Junior in HS looking for Match Me looking for a pre-med track to be a psychiatrist [NY resident, 3.7 GPA, 1330 SAT, <$25k-50k]

Pre-Med & Medical School
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Demographics

  • US Permanent Resident
  • NY
  • Public HS - slightly competitive
  • South Indian

Intended Major(s) - Psychology, Biology, Biochemistry, BSMD

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.7
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.0
  • College GPA (for transfers):
  • Class Rank: Not available
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1330 SAT, 1 attempt

Coursework
Taken almost every science course offered except for AP Chem, AP Bio, and APES. I finished Algebra 2 as a sophomore, am taking pre-calc atm, and will be taking Calc BC in my senior year. I have also taken AP World and am taking APUSH right now. I will be taking AP Bio in senior year.

Awards
High Honor Roll at school
Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience) I did a neuroscience program at Albany Med, I am part of a program against smoking for over 100 hours. I am applying to some summer programs as well. I also do cross-country and track. I volunteer at the local library over the summer. I also am part of many clubs such as Math League, Science Olympiad, Masterminds (quiz bowl), and Key Club. I am planning on running for leadership positions for all of these next year.

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.) - I have not looked into essays yet.

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.) - I will need a scholarship for every college I apply to, most likely, 25k to 50k annual cost, but would rather not have budget constraints for prospectives.

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability) - CCNY, SUNY Oneonta, Fordham University, Hunter College
  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable) - SUNY Stony Brook, Suny Binghampton, RPI, WPI
  • Match - NA
  • Reach - NYU, BU, BC, Wesleyan University
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I’m not sure Fordham is a safety for you.

Have you considered the SUNY in Buffalo? I’d suggest looking at that one. Geneseo is also well regarded.

In my opinion, you have a good list because if you don’t end up doing a premed intention, there are LOTS of other options at these colleges.

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I don’t see Fordham as a safety, and imo Binghamton and Stony Brook are not likely admits. I see them as high match. I like the idea of adding SUNY Buffalo and Geneseo.

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Check out the Common Data Sets – specifically Section C7 and Sections C9-C11 – for the schools you are considering; you will find information on admissions criteria and objective data for matriculating students. This may give you a rough means to estimate your chances for admission.

Also, if you are wanting to go to medical school, then you should try to minimize undergraduate debt because you are going to take on lots of debt for medical school; and you are unlikely to minimize your undergraduate debt by going to schools such as NYU, BU, BC, or Wesleyan (and also RPI and WPI).

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I’d focus on the SUNY schools (Buffalo, Geneseo, Stony Brook, Binghamton, Oneata). Budget is important if you think you may be attending med school.

I love WPI, but not sure if that is a good match for someone looking to go pre-med. Especially with the cost. Same with RPI.

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I saw that Fordham had an acceptance rate of 54% so I assumed it was a safety. I am still trying to figure out how all the college stuff works, sorry for the assumptions. I will look into Buffalo and Geneseo. I would really like to do pre-med, but yea I don’t know if I’m gonna be smart enough for all of it.

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I will look into Buffalo and Geneseo. Would you have any tips for how to make myself a stronger applicant, or is the only thing I can do is raise my GPA?

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oh wow, I didn’t know common data sets were a thing, thank you so much. I will also start taking the budget into consideration now. NYU has just been a dream of mine because I would like to be in NYC, but that makes sense about the budget.

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I will look into more SUNY options. Yes, the pre-med track is starting to seem not worth it.

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you can have the same NY dreams at any of the CUNY’s- if you’re checking out Hunter, check out Macauley at the same time.

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Oh, I haven’t heard of that, I will look into it. I haven’t explored many CUNYs, I’ve mostly been looking into SUNY.

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It’s probably not too early to start having discussions with your parents – if you haven’t started already – about how much money they will be realistically be contributing towards your undergraduate education.

You might also consider taking test-preparation classes to boost your SAT score; and if you haven’t taken the ACT yet, think about doing that as well – most students usually do better on either the ACT or the SAT.

Have you sat down with your high school guidance counselor to discuss college application options? Since you are in a public high school, you might have to go to some extra lengths to get meaningful face time with a guidance counselor: be persistent, and don’t be satisfied with only one meeting some time in the Fall of your senior year; start asking now for meetings with your guidance counselor, and let him/her know that you want to meet more than once to talk about your college applications.

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A stronger applicant for….? I think you have some nice schools on your list! Although I don’t see Stony Brook and Bing as likely/safety schools right now… I think you should absolutely keep them on your list. I agree with the test prep advice noted above.

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a stronger applicant to make schools like stony brook and Bing more target schools. I have started looking for SAT Tutors.

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I have not discussed about budget yet, but I will try to find a way to bring that up. I am looking into tutoring. I have spoken to my guidance counselor sometimes, we have talked about BS/MD programs.

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Confused by WPI and RPI.

YOu can beat $50K - both SUNYs - and even other OOS schools. U Maine for example in your region.

NYU gives little merit as does BU. Wesleyan give none.

I would check the Net Price Calculators for your reaches - make sure they come in under $50K.

Of course, $25-50K is a wide range - so you should find out - are you really able to spend $50K?

If Wesleyan, for example, said you would qualify for no aid, then it wouldn’t be worth applying.

There are a lot of LACs - if that were an interest - that would make budget with merit - but Wes is the only LAC on your list.

Good luck.

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You have a nice profile and I think that you have what it takes to be successful in college.

What have your AP scores been so far?

I would work on getting an actual budget from your parents and also have them run the Net Price Calculator at your reach schools, several of which don’t offer any merit aid. Although you would prefer not to have budget constraints for prospective schools, it’s a key element of the search. I can look at Lamborghinis and Ferraris all I want, but if all I can afford is a Chevy Corvette (expensive but nowhere near the same league) or a Ford Mustang (even less expensive), then it’s pointless to look at the options that I will never be able to get, if I’m actually looking to purchase a car (i.e. attend college).

I’m curious about how you selected the schools on your list, as you have very urban, to more remote schools, large schools, small schools, etc. If you let us know more of what you’d like to experience while at college, that might help us tailor some of our suggestions.

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Have you considered SUNY New Paltz? It’s a great school and they have a 3+4 medical program that may be of interest to you (osteopathic medicine).

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Quinnipiac might be a safety. They also offer merit scholarships.

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BS/MD program are extremely competitive with acceptance rates in the low single digits.

To be a competitive applicant for BS/MD programs, you’d need a stronger SAT score, and several math/science AP courses since your HS offers those.

You’s also need some clinical exposure (physician shadowing) and some long term community service with disadvantaged/disparaged groups.

Looking at your profile, I don’t think that you would be a competitive candidate for BS/MD programs.

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