hi! uf was my top choice and i was rejected today. heartbroken and discouraged, but moving on. i applied to schools under the biology major with the following stats:
32 act
9 ap courses - calc ab, calc bc, stats, lit, lang, bio, psych, apush, apes
4.47 weighted gpa, 3.91 uw
4 years of marching band - 3 years 2nd chair clarinet, 1 year 1st chair saxophone
4 years of concert band - 4 years 1st chair oboe
k-12 girl scout - bronze and silver awards, working towards gold award currently (gold award project: created a music program at my school, which did not have one at the time, developed and shared my own curriculum)
3 years beta club
2 years nhs
part time job for 3 years - i have been a trainer for 2 years
400+ volunteer hours
so far, i have been accepted to the following:
- utk (ea, oos)
- unc chapel hill (ea, in state)
- ncsu (ea, in state)
- uga (ea, oos)
- alabama (rolling admissions, oos, HONORS PROGRAM)
- a bunch of other smaller universities i am not truly considering anymore
deferred from:
- villanova (ea)
- tulane (ea)
- northeastern (ea)
- umich (ea)
and finally, i am waiting to hear from
my top three were washu, umich, and uf, so i am pretty bummed about not being accepted to either umich or uf, but there is still a (very small) chance at umich and washu. is anyone able to “chance me” for rd at either washu or umich? i am planning on touring bama honors, utk, and uga, but honestly i have really no clue anymore. any guidance is appreciated!!
Okay. You are already in at a very good university (with in-state prices). I have worked with a couple of graduates from UNC who were very good (only a couple because we live in the northeast, some distance from you). When I was in graduate school (at Stanford) one of my best friends in the same program was a UNC grad. I do not know your other acceptances as well, but my understanding is that several of them (if not all of them) are very good also.
I will also note that your stats are very similar to my older daughter’s high school stats, and she is currently doing very well in a very good graduate program (getting a DVM).
University admissions in the US is hard to predict, particularly for out of state schools and highly ranked private universities (such as NEU, and Emory, and WUSTL). However, you have already been accepted to multiple very good universities.
Love the school that loves you. You will be headed to a very good university in September regardless of what happens in the results that have not come in yet.
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I have no idea whether you will be accepted to the schools you are waiting for, but you have already been accepted to some great schools…congrats! Hopefully your visits add some clarity.
My D went to UNC (biology) and had an amazing 4 years. You are very lucky to have this university for instate costs. Biology majors typically go to some type of grad school…that costs money. I would keep that in mind when making your decision.
Congrats on your acceptances!
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Congratulations on your many fine acceptances!
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You have great choices. Are you set on going out of state? I don’t see a better option than UNCCH. You have other great choices, but none as good as that, at least IMO.
Be wary of trying to visit too many colleges, mainly because it takes time to visit colleges and you still need to keep up grades. For example, if you aren’t truly interested in UTK, don’t feel you need to visit “just in case.” You may get off a waitlist, or you may yet still be accepted to your RD choices.
Fwiw, I think not getting into UF isn’t a big loss. It’s not better than UNCCH. Feel happy that you have really good options. Good luck with your final decisions.
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Are you considering Alabama honors? UF would not give you more than UNC… besides a new state.
Are you premed?
Again, you are very fortunate to have UNC as an instate option.
Your acceptances are ridiculously good choices regardless of what happens next. People in my part of the country would love to have an in-state option like UNC!
If the issue with UNC is that it’s too close to home and has too many kids from your high school, realize that it isn’t going to be as much of a factor as you think, and over the course of four years might even be something you appreciate.
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i am definitely considering alabama honors but i don’t know much about the program
i am really hoping to go out of state if possible
I don’t know about it either, but I have heard positive things and wondered about cost - that’s why I asked.
UNC instate is a gift…and I would think before turning it down. I am very familiar with biology at this school.
Any thoughts on what you might do with your biology degree (it’s ok not to know)? As I noted you will likely need some type of grad school.
If you attend UNC you can study abroad, do summer internships OOS etc.
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This might make the question “are you premed” more important.
Biology is a major where some form of graduate school is relatively likely regardless of whether you are premed or not. “Some form of graduate school” in general makes it best to avoid debt for undergrad if you can, and even better if you can leave some $$ in the bank for some form of graduate program.
On the other hand, some of your out of state options might be just as affordable as UNC, depending upon what your budget is and what sort of aid you were offered.
And one daughter did not figure out what to do with her degree in biology until way later than high school. This is normal and entirely okay.
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i hope attend a med school to study either oncology or gastroenterology
yes, premed. i plan to go to medical school to become an oncologist or a gastroenterologist
Did you receive merit money to any OOS schools? I would remove every school that is more than the cost of UNC. And… I would go to UNC.
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UNC is an outstanding option. I get that you want to leave the state, but for pre-med you have to save $$$ for medical school. Study abroad, save going out of state for med school. Good luck!
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“Chance me” posts are generally useful when students are trying to build an application strategy. You have applied, so it’s in the hands of fate now. Good luck!
(Separate note: there’s an old saying, “familiarity breeds contempt.” Yes, UNC-CH is your in-state public, but man, oh man, what a blessing that is!)
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@hopeful_student315
You might want to read about this at University of Alabama:
https://mccolloughscholars.as.ua.edu/
But really…UNC is a fabulous option!
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As others have said or implied, medical school is expensive. Even doctors can have some difficulty paying off medical school debt. You need to save money for medical school.
Most students who go off to university intending to be premed end up doing something else. There are a lot of other options, many of which are related. However, as a high school senior, you should keep the medical school option open from a financial perspective, which suggests that you need to budget with the expectation that you will go to medical school. If you decide at some point that you would rather get a master’s degree and do biotech research (and perhaps work alongside one of my daughters), the money that you saved for medical school might pay for a master’s degree instead.
There are a lot of universities that are very, very good for premed students. UNC is one of them. U.Alabama is another. UGA is another. Top medical schools will have students who got their bachelor’s degrees at a very, very wide range of schools.
Premed classes will be full of very strong students at any one of a very wide range of universities (including every school on your list). Some of those premed classes will be very tough.
Let’s suppose hypothetically that you get accepted to WUSTL or Emory. Are you better off, in terms of your chances of getting into good medical schools, to attend WUSTL or Emory entering in the middle third of the incoming class, or to attend UNC entering in the top 1/3 of the incoming class? Frankly, in terms of your ability to get accepted to a very good medical school it probably just does not matter. In terms of your ability to afford medical school, you are better of to have chosen the less expensive option for your bachelor’s degree. If you do end up being accepted to either Emory or WUSTL or both, and if they would be full pay, then you probably would be better off at one the more affordable schools where you have already been accepted (unless your parents are multi-millionaires and do not mind spending most of one of those millions for your education).
Let’s suppose that you attend UNC and live on campus. It will not be like high school at all. You will wake up in a dorm full of other students. The vast majority of the students in your university will be people who you do not know. Students who are academically like the bottom 1/2 and probably 2/3 of your high school class just will not be there. Instead, you will be surrounded by very strong students, and a lot of them. Classes will be demanding. It will be like living and studying in a different world. Of course the same is true for any of the other universities that you have applied to.
You have already been accepted to multiple very good universities. Congratulations! As a potential premed student, the hard work starts in September.
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You already have some terrific college options!
IIRC, both oncology and gastroenterology are fellowships done after your residency…so you are way ahead of yourself on those @WayOutWestMom will tell me if I’m right.
Regardless….your goal now should be to do your very best in undergrad. Put medical school and specialties out of your head…other than to take the required courses for medical school applicants.
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I have not read the complete thread but I am a regular on the Michigan thread. You have some great acceptances already. Paying $72,000/year vs going to your instate option like yes UNC to me doesn’t seem worth it. For pre med your at one of the best colleges already. I had $100,000 debt for med school and that was like 40 years ago. You want as little debt as possible for undergrad. Save the money now and put it towards med school. Keep something in mind. You need a high GPA for med school. Schools like Michigan are extremely challenging for even the best students but many find out medicine /engineering etc isn’t in their future the first semester to year so I guess that is a good thing. Pro hint : Save the money now and come back and thank us all later.
Good luck.
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