4.4 Weighted GPA and 1100 SAT Score: College Reality Check

Applying to College
21

I know a kid with very similar stats to yours. He got into Michigan, GA Tech, Depaul, and a host of other schools. Cast your net far and wide

22

An unhooked applicant with SAT score in at Ga. Tech or Mich? Really?

23

I totally forgot to add the University of Iowa into my list for colleges I’m interested in too. I did notice that the University of Iowa and Iowa State grade based on an RAI score. Will the stats given above (the 1st comment) be enough to get me into this Biochemistry major? I think the RAI score was 255 and above for liberal arts and sciences.

Secondly, does the University of Iowa require a supplemental essay for admission or any fall scholarships? Again, the colleges picked were just schools I researched on the most. Not really aware of some other good colleges around my area, but I am open for any suggestions.

Thanks

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yes. im still not sure how. i guess his essay was good or their was something else about him that made the schools want to give him a shot. he is at michigan right now.

25

Two parts tot he college equation.

  1. Admission to a school
  2. Being able to do the work while having a great experience while at the school

You list math and biochemistry as potential majors. FWIW - typically, college classes are somewhere between a little and a lot harder than high school. With math test scores like that, you have to wonder how capable you will be with those subjects in college. An engineer friend of mine explained it to a math major daughter of his this way, “At some point, you’re just not going to be able to do the work. It may be freshmen yr. It may be senior yr. But math is a hard major.” She managed until he junior yr and then it just got past her capabilities.

I share this not to deter you at all, really! Just trying to be realistic. It may be a case of poor testing on two isolated days. it may be that STEM would be overly difficult for you at a strong university program like Purdue or UIUC. Think about what you really want and be realistic.

26

Thanks for the advice guys because I really needed to understand if my college choices were realistic or not, and all of these tips really helped. As a side note, I will attempt the ACT once or twice in order to get a better score; this is also my first time taking the ACT, and I am testing diligently for this test. Again, thanks for the helpful advice!

27

Actually, based on the previous responses, I do have another question: how would you guys describe the workload of STEM Majors, biochemistry or math specifically, in any big college or university?

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Heavy, difficult, rigorous


29

Expect about 2 1/2-3 hours of prep for each credit/class period. Math and science may be 4 credits, so 1st semester expect to spend about 10-12 hours doing math, 10-12 hours doing chemistry, which will test your autonomy and ability to do all that work in autonomy and balance your other classes, then 12 in math, 20-24 in science second semester which tends to be a bridge you cross or don’t.
In addition, at large public universities, these majors tend to be weedout, meaning the first class are purposely designed to ensure part of the class fails. I imagine biochemistry would be worse since most first year courses will be designed to weedout would be pre-meds. In math, the first year difficulty will depend on whether you had calculus (as many students will).
You can prepare right now by working on your own, finding extra exercised abd showing them to turn teacher, etc.

30

Today at 4:06 am edited 4:08AM

See, this is the sort of STEM commitment you’ll need. :smiley:

I was a math major. We worked hard freshman year, but by the end of soph year the numbers were down and the survivors had learned skills for picking up the material and managing the required hours. I thought Math was easier than the other STEM majors if for no other reason than no labs, but I liked it and was good at it. YMMV, but as was mentioned above there comes a point where you just have to be able to understand the material and no amount of time and effort will get you over the hurdle. If a high school kid is only getting through calc via huge amounts of time and tutoring then a STEM path should maybe only be taken with a clear understanding that it may not end well.