Hi, I’m a high school freshman and I just wanted to know my odds of getting into a T10, or my top 3 (Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins) for undergrad. Additionally, I wanted to know if my stats would be enough for any direct program in medicine out there. Thank you!
Preface: Please be brutally honest.
Intended Majors:
Harvard- History and Science; Government (Double Major)
Yale- History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health; Political Science (Double Major)
Johns Hopkins- Medicine, Science, and the Humanities; Political Science (Double Major)
Direct Med Programs I’m Interested In:
Brown
Northwestern/Feinstein
Sophie Davis
Stonybrook
Stats:
4.0 out of 4.0 (Unweighted)
96.6 out of 100 (Unweighted)
99.5 (Weighted)
ECs:
-Interned on two political campaigns
-CEO and founder of a medical club which then expanded nationally, and then internationally. Received a proclamation from the local legislator for the club.
-Volunteer at the local hospital
-Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Mid-Island High School Democrats, Expansion Director for the New York High School Democrats
-Starting a public health youtube channel and podcast
-Named a Long Island Young Scholar of Mathematics, got acceptance into the Institute of Creative Problem Solving at SUNY Old Westbury (highly selective)
-Scholar of the Institute of Merit’s Research and Technology Program (highly selective)
-Varsity Girls Golf
-Model UN, Theatre, ASL Honor Society, Chess Club Member
APs:
AP HUG (this year)
AP World (next year)
AP Sem (next year)
AP Psych (next year)
AP Bio (next year, self study)
AP Chem (next year, self study)
AP Stats (next year, self study)
You seem like a good applicant, but it is too early on to say if you can get into Harvard/Yale/JHU. The 3 schools you mentioned are HIGHLY competitive, and even for the strongest applicants, difficult to get into. You have lots of time to build up your resume however, and should focus on doing well in high school.
There’s nothing to rule you out, but a lot can happen in the time before you apply. Keep working hard in school, stay involved with your exposure to medicine. You should probably also post on the premed forums here and other sites to find out what successful applicants to the direct med programs did to be successful
I really try and take an positive, supportive tone on CC, but this is just bats:
You are taking 3 APs as a sophomore- fine. But then you are planning to self study 2 lab sciences + stats at the same time? If you think you are going to impress Harvard, etc. you aren’t- even if you get 5s on the self-studied APs. Classroom grades >
classroom AP scores >> self study AP scores Take those classes in class, with the labs. And, not for nothing, you actually need to learn that material, not just pass a standardized test on it. Why don’t you have a classroom lab science in the autumn?
Your odds, absent a hook (recruited athlete, super-major donor, legacy or some piece of legit fame) are currently in the 5% range.
color me sceptical as to how much of this you did on your own, without family connections and support.
Clearly, you are a high energy, high achieving student. With your drive, those 3 schools might be just right for you- or there might be other schools that are more right for you. At this point neither you or anybody else knows that answer.
Hi! I appreciate your output and blatant honesty. To clear myself up, I am taking A.P classes through a free online program, so I am learning and doing things during the year to actively learn. Also, my medical club has expanded nationally and internationally through social media outreach. I have no connections and neither do my parents. While I appreciate your output, please do not invalidate the work I put so much time and thought towards. I understand I do not have a hook, or anything else. I just wanted to know if I was going in the right direction. Thank you for taking the time to answer my comment, but also, please put it in a nicer way next time because this made me upset (even though I know there are places I definitely need to improve!) I am just a freshman and I need time to think things out. Safe to say, I will not be coming on College Confidential again.
Sorry for your negative experience on College Confidential. I believe that anyone who has the desire to attend a certain college can get in if they try. Since you are starting early, you have a good chance of getting into a top university. However, you have to figure why you really want to attend the aforementioned colleges, and whether you are a good fit for the schools. If you can do that, I think you have a great chance at admissions.
I am sorry that my post upset you! I guess I took you too literally (" Please be brutally honest.").
Free online classes -especially in core subjects!- is not going to show the kinds of schools that you are interested in that you are “learning and doing things during the year to actively learn”. If you want to do that, swap out the ‘softer’ / non-core things like psych and seminar for bio and chem. It still won’t convey what you seem to think it does, but at least you will have the courses that really matter as classroom subjects. That is actually helpful advice, not being mean.
And expressing skepticism is not meant to be mean either. You have a lot of ECs- so many that it starts to raise the question where you get the time to do all those things (a varsity sport, theatre, model UN, starting and running an international organization, a leadership role in a regional group, volunteering- any two of those would be a big EC load for a 14 year old! Adcomms do ask themselves when they read apps: how does this translate in real life?
This is my favorite piece of advice from an admissions officer, and I hope you find it helpful:
To be brutally honest, I think that you are trying to do too much too quickly.
One thing that I learned from attending a highly ranked university: You go from being the top student in your high school to being just average all at once. You discover that there are a lot of very smart people out there. This will happen to you too at some point. When it does, you need to learn to take things at your own pace.
Life is a marathon, not a sprint. You have a good start. Take things one day or one year at a time. Do well next year. Then see where you are.
I would like to apologize. It seems like my reply has offended many people. I am sorry about this. However, I can’t really handle the stress of all these negative responses. I’ve been trying really hard to delete my account or this post so that I can have some peace of mind. Thank you for the constructive criticism. Also, yes I have taken intro level biology and I will be taking intro level chemistry. It was just a chance for me to learn and expand my horizons. Even if you disagree with me, I kindly ask of you to please not comment anymore on this thread, or comment on my College Confidential profile. It’s becoming too much for me, I’m really sorry I’m trying my best. Please do not respond to this thread just so I can have a little peace of mind. I will not be coming to College Confidential again. You guys don’t have to worry about me anymore, and please don’t. Please leave my profile and don’t comment on my threads. Not to be mean, but just for mental health reasons.
“DadTwoGirls”, thank you for your constructive criticism. This has helped me learn, and thank you for putting it in a very nice way. (Also just to everyone else, please do not be brutally honest anymore, I take back my words. This has become a little too much to handle for me)
@pmalayil: you’re a freshman, you love to learn, and you’re ambitious. So adults here are responding the way they would as if you were a junior with a similar profile.
DO NOT take AP chem or AP Bio as self study - these are lab sciences, they need to be taken in a lab. Since you’ve taken intro bio and intro chem, if you want to challenge yourself, you could take an intro Community College class in each subject, first the class for non majors then the class for majors, unless the CC isn’t too competitive and you can take the “General Bio” and “General Chem” class.
In other words, you have 2 full years before worrying about it. That’s an eternity for a teenager. Just take classes that interest you, get the best grades you can, and let the chips fall. It’s nothing to stress over, especially now. And keep your self-respect. You’re the one choosing them and paying them money. You’ll be fine.
Based on what I’ve read, it sounds like you might benefit from seeing a mental health professional. Don’t take this as a sign of weakness. But get the help you need now, it will help you in the long-run.