My parents do not think its a good idea for me to take ANY honors classes my freshman year of high school. I want to convince them that I can handle it. I plan to major in pediatric medicine in college and my dream school Stanford but realisticlly I know I won’t go there. In middle school I had all A’s two years and all A’s this year with one B. Do good medical colleges accept students with low A’s in on-level classes? My goal is go to college some where out in California because that is where I want to live. I need a university that will give major acedemic or athletic scholarships. California would be my first choice of school location and second would be anywhere in new england.
I do not have the best grades in the world but I have ok ones. I guess what my main two questions are : Do medical schools accept kids with few honors courses? and also Do medical schools in California give substantial help to out of state students?
I’m not sure if you’re aware, but there is no need to worry about medical school right now. Prior to going to medical school, you have to get a bachelor’s degree first. You don’t even have to major in biology or anything during your undergraduate years, just as long as you take the prerequisite science classes and do well on the MCAT. By the time you’ll be applying to medical school, your high school grades will basically not matter. Also, as far as I know, medical schools don’t give any financial aid.
Since you’re going into your freshman year, I’d advise that your primary focus be on getting the best grades in the hardest classes you can handle. I’d encourage you to take the honors classes if you think you can do it. If you want to go to school in California, your best bet is probably private colleges, since public universities will give out-of-state students very little financial aid.
Realize that the difficulty of honors courses vary at every school. Is there someone you can go to who knows your ability and your high school’s curriculum? A teacher, guidance counselor, etc.?
In general, I would suggest that if you are getting mostly A’s, you can handle at least a few honors classes (unless you were really struggling to get those A’s). Medical school is a long way off, but you can try taking some honors-level science classes now if you can, particularly in Biology and Chemistry.
If your parents won’t let you, the best thing you can do in that situation is to make the best of what you have. Work hard in all your classes, maintain good grades, and show that you’re capable of handling it. Perhaps you’ll be able to move up next year.