Chance Me! (Pre-Med Track) :0) [FL resident, 3.467 GPA, 31 ACT]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US citezen
  • State/Location of residency: Florida
  • Type of high school: Public magnet, foreign language-focused high school
  • Class size: 88
  • Other special factors: First Gen

Intended Major(s)

Biology

Neuroscience

Possible Minor in Philosophy or Literature

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.467
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.1
  • Class Rank: 50%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: ACT Composite: 31

List your HS coursework

  • (H) = Honors (AP)= Advanced Placement

  • English: English 1 (H), English 2 (H), AP Lang, AP Lit

  • Math: Geometry (H), Alg 2 (H), Precalculus (H)

  • Science: Biology 1 (H), Chemistry (H), AP Biology

  • History and social studies: US History (H), US Government (H), Italian Humanities 1,2,3

  • Language other than English: Italian 1 (H) , 2(H), 3 (H)and AP Italian.

  • Visual or performing arts: 2-D Art 1 and 2, Creative Photography 1 and 2

**Awards:

Honor 1**
Title: Silver Medal – Esame Nazionale di Italiano 2024
Grade Level: 11
Level of Recognition: International

Honor 2
Title: AP Scholar
Grade Level: 11
Level of Recognition: National

Extracurriculars:

Activity 1 – Academic
Position/Leadership: Founder & President
Organization: Future Medical Professionals Club – International Studies Preparatory Academy
Description: Founded school’s first pre-med club; led 40+ peers, organized physician panels, and directed schoolwide health advocacy campaigns.
Time: 4 hrs/week · 40 weeks/year

Activity 2 – Internship
Position/Leadership: Medical Assistant
Organization: Garcia Saez Medical Group
Description: Supported clinic serving 40+ patients daily by recording vitals, updating 100+ records weekly, and analyzing lab results.
Time: 30 hrs/week · 5 weeks/year

Activity 3 – Work (Paid)
Position/Leadership: Health Intern & Policy Strategist
Organization: United Way Miami
Description: Researched barriers to care; developed plan to expand access for 20K+ residents and presented findings to local health partners.
Time: 30 hrs/week · 5 weeks/year

Activity 4 – Career Oriented
Position/Leadership: Student Observer
Organization: Baptist Health West Kendall Baptist Hospital
Description: Shadowed ICU physicians and nurses for five weekends; observed critical care procedures, patient monitoring, and post-op care.
Time: 8 hrs/week · 5 weeks/year

Activity 5 – Research
Position/Leadership: Student Researcher
Organization: Medical Blogs Youth Organization
Description: Won youth research competition; published article on climate change and related illnesses, sparking social media discussion.
Time: 4 hrs/week · 3 weeks/year

Activity 6 – Other Club/Activity
Position/Leadership: Peer Health Educator
Organization: Health Information Project
Description: Delivered peer health lessons to 50+ freshmen on mental health, substance use, and sexual health; trained to lead open discussions.
Time: 1.5 hrs/week · 30 weeks/year

Activity 7 – Dance
Position/Leadership: Classical Cuban Ballet Dancer & Performer
Organization: Armour Dance Theatre
Description: Trained 14 years in classical Cuban ballet; advanced technique and performance through 6+ hours of weekly instruction.
Time: 6 hrs/week · 46 weeks/year

Activity 8 – Family Responsibilities
Position/Leadership: Assistant Manager
Organization: Flor de Flamenco
Description: Managed sales, fittings, and cashier duties; redesigned website and directed digital marketing for family-run business.
Time: 4 hrs/week · 46 weeks/year

Activity 9 – Art
Position/Leadership: Independent Photographer
Organization: Independent Practice & Exhibition Winner
Description: Pursued photography since middle school; 2 original works selected for juried Coral Gables Museum exhibit.
Time: 1.5 hrs/week · 28 weeks/year

Essays/LORs/Other
Personal Essay about my muteness and intense blushing as a child while getting bullied and my growth as I grew older and began speaking and taking leadership roles despite my nervousness and blushing even today.

Schools:

University of Miami (UM)

  • Early Action

  • Major: Biology Pre-Health (BS)

  • Category: Target

Florida International University (FIU)

  • Early Action

  • Major: Behavioral Neuroscience (BS)

  • Category: Safety

University of Florida (UF)

  • Early Action

  • Major: Health Science (BS)

  • Category: Reach

George Washington University (GW)

  • Regular Decision

  • Major: Biology (BS)

  • Category: Target

American University (AU)

  • Early Action

  • Major: Biology (BS)

  • Category: Target

Georgetown University

  • Early Action

  • Major: Human Science (BS)

  • Category: Reach

Franklin and Marshall College:

  • Early Action
  • Major: Neuroscience (Biology 2nd option)
  • Category: Reach?
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By the way, I had a low GPA freshman and sophomore year (just didn’t really care for school), but my GPA junior year rose to a 3.8 unweighted, and I have all A’s and 1 B currently as a senior.

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Do you have a college budget per year from your parents. Some of these colleges are close to $100,000 a year all in. Is this affordable for your family.

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Just a note that AU is very big on demonstrated interest. If you aren’t already, make sure you are opening and reading all their emails and following links, meeting with any reps they send to your school/area, etc.

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What math&science are you taking senior year?

Have you run the NPCs on these colleges?

Here’s Umiami’s NPC

Is the university affordable? If so, applying ED will maximize your chances. Otherwise, apply EA. It’s a reach Btw.

Have you heard from FIU yet? (Assuming you applied EA/priority). Don’t forget the Honors application opens Dec 12. Definitely apply even if you’re waiting for decisions.

Include USF, good for premeds.

In Florida, Eckerd also has strong science majors.

American is a low reach, perhaps a target if you apply for Public Health (Medical Science track) + Italian minor.
https://www.american.edu/media/news/090518-Abramson-Gift-Hall-of-Science.cfm
https://www.american.edu/cas/health/public/bs.cfm

F&M is a reach.
I would add Dickinson, which would value your Italian skills and complete the premed program..

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Yes you need to talk to your parents about your budget for your colleges and universities. Are your parents prepared to pay anywhere from $60k to $100,000 a year for some of these schools?

Also, if you’re planning on medical school, you are typically on loans for medical school, unless your parents have saved $400,000 for that? There is very, very limited funding for medical school. It’s either loans, or the Bank of Mom and Dad. We were fortunate that we had been saving for quite a while for our daughter when she attended med school. All of her roommates were on loan, loans, and more loans.

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Addressing your chances since that’s what you asked:

Miami high reach - subs could be Elon, Butler, Denver, Charleston

Florida high reach - subs - Alabama and it has McCullough Pre Med Scholars. Other large flagships - Indiana, Kansas, Colorado etc

GW reach but if full pay and demonstrated interest - you never know. Same with American. Given the urbanness of these, Charleston is a like safety. Mine chose Charleston over AU which if budget wasn’t an issue would have been #2. UT Chattanooga is another

Gtown - high reach - Loyola Maryland, Chicago, New Orleans might be good subs, DePaul

F&M - reach - Stetson, Rollins, Eckerd or if want up North Wheaton, Drew, Susquehanna.

FIU is not a safety. But a target. The test is great. The rank is fine. The GPA - ehhh

FIU is potentially the only school you get into. Are you ok going there ?

If not, you need to expand your list.

Like everyone has said - budget is first and foremost. You need one.

I’m guessing you think your long list of short term ECs will get you in - but ECs don’t make up for your academics.

So expand your list would be what I’d advise.

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I will note (at least from my personal experience), that financial aid, like others said, is very iffy with some of these schools. Georgetown, for example, does not offer pure merit aid - they mainly give out need-based aid.

American University is also another iffy one from when I applied, compared to other schools when I got my offer letters. American offered quite a lot less need-based aid than other schools, which didn’t make it competitive. My family and I predicted this quite early with NPCs, and it turned out quite similar in the end.

If you’re going to, at the bare minimum, apply to the schools you’ve listed above, run the netprice calculators (those are pretty accurate). But looking at your list now, you should consider adding a few more targets and safeties.

@WayOutWestMom may have a few things to offer as well.

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It’s all about the grades. It’s about what you accomplished in your classroom environment. You need Letters of recommendation from teachers who have seen what you can do in the classroom and what you will bring to the university, not only academically, but as a thriving student on a campus who will participate in campus groups.

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I am sure this means to expand your list of colleges.

You can take the required courses for medical school applicants at just about every four year college in this country, arts conservatories excluded. So…find some affordable colleges that you like, where you can see yourself being happy for the four years if undergrad, where you have a very good chance of acceptance.

At this point, put medical school on the back burner. That’s something for the future.

It looks like you will get a decent level of Bright Futures. Is that correct? If so, you definitely want to look at the florida public colleges where you have a good chance of acceptance.

And yes, costs do matter…please try to keep your undergrad loans to a bare minimum to none. Medical school is largely funded by the bank of mom and dad, and/or loans, loans and more loans.

Are you interested in suggestions for colleges that are not on the east coast where you might garner some decent merit aid? If so, let us know and folks can give suggestions.

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Potential pre-meds need to be very aware of their undergraduate college costs.

Medical school is expensive and as noted above there is little FA except for loans. The BBB has eliminated Grad Plus loans which med students previously used to help pay their medical education expenses. Now professional students have lifetime cap of $200,000 in federal student loans, an amount that includes any undergraduate loans you have taken out.

Talk with your parents and get firm budget for undergrad, and hopefully one that will not require you to take on any loan greater than those offered as federal students loans. Once you have a budget, ask your parents if you go to a less expensive college will they be willing to kick in some those saved funds to help pay for medical school. Right now most private and OOS med schools are running in >$100,000/year. In-state public med schools are less expensive but still cost in the > $70-85K/year range. You should expect that med school will cost even more in the future than it does right now.

Also med school admissions is very grade focused. You need a high GPA for med school. That may mean going to a highly competitive undergrad where there are tons of very strong students is a bad idea. Pre-med majors tend to attract the strongest students–and those students will be your competition for the limited number of top grades in your science and math classes.

IOW, you don’t want to go to an undergrad where you will be in middle 50% of accepted students. You want to be in top quarter of accepted students. Keep this in mind as you choose which schools to apply to.

One more consideration–the vast majority of freshmen pre-meds never actually apply to medical school. Only about 18% finish the pre-reqs. The reason they fall off the pre-med pathway vary. While some can’t hack it academically and don’t get that 3.8 GPA, many more quit because the path to med school is very long and even longer once you get there. ( 4 years of med school followed by 3-15 years of residency & fellowship once med school is finished.) Many students decide they don’t wan to give up all of their 20s and half of their 30s to become a physician. It hard to postpone your life when you see all your friends from high school and college getting married, having kids, settling permanently in one area… and you’re still eating ramen in a crappy student apartment.

So when you’re choosing a college, consider if you will be happy there and will you have the opportunity to study another field you find interesting and would be happy to have a career in.

So priorities for choosing an undergrad:

  1. Cost
  2. Cost
  3. Cost
  4. top 25% of accepted students
  5. other majors that interest you
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This is very true and an important point. You will want to think about other possible careers.

I agree that some find the premed classes too tough and can’t keep a medical-school-worthy GPA, and some find the multi-year marathon to be too long and too much of a drain on someone’s life. There is at least one additional reason why some aspiring premed students pick a different path: Some students when they get to university just find a different path that they like better. As one example, one daughter got into lab courses, and decided that she would rather do medical research in a lab rather than deal with actual human patients.

There are lots of other career options for someone who starts university thinking “premed”.

This also makes a lot of sense to me. Premed classes are tough. You don’t want to arrive on-campus as the student who just barely got accepted and who is competing with a long list of students who came in better prepared. Also, schools for which you are a stronger applicant might also in some cases be more likely to provide merit based aid.

This uptrend might help you to do well in the tough university premed classes. Keep up the good work. The effort that you put in now is very much worthwhile. The better you do now the better prepared you will be. Also, when you arrive on campus at university, plan to be making a huge effort starting day 1 to keep ahead in your work and to do as well as you possibly can in every course. Expect some tests and exams to be tougher than anything that you have ever seen up to now.

Both daughters had majors that overlapped a lot with premed classes. Both have mentioned tough classes with tough exams. One mentioned that the first midterm exam in her first premed class had a class average in the mid 40’s. I took this as the professor doing a favor to the many premed students in the class – they were making the point early that most students were going to either up their effort considerably or find some other career path that did not include medical school.

Your uptrend in high school is likely to make you better prepared when you get into these tough classes.

Unfortunately I am not familiar with the various public universities in Florida (we live way to the north of you). However, I do think that you should take a close look at your in-state options and apply to some for which admissions is very highly likely. If you can get merit aid or other financial aid that can be important. As others have said there are hundreds of universities that are very good for premed students, and that also offer many other options for students who decide against pursuing a career in medicine or who pursue a medical-related career that does not include an MD or DO (there are lots of other options).

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