@iwannabe_Brown, I realize that. The OP obviously has no idea AT ALL.
Here’s the huge irony: If the OP really wants an Ivy and is absolutely certain that the kid is going to be an MD and the kid absolutely wants to keep non-science/math courses to a minimum there is ONE BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS CHOICE.
Brown PLME!!!
@Consolation oh yeah, I didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t know that. When I read that part from OP I just couldn’t even bother to write about it but decided to jump on your comment.
lol, PLME would be ideal but the kid has no medical ECs (or maybe I missed their being mentioned) so probably wouldn’t get in.
On what planet? My two kids didn’t send a single one out before the EA deadlines in the fall. (Admittedly they didn’t apply to any public universities.)
The point is moot, considering how many other activites OP’s child needs to accomplish (research, EMT, shadowing, volunteering) and how many more specific courses need to be taken (regardless of credit transfer, since the total of credits does not add up to a major since there aren’t enough advanced classes and not enough in one field of study*). OP’s child will need 3 years of college at a minimum. Whether at local school/flagship/ Ivy doesn’t matter, but OP’s child needs 3 years at a minimum.
^^^
On what planet? My two kids didn’t send a single one out before the EA deadlines in the fall. (Admittedly they didn’t apply to any public universities.)
I think post 141 was referring to medical school applications.
@mathmom, I think that comment was in regard to med school applications. I could be wrong. 
@iwannabe_Brown, I think that the OP mentioned some medical ECs, but again, I could be wrong.
@mathmom as the others have pointed out, I was responding to a QuantMech’s comment about when medical school applications are submitted (that’s why I quoted it and directly addressed him/her).
AMCAS (https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/) generally opens around june 5th and since it is the same every year many students actually complete everything they need prior to its opening and submit their application the very first day it’s open. Thanks to forums like SDN, many students even start working on secondary application (i.e. school specific) essays early too. A large majority of medical schools are rolling admissions so applying earlier is better.
“I believe that OP is right on a target and not missing anything.”
@MiamiDAP she’s actually missing a lot - she is suggesting that her child should spend one year at a university out of HS before applying and going to med school due to the “advanced” coursework being taken in HS. You yourself talked about how your D had a 4-yr college experience, with campus social life and taking on a non-STEM minor. I’m sure because of that experience, your D gained valuable maturity, social interactions and life lessons that will make her a better MD, no matter what field she enters.
Other posters on this thread have been frustrated by OP’s insistence that her plan is a good one for her child. I’m no med school expert, but other posters don’t even think a med school would accept someone in this situation, but either way, we all agree that spending more time in UG before tackling the rigor of med school is better for kids than not. Nobody is steering her away from the cheaper option, kid can probably get full ride to a state flagship the way it sounds, but the kid should stay there more than minimal time to a) ensure that med school is what they actually want, b) to gain the maturity to be successful at the next level, and c) to gain the experiences necessary to make a competitive med school applicant.
@Consolation, you’re right, OP said:
Not much to go on.
fyi- MiamiDAP is not an expert on medical education. She is merely a proud parent of one of thousands attending a medical school. Have read many of her previous posts and do not consider her an expert.
OP- YOU are trying too hard to micromanage. YOUR child is no more special than thousands of equally bright to gifted kids. Your child NEEDS a four year college education to appreciate learning. It is not taking a bunch of courses and getting A’s. A poster above hit the nail on the head. The focus should be on an education, not gaming the system for medical school. Physicians are people, more multifaceted than just the chosen medical specialty. You may be shocked to find how many have varied interest in the arts, literature and other fields. This comes from time spent with friends and listening in doctor’s lounges et al. Your child is too precious to waste on a narrow path that may be a dead end. THEN you will have wasted time and money.
Parenting advice. You have done your due diligence here. Now is the time to connect with your kid and inform him/her that there are no shortcuts. The best thing is to plan on a college education at a school with academic peers. This includes your state flagship. Your child may be surprised to find s/he is no longer the biggest fish in the pond. S/he is likely to find that the education to date is lacking in so much compared to those whose credits come from the top state school. Example- students who pass the AP calculus exam often need to take first semester calculus at UW because they would flounder in the second semester due to deficiencies in material learned. Likewise a student who takes the Honors Calculus sequence also gets AP calculus credit- the courses are different. Same for Chemistry and Physics. Even with 5’s on AP exams.
The best gift you can give your child is letting them have a childhood/young adulthood. There will be plenty of time for rigorous academic work. btw- my son was as strong willed as his parents- there is no way we could have told him which path to take. Proud of his independence.
The whole idea of applying to med school with only one or two years of post-HS college is patently absurd, and you need to shut down that idea now. “They” will not get into any med school with that record. Sorry to be so hard on you, OP, but you were not hearing what posters were telling you when they tried to break it to you softly.
If “their” goal is to become a neurosurgeon, these are the steps:
You keep saying that nobody is answering your question. That is because you are asking the wrong one.
I don’t think the OP is gaming the system. I think the OP thought acceleration and accumulation of college credits during highschool are an indication of geniusness (like Sheldon Cooper. However Sheldon Cooper did not take community college classes. Only Penny did. No community college bashing in my intention.) and this would help the kid entering medical school or selective colleges.
^^^I agree. I don’t think she is gaming. I think she is just sorely mistaken about how to create the best odds for med school admission. Extreme acceleration, such as what OP is suggesting, will not be looked upon favorably.
“They have sports, tons of extra curricular and volunteer work along with strong academic record so I believe they would have an excellent chance of getting into any school.”
I keep wondering why the OP has remained vague about gpa and test scores. Nothing the sentence above gives me the impression that this student is likely to be admitted to any top 100 school, let alone an Ivy.
OP, please share more specifics with someone, and get some good advice about what is realistic given this student’s specific grades, test scores, and ECs, and then apply to a range of schools, not just two. Probably 10 - 12 schools would be a reasonable number from what I have heard so far.
I think the OP has made up “their” mind. The intention is to apply to some Ivy early, and to the public university if the Ivy doesn’t work out.
Not sure the OP wants additional advice since whenever it’s offered, “they” restate that they have already made up their mind.
Well, it’s okay I guess. “They” will end up at the state university, probably with some advanced standing, though unlikely as much as the OP thinks. And if “they” still want med school when it’s time to apply they will. We all know the Ivies are a long shot for anyone, and an even longer shot if you try to do it via transfer. I’ve seen nothing that indicates to me that this kid will have a better shot than the average Ivy applicant, most of whom are very, very qualified.
Actually, I think the OP would be very happy if the student was admitted only to the state u, for which the parent has indicated a strong preference. Thus applying only there and Harvard is likely to yield the desired result.
The state U has apparently indicated that it will accept all these sub-par credits to enable the student to graduate rapidly with what will probably be a minimal chemistry major. If the student is unable to score well on the MCAT due to poor preparation and doesn’t get into med school because of that and a lack of all of the “soft” factors described by other posters, again, so much the better. The OP doesn’t want the student to go to med school.
It would be amusing if the student actually got into Harvard and went there for four years–would the OP cough up the EFC, one wonders? I doubt it–and then went on to a PhD, a post doc, a fellowship… :-S
I must have missed the part where the OP said they didn’t want this kiddo to be a doctor. Where was that?
This kid is a junior in high school who is dual enrolled. Regardless of how many credits he has, he’s not a transfer, he’s a freshman applicant who will, once admitted, be eligible for advanced standing. Some states, such as Florida, are very generous with credit for dual enrolled students and give them merit scholarships like freshmen then give them junior advanced standing. However it doesn’t mean all their credits count as gen eds or major credit. Typically these students still have to complete junior and senior level major courses as well as a couple gen eds but are typically free to spend 1/3-3/4 of their time on major courses, sometimes even graduate courses.
There are other issues: Ops child volunteers at q hospital, which is good. But the type of responsibility one can give a high school junior is NOT the same as the responsibilities given college juniors and seniors. Ops child’s experience would be good to enter a university but would likely be childish compared to what 21year olds do.
In short, its going to be a couple years at a top college or at the states flagship where hopefully ops child can get into honors college or at the local college’s honors college… But it can’t be just 2-3semesters. So,to answer the initial question, if the only choice is 1 year at state school or 3 year at a top school, it’d be 3 years at a top school. But 3 years at a state school would be gfine too, for med school, especially if the state school offers phd programs thus grad courses an advanced student would take.
@thumper1 From post #14 and repeated several times:
BTW, OP, if you post again I wish you would drop this “their” thing. You haven’t given enough details for anyone to recognize your kid, and it just makes it difficult to comprehend your posts.