Chance me please; Low GPA Asian in NJ striving for T20 [3.7 GPA (top 10%), 1550 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
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In other words, if you can find data on how many they admit.

Maybe one school admits 12 of 2000 overall. Another 60 of 2000.

This is from Forbes - I’m just curious, who is the most likely to admit…was what i’m getting at.

Here’s an article with some stats - GPA wise you’re much lower but obviously you have a test and other attributes.

"In announcing their early decision admission results, several colleges highlighted the number of QuestBridge admits.

Colleges Accept Record Number Of Low-Income Students Via QuestBridge

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But that includes RD Questbridge admits, who apply via the QB application but only get the “normal” institutional aid that the Net Price Calculator would predict, in addition to those who Match in the early round and get the enhanced full ride, correct?

At the most generous schools, the differential between the two, aid-wise, may not be huge. But at others the difference may be stark. At USC, for example, I have seen several QB RD admits who were shocked by their aid packages and absolutely unable to afford to go there.

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For your first statement, you are correct. My 15 ranking will probably be

:one: Harvard University
:two: Princeton University
:three: Columbia University
:four: Brown University
:five: Cornell University
:six: Yale University
:seven: University of Pennsylvania
:eight: University of Chicago
:nine: Northwestern University
:ten: Johns Hopkins University
11️⃣ Duke University
12️⃣ Dartmouth College
13️⃣ University of Notre Dame
14️⃣ University of Richmond
15️⃣ Washington and Lee University

May not rank include 14 and 15 as I’m not sure they’re great for pre med

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Washington and Lee is great for premeds.

@DramaMama2021

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Thinking Washington and Lee at 14 then UVA at 15

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Thanks for the shoutout, @thumper.

@TheInquisitor1 My D21 had a fantastic experience at W&L and we have nothing but positives to say about the pre-med advising, access to research/volunteering/shadowing, etc. Initially my D was concerned about the rural location limiting those experiences but she found the school bends over backwards to give all kids a similar opportunity (for example, providing transportation options to off-campus locations, identifying summer experiences, etc).

If W&L stays on your list I am happy to answer any questions. If recent history is a guide, they must target QB scholars as roughly 10% of the class (40-ish students).

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There’s not a school that’s not great for pre meds on the QB list.

Stop thinking like that.

Any school willing to full ride you is a great school for you. And pre meds.

The schools aren’t passing your classes for you or getting you an MCAT score. You are - no matter where you are.

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They provide free Ubers for summer experiences, etc?

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For summers they provide financial grants. My apologies if my previous post was confusing.

Regarding transportation during the school year, they have cars/vans students can “check out” to drive themselves to locations farther from campus and a campus shuttle for locations closer. There may be other options but I am familiar with those. If a student stays on campus for the summer (for research or a local experience), these would be options.

ETA: The vehicles are open to all students. My D had her car on campus, but she and another student would use a campus car to drive to their weekly half-day volunteering (scribing) at a free clinic an hour away. That was better than putting the mileage and wear on my D’s car. There are numerous local activities as well; this just happened to be the one my D and her friend chose because of their focus working with underserved populations and the hours that were offered. Another year my D shadowed a doctor within walking distance of campus.

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100%.

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Any school on the Questbridge partner list could provide all of the support and academic rigor you could need to be a successful medical school applicant. The rest comes from you.

What you prefer in a premed program may not be the same as what others would prefer. Do you particularly want to be able to access clinical volunteering/shadowing opportunities during the school year, for example? Some consider that important; others are fine with focusing on on-campus pursuits during the school year and pursuing clinical experiences over the summers. Either approach can work. Likewise, some students are happy with a school that pre-weeds med school applicants and provides a “committee letter” endorsing only the top applicants. (This results in extremely high reported rates of med school acceptance, but only because students for whom acceptance isn’t a slam-dunk are excluded from the stats and effectively from applying to med school at all.) Others would rather attend a school where anyone can apply, and recommendations come from individual faculty members and mentors. One approach isn’t inherently better or worse than the other, but you might have a preference. What constitutes “great for pre med” in your eyes?

Richmond and W&L are both excellent schools. What made them stand out to you? I was anticipating that as a student who’s ambivalent about LAC’s, you might prefer the ones that either are larger in their own right (like Wesleyan and Richmond) or that are part of a larger student community by virtue of being part of a consortium (like Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Amherst, Haverford…) So my algorithm didn’t predict your interest in W&L. Both Richmond and W&L are excellent for poli sci and have strong ties to DC, so maybe that’s why?
There’s much more to college than “great for premed,” and much to love about many colleges on the QB partner list - you can’t really go wrong, but some settings may be more right or wrong for you. For example, how do you feel about Greek life? Fraternity and sorority culture is quite prominent at both Richmond and W&L, for example (unlike most of the other schools on your list) - is that a plus or a minus for you?

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Your list contains a lot of highly ranked universities. Please do not assume that attending a highly ranked university will improve your chances of getting into medical school.

There are a lot of opportunities at the highly ranked universities. However, the competition for these opportunities is intense. If you had been the #1 or #2 student in your high school, and if you attend Harvard or Princeton, then you would suddenly become average (of course your actual high school GPA would be well below average for these schools). I had a similar experience my first week as a freshman at MIT. With 800 on the math part of the regular SAT (I ended up being a math major at MIT), I discovered that half of the other freshman there had the exact same score on the math part of the SAT, and most of the other students were not off by more than 10 or 20 points. If you attend Harvard or Princeton, and if you are sitting in your freshman year math or science class, then look to the right of you and look to the left of you. You will be sitting next to students who had A’s in every math and science class that they ever took and whose SAT scores are just as excellent at yours. It is not going to be easy to stand out in this crowd.

And your high school GPA, while pretty good, is probably below average for the first 12 or 13 schools on your list. I to not think that this will help your chances of getting a “medical school worthy” GPA as an undergraduate student.

There are hundreds of universities that are very, very good for premed students, or for other intentions as well. You do not need to attend a “top 20” or even “top 50” university to have a good chance to get into a very good MD or DO program.

Let’s compare this with an alternate approach. One daughter was pre-vet. She went to a university that was ranked somewhere in the 100 to 120 range (this can vary a bit from one ranking to the next), but that was a very good fit for her and that offered her good merit aid. The pre-vet required classes are the same as the premed required classes, so she know a LOT of premed students. Most of her friends were premed. One boyfriend had never had a B in his life (he is an MD now). One female friend was not very far off from this (I am pretty sure that she just got her MD). There will be many very strong students at schools ranked in the 100+ range. Premed classes will be tough (my daughter at the time referred to Organic Chemistry as “the most difficult B- that I ever had in my life”). Exams will be tough. There will be a LOT of homework (I got to see premed friends who were carrying large text books to study at every possible moment, even on weekends). However it may be a bit more possible to stand out, or at least keep up. There will at least be some students in premed classes that are merely human. This daughter was just able to keep a “pre-vet worthy” GPA as an undergraduate student, got GREAT experience in “veterinary medical” environments, and was able to get accepted to four different DVM programs including two “top 10” programs. She got her DVM a couple of months ago (and is now a practicing veterinarian). She “kept her eyes on the prize”, attended a university that was affordable and that was a great fit for her with a good pre-vet/premed program, and as a result got where she wanted to be (a practicing veterinarian who is not overwhelmed with debt).

I would think that schools like Washington and Lee and UVA and Rutgers should be close to the top of your list. I think that Seton Hall should be on your list. These are schools that can help you keep on track to become an MD or DO over the next ten years or so. I think that at least half of your list should be schools that are realistic with a 3.7 unweighted GPA.

Of the top 12 schools on your list, I think that you should think about which half are the best fit for you, cut the other half, and replace them with schools where admissions is way, way more likely, and where you can be sitting in the front row of a freshman year science class and be confident that at least someone in that front row (other than you) has gotten more than one B in their life up to this point.

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From OP prior - clearly name hungry. So it’s good when someone asks - what do you want in your experience. I don’t get the sense that’s a consideration - hopefully yet.

“As for why Ivy, they are all very wealthy private colleges located within important research universities. And that can have some concrete advantages, most importantly that I’d be having a full ride. Additionally, dedicated recruiting and networks. For example, it is much more difficult to intern at Goldman Sachs without coming from a “target” like Ivy League, MIT, Stanford, etc.”

“I get 15 QB Slots but I don’t want to be forced to go to random LAC…”

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Was hoping to move the conversation forward rather than belaboring the analysis of OP’s motives…

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My point was hopefully he’ll look at what he wants. We just read about having to take a car and driving distance to scribe. Does he want that or walk ten minutes and have opportunities? To be in a city or small town, etc.

My point is to move forward - to have OP evaluate desires and then people can help craft a list from simply mostly picking the biggest names as they’ve done.

There’s 55 schools. At first he picked less than 15 - just the biggest names. Now he’s added two.

I’m guessing some of the 40 remaining might fit better than the first 13. If the student thinks about what they truly want in a campus, they might develop and better - and higher chance of getting accepted list.

If people would work together to help OPs instead of attacking other posters trying to help …..

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I am not that optimistic about OP’s QB chances with a 3.7 GPA with at least one C and a few B’s in frosh/soph years and apparently some non-A’s in junior year. Average finalist GPA last year was 3.92.

With that said, OP can take their shot at QB, of course. But it’s a hard app. It’s best to rank relatively more schools, but if one becomes a finalist (announced Oct 21 this year), they have to complete all the supplementals for all the schools they ranked in a fairly short period of time. On top of their school work, ECs, and non-QB applications.

I don’t think OP has said what their estimated SAI is, but most finalists also have an estimated SAI between 0 and -1,500.

It sounds like Rutgers would be affordable and a highly likely admit. But if I were OP, I would also get some apps in to some non-QB meet full needs schools like Lehigh and Miami.

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Miami offers full ride? Also, you don’t think I have any chance to get to a T20, questbridge finalist, or both?

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I didn’t say that, I said Miami meets full need, as calculated by them (which is true of all meet full need schools.) Run their NPC with your parent to get a cost estimate.

I would never say you have no chance. But most QB finalists and most elite school admits have higher than a 3.7 GPA with no C’s and no (or few) B’s. Even though admission is holistic at the schools you are talking about, grades and rigor are the most important factors.

Will you have taken 4 years of courses in each of the 5 core subject areas? I assume you’ve taken chem? How many years of foreign lang?

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U of Miami is one of many schools that meet need. The issue becomes - if your need is 100% of costs - many schools are need aware and will turn you down for that reason. That’s where QB is nice - those schools may waive that.

This is a 3rd party list -so check each to validate - academically, Miami is a target at best, maybe a reach.

Some you might consider, in addition to QB, is Berea, where no one pays tuition and 77% pay nothing.

Connecticut College

Franklin & Marshall

Miami

Occidental

Rochester

Sewanee (not on the list but does meet need)

UNC

Union

Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid · PrepScholar

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Got 2 years of foreign language, school wouldn’t allow me to take 3 as it didn’t work with my schedule. I have taken 4 years of courses in each of the 5 core subject areas and have taken numerous AP and dual enrollment courses.

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