Applying to college.

[Minymouse417]

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Hi I am in grade 12 with not the best gpa or ACT/SAT score. I am a female and would love to attend an all womans liberal arts school. My major would be French or Spanish with a pre track. But i am hesitant as to how i will do in college. My gpa is terrible due to family situations that occured over and over again. My mom was thrown in jail and she is still there now and it heavily influenced my last semester of my junior year. I have applied to two schools so far: Meredith College (waitlisted), and Sweet Briar College (pending, just submitted my app last week and waiting). And the rest i am applying to over the weekend-Agnes Scott College, Wesleyan College(GA), Simmons College, James Madison University. Meredith and Sweet Briar are my #1 choices ea. Meredith especially because it in a state capitol where there is plenty of intership and research opportunities not to mention Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill are about 15 minutes away. I would love to become a doctor but since my hs gpa is a 2.4 and ACT score is 21 idk how it will affect my future. I have planned simce last year to take a gap year by going to china for 3 months and learning mandarin, learning to play the violin, taking dutch language lessons from family members( my family is dutch caribbean), volunteering at a hospital and getting 2 jobs to help save for college. I am taking a gap year regardless but my career have always been to be a doctor and i really want to so desperately. I am just worried about my chances of gaining admission to college.

 

[Minymouse417]

Bump. Anyone?

 

[sector9]

Here's what your game plan should be IMO:

Everything from high school becomes irrelevant for med school applications. You are starting a fresh slate. No one will care what your HS GPA was nor what you got on the ACT.

However, now that you're going to be starting college, you need to realize that every class now will count towards your GPA when you apply to MD schools. If you need to take it slow for your first semester as you work through personal issues, go for it.

Honestly, it doesn't really matter that much where you go. If you have to, start off at a community college and work your way to a 4-year school. Don't get hung up on "Oh well this school is slightly better known than this other school." Frankly, most of them are seen as about equal in the eyes of med school admissions committees, with only a few schools really standing out.

Much more important things include your GPA, MCAT score, and extracurriculars.

 

[Arijos0222]

Hi I am in grade 12 with not the best gpa or ACT/SAT score. I am a female and would love to attend an all womans liberal arts school. My major would be French or Spanish with a pre track. But i am hesitant as to how i will do in college. My gpa is terrible due to family situations that occured over and over again. My mom was thrown in jail and she is still there now and it heavily influenced my last semester of my junior year. I have applied to two schools so far: Meredith College (waitlisted), and Sweet Briar College (pending, just submitted my app last week and waiting). And the rest i am applying to over the weekend-Agnes Scott College, Wesleyan College(GA), Simmons College, James Madison University. Meredith and Sweet Briar are my #1 choices ea. Meredith especially because it in a state capitol where there is plenty of intership and research opportunities not to mention Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill are about 15 minutes away. I would love to become a doctor but since my hs gpa is a 2.4 and ACT score is 21 idk how it will affect my future. I have planned simce last year to take a gap year by going to china for 3 months and learning mandarin, learning to play the violin, taking dutch language lessons from family members( my family is dutch caribbean), volunteering at a hospital and getting 2 jobs to help save for college. I am taking a gap year regardless but my career have always been to be a doctor and i really want to so desperately. I am just worried about my chances of gaining admission to college.

Think about what you want to do, and what is really important to you.

Answer this question, what nationality are you? Hispanic, Caucasian, Asian... etc.

I was thinking about applying to liberal arts schools such as Carleton and Wesleyan, but these schools, as well as every liberal arts school, is extremely challenging, and is usually harder than your state university. With this in mind, my goal is to get the highest GPA possible, and your state school would most likely fit that stigma as well.

I don't mean to sound condescending in any way, but try to understand that the colleges that you are talking about attending have extremely rigorous curriculums. That isn't to say that you won't do well, but considering your 2.4 GPA and a 21 ACT, you will have to work extremely hard especially since you'll be taking Premed prerequisites. Medical school admissions committees take personal problems into consideration, but it wouldn't make up for low grades.

Make sure you love your major and would be willing to choose a career in that field if you dreams of becoming a physician doesn't pan out as well as you would've hoped.

 

[Minymouse417]

I do take AP classes. I recieved a B in AP human Geography sophomore year( did not receive AP credit), AP US History and received a C with a score of 3 out of 5 on the nat'l exam. What brought my GPA down was that i had moved and the grading scale where I moved made my GPA drop below a 3.0, I am terrible at math and had low math grades, as well as family drama. But i take AP Biology, AP Government, AP Literature, Anatomy and Physiology, and am retaking Algebra 2 now. I have also been in honors enlish since grade 9. I am just concerned with getting into those schools because I work better with a teacher actually helping me and sitting down with me. I dont want to go to a huge university where i am in a room full of 200 students and I want to go to a womans school so i can focus on my academics and not boys. I am dutch caribbean referring to me being African American. I do however fit the ACT criteria at both Meredith and Sweet Briar.

 

[Arijos0222]

I do take AP classes. I recieved a B in AP human Geography sophomore year( did not receive AP credit), AP US History and received a C with a score of 3 out of 5 on the nat'l exam. What brought my GPA down was that i had moved and the grading scale where I moved made my GPA drop below a 3.0, I am terrible at math and had low math grades, as well as family drama. But i take AP Biology, AP Government, AP Literature, Anatomy and Physiology, and am retaking Algebra 2 now. I have also been in honors enlish since grade 9. I am just concerned with getting into those schools because I work better with a teacher actually helping me and sitting down with me. I dont want to go to a huge university where i am in a room full of 200 students and I want to go to a womans school so i can focus on my academics and not boys. I am dutch caribbean referring to me being African American. I do however fit the ACT criteria at both Meredith and Sweet Briar.

It is good that you are taking AP classes, for they move at a similar pace to college level courses. The grading scale, and the curving might prove difficult for some.

And my advice, don't focus on "not seeing guys" because... If you truly have what it takes to be accepted into med school, these 4 years of college will be your 4 years of freedom... And then after that, your life belongs to your work, and to medicine.

So don't worry about the boys. Enjoy yourself, even if you don't end up dating anyone.

Also, there are many schools that sit down with you and help you, and they don't have huge lecture halls. My state school, Rutgers, has a pretty large amount of students. Yes they do have lecture halls, but professors have office hours well into the night. Also, being a language major isn't REALLY that coveted, therefore, chances of you going into a room filled with 200 people is unlikely.

 

[advair250]

It is good that you are taking AP classes, for they move at a similar pace to college level courses. The grading scale, and the curving might prove difficult for some.

And my advice, don't focus on "not seeing guys" because... If you truly have what it takes to be accepted into med school, these 4 years of college will be your 4 years of freedom... And then after that, your life belongs to your work, and to medicine.

So don't worry about the boys. Enjoy yourself, even if you don't end up dating anyone.

Also, there are many schools that sit down with you and help you, and they don't have huge lecture halls. My state school, Rutgers, has a pretty large amount of students. Yes they do have lecture halls, but professors have office hours well into the night. Also, being a language major isn't REALLY that coveted, therefore, chances of you going into a room filled with 200 people is unlikely.

Dear god, high school kids giving advice about college. Run from this. Run fast.

And, maybe it's because I go to a Canadian university, but AP Classes were a joke compared to real university courses. Getting a 5 on the exams was an equal joke, the learning environment in high school is way better than lectures at university. I mean honestly, if I recall right, you only need like 65% of the questions right on the AP Calculus exam to get a 5. Similar with the other science subjects.

Work hard and smart, and have a life. University is not that hard, just don't get caught up in the future and focus on the present.

I've finished a BSc, so I probably have a bit more experience than the highschool'er above.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Dear god, high school kids giving advice about college. Run from this. Run fast.

And, maybe it's because I go to a Canadian university, but AP Classes were a joke compared to real university courses. Getting a 5 on the exams was an equal joke, the learning environment in high school is way better than lectures at university. I mean honestly, if I recall right, you only need like 65% of the questions right on the AP Calculus exam to get a 5. Similar with the other science subjects.

Work hard and smart, and have a life. University is not that hard, just don't get caught up in the future and focus on the present.

I've finished a BSc, so I probably have a bit more experience than the highschool'er above.

Everyone is welcome to offer advice on hSDN; it is not necessary to be condescending if you disagree with someone's advice.

While I may not agree with everything written by Arijos2022, he/she is absolutely correct in that the OP needs to focus on improving her study habits and that the curriculum can be more difficult than at a state university and certainly more difficult than many high schools. In addition, at some of the more prestigious liberal arts schools, the student body is very accomplished and it can be hard to stand out.

 

[Arijos0222]

Everyone is welcome to offer advice on hSDN; it is not necessary to be condescending if you disagree with someone's advice.

While I may not agree with everything written by Arijos2022, he/she is absolutely correct in that the OP needs to focus on improving her study habits and that the curriculum can be more difficult than at a state university and certainly more difficult than many high schools. In addition, at some of the more prestigious liberal arts schools, the student body is very accomplished and it can be hard to stand out.

Thank you Dr. Cox 👍 I think it's the thought that counts! 🙂

 

[Winged Scapula]

Thank you Dr. Cox 👍 I think it's the thought that counts! 🙂

Well, its a little more than just the thought, we have to be accurate in our advise as well.

My point was that yes, we should be mindful that *most* people are here with good intentions and that one of the reasons hSDN is not as popular as it could be is because older less well intentioned users (or perhaps people who are just inherently mean) often are condescending or rude in their replies. For some reason, they seem to forget that they once were in HS and just as clueless about things.

Its sort of like me and dub step - I mean I know about it and I've heard of Skrillex and that dead mouse guy, but I don't get it. 😛