I'm a freshamn seeking college advice( my first post)! thank you

College Search & Selection
#1

<p>Hello everyone,
My name is Elissa</p>

<p>I'm a freshman this year and I found this website randomly through Google.
I have a lot of questions and I hope you can help me with various ones.</p>

<p>In general I want to start out by saying I am in a very difficult high school that in West Windsor NJ, which is 5 min from Princeton High School.</p>

<p>For one When i grow up I want to be a doctor. I have done a lot of research on various colleges that offer a great premed programs. CAN YOU PLEASE list colleges that offer the best premed programs.</p>

<p>With that said, I have a passion in life and that is Volunteering. (IS that weird lol)
Well I have started to volunteer this past summer at 15 so far I have done 23 hours at my local American Red Cross Chapter. I am on the Red cross club at school and Im going to run for officer in training so in junior/senior year i can be the president of the club. I have also applied to volunteer at the university medical center at Princeton and in the spring I will know if I'm accepted. </p>

<p>I do not play sports. Is that bad?</p>

<p>(SORRY THIS IS LONG BUT THIS IS MY FIRST POST LOL)
THANKYOUUUUUU</p>

<p>the thing is I'm not the student that does everything my high school has to offer I do what i love, my passion in other words. I'm taking honor classes except math, and I have a 4.1 weighted GPA for now.( In my school your end of the year final grade averages is your GPA for that year. Any way, In the 8th grade I won an award called " The American Legion Award" Is this in any way helpful for college or no?</p>

<p>I want to know where I stand, am I on the right track. My school is very competitive and I'm giving my all to make my high school experience the best. My wish would be to go to an Ivy league school but I know that's a roll of dice? So please just give me an overall overview of what I am doing as a good start towards my academic future.</p>

<p>I'm the kind of student that does not easily get good grades, I work very hard for them and at the same time I am making time for extracurricular activities. </p>

<p>Also, again I apologize for the length of this post can you please give me a list of colleges that may fit me. What do you think about NYU ? This is my top pic so far. I am the kind of student that says wow i wish i could go to an ivy league and sometimes i think they seek students who are PERFECT ( you know what I mean)</p>

<p>Please give me your input on everything. Again thank you this will really help me....</p>

<p>Quick info</p>

<p>Honors Biology
Geometry
French 3
English Hns
Art 1
World history</p>

<p>My school only offers honors for freshman in science, math and English.</p>

<p>I was born in Russia immigrated to this country when I was 9.</p>

<p>Again thankyouuuuuu</p>

<p>-Elissa L.</p>

#2

<p>*CAN YOU PLEASE list colleges that offer the best premed programs....What do you think about NYU ? This is my top pic so far. I am the kind of student that says wow i wish i could go to an ivy league and sometimes i think they seek students who are PERFECT ( you know what I mean)
.....I was born in Russia immigrated to this country when I was 9.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Are you a citizen or green card resident?</p>

<p>Can your parents pay the $55,000 per year that NYU will cost? If not, then NYU is not a good choice because it's stingy with aid.</p>

<p>If money is an issue, that means you'll have to borrow a lot of money for med school. Therefore, you shouldn't go to any college that will require you to borrow money to attend for your bachelor's degree (undergrad degree). Otherwise, you'll run out of borrowing power when you need money for med school.</p>

<p>Any good school that is good in bio, chem, physics, and math can prepare a student for a good med school. Your GPA and your MCAT score is what will get you into med school.</p>

<p>Since you're in NJ, Rutgers would be a good choice since it's a very good school at a good price. Your lack of ECs will make it more difficulty (if not impossible) to get accepted into the top schools that give aid without loans.</p>

<p>If money is a concern, then you'll have to consider that when you make your choices. Your stats, your family's EFC, and a school's FA policies will come into play.</p>

<p>However, if money is no object, then you can go almost anywhere.</p>

#3

<p>mom2collegekids thank you for the reply,
Yes, my parents can afford that much for college and Rutgers is my last choice of college.
But can you please give me more college choices, thank you.</p>

<p>-Elissa L.</p>

#4

<p>:)</p>

<p>Since your parents can afford $220,000 for your college education, they you'll have lots of choices as long as your stats are good.</p>

<p>NYU
ivies
Duke
U Chicago
Johns Hopkins
Emory
Rice
Vanderbilt
U Va</p>

#5

<p>Mods, Can you edit out some of the personal info here?</p>

#6

<p>Can't speak much about the colleges (being a junior,) but I'll throw in my 2 cents about the rest of your post. I'm a homeschooled student but I've been taking down notes about the college admissions process since 5th grade (o_0), so my advice is mostly from independent research.</p>

<p>Finding passion in volunteering or school is a VERY good thing. Colleges admissions deans are looking for people dedicated to specific passions, not necessarily the kids who sign up for everything. Plus, focusing on specific passions means you're more likely to succeed in them, as opposed to signing up for random activities that you hate. </p>

<p>Sports aren't for everyone, and again joining them randomly to attract colleges could take up study/extracurricular time. You're probably better off not joining if you aren't interested in them.</p>

<p>The 4.1 Weighted GPA is good (beats mine :) ), just remember to keep it up. You're developing good habits that will help you succeed...don't loose them! Your GPA and course choices are probably most important in the admissions process.</p>

<p>Ivy League schools are a good goal... but don't be dissappointed if you don't end up being the "perfect" student. Harvard, Yale and Princeton deny more than 1/2 of their valedictorian applicants and 1/2 of their applicants with perfect SAT scores. They're a long shot for everyone, and a longer shot for unqualified applicants. Keep the schools you want to go to as your goal, but keep your options open as well.</p>

<p>Your course schedule looks good. Continue taking honors classes and look at AP courses when you get to that stage in high school. Being Russian (and therefore a minority) could also help your future admissions chances.</p>

<p>So, to sum ALL of that up, I do think you're on the right track :D</p>

#7

<p>Being Russian (and therefore a minority) could also help your future admissions chances.</p>

<p>I don't think being Russian is considered to be a minority. Being Russian is usually considered to be caucasian, unless the person is also another race.</p>

#8

<p>Learningisliving it's extremely dangerous to post so much personal info on the internet!</p>

#9

<p>international is typically counted in a non-white category like "non-resident aliens" on institutional reports.</p>

#10

<p>^^^</p>

<p>She doesn't say that she's an international. She says that she immigrated here when she was 9. Would you use the term "immigrated" if you're an int'l???</p>

#11

<p>ah, got it. My bad. I'm in the middle of all this myself, you see :)</p>

<p>and yes...surely its possible to edit some of this? The OP is giving a pretty specific location in the original post.</p>

#12

<p>Thanks everyone for replying, you bring up a lot of points and advice. I agree with not sharing a lot of info.lol But again it was my first post and I got excited.</p>

<p>Now I'm just going to focus on my grades and high school in general.</p>

<p>Thank you All!</p>

<p>-Elissa L.</p>

#13