Is it too late to make a comeback?

[Fai]

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Now by this I mean both my freshman and sophomore year wasen't the best. I had a major surgery during 8th grade so I was out the whole school year in home tutoring then I went into 9th grade with some troubles coping with the school times and getting to different classes but that faded away after the 3rd week. I joined and stayed in Model Congress. My GPA in my freshman year (with my little troublemaker self to two teachers) was 3.3 <_>

Now that Sophomore year has passed, I'm still in Model congress (staying in all 4 years) and since there were home problems studies were the least of my worries and I managed to take home a 3.5 GPA without really trying.

Now I'm in my Junior year. I have the SATs/ACTs. The most important year of my high school career. Is it too late to make a comeback in my junior and senior year to look good for my college? (Hoping for Hofstra). I'm planning to join Key Club which is the community service club, environmental club and art club for the remaining two years.

I'd like to thank all in advace. I'm just really worried if my freshman/sophomore year would really screw me up.

 

[AdorableSatan]

Your GPA isn't all that bad. Considering your first two years your cumulative GPA is 3.4 which is fairly solid. It's definitely not as competitive as it could be, and in some circles it's considered fairly weak. I'm not informed regarding your future school choice so it's hard to give you any accurate assessments. With that being said, you're definitely not that behind. You still have two years to bring up your GPA and you have a great foundation to do that.

At this point you should be looking at what courses these grades are coming from. Namely, you should investigate AP and honors courses. General courses only prove you function at the most basic high school level. AP courses show that you can operate on a higher level which is a basic college one. If you're not prepared, however, don't leap into all the AP courses you can. Also, be prepared to take the AP exams at the end of the school year if you decide on such a route. Otherwise, get some honors courses to prove you can work at a higher level even if it's not the highest possible level one can work at in high school.

Academics only take you so far, though. Although I suppose it depends on your location and the schools you're applying to. From what I've seen, however, community service and extracurricular activities mean heaps in terms of how the college perceives you. Anybody can open a book and learn - anybody. Anybody can - within the bounds of reason - obtain academic prosper. However, not everybody can prove that they're academically stable and a truly determined and contributing member of society. If universities picked students based on academic achievements most people would never get in. Showing schools that you can maintain a fairly rigorous workload whilst being involved in much more is a huge plus. Whatever you do, emphasize on what you do, not how much you do. For examples, universities will possibly frown upon being a part of more than 5 clubs but having small roles and doing little compared to being a part of 2 but having a more significant role and doing much more.

Lastly, it's never too late to improve. Many people give up because they don't have a good enough foundation to be the best. But the best aren't built on perfect. Most of the smartest and most successful people I've had the pleasure of coming across didn't have a good start. It's good to do well from the beginning, and it's pretty difficult to maintain such success throughout so many years, but it's even harder to start at 0 and come to the level those who had succeeded for the majority of their lives are at. You'll never be a high school student graduating with a 4.0 and 13 '5' marks on AP exams, but you can be much better than what you are right now. And make it a habit to work well with your instructors. Letters of recommendations and tons of knowledge and experience depend on it!

 

[Fai]

Very informative reply. Thanks!

Thing is though, my school is on the needs improvement list and it's really poor. There's only one honors class per main-course subject now! I was supposed to be in honors History and honors English but they cut classes and only 22 kids got in. However, there are much more AP courses which is weird.

I'm taking college-level anthropology this year, and if I keep my English and Science scores high I can get into the AP class which are reserved for seniors. There are AP Anatomy, Psychology and Physics classes and I'm trying to get into AP Anatomy and Psych (since Psych doesn't have lab).

You do prove a good point about having a signficant role in less clubs than small roles in more clubs. I'll probably just stay in congress, key club and environmental then and contribute as much to those clubs as possible.

I'm glad to know that I can make a strong comeback for my remaining two years. After recieving my medical calling it inspired me to work as hard as I possibley can. (I wanted to be a Lawyer and getting into law school is easy-peesy but also has a huge drop-out rate. long story behind my calling). Hence why I didn't give school my all.

 

[AdorableSatan]

It's good that you're taking some upper level courses and are trying to place into others. Schools having limited resources to the point where students can't pursue their interest or cater to their specific needs is definitely unfortunate, but you're coming back from that very nicely. The courses you're taking now are good ones and if anything they will earn you some college credits. Many of the universities I've looked at only accept scores of 4 and 5 when awarding credits for AP courses so get the most out of your instructors; they teach the course and know how to do the exams well. One course you should look into in particular is AP Biology. If medicine is your goal then you'll need to take it in college. The way I see it is you can screw up in high school but not in college, particularly when you're serious about medical school. Take all the courses you'll see yourself taking in college and make all your mistakes before you get into college. So if you have problems with big exams, tricky questions and long, drawn out concepts you should work on that before your GPA decides your future. And to conclude, medicine does indeed push your to do your best. One of my doctors once told me that the reason he worked so hard during high school and college was that it's ultimately being done for the care of his patients, and if he can't do the best for himself and his future how would he be able to do right by his patients? This is a philosophy that has stuck to me, and it does make sense.

 

[DocDanny]

You high school kids are a HOOT!

High school doesn't matter AT ALL! All you have to accomplish is getting into ANY COLLEGE that isn't a Community College.

Since colleges do not matter, I'd go for the local state school. It is cheaper, and just as good for prepping you for medical school.

The thing you guys don't realize at this stage is that almost everything you have to know has to be self taught. Nobody is going to teach you the MCAT, nobody is going to teach you the USMLE. You need to teach YOURSELF!

So don't fret too much. As long as you can get into absolutely any college, you have a chance at getting into a medical school. It all depends on what YOU put into it, not the school.

When you go applying to medical school, they won't give a hoot in hell if you took high school level psychology.

I am speaking from experience. I am in my fourth year of Medical School. I'm gunna be doing Internal Medicine in 38 weeks!😎

 

[Starlightembers]

First, your GPA isn't that bad. Mine was/is much worse.

In terms of allowing colleges to see that you can handle higher-level/college-level work, there are a few options that you can look into outside of your school, if you'd like.

For example, you don't have to actually take an AP course to take the test. I am not saying this is the best idea for you; however, if you can self-teach yourself one or more of the AP subjects (Psychology should be fairly easy to self-teach, for example) and register for exams in late Spring, and do well on said exams, that will certainly look good. http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/reg.html for more info.

College Level Examination Program (CLEP) allows you to "test out" of certain classes. Once again, a lot of it would have to be self-taught (there are resources available online); but it shows colleges you have college-level knowledge and comprehension on a subject. I would particularly look into social science topics, as they tend to be (in my experience) the easiest to learn. http://clep.collegeboard.org/

Also, assuming you have one, can you take a class or two at the local Community College after school/at night in either the Fall or Spring semester? Many will allow Juniors and Seniors to do this and it is certainly worth looking in.

You can also take DistanceEd/Online courses at certain colleges over the Winter Session (one, three or four credit class that takes three weeks - it's fast paced and intense; but very much doable). Many of the SUNY Schools - hello, fellow NYer! - allow high school students to register, in addition to numerous private colleges (ex, Cornell). I can't think of all the state schools off the top of my head; but I know SUNY Stony Brook is one of them.

*If you take college courses, be careful with your GPA (it follows you to AMCAS). Also, avoid pre-reqs. on all above things.

If you further want to enrich your academics, there are a lot of really cool programs throughout the year and next Summer you can register and/or apply for. MIT runs a nifty program each November, for example, called Splash. It's for one weekend and you spend those two days taking short classes on a wide variety of subjects. Very cool and very recommended. http://esp.mit.edu/learn/Splash/index.html

Just throwing out ideas.

 

[I'm No Superman]

i'd go for the local state school if and only if the only thing that you could ever possibly imagine yourself doing is becoming a physician. It is cheaper, and just as good for prepping you for medical school.

ftfy.

 

[hrandani]

You kids are hilarious. Getting a college degree has been exhaustively studied. Going to a private school if you do not have access to the connections there (if you are not already upper middle class) does not show any higher levels of income than if you went to community college, got an associates, and transferred into a state school. Again, the only people who care about whether you went to Harvard or Georgia Tech are status obsessed to the point of irrelevance. The extra money does not buy you anything.

I know you're probably full of hopes and dreams and you really think that college is this mystical experience where so many wonderful and new things are going to happen, but it's really just the same everywhere. Liberal arts students at a 60,000 student body are just as ******edly naive and prone to experiment with drugs, casual sex and a six year degree plan as liberal arts students in the middle of nowhere, new england.

Colleges will tell you repeatedly their program for x y or z is the best ever and you will have a better job if you graduate. This isn't even true, and furthermore the fact is, 90% of you have no idea what you're going to end up majoring in, much less what you will have a career as. Go to your flagship state school, take tons of AP classes, minimize your loan debt and focus on the standardized testing. Speaking of which, all the major test prep courses are roughly equivalent to lighting money on fire. It's all about self study from here to the grave. Unless you go to one of those aforementioned liberal arts programs where the emphasis is on acting like you know everything without actually reading anything.

In ten years nobody's going to care where you went to college, the only difference is if you go to a private school you're still going to be paying the loans off.

 

[MSU2009]

A few points in no particular order..

-Get into literally the cheapest, most convenient 4-year university.
-Be a bit cautious about utilizing CLEP and AP tests.
-Take your science prerequisites asap.
-Stop worrying.
-Enjoy yourself.

 

[AdorableSatan]

Colleges will tell you repeatedly their program for x y or z is the best ever and you will have a better job if you graduate. This isn't even true, and furthermore the fact is, 90% of you have no idea what you're going to end up majoring in, much less what you will have a career as.

This man is correct. I've seen a lot of people throughout the years who have taken drastically different paths than originally intended. For the record, I believe it's due to failing to make the distinction between a subject and its specialization. For example, I adore biochemistry as a subject, but come college I might not adore it as a specialization. There's a large difference - and I feel I must repeat this again - between a introductory level college course on a topic and a whole field of study which you must go through.

Go to your flagship state school, take tons of AP classes, minimize your loan debt and focus on the standardized testing. Speaking of which, all the major test prep courses are roughly equivalent to lighting money on fire. It's all about self study from here to the grave. Unless you go to one of those aforementioned liberal arts programs where the emphasis is on acting like you know everything without actually reading anything.

I must support these points as well, particularly the self-study bit. AP courses are the very lowest level of college work. The exams aren't too far off from that either I've been told. It's not a good thing when you need an entire class outside of what your school offers in order to prepare for the exam. If you can't do it at the AP level without tons of extra assistance how will you do it in college?

 

[Lil Mick]

Don't worry about it. College courses make much more sense then high school classes, as they delve into the why behind the what and allow you to form connections within the material and other subjects. Most of it can be self-study, as others have mentioned. Would dual-enrollment be an option for you, OP? I found those courses much more interesting and easier to follow than some of the high school courses (more depth and breadth)...

 

[DocDanny]

ftfy.

No, it applies to any major.

Why put yourself in that much more debt? An extra $80,000 for what? Status?

 

[Fai]

Lots of good reponses here. Thanks all!

To Hrandani - You do make a good point. But, it's not about the status, and I never even thought about private schools "allows more future income" than public schools. I always thought that went by degrees anyway (i.e bachelor vs masters but that's not the point). Anyway, if I go to Hofstra, I could commute there since it's not far at all. If I go to, say, Stony Brook and dorm the cost of living + their tuition crosses out Hofstra's tuition once I'm done with undergrad (this is without scholarships). i.e - Hofstra's current tuition is 33k a year and once I'm done with undergrad it would be 132k.

Stony Brook: 19k a year (NY residents) for 4 years is 76,000. But with cost of living it would be 20k a year and 80,000 altogether and add that with the tuition it would be 156k. Stony Brook is one of the most affordable SUNY schools and has a Med School.

Obviously there are many factors on decreasing the tuition and how the tuition will change but that's roughly how it would be now. Once I start college vists I'll understand significantly better and learn about each college's finanical aids.

To Lil Mick - It might be. I haven't thought about it but I'll see what I could do. Thanks for informing me though! I forgot about dual-enrollment.

 

[AntiHouseMD]

Don't cross off any colleges from your list just because of price right now. Private schools usually have a larger financial base to give aid from, and can sometimes be cheaper than public school. Look at several colleges that you would like to go to, including a state school or two. When you receive your financial aid offer after applying to colleges, then you should consider money as a factor. But don't worry about it too much right now.

I also have to second GammaKnife. I don't know where you live, but don't go to a state school JUST because it is cheaper. If you decide not to go into medicine and the school is a terrible place, you will be miserable and likely will have a useless degree without any experience (that's also why majoring in history or something similar just to stand out is a terrible idea, fwiw).

But, just to point something out, tuition does tend to increase after a few years. So assuming the total cost of college by multiplying by 4 years isn't an accurate method.

Good luck however you go!

 

[Starlightembers]

As both the OP and I are New Yorkers, I would like to speak on the issues of tuition and such.

New York has a lot of really great state schools. Binghamton (a 'Public Ivy') and Geneseo come to mind as being the highest ranked, though they are good for different things. The University and Buffalo and SUNY Stonybrook are also respectable universities and offer great opportunities for premedical students, students intending to pursue bio-medical research and students interested in health (broadly), as they are both research heavy and have medical schools. We also have SUNY schools that are well-known for arts-related things, teaching and so forth. After spending two years at the private, early college I plan to attend, I will try to transfer to Buffalo and take advantage of their Health and Human Services, (track in) Community Mental Health major.

On that note, however, it is not necessarily cheaper to go to a SUNY school, especially since tuition will be rising (if I remember correctly) about 30% over the next three years. Depending on the area of NY, the cost of living can also be considerably expensive. Because of that, it is very likely that going to a lower-ranked private school close enough so that one can live at home may very well be cheaper.

Also, to the note that people should go where they like, instead of the cheapest: that is not an option for some of us. Where I would like to go is not where I can go. I have no money that I can put towards college; none. I am going where I can get the most aid, grants and get the most loans for. I have no other option.

EDIT: In terms of majoring in history, this should give all humanities and social science majors some solace. It's not what you majored in; but what you do with it.

Erika

 

[AntiHouseMD]

Didn't mean to put off any liberal arts majors with my post. I meant to say that simply going for a liberal arts major without any interest in it and aiming only to get into medical school as is a bad idea. So, if you just want to stand out and can't stand learning about history, you should probably go for a different major. If you actually enjoy the subject and are willing to do more than just the coursework, along with doing pre-med work, you are fine. Thanks to starlightmembers for pointing out my mistake.

Also, the cost should definitely be a major factor in where you choose to go. I meant that it shouldn't deter you from visiting and applying to some reach schools and waiting to see what you get for financial aid.

 

[Starlightembers]

Didn't mean to put off any liberal arts majors with my post. I meant to say that simply going for a liberal arts major without any interest in it and aiming only to get into medical school as is a bad idea. So, if you just want to stand out and can't stand learning about history, you should probably go for a different major. If you actually enjoy the subject and are willing to do more than just the coursework, along with doing pre-med work, you are fine. Thanks to starlightmembers for pointing out my mistake.

Also, the cost should definitely be a major factor in where you choose to go. I meant that it shouldn't deter you from visiting and applying to some reach schools and waiting to see what you get for financial aid.

Ah, thank you clarifying your position. I think we are very much on the same page, then.

As for the major: It is so important to major in what you are interested in. You are going to be spending hours upon hours learning it, majoring in an "easy" subject you hate could turn out to be more of a GPA-killer than majoring in a "harder" subject that you actually enjoy. I could, for example, never major in chemistry or physics. I can do those subjects, and do well in them; but I could never devote myself to them.

And I apologize if I came off as defensive concerning humanities majors. The "What are you going to do with that?" and "That major is useless!" comments are pervasive in our culture and display a very limited view of liberal arts majors. Which is why I loved that article and that book. Essentially, every humanities and social science major has real world application. Actually learning from it, instead of just passing it, can, if done right, get you further than most would imagine.

Cost: I agree, apply broadly and see what you can get; however, do not bury yourself in debt just because of the name or prestige of the school. In 20 years, no matter what we are doing, if you make the right connections (which you can at lower-ranked state unis and non-Ivy liberal arts colleges!), success in all of ours graps.

 

[zwitterion34]

A few points in no particular order..

-Get into literally the cheapest, most convenient 4-year university.
-Be a bit cautious about utilizing CLEP and AP tests.
-Take your science prerequisites asap.
-Stop worrying.
-Enjoy yourself.

Nice concise answer. 👍 Everything else was tl;dr.