Reverse Chance Me, stressed junior [TX resident, 4.0 GPA, 1450 SAT (1500 superscore); public health, global health, neuroscience]]

Chance Me / Match Me
21

To what level? Some students have 3 years of high school foreign language, but started at level 2 due to placement from junior high.

Highly selective schools are looking for kids with the highest levels of rigor. And while most do not have a foreign language requirement of level 4, stopping at level 3 is not highest rigor.

I’m also curious how you have a 4.0 unweighted(which to me implies straight As) and 5.11 weighted, but are not top 5% of your class.

And physics is a foundational science class. Any selective school will want to see that on your transcript.

22

My school is hyper-competitive and some of the medical classes I have taken at my school are not weighted nearly as much as the honors and AP classes which lowers my weighted. My school ranks by weighted and I barely fall within the top 15% gap.

23

Relatively more selective schools want to see a rigorous HS curriculum, and it sounds like your curriculum has been less rigorous than some of your classmates, which has impacted your rank. Highly rejective schools want to see bio, chem, and physics, if it was available to the student.

So, if you are applying to some reaches/schools with low acceptance rates like JHU and Yale, then I strongly encourage you to take physics next year, ideally AP or at least honors. AOs will compare the rigor of your classes to that of your classmates, your HS counselor might even talk about that and/or assess that in their LoR.

Note Yale does not have ED.

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24

REA for Yale my bad. Ok, I was planning to do AP Chemistry next year. Should I do AP physics or AP chem?

25

Your OP made it look like you already had taken AP chem as it wasn’t in your senior class list. Have you taken any chem?

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26

Regarding JHU, one of its notable statistical characteristics is that 100% of the recently entering students for which it has such information (23%) graduated in the top 10% of their high school classes.

27

Please list the science courses you have taken. You really need at least one each of biology, chemistry and physics to be a competitive applicant for highly rejective colleges. Will you have that?

Also, you say you will have completed 19 AP courses by the end of your senior year, but your class rank is 15%. Is that correct?

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28

Honors Chemistry
AP Chemistry (I didn’t take the exam for this one which is what I meant to imply in my previous message)
Honors Biology
AP Biology
Anatomy & Physiology
Health Science

Yes I will have completed 19 AP courses with all A’s by senior year and only be top 15 percent.

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29

I agree with the above posters. You need to take physics your senior year.

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30

Is it ok if I take AP Physics 2?

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31

“Prestigious” tends not to have a fixed definition. And institutional or departmental reputations tend not to carry over to individuals in the way some people hope/fear anyway.

So an alternative concept is you can use your good numbers to be choosey about the sort of overall academic and non-academic experiences you would prefer.

For example, if you would like a large research university that is very well-regarded in Public Health but is also located in a fun city, you could look at colleges like Washington (Seattle), Minnesota (Twin Cities), or Pittsburgh. All these colleges are suitable for premed, a variety of other health careers, or indeed something completely different, if you decide to change your mind.

This is just an example, but the more you tell use about your ideal college experience outside of just “prestige”, the more suitable suggestions we can generate.

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32

Does your school allow you take take AP Physics 2 without taking AP physics 1? Both are algebra based where as AP Physics C is calc based.

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33

So I’m assuming you self studied a lot of APs - didn’t take the classes? Or am I wrong?

The beauty with med school is you can go anywhere. I’m not sure if public health is the best major for it - but as long as you do the pre reqs it will be ok.

Before you panic on - I must have prestige - see the undergrads below of residents at top research hospitals. The point of the list is - prestige matters to you but you’re ok with Baylor, A&M and UTD - and you can get to where you want from any and all.

Rather than say top 20 - I’d figure out - what do I want in a four year experience. A&M is massive, Baylor is large - but maybe Trinity or a small LAC is more your speed? Prestige doesn’t account for size, environment, weather or more - and likely doesn’t impact med school. And given the major, grad school will likely be required if you don’t go to med school.

Best of luck to you as you begin this journey - but I suggest rather than naming schools, that you first figure out what you want in a school - beyond prestige.

Vandy Radiology

Auburn
CWRU
Florida A&M
Florida State
Fordham
Lipscomb
Luther
Murray State
Northern Illinois
Pitt
Princeton
Tulane
Tuskegee
U North Carolina
U Puerto Rico
U Tennessee

Taking it further - look at the Johns Hopkinsresidents - where’d they go undergrad:

JHU
UMD
UMBC
U Miami
Morgan State
South Carolina
TCNJ
U of Puerto Rico
UT Dallas
Towson
Vandy
and more

Duke Medical - first letters of the alphabet for residents.

Arkansas
Michigan
UNC
Princeton
Rochester
South Florida
Southeastern Louisiana
Texas

The moral of the story - Johns Hopkins or James Madison

Duke or Delaware

Or in this case CWRU or UCB - all can get you to where you want. But which do you prefer ??