I will look into it, thanks!
Then also look into Oakland, Western, Grand Valley. All instate. GV has many kids that choose it over Michigan. Itâs been a very hot school the last few years.
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Just throwing out another school⊠Miami of Ohio is a very solid school with great outcomes. Check it out.
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I am a student that chose Grand Valley over University of Michigan. I am happy to answer questions if you are curious about Grand Valley!
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Iâm concerned that youâd be annoyed going to MSU because your GPA is great for them but many many many there outperform you GPA wise. Like a large percentage. So itâs great but not close to leading at MSU.
Nothing trumps grades and usually rigor and remember you are going to school - so when you write your activities and you note you shadowed a doctor, it does not matter that heâs high rated or has one awards. What matters is what you did. And no matter where you go, youâll have every chance for med school.
If you donât like MSU, consider publics like OSU, UIUC (may be reach), Purdue, etc or sub in schools like Miami Ohio (safety), Miami Florida, Rochester , U Denver (safety) etc for your Ivy reaches. W&M is a reasonable reach.
Wow. Right on que⊠Thanks 
Just quickly, Michigan State reports an average HS GPA of 3.80, and 26.20% with 4.0, 29.10 with 3.75 to 3.99, 23.0% 3.50 to 3.74, only 21.9% with under a 3.5, and again some of those lower GPA students will be recruited athletes and other hooked cases.
The bottom line is if an upward trend, high test score, and good ECs gets an unhooked 3.4 UW GPA kid into MSU, that actually counts as a very solid use of those qualifications, because without those qualifications the odds would not be looking good.
Wayne State is indeed a well-respected college, both generally and then specifically for pre-med. They have an average GPA of 3.4 in their CDS, with 48.8% of enrolled students 3.49 or under. So that would be more the normal outcome for that sort of GPA, if the other qualifications were more typical.
Again, my point is just if this other stuff gives the OP an option of not just Wayne State but also MSU to choose from, thatâs already indicative of the other stuff working on their behalf.
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OP, in addition to the excellent suggestions above, you may consider UMNâTwin Cities which is an outstanding Big10 school that you have a pretty good chance of getting in. I have seen OOS students with similar profiles as yours â 3.4ish GPA with upward trend plus 1500+ SAT â admitted to CSE (College of Science and Engineering) there, and their ECs werenât as good as yours. UMN has a strong medical school (having Mayo Clinic an hour+ away doesnât hurt), MSP has direct flights to DTW (sounds like youâre from the Detroit metro), and the winter is only slightly more brutal than Michigan :).
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You are clearly intelligent and capable, with lots of ECs and a great upward trend. That background means that you will be well-prepared to be successful in college. As others have indicated, however, the odds of you getting into most of the colleges on your list are extremely minimal, outside of Michigan State and Wayne State. UMich would be a possibility, but itâs probably a reach, based on what I was reading upthread.
To help posters suggest possibilities of schools that might be likelier to grant admission, it would help to know more about what you want out of your college experience:
- What size school do you prefer?
- What size classes do you prefer?
- Do you prefer urban, suburban, small town, or rural campuses?
- How do you feel about Greek life (fraternities/sororities)?
- How do you feel about significant enthusiasm for intercollegiate sports?
- Will climate play a factor in your decision (amount of sun, heat, cold, etc)?
- Are there states/regions that you prefer or prefer to avoid?
- Are there any particular interests you want to pursue in college outside of academics?
- Are there any other factors (like religion or politics) that will play a role in your decision?
The more we know, the better we can help you.
Are you repeating the bolded APs, or were they accidentally listed again?
Additionally, when more than one teacher recommendation is needed, it is generally recommended to have one from a STEM teacher and one from a humanities/social science teacher. As both of your proposed recommendations are from science teachers, you may want to find someone else to write a letter, preferably that you have had in 11th or 12th grade.
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I just asked you a bunch of questions and now Iâm about to offer a number of suggestions without waiting for a response. 
From your original list, it appears as though you prefer medium to large schools, preferably in an urban area. Using those parameters, these are some schools that you might want to check out. There are a number of Catholic schools on the list because Catholic colleges make up a good chunk or the mid-sized urban schools in the U.S.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
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Butler (IN): About 4400 undergrads in Indianapolis
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DePaul (IL): About 14k undergrads in Chicago
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Drexel (PA ): About 14k undergrads and a heavy focus on co-ops
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Duquesne (PA ): About 5100 undergrads in Pittsburgh
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Loyola Chicago (IL): About 12k undergrads
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Marquette (WI): About 7500 undergrads in Milwaukee
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Saint Josephâs: (PA ): About 5100 undergrads in Philadelphia
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Saint Louis (MO): About 11k undergrads
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Seton Hall (NJ): About 6k undergrads just outside of New York City
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Suffolk (MA): About 4400 undergrads in Boston
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U. of Cincinnati (OH): About 30k undergrads
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U. of Kansas: About 19k undergrads and Lawrence gets raves as a great college town
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U. of Nebraska : About 19k undergrads in Lincoln
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Xavier (OH): About 4900 undergrads in Cincinnati
Likely (60-79%)
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Creighton (NE): About 4300 undergrads in Omaha
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SUNY Geneseo (NY): About 4100 undergrads, probably closer to a toss-up than extremely likely
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U. of Denver (CO): About 6200 undergrads
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U. of San Francisco (CA): About 6k undergrads
Toss-Up (40-59%)
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American (D.C.): About 7900 undergrads
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Fordham (NY): About 10k undergrads
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George Washington (D.C.): About 11k undergrads
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Providence (RI): About 4k undergrads, probably closer to a likely than a lower probability
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Santa Clara (CA): About 6100 undergrads, probably closer to lower probability
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Syracuse (NY): About 15k undergrads
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U. of Pittsburgh (PA ): About 24k undergrads and if you apply early (like August) you should get any early response
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
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Michigan does recalculate gpa by dropping + and -. Not sure if that helps you.
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Good list. Adding a couple of mid-size urban Catholic schools that would probably also be tossups: LMU and USD.
I thought about those two, but they are both test blind, which eliminates one of the OPâs strongest application parts. Doesnât mean theyâre impossible though, and they could be a good fit, depending on OPâs interests.
Unfortunately, I think this stat highlights the difficulty in being admitted to UMich. But even if youâre not admitted to UMich as a freshman, they do accept lots and lots of transfer students.
Best of luck to you!
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LMU is test optional but not test blind. I agree OP test score is excellent
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Good list. In the lower probabilty but possible category consider looking at University of Rochester, Case Western, and Pitt. All near medical hubs with lots of observation, interning, etc. opportunities for someone looking for pre-med.
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I just noticed that you commented that you are in the top 10-15% of your class. If this is the case, then Iâd be a little more optimistic. Are you sure about this? At a lot of high schools the top 10 percent of the class have all Aâs (4.0 UW) or nearly all Aâs.
If you are in the top 10-15% percent of your class, then I think thatâs pretty important context for your 3.4 GPA. That would probably make UMich a solid target for you. The rest of the schools on your list (except MSU and Wayne) are reaches for everyone regardless. From your âreachâ list, BU would probably be more likely than the others, especially if you apply ED.
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Yes, especially rigorous schools. My 3.79 GPA put my in the top 10 students in my class.
This is what I was going to comment on as well, if your high school profile shows an average GPA that puts 3.4 in the 10% than that provides important context to your application. Donât forget that even though your high school may not be providing a class rank, your counselorâs section of the Common App still asks for them to provide perspective on you as an applicant, namely how rigorous the course load you took was in comparison to what your school offered and where you call in terms of deciles (top 10%, top quartile, etc). The CDS for your reach schools will show that 90+ percent of the students are going to be in the top 10% with their course rigor as the highest offered.
Your high test score should carry more weight this year than the past four years since the pandemic as more schools are announcing that theyâll be requiring test scores, the ones on your list whom will be requiring them again for the first time with this application cycle are Brown, Wayne State, Georgetown, & Harvard so your best chances might lie there. Keep in mind though that a high test score with lower GPA can be seen as a capable but lazy or undisciplined (barring any significant circumstances that may have contributed to your outcomes) so it could be prudent for your recommenders to combat this perception in their letters. Also if you self studied AP Chem junior year when you got a 4.0 and then also got a 5 on the test, I would have your STEM recommender be sure to mention it.
Your ECs clearly show your passion, youâve done well with them! I would try and make sure your personal statement shows some of the why to give them a reason to check the âintellectual curiosityâ box for you!
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Yeah, these days it would be a bit unusual for a 3.65W to put you in the top 10-15% of a large college-prep public HS that ranks by weighted GPA, but anything is possible, so this is really why you need to work with your counselors on things like this. Indeed, although counselors at high schools like that can sometimes be overwhelmed by the number of kids they have to help, and may not be able to help much with an unusual search, they are usually quite good at explaining which of the in-state options make sense for a given profile.
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