SAT? College? AP Exams?

halcyonheather
Sun, 31 Aug 2014 13:49:04 +0000

What grade are you in?

the major that I want to do second most is an OB/GYN.

As far as I know, that isn’t an undergraduate major anywhere. You would major in some *subject/i, take the required courses for applying to medical schools, and then apply to medical schools.

The colleges that I would apply to in this case would be:
NYU
UCLA
Baylor

Are you from California? Why did you choose these schools in particular?
NYU isn’t known for good financial aid, and UCLA probably won’t be affordable unless you’re from California. Both of these schools are very selective and typically expensive, so I’m assuming you’re planning to use Baylor as a safety school. Are you sure you can get into Baylor and afford it even without financial aid? Are there any public universities in your state that you’d be willing to apply to, just in case none of these three work out?

To do this, I know that I have to:
-Graduate as one of the top 10 in High School

You don’t have to do this, or any of the other things on your list, but it’s recommended that you graduate in the top 10% of your high school class.

-Get 5’s on all my AP exams

No. AP scores aren’t really used in US college admissions. You can self-report them on the Common App if you want, but you don’t have to. You won’t have your AP scores sent from the College Board until after you’re accepted somewhere, and that’s only if you want college credit.

-Aim for an above 2100 on my SAT’s

Above 2100 would be good. To get a better idea, you should also look at the average scores for admitted students at all the colleges you’re applying to. They’ll usually have this information posted on their websites, or in their Common Data Sets (see below).

-Take 2 SAT Subject Tests with above a 700 on each

This would be good to have, but SAT Subject Tests are kind of a niche thing because only a few colleges actually require them.

-Get a lot of extracurricular awards (Which I am doing, using Piano)

You should do extracurriculars that allow you to show focus, dedication, accomplishment, and leadership when possible.

-Volunteer

Generally no. College applications will usually ask you to list how much time you spent on each of your ECs, but they won’t ask you about community service or volunteer hours. Your extracurriculars can involve volunteering, but they don’t have to. From a Yale admissions officer ([source](Q. and A.: College Admissions - The New York Times)):

“The thing we are looking for outside the classroom is not a series of check boxes on a resume; we’re looking instead for a high level of engagement or leadership in whatever it is that the student cares about most. For some students, community service is at the forefront of their extracurriculars, in which case we pay a lot of attention to what they have accomplished in that area. For other students, some other passion or interest holds primary sway, and we evaluate the engagement in that area. We know that very few students can fully engage more than one or two primary activities at a high level. Though it is fine for a student to have varied interests, a significant number of students make the common mistake of spreading themselves too thinly in a resume-building exercise.”

Looking at a college’s Common Data Set can help you learn about what they look for from their applicants, and what kind of SAT/ACT scores they expect.

[NYU Common Data Set, 2013-2014 (PDF)](Research with Human Subjects)
[UCLA Common Data Set, Fall 2013](http://www.aim.ucla.edu/profiles/cds.aspx)
[Baylor Common Data Set, 2013-2014 (PDF)](http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/218284.pdf)