Hi! I’m currently a junior at a public non-competitive high school. Both of my parents did not attend undergrad here in the states. The area that I live in is rural, and we have one or two kids attend a t20 every ten years or so. I don’t have anyone to guide me in the admissions process, so I was wondering if there was any advice you wanted to share. Currently, I have a 35 act, but my parents think that I should retake it because my math is a 33 and my science is a 34. However, I think that rounding out my extracurriculars and having awards would be more important. All in all, I’m just really stressed about the process and would be grateful for any advice.
What are your academic interests, even if tentative?
I want to go into biology, probably medicine in the future. That’s why I’m worried about my stem act components being on the lower side.
Your ACT score is excellent and your 34 in science is not low…at all.
You can be premed/prehealth/biology at almost any school in the country. Right now I would focus on finding an affordable school that you like.
Your ACT score is excellent and will in no way impact your future goals. Congrats!
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The college world is yours to explore! If you have a strong academic record (of which you have yet to mention), then some amazing colleges will be available to you, especially for a widely available major such as biology.
I have a 4.0 UW and a 4.54 W. I am currently ranked 2/466 in my class. I have taken 6 APs and will take 5 more next year. I’m worried about my activities and awards though. How important are they?
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I agree that your ACT subscores (which most colleges probably won’t even care about) are fine for Bio/pre-med intenders. I would now focus on classwork and meaningful activities, start working with recommenders (assuming you are a junior), and start thinking about your Common App main essay.
And the other thing that will potentially have a high return on investment at this point is to do a really broad college search. There are lots of amazing colleges that are not as famous in certain online circles as the “T20” but can provide fantastic educations and experiences, place very well in graduate and professional schools including med schools, potentially offer merit and/or honors programs, and so on.
This community is great about helping people find colleges like that to put on an application list. So I would strongly advise you make use of our services, with an open mind, as that could pay off both in terms of the quality and the price of your college education and experience.
There is no generic answer to this question, it is very contextual.
Like, in some cases, a college might identify you as exactly what they are looking for academically, and indeed so much so they may try to woo you with merit and honors and such because they want so badly for you to choose them. In that sort of context they may only want to see you have done something meaningful outside of class, but will not be very picky about exactly what.
And at the same time, another college might see you as academically qualified but not particularly special, either have no merit in general or have no intention of offering it to you specifically, and may only select you out of a bunch of applicants they see in the same basic way if you have something else that really stands out about you. Which could be a special EC or award, although there is usually no guarantee any particular EC or award will actually work.
Given this, my suggestion is do not worry too much about this. Your first priority is to do as well as reasonably possible in your classes, and also try to get good recommendations and such. This combined with your very high ACT will open as many doors as possible.
Then do activities that are meaningful to you with enthusiasm. And then let the chips fall as they may–you may or may not get into any given college, but with really good academics, almost surely many great colleges will want you, and again some might offer you merit and honors and such.
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I would consider the following 10 basic thoughts…
- Cheaper isn’t always better and the cheapest option should not be the de facto starting point for preference.
- Social, academic and financial fit are all very important in determining happiness and eventual outcomes and should be considered equally.
- You can’t attend a school unless you can afford to pay for it, but sometimes modest amounts of debt are worth it.
- Prestige and name recognition don’t always matter but often they do. For international students and those interested in specific careers, certain top tier schools out perform lower ranked schools. This difference becomes more acute as the disparity in ratings, prestige or name recognition becomes greater.
- These decisions and discussions are personal and based on family value systems and unique financial circumstances. Consequently no one should pass judgement on the conclusions or priorities of others.
- While it may seem helpful to hear about other kids specific experiences assuming that your experience will be the same is risky. Your response to any comments beginning with the term “my kid” should be taken with a grain of salt in terms of its personal relevance. First hand experience however is always more valuable than “searched” second hand info.
- No matter how well intended, anyone giving you advice will be basing that advice upon their own biases and as justification for their prior decisions. It is human nature.
- If someone always offers the same answer they aren’t listening to the question.
- The value of free advice from strangers is often equal to what you are paying for it (including mine).
- Listen to and respect everyone but only follow the advice of GCs, confirmed experts, your parents (or kids observations) and others who know you or your kid the best.
Good luck.
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These represent just two aspects of your application. Strong academic performance and, say, excellent recommendations could get you into a lot of schools. The key for you will be to seek colleges suitable for your interests and for which you are generally well matched. For biology and premed, be sure to include LACs in your research.
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Yes, and in fact if you are looking at the intersection of: (a) demonstrably really good for bio/premed; (b) either have pretty generous need aid or alternatively offer stackable merit aid for high numbers kids; and (c) are not necessarily super picky about ECs/awards, there are a lot of LACs in that intersection!
But there are some universities too. This is early to be naming names, but colleges like Rochester, Case Western, Pitt (maybe if the costs line up), and so on are often popular inclusions on Bio/premed kids’ lists.
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Remember, professional school is VERY expensive. You can get into medical school from almost any undergraduate institution in the US. Although there might be benefits to going to an expensive, fancy name school, and they’d have to be vetted on an individual basis, greatly improving your admissions chances for medical won’t be one of them. Long story short, undergrad is not the final goal. Be mindful of the complete picture. Good luck.
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I want to add that these are my current activities:
- will be attending SSP this summer
- volunteering for around 140 hours at local hospital (including OR and ER) over 3 years
- shadowing oncologist
- beta club exec
- student council president
- scholastic bowl varsity
- debate team
- area youth orchestra for 5 years, currently take private lessons at local college for violin
However, my only awards right now are honor roll and I would be unlikely to qualify for NMSF as I have a 216 index and my state’s is 219.
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If you would like to survey schools based on costs, this site can be especially convenient for the partner schools appearing:
For substantiating information, you can seek individual NPCs.
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It’s normal to feel stressed since you can’t depend on your parents or your HS, though I’ll assume all will try&help you reach your goals.
Your profile is excellent.
To check top colleges expectations (because they may not be your HS’):
- 4 years of English (if possible AP Lang and/or Lit)
- 4 years of history/social science (if possible, US history, World or European history or Human Geography, government/civics/economics, and one more)
- Foreign language through Level 4 (if offered)
- Math through calculus (AP or honors, very important if you’re applying for anything STEM, Business, or Econ) or precalculus (if that’s the sequence you were placed into at your school)
- Bio, chem, physics +1 more science, preferably AP (can be APES if you apply for a Humanities, Art, or social science major; ap physics 1, 2 or C if you’re aiming for Engineering)
- classes reflecting your personal interests, intellectual curiosity, etc. + (often) HS requirements such as PE, Health, etc.
Does your transcript look a bit like that^?
What will your schedule look like next year?
What will you be doing this sumner?
If you live in a rural area you may qualify for the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program. Ask your GC but with your score it’s very likely you would. Some colleges privide thr same benefits to the awardees as to NMSF.
Have you discussed costs with your parents? Go to the FAFSA website and calculate your SAI. It’s only an indication but it’s important to know right away whether your parents can afford that amount… or if you need to “chase merit” because that impacts your college search. The best scholarships come from the colleges themselves so it’s important to target the right ones:
some may be “need based” - whether your parents make 75k or under, under 125k, under 200k… or 300k&more… will impact how much aid you’ll get at meet need colleges; they tend to be the most prestigious and the most generous and use a form called CSS profile which is different from FAFSA. Colleges in that category include Rice, Vassar, Northwestern, Pomona, Stanford, Brown…
Some don’t care how much your parents make. They reward you for your grades& test scores, but the end result may well be quite a bit more than what your parents thought they’d spent. Some may offer nothing…
You can get a full ride either because your parents make, say, 60k… or from your 35 ACT OR from that National Recognition Program. But if your parents make 300k, only merit aid will reduce the costs of college for you.
Here are the classes I’ve taken:
Freshman Year:
World History Advanced
English 1 Advanced
Spanish 3
Algebra 2 Advanced
Bio Advanced
Orchestra
Soph Year:
APUSH
AP Psych (which counts as a social studies)
English 2 Advanced
Spanish 4 Honors
Chem Honors
Sociology (semester)
Pre-Calc Honors
Junior Year:
AP Calc AB
Spanish 5 Honors
AP Bio
AP Gov
AP Lang
Abnormal Psych (semester)
Microbiology (Semester)
Anatomy and Physiology (semester)
And then for senior year:
Either AP stats or AP calc bc, still deciding
AP Spanish
AP Chem
AP Lit
AP Physics
Computer Science Honors (to graduate)
Econ (semester) Zoology (semester)
This summer I’ll be attending SSP most likely. I’m still debating if I should or do something independent on my own. The issue is that there aren’t many local resources so I think SSP might be the most viable option. After that, I’ll volunteer in the hospital as well as do some shadowing in the labs there. Do you have any suggestions?
I also don’t know that much regarding my parents’ finances, just that they make around 200k because they both work full time in med. I think that merit would be helpful, however, if I choose to go down the med pathway. My parents and I are also considering bs/md pathways as well.
Lastly, I’ll look into that recognition program. Thank you for all of your consideration!
Your grades (excellent), test scores (excellent) and extracurriculars (normal-good) will make you a competitive applicant at any school. You have nothing to “worry” about from that standpoint. If you are trying for a T20 school, most applicants, even the competitive ones, don’t get in so there are never any guarantees.
The most important things you can do are secure your recommendations, research colleges to come up with a balanced list of safety, target and reach schools. Really nothing is out of your reach academically but some schools are just really highly rejective and, of course, you need to consider cost. So be sure to focus on finding some safety schools. Otherwise just keep doing what you are doing. You’re doing great and you’ll have great options as long as you work toward a balanced list.
Does this imply that you are set on attending a T20 college? Can I suggest that if you are already really stressed, it might be a great idea to focus on all the other great colleges that are 21 and lower?
Having reaches is fine. It’s actually more important to come up with a list of schools that are affordable, that are realistic for you based on your grades and course rigor, and most importantly, that you would be happy to attend. Call them good bets. Set goals based on reality. Anything beyond one acceptance to an affordable school that you like is icing on the cake.
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I’m not set on attending a t20, it was more to contextualize my school. However, I do come from a culture where prestige is important. I understand what you mean about finding a college that fits me and isn’t just a name.
These are great ECs! You are absolutely fine to consider applying to the high reach (highly rejective/selective) colleges with your stats and ECs that your family can afford. Pick a few high reach colleges of interest to apply to and then shift gears to focus on building a balanced list.
Run the net price calculators and figure out with your parents if you will qualify for needs based financial aid, if you are full pay and they can afford it, if you need to find large merit awards, or if it is some combination of these.
Apply to some flagship public’s with honors programs and big merit.
Apply to some privates with merit where your stats are above their averages. They will love your 35 there.
It is hardest to find your safeties that you can afford and will be happy to attend. Send time visiting those if possible.
You have got this!
What’s more prestigious? BS or MD? Eyes in the prize!
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