester and then take Calc I and Calc II during my third and fourth semesters. Finally, since this is my first semester, the only elective provided to me was math. It gets better, however.</p>

4

<p>well if it’s ‘recommended’ and not ‘required’ then I wouldn’t bother. don’t let program structures control your choices if they really are a waste of time…reality is there’s way more flexibility in these things than advisers portray. Your choice…but as you experience college you’ll start to see things for what they are…if you wanna get into top schools just get as close to a 4.0 as you can and you’ll be fine…honors colleges/scholars programs etc don’t make much of a difference in my experience when you transfer (I went to a CC for a year).</p>

5

<p>With a 440 in Math taking Algebra again might be of some benefit. At 440 he is “doing” the math but not really fundamentally “understanding” it. Maybe that will come the second time around which will make calculus easier.</p>

6

<p>@keesh17 If I were to take the SAT again, I would get a much higher score. This was my score before I took pre-calc and aced it for the year. You might be right though</p>