Is my class rank okay? + Tips to get into prestigious college?
Question:
My class rank: 44 / 1123
Percentile: 96.0819%
previous gpa s:
freshman: 4.14...
4.15...
sophomore: 4.428...
Current Courses:
Honors English II
Honors Algebra II/Trig
Honors Chemistry
AP European History
Spanish III
Health/PE
Business Orientation/Driver's Education
courses I plan to take in junior year:
AP English III Language
AP US History
AP Chemistry
AP Statistics
Honors Math Analysis (Pre-Calculus)
Honors Physics
PE III
field of interest: medicine
plan: enter premed
college of interest:
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern University
University of Chicago
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne
Do you think I could make it? Please give me suggestions!
Answer:
Extracurriculars? Teams, committees, student government, etc. Don't "load up" -- it'll be obvious that you're padding your resume. Think "service" and then pick two.
The key word today is "good match." What makes you a good match with University of _____? They'll be asking that, or thinking that, as they interview you and scrutinize you. If you want to take a load off your mind, pick a college that's a good match. If you want to shoot for these particular schools, make your profile *look* like a good match. Read the schools' websites, and see what kind of student best fits in these schools. Do you have a similar profile? Would like to *make* it similar? ;-)
Back-door approach: pick a non-science major and apply to that school. (It will still be a challenge if the school is selective.) You can always add sciences to your English major and then apply to medical school as a Bachelor of Science - English.
Side note:
Medicine? Really? It might not even be worth it. ;-) But if it's your "dream," then how can I dissuade you? Make sure that you talk to all the doctors and residents that you can, from now until your senior year --- of college. If you find any *former* doctors (non-practicing physicians/physicians who quit traditional medical practice), so much the better. Ask the tough questions (what they hate about medicine, would they do it again, etc.). Just my devil's-advocate opinion.
You've got a shot. Remember, colleges want your GPA on a 4.0 scale - that means 4.0 is the MAXIMUM. They won't want a weighted average - they'll check that you took challenging courses, but you're not getting any extra credit for it on your GPA.
Ok..First off, I dont think you need to stress out too much about it. You're still going to be a junior and you've already achieved such great grades and an outstanding GPA. Be sure to ante-up on your extracurriculars and keep your grades up. Pass those AP tests and do well on the SATs. With that GPA and still ranked 44? You'll be able to make it for sure. I had a 4.4 coming out of high school in 2006, and I was 15th in my class so that tells you soemthing about my school but with your GPA and a 44th rank, you're school must be pretty difficult. You'll be fine. Just keep everything up and you'll succeed.
More Questions & Answers...