One thing to note: I am a sophomore graduating with the Texas First Early Graduation Program in spring 2026. My school said to graduate, I have to get accepted into at least one college (not community college).
Demographics
- First generation U.S. citizen (I was born here) (parents are immigrants and are citizens)
- Not first generation college (parents are both doctors)
- I don’t think I have that much of a restraint since parents will be paying.
Intended Major(s)- Pre-Med
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
- Weighted HS GPA: 4.08 on 5.0 scale (from last year, grades just started for me)
- ACT/SAT Scores: Taking it on September 13th, practice tests are 1390-1410ish
List your HS coursework:
- Math: Algebra 1 Honors, Geometry Honors, Algebra 2 Honors, PreCalculus, and currently taking AP Calculus BC
- English: Honors English 1, Honors English 2, (will be testing out of English 3 and 4 with credit by exam) and taking AP Seminar
- Science: Biology Honors, Chemistry, Physics, PLTW Principles of Engineering Science
- SS: AP Human Geography, AP World History (will be testing out of U.S. History)
- Health Science: Health Science Theory, Medical Terminology and Healthcare Communications (these two are in partnership with Collin College), and PLTW Principles of Biomedical Science
- Spanish: Spanish 1 and Spanish 2
- P.E.
- I got a 5 on my AP Human Geo Exam last year. I am taking AP Calc BC, AP Seminar, and AP World History in school and will be taking respective AP Exams. However, I am thinking of self-studying for U.S. History, Psychology, Lit, Lang, and APES. (Any suggestions?)
Awards: N/A
Extracurriculars
NHS (National Honors Society), HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America)
I am a paid intern as a Junior Medical Assistant at my dad’s clinic, volunteer at the library (youth), volunteer at my religious organization’s summer and Sunday school.
Essays/LORs/Other
I haven’t written my essay yet, not feeling so great on it.
Schools
SMU- Early Decision
UTD- Early Action
UT Austin- Early Action
Rice- might apply, probably have no chance
TCU- Maybe
Texas A&M- Early Action
I also took/take random classes such as Business Info Management 1 and Dollars and Sense.
I am not convinced that graduating two years early is a good idea. This might be particularly true for anyone planning to take on a tough major in university. Premed is not actually a major, but premed classes will be tough.
None of my family was premed, but both daughters had majors that overlapped a lot with premed classes. One daughter is currently a veterinarian (the required pre-vet classes are the same classes as the required premed classes). My other daughter is currently studying for a PhD in a biomedical field. Both have told me stories. Both have pointed out that their premed classes were full of very strong students. One mentioned that the first mid-term exam in “freshman year biology for biology majors” had a class average in the mid 40’s. This was in a class full of very strong premed students. I interpreted this as the professor doing a favor for the various premed students. They were showing students early on that they were going to need to either up their effort significantly, or give up on ever attending medical school. One daughter similarly described organic chemistry as “the most difficult B- that I ever had in my life”. This is a daughter who was a very strong student, and who is now a veterinarian.
The point is that you will be stronger student if you take classes at a measured pace, and particularly only take classes when you are very well prepared to do so. You really are likely to be a stronger student four years from now than you are currently.
And I would not self-study for five AP exams. One daughter self-studied for one single AP exam, and I think that was plenty. This was however AP Spanish, and she did it only after studying at a Spanish language high school in South America for three months.
It sounds like you are a very strong student. It sounds like you have a realistic possibility of making it to medical school and doing well. I do however think that pacing yourself can make it more likely that you will succeed on this path.
Also be aware that most students who start university thinking “premed” end up doing something else. Some cannot keep up a medical-school-worthy GPA in the tough premed classes. Some however find that there is something else that they would prefer to do. Biomedical research is of course one example of “something else”, but there are lots and lots of other examples.
Make sure that they are also okay with paying for medical school. Eight years of university can be expensive.
3 Likes
Yes, that is what my counselor told me, and you are definitely right. I was thinking about at least waiting until junior year if I don’t get into SMU and just UT Dallas. Thank you for your input, it is hard when your parents aren’t familiar with the U.S. College Admissions process which is why I wanted to ask others 
. I will take it into much consideration!
1 Like
Unweighted GPA and class rank?
The average age of new medical school students is 24, I think. Graduating from high school two years early will not be an advantage when you get ready to apply to medical schools at age 20, if that is what you intend to do. Is it?
@WayOutWestMom
Also, you need to check policies at these colleges regarding dorm living. Some places do not allow students who are 16 to live in the dorms.
4 Likes
School doesn’t calculate for sophomores, only for juniors and seniors.
You can calculate your unweighted GPA yourself.
Rank is highly important for Texas public universities’ admission.
I mean I want to also do law school after I do med school, as I am very passionate about law.
Also, the school (SMU) I really want to go to is 10-20 minutes away and UT Dallas (which should be a safety) is also in that range as well.
Ok! My counselor she would calculate my rank later on in the year since school just started.
Why? If you intend to become a doctor, you will have four years of medical school followed by a 2-7 year or so residency…plus passing your board exams. And you won’t be able to attend law school while you are completing your doctor training.
And then you will have three years of law school…and you need to hope for some excellent internships while in law school…so it’s not like you can work part time as a doctor.
And if you don’t practice medicine for several years after residency, your skills will not be as sharp as they need to be.
I think you need to take your time and not rush through your schooling or career choices. My opinion.
8 Likes
Oh, that’s true . I might just wait till junior year, ngl. Thanks for your honesty, it really helps and I will take it into great consideration!
Your parents didn’t attend college in the US, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t learn what colleges are looking for in prospective students.
Have your parents and you visited any of the campuses that you are interested in attending? All of the campuses should all have admissions info sessions where your parents and you can learn about the admissions process. Many schools offer virtual info sessions. If you are thinking of attending college at a young age, I would make sure you visit in person to understand the culture of each campus. For example, SMU has a large Greek system and has a pretty active party scene.
In general, colleges are looking for students who will be successful academically, socially, emotionally, and for students who will contribute to their campus community.
1 Like
No, I haven’t visited a college campus, but if I am going to apply, as you said, it would be important to go a little in depth. Thanks! I will keep this in mind! I calculated my ninth grade UW GPA (it’s a 3.76) because we don’t have grades currently (school just started).
Do I have a better chance applying for Early Decision (binding) at SMU rather than Regular Decision?
Why?
The two careers are wholly unrelated. Pick one or the other, but not both. You can only work in one field.
Medical school admission is really tough for younger than typical students. There are questions about the applicant’s maturity and undue pressure from parents for younger than typical students. Also, it’s fairly uncommon for students to graduate from undergrad and go directly to medical school. Most students take 1-3 gaps after college to improve their ECs and gain medically related experiences before they apply to med school.
Also doing dual professional schools is VERY expensive. Do your parent have a million or so dollars they are willing to spend on TWO professional degrees?
6 Likes
I mean my parents are pretty wealthy but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t drop a million dollars, lol. I was also thinking of doing a dual MD/JD Program but that’s really competitive so I just didn’t give it a second thought. With all that said, my final thought is that I want to go and get an MD. I think it would be beneficial for me to graduate early so then when I am done with undergrad, I could take a gap year and get some experience as you said. I have a couple of questions too. What do you think I should do? Do I have the chance to get in to a college for undergrad right now? Also, I don’t know what I should major in as a premed student, it’s very vague when I search it up. Does HOSA (and placing in a competition for HOSA) impact college apps? I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to me, by the way !
You can major in almost anything and be a premed student. One example I saw a while back was a student who majored in art, completed the premed requirements while getting their bachelor’s degree in art, went to medical school, and became a surgeon who specializes in robot-assisted surgery. In the video they paint a very small picture of the hospital where they work using a robot-assisted surgery system. Manual dexterity seems to be a common factor.
I can think of three things that might influence a choice of major. One is to have an overlap between the classes required for the major and the classes required to complete premed requirements and apply to medical school. This might for example suggest a major in biology. A second consideration is “plan B”. What might you do if you don’t go to medical school? In many cases this might suggest “not biology” (there is often a glut of recent graduates with a biology bachelor’s degree who did not make it to medical school). Having a major that fits this plan B might turn out to be useful. Finally, what do you like and what are you good at?
It is very common for students to change their major after starting university (at least in the USA and Canada). Thus this is something that you can figure out later.
Life is not a race. There is plenty of time to get done whatever you want to get done. Graduate students are often in their 20’s, but a student in their 30’s is not unusual at all. As students mature they will often become stronger students (this applied to me for example), and will also often get a better idea of what they want to do with their life (which also applied to me).
2 Likes
If your weighted GPA is 4.06 with +1 for honors courses which seem to be all of your courses, then your unweighted GPA may be 3.06, which may not be that competitive for your college list.
In addition, to get into any medical school or a worthwhile law school, you need a college GPA significantly higher than 3.06.
1 Like