College Help

[samrath30]

hello everybody,

I am starting my junior year this fall and was wondering about my college choices [as our teachers force us to think about them]. So i was hanging between couple of colleges and was wondering about other people's advices. Most of my teachers don't know much about colleges so that's no help. SO PLEASE HELP ME OUT!

STATS:

GPA: 9th: 4.0 (unw) ; 4.375 (w)
10th: 3.875 (unw) ; 4.75 (w) [as you can see I took much harder classes this year)
SAT I: Not Taken
ACT: Not Taken
SAT IIs: Not taken
APs: Taking AP Calculus AB, AP Enlglish Lit, AP Macro and Micro Economics next year.
Rank: 9/ 238
PSAT/ NMSQT: 1600 [didnt study at all for it and I moved to US about 14 years ago english is my second language which explains my very low scores in CR]
Maryland State Resident--S. Asian descent

Activities:

Varsity Badminton
Varsity Tennis
Future Educator's Club
Envirothon
Green Club
Attended a Pre-College Program at Brown University.
Around 400 hours of volunteer service working at 2 hospitals.
Volunteer work at the American Red Cross

Other:

Attend Western School of Technology--a public magnet school with a tough selection process [My magnet is Health Science Technology].

I have also gotten Honor Roll Awards for every quater of my high school carreer.

I plan to do the following for my 11th grade year:

Have a 4.0 GPA.
Obtain a Student Congress position like the class senator or class treasurer.
President of Debate and Speech Club
VP Green club and Envirothon.
Become a member of the Literary Magazine Jury.



So heres the main problem: I dont know where to go to college. I am debating between the following for my undergraduate. FYI, I want to become a radiologist.

-Brown University
-John's Hopkins University
-Michigan State University
-University of Maryland [not much interested in going there]
-Columbia University
-Duke

Please make college suggestions and ideas on how I can improve my chances of getting into a good college in the course of my high school years.

Thanks alot!!!

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[EyEnStein 07]

Your aiming for too many reach schools. Consider some state schools and lower ranked schools. Collegeboard.com is your friend. Also keep in mind that GPA is important but SAT's and SAT II's are actually more important when it comes to ivys and top tiers. Your PSAT score or something near it just wont cut it. You need to study and get into the 2100+ range with the schools your aiming for. Also make sure you study hard for the AP tests and get 3+'s on all of them.

Some advice about the SAT II's, seems like you will have to take 2-3 (because of the schools your applying to), my advice is, it doesnt matter if you want to do medicine now (unless your applying to BS/MD) take the SAT II's that you KNOW you WILL score high in. That means if you are going to get an 800 in Spanish, US history, and Math I....then take all those.

Its more important to get into a college that you will preferably get scholarships to than going to an IVY league school. So just keep doing well with your GPA and you should be able to make it. Also remmeber go to a school that you are most comfortable in, this means paying visits.

 

[samrath30]

yea I'm taking SAT I this Octuber and i am guessing that I'll get around 2000.

 

[QofQuimica]

I think you are the kind of kid who will be successful no matter where you go to college as long as you don't burn yourself out. Any of the schools you listed would be good choices, including U Maryland. You might want to visit some of those schools during your breaks or at least speak with some current students or alums to get a better picture of what it would be like to go there. If you visit in person, see if you can arrange to get a tour, sit in on some classes, maybe even stay overnight with a student host.

When it comes time to choose a college, give careful consideration to cost of attendance (including any grants or scholarships you may get). Considering how expensive medical school is, it would be wise to minimize your undergraduate debt as much as possible.

Best of luck to you.

 

[sumstorm]

In my experience as a student and RA, you need to attend a school that is a good fit for you. Consider how you learn best and what environments suit you; do you like large classes? Are labs/research important? Do you care about honors programs, publications, etc? Is it important to have later classes, tutoring, dorms, specialized libraries, etc?

Once you figure out your personal needs/desires, then you can look for schools that match you. I am willing to bet your teachers know more about college than you think, considering they have probably attended at least one college.