Where should I apply

Puffinca

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I'm looking to eventually reach med, but I still have a lot of years yet to decide so I may end up in research or wherever. Just to give you guys a background, here are my stats:

- I am a junior in high school, living in Maryland
- 3.90 unweighted GPA, 4.64 weighted GPA
- 1330 SAT score (planning to retake this and aiming for 1400+), also taking ACT this February
- Played for the volleyball team, ran for outdoor track & cross country teams
- National Spanish Honors Society, Nat. English Hon. Society, Nat. Science Hon Society
- Member of countless clubs varying in themes, but mainly science
- Will have at least 400+ hours of volunteering at a hospital and tutoring children by the time I have to start applying to colleges.
- Also wanted to add that I'm female, Albanian (white), and come from a mid-income family.

This year I am taking AP Bio, AP Spanish Lang (non-native, so it'll look good I guess), AP Eng. Lang, AP World His., and Honors Pre-calc as my non-electives.

Next year I am taking: AP Spanish Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Psych, AP Environmental Science, AP Eng. Lit, and AP Physics 1

AP Calc BC and AP Physics are both courses that I am not genuinely interested in, I just want to be prepared for a profession in med. I'm not sure if this is overkill or not. I knew a senior last year who got a full ride to Johns Hopkins even though she only took 3 APs her senior year but scored a 35 on the ACT. She's a computer science kid though.

I've also decided not to take AP Chem because my school's average on the exam is a 1 and the teacher (we only have one) is horrible; virtually everyone struggles with her.

My second question is how far should I expect myself to go in terms of college apps. I'm trying to find a school within the D.C area (but I'm considering anywhere on the Northeastern coast) where I can excel in while still finding opportunities for med-related things. My mom keeps talking about smaller liberal arts schools but I feel like that I wouldn't be doing justice to all the work I've done so far. I mean, I haven't been working this hard to end up at some unknown school, right??? Or am I wrong?

I am considering so far:
- Georgetown (a stretch with my stats so far, but we'll see)
- George Washington University
- Johns Hopkins (I'm not sure if I'd go even if I was miraculously accepted, I heard it kills the hopes and dreams of all its premeds)
- UMD (safety school)

I haven't done too much search into colleges so these are just the ones I'm most familiar with. My mom also wants me to apply to:

- Emory University
- Boston University
- Amherst College
- Colgate University (undergrad admission stats look very competitive???)


Am I shooting in a realistic range? Would these schools prepare me well for when med app time comes around?


Also wondering how much an internship at NIH would benefit me even if I was selected. It would take many weeks that I could have spent volunteering or having fun with friends during our last summer together and its mainly my mom pushing me to do it, but personally I'm okay with just volunteering. Would the internship really give me an edge in apps?

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Yup!

Look into VA schools. UVA is a great school but competitive for OOS applicants. VCU would be a safety for you, but they have a great medical school. And Richmond is a great place to live. Plenty of private schools in VA too that will give you a solid education and most likely has connections to VA med skewls
I went to a private liberal arts college. It is well known (and many others are!). Isn't affiliated with any med school, but there were A LOT of opportunities for (paid) research and other resources to get into med school.

And the northeast is the Mecca of private liberal arts college, so there are a lot of good choices if that is your bag.
With your stats and ECs, you will have no problem getting into any school you want (for the most part)
I haven't actually looked into any VA schools yet, not sure why it didn't cross my mind. I'll make sure to check out UVA and VCU. Thanks!
 
I hear that a lot of colleges that were in the 1300-1400 SAT range when I was in school have gotten a lot more selective, but in my mind you're realistically competitive for most schools, though maybe not those at the tippy top.

If you don't think going to a liberal arts school will do you "justice," think again. None of the NE liberal arts schools are unknown, and most are more competitive than your brand-name state schools. Google the NESCAC schools and you might be impressed.
 
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If you're looking at VA schools, UVA and W&M (both in your range) are both hard schools that will make it difficult to get into med school if you're not excelling. Your SAT corresponds to ~ a 2000 on the 2400 scale, which means you're probably not that competitive for Hopkins or Amherst, but probably okay for most of the other schools on your list. Honestly, if you aren't competitive for the top of the top (Ivy/similar), your best best is to go to your state school, save money, do well, and get into a good medical school. Going to UMD undergrad with a strong record will make you a strong candidate for medical school. I wouldn't go to GW (super expensive) and friends over UMD. Hopkins is a furnace, but those who do well are rewarded greatly and get into amazing medical schools, though it definitely weeds out many students. There's no point going to a Virginia school over UMD if you're paying double the price. UMD is on par with or better than all VA schools except for UVA, W&M, and maybe W&L, but all three of those are going to be super expensive and the marginal benefit you might get by going there is not worth the money.
 
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