niightingale

i'm interested in a premed program, but i'm not sure is smith is the right school for that.
so just to start off, i plan on joining peace corps after undergrad, and then after my residency, i will join doctors without borders. maybe become a ob/gyn because they are desperately needed in doctors w/o borders (medecins sans frontiers)
the thing that really excited me about smith was their slogan on their website which said "learn to make a difference." this is really similar to wellesley! wellesley is my first choice, but i don't think i will get in due to my gpa and test scores.


if this has any relevancy, i'm asian (chinese)
but from i've heard, being asian is a disadvantage under affirmative action.

my school is extremely competitive. the class of 09 (last school year) sent nearly 20 something people to cornell, five to stanford, and many more to johns hopkins, washU, emory, brown, vanderbilt, michigan, ect...


my wgpa is 4.3 but unweighted is 3.6
not too good in my opinion.

sat II's
chemistry 770
i'll take bio this oct/nov and i think i'll get at least 750 on that

studied five years of french at my school, if that's a lang plus?

all my classes are honors.

APs
AP Chem- 5
AP gov't and politics-5
AP Psychology- 5
AP AB Calc- 4

senior year (this year) i will take
AP Human Geography
AP statistics
AP environmental science
AP biology

SATs (i know i need to improve)

math 650
writing 720
critical reading 660
essay 11 (i heard the essay subscore isnt that important)
SAT: 2030

ACTs (i'll raise this to at least a 32, hopefully)
English 30
Math 27
Reading 33
Science 24
Writing 11
Composite 29

Extracurriculars

Founder of Charity for China (raised $2,000)
Secretary of Technology Honors Society
Treasurer of Fantasy Literature Club
National Honors Society
French Honors Society
Treasurer of Chesapeake Bay Club
Tutoring Club (teach local middle schoolers)
American Red Cross (3 years)

National Institute of Health - National Cancer Institute Summer Intern


do they do interviews with smith alumni?
also, i know at wellesley, it's not that big a problem to find guys around. you can go to the harvard or mit campus. how is it at smith?

thanks a million

cx1055121526

i think you have a good chance for smith...
either raise that sat I score or just send in your act only and you'll be fine...
you gpa is a little low, but hopefully all those ap's will raise it.
you have excellent scores on your ap exams, that should give you a boost, as well as your internship.

SmithieandProud

I think the good scores on your AP exams speak well, and the fact that you take challenging classes and do pretty well in them will matter more than having a slightly low unweighted GPA usually. Smith wants to see that you challenge yourself, you work hard, and you're prepared for the level of coursework even if you don't get A's all the time in every class, and I see that here.

You can do an interview with a smith alum in your area, or you can travel to campus and have an interview there, either with an admissions officer or with a Smith senior trained to do admissions interviews. It doesn't matter which road you go down, there's no benefit to an alum interview vs. a campus interview except that you get to see the campus while you're there. Interviews aren't required either, but if you want to add an extra piece of paper to your application detailing why you're wild about Smith, then they can be nice.

I think in terms of finding boys Smith and Wellesley are pretty similar. Wellesley is near Boston and all of those college offerings, Smith is near UMASS Amherst, Amherst College, and Hampshire, all connected to Smith by free bus. And Smith students can take classes for free at any of these coed campuses (plus fellow woman's college Mt. Holyoke) and the students, including male students, from those college can and do take classes at Smith. You can also do extracurricular activities on the other campuses, and students travel to the various campuses for parties and things. But I imagine that much like Wellesley, you get out of it what you put into it. If finding guys is your priority, you can, if it's not, you don't have to.

TheDad

Actually, your SAT's are in a "normal" range for Smith.

I like the rest of your profile and I'd rate you "probable but not a slam-dunk." What's your approximate class rank (if you know)?

niightingale

we don't do ranking because the administration believes this would breed ill feelings and cutthroat competition amongst the student body

MeredithBelle

You do know Smith is SAT/ACT optional, right? That means you don't HAVE to send your scores if you don't want to & if you do, the fact that it's optional says how much admissions weighs standardized test scores within the larger picture. Just sayin'.

I don't know what cx1055121526 is talking about: my high school didn't weigh GPAs, mine was a 3.7 and I am a current student. You're probably more than fine on that end, not to academic-wise you're a great match overall. Though Smith could care less about AP scores so don't think you can get credit for them here fyi- if you want to skip an intro level in a subject, though, you can use AP scores sometimes, but they often determine whether you can based on their own placement tests.

Smith does do alum interviews- contact the individual in your area who coordinates them. I had a really great one with a recent alum who had graduated within the last five years at my local Bruggers Bagels and it was super chill. And as someone else said, it's part of the Five College Consortium with UMass, Hampshire, Amherst, and Mount Holyoke, which with the exception of Moho (and it's also an all-women's college) are all probably about the same distance as Wellesley is to schools in Cambridge, not to mention much easier to get to since there's PVTA running between the Five Colleges. Though regardless of whether you go to a co-ed or single-sex school, you'll have to make an effort to meet someone if you're looking for a relationship.

It's not like anyone here actually has a say in whether you'll be admitted or not, but I definitely think you're a strong student if it makes you feel any better.

CarolynB

There are two differences between bus transportation for the Five College Consortium and that for Wellesley going to MIT. 1. The PVTA bus for the five colleges is free and the Wellesley bus is not. 2. Where you want to go among the five colleges determines the distance and transportation time, whereas, it takes an hour for the bus to go from Wellesley to MIT. Perhaps someone else can comment on the different destinations and transportation time from Smith to the other four schools.

niightingale

does smith have a premed program ?

TheDad

Not explicitly, no.

But med schools look at any major, though you'll need the math/bio/chem classes either in undergrad or before you start med school. Heck, I know of English and P.E. majors that have gone on to med school.

SmithieandProud

You can't major in pre-med, but there is a sort of organized program for people who are interested in attending medical school. There's a pre-med advisor to help you map out the necessary courses (though as TD says, there's no required major), they have info sessions for pre-med students, and the CDO can help a lot in prepping your application. There are a lot of students interested in medical school, so there are plenty of resources allocated to help them get on their way.

CrewDad

Alex's Illicit Guide to Medical School Admissions: a Trusted Source for Premed Students


Medical School: Advice on Medical Careers and on becoming a Doctor for High School Students

And physics.

one to two years of Biology, including labs (8 to 14 semester hours)
one year of Physics, including labs (8 semester hours)
one year of English (6 semester hours)
two years of Chemistry, including one year of Organic Chemistry, and labs (16 semester hours)
one year of Calculus (6 semester hours)

niightingale

ive always found it quite weird that my friends who are majoring in econ plan to become doctors.
what is the point of majoring in philosophy or economy if you're going to become a doctor (for sure) in the future?

thank you so much for your helpful responses. your daughters are very lucky

Momwaitingfornew

No one knows for sure that she will get into medical school.

There are many reasons for majoring in non-science departments: 1. Med schools value GPA more than other professional and graduate schools; therefore, if a student can get a higher GPA by majoring in English, then she will. 2. Med schools value well-rounded students more than other graduate programs. Majoring in, say, philosophy while still getting straight As in the sciences might give you an edge over a biology major. 3. It's possible that you won't get into med school and so you'll have another major to fall back on. 4. Theundergraduate years are your last opportunity to study things you won't necessarily study later. Why not explore another field in depth while fulfilling your med school requirements?

That said, most pre-med students major in a science. You'll also notice that most top universities/LACs do not have a pre-med major, so to speak, but rather pre-med track, which merely lets the students know which courses they must take in addition to fulfilling a major. A healthy percentage of students who plan on going to med school as first years often change their minds, either because they can't get the necessary grades in science or because they decide the medical profession isn't right for them. Still more apply to med schools but don't get in anywhere.

It's a grueling process. You should make sure that you love the other opportunities at your undergraduate institution just in case you discover med school isn't in the cards for you.

SmithieandProud

Also, many people just have other interests along with medecine, and once they get to medical school, they won't be able to pursue those interests much. I mean, all those years of med school, plus residency, and then practice, doesn't leave a lot of time to study philosophy, economics, english, or history. Why not enrich your life with other subjects that you love while you have the freedom and the chance, before settling down to your other love -- medecine?

CrewDad

MCAT Scores and GPAs for Applicants and Matriculants to U.S. Medical Schools, 1997-2008

AAMC: FACTS Table 17: MCAT Scores and GPAs for Applicants and Matriculants to U.S. Medical Schools