What kind of college should I be looking at?

[SteinmetzMD]

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What kind of college should I be considering?

I have a 3.85 GPA for my career, I'm in the top 20% of my class. I scored a 29 composite on the ACT.

I was recently elected Secretary of my school's National Honor Society, and also served as a Supervisor and Community Service coordinator. I have lots of community service, and over 85 hours of internship at my local fire department. I also served as a church altar boy in middle school, and I'm a district placer in BPA (Business Professionals of America).

I have a Varsity letter for tennis, along with 2 years of football and 1 year of basketball. I'm a part of my school's Muay Thai club. I also work out regularly and run local trail runs. I also will be getting a part time job this summer.

I realize I'm not Ivy League material, but what would be the best undergrad I have a shot at getting in? I want to major in Biology, any recommendations would be appreciated!

 

[californicati0n]

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search

If you haven't tried that yet, I would highly recommend!

From what you've said here though, I'd say....
Public- UColorado Boulder(safety), UMich, UC Davis, UCSB
Private- Tulane, Boston U, Fordham, Chapman, Villanova

Hope this helps! I'm pretty sure most of the schools I just listed have good bio programs.

 

[SteinmetzMD]

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search

If you haven't tried that yet, I would highly recommend!

From what you've said here though, I'd say....
Public- UColorado Boulder(safety), UMich, UC Davis, UCSB
Private- Tulane, Boston U, Fordham, Chapman, Villanova

Hope this helps! I'm pretty sure most of the schools I just listed have good bio programs.

You really think I'd have a shot at Boston U or Villanova? 😍

 

[YankeesMD]

What state do you live in?

 

[SteinmetzMD]

What state do you live in?

Indiana

 

[YankeesMD]

IU or Purdue definitely then.

Good schools, good college life, and a good price for in-state kids.

 

[nysegop]

You really think I'd have a shot at Boston U or Villanova? 😍

What kind of college should I be considering?

I have a 3.85 GPA for my career, I'm in the top 20% of my class. I scored a 29 composite on the ACT.

I was recently elected Secretary of my school's National Honor Society, and also served as a Supervisor and Community Service coordinator. I have lots of community service, and over 85 hours of internship at my local fire department. I also served as a church altar boy in middle school, and I'm a district placer in BPA (Business Professionals of America).

I have a Varsity letter for tennis, along with 2 years of football and 1 year of basketball. I'm a part of my school's Muay Thai club. I also work out regularly and run local trail runs. I also will be getting a part time job this summer.

I realize I'm not Ivy League material, but what would be the best undergrad I have a shot at getting in? I want to major in Biology, any recommendations would be appreciated!

Boston University isn't really that hard to get into. It's not a slice of pie, but they accept many students with your stats. Villanova is a bit more tricky and I would say you're an average applicant there.

Other than that here are some ideas:
IU - Great school. Attached medical school. Lots of research.
Notre Dame - Hard to get into, but still possible.
Purdue - Phenomenal academic reputation. Great research. Very old and well respected. Slightly harder to get into than IU.
University of Vermont - I'm biased. I'm planning on going here. It's great. It's like a cross between a large public institution and solid liberal arts education. There is a lot of research and a connected medical school.
The two Arizona colleges - UofA, ASU. Very cheap. Good research. U of A has a medical school if that matters to you.
Some of the mid tier UCs - Irvine, Davis, etc. California... what else should I say?
Rutgers
U Connecticut
Penn State
Urbana-Champaign



Honestly just apply to a bunch of colleges you think are good, get accepted, choose the one that gives you the most financial aid.

 

[californicati0n]

Definitely! I think if you showed a lot of passion in your essays and were able to raise your ACT score a bit you'd have an even better chance.

Oh and I meant Boston University, not Boston College haha, sorry for the confusion. Boston College is actually much harder to get into than Boston U. Also, FYI, Tulane has a great premed program and gives out tons of merit scholarships.

 

[SteinmetzMD]

I guess I would prefer somewhere with an attached Med School, since I've heard they prefer applicants from their undergrad. The UC's kind of scare me, because I hear it's impossible to get into Cali Med Schools if you're not a Cali resident.

 

[YankeesMD]

I guess I would prefer somewhere with an attached Med School, since I've heard they prefer applicants from their undergrad.

Where did you hear this? I've heard it makes no difference.

Be wary of out-of-state public schools. They will often make you pay full price, usually 40,000+ per year.

The two main types of schools you should be looking at are:

1) State schools in Indiana
2) Private schools where your stats fall at or above the 75th percentile so you can get merit money

Boston College isn't really that hard to get into. It's not a slice of pie, but they accept many students with your stats. Villanova is a bit more tricky and I would say you're an average applicant there.

BC is def more selective than Nova. BC would be a reach for OP and Nova would be a match.

But if all else fails, you should seriously go to IU or Purdue. Those are great options for you.

 

[HSUReddie]

Where did you hear this? I've heard it makes no difference.

Be wary of out-of-state public schools. They will often make you pay full price, usually 40,000+ per year.

The two main types of schools you should be looking at are:

1) State schools in Indiana
2) Private schools where your stats fall at or above the 75th percentile so you can get merit money

I agree with this. For the most part out of state public schools are just going to be expensive with just less benefit of going there, in my opinion. If you're going to do public, just stay in Indiana.

Also, you have a solid ACT score, congrats - how many times have you taken it? I took it four times because I knew I had to get a full ride somewhere - financial situation with my parents, they wouldn't cosign any loans, long story. I got 26, 28, 29, 31. If you take it a couple of more times, you might be able to pull in some great scholarship money. I looked up IU specifically, http://scholarships.indiana.edu/scholarships/selective/index.php The Arts and Sciences one would require a 31. That would be doable in one retake I think.

As far as schools with medical schools attached being "feeder" schools. I think in some cases it is just the sheer volume of applicants that they get from their own school. For instance, I'm from Arkansas. The vast majority of acceptances to UAMS are going to be from U of A just because the vast majority of students applying are from there. That doesn't mean other schools don't have good track records for their smaller number of students that do apply. It's just that sometimes the largest university in the state is usually affiliated with the main public medical school in the state. (At least in the case of public schools...)

 

[SteinmetzMD]

Oh trust me, if I don't get enough financial aid to pay for out of states, I'm IU or Purdue bound for sure!

 

[nysegop]

BC is def more selective than Nova. BC would be a reach for OP and Nova would be a match.

But if all else fails, you should seriously go to IU or Purdue. Those are great options for you.

We're talking about BU... not BC...
BU isn't that selective. It's definitely less selective than Villanova.

http://www.cappex.com/colleges/Boston-University/admissions
http://www.cappex.com/colleges/Villanova-University/admissions

Just compare the two scatter charts.

Villanova accepts a smaller percentage of students and gets fewer applicants.
BU accepts a much higher percentage and they have more applicants.

Though OP has a great GPA, at Villanova a 29 on the ACT is sort of on the fringe of acceptable. I still think he'd be an average applicant there. He/she definitely has a chance, but it's not guaranteed.

 

[YankeesMD]

You said Boston College though... 😕

 

[nysegop]

You said Boston College though... 😕

ooooooooooopppppppppppppppssssssssss

 

[SteinmetzMD]

I'm a he, come on guys

 

[PapaGuava]

What kind of college should I be considering?

I have a 3.85 GPA for my career, I'm in the top 20% of my class. I scored a 29 composite on the ACT.

I was recently elected Secretary of my school's National Honor Society, and also served as a Supervisor and Community Service coordinator. I have lots of community service, and over 85 hours of internship at my local fire department. I also served as a church altar boy in middle school, and I'm a district placer in BPA (Business Professionals of America).

I have a Varsity letter for tennis, along with 2 years of football and 1 year of basketball. I'm a part of my school's Muay Thai club. I also work out regularly and run local trail runs. I also will be getting a part time job this summer.

I realize I'm not Ivy League material, but what would be the best undergrad I have a shot at getting in? I want to major in Biology, any recommendations would be appreciated!

I wish i woudlve got varsity letters for Hockey. Ice Hockey isnt state supported in Florida 😡. But great resume for a college, you ll be fine!

 

[nysegop]

I wish i woudlve got varsity letters for Hockey. Ice Hockey isnt state supported in Florida 😡. But great resume for a college, you ll be fine!

Go to UVM. We're huge on Ice Hockey up here in VT.

 

[SteinmetzMD]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm visiting VMI in June, and Im also thinking about FAU because my dad went there. I wouldn't mind being a Pre-med in south Florida, might take some of the stress off! 👍