help find safeties and targets that have good pre-med advising/ high med school matriculation rates

[true loom]

Location/Region: Urban or suburban anywhere, I currently live in the suburbs of VA so I don’t mind. Would prefer a larger city though.
Major: Chemistry with a minor in sociology.
GPA/Test Scores: 4.0 UW, 4.74 W, 1350 SAT (took Alg2 and Geo in 8th grade and COVID cut it off so my understanding is trash but retaking in August after studying). Ranked 14/536 (top 3%).
Curriculum: Would prefer an open curriculum but I’m not set on it.
College size: Prefer medium but I don’t have a strong preference.
Costs: Currently looking at full-rides but probably won’t get much aid. In state to Virginia.
Schools You're Currently Looking At: Duke, UChicago, Brown BS/MD (💀), Cornell, UVA, VT (fee waiver), UCLA, applying to ivies to test my luck but no strong connection.
Additional: I am a first generation immigrant, not first generation college. I’m also Black (African & Caribbean). Pretty set on becoming a physician, so a program with a good matriculation rate for their pre-med students into medical school would be perfect. My list is way too heavy on the reach side.

also, if i don’t get my test score up in the SAT, ima go test optional because i don’t think a 1350 reflects my academic capacity ^

[sly ginkgo]

You could also try out the ACT!

Yay, I'm pre-med too. Your grades look great, I'm curious what your extracurricular involvement is (in terms of leadership, # of hours you've put into stuff, do you have any hospital volunteering or other pre-med activities? Those hours are mega important for BS/MD).

Since you're first-gen and a URM applying to college, I'll pm you a bunch of different scholarship/program options you should consider looking into.

There are a lot of schools that also give diversity-based scholarships (academic merit scholarships for URMs). I'll list the ones that are associated with schools or cities great for pre-meds: University of Chicago First Phoenix Scholarship (first-gen students), Northeastern Torch Scholarship (first-gen), New York University AnBryce Scholarship (for first-gen, NYU has an amazing med school), University of Rochester (https://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/ ), Ohio State Morrill Scholarship (you're very competitive for this), Villanova University St. Martin de Porres scholarship, WashU Rodriguez Scholars, University of Miami Ronald A. Hammond.

And I'd definitely look into Case Western Reserve University!! It has a University Hospital System, the Cleveland Clinic main campus hospital system, and a Veterans hospital (one of the few cities in the country that offers those) all within A MILE of campus. They have EMT training built-in for students who might want to be pre-med, the research and stem opportunities on top of the healthcare engagement opportunities are limitless. And that's honestly the most important part of med school admissions: getting a 3.9/4.0 GPA and having TONS of clinical hours. Their pre-med advisors are also stellar.

[true loom]

damn all that, thanks so much ur so nice for that 🙏🏿 and i volunteer at a hospital, have been since may 2022 and i have over 100 hours and im in a specialty program for health but that’s about all i have that’s health wise. i do chorus and show choir but im gonna our family responsibilities on my commonapp and explain in my essay because i’m the oldest of three and my parents didn’t have much time to take me and pick me up from activities so that’s why i don’t have a lot, so i’ll elaborate further on that.

[sly ginkgo]

Okay. You can share that in the additional info section. I'd also encourage you to share any hobbies you might just do on your own time!

[true loom]

and thanks for all the first gen stuff but idk if i count. basically i’m first generation immigrant but my parents both went to college cuz my moms a nurse and my dads a physician but they didn’t go through the application process in the states so i’m the first to go through that. i for sure will be doing URM scholarships though.

[sly ginkgo]

Is there a reason that you're only looking at Brown BS/MD?

[sly ginkgo]

Gotchyah. So, you might have to look at the policies of the schools, but Brown for example, defines first-gen as students who are attending college in the U.S. for the first time. So that may be the case for some of the scholarships I shared with you, too.

[true loom]

nope, i still have to explore others but i did like their open curriculum and the fact that i wouldn’t have to take the MCAT as long as i adhere to a certain GPA cutoff.

[true loom]

great, thanks!

[sly ginkgo]

okay! I'd definitely look at others, yeah, some have similar policies.

[austere sleet]

LACs have high med matric and good advising typically

Cornell is allegedly not the best for premed but ill see i guess

Also take a look at emory

Case western

Uw madison

Washu seattle

[sly ginkgo]

yeahhh, I think cornell's biggest thing comapred to other university is that it's med school is 4 hrs away from its undergrad campus so you lose a lot of the proximity of that hospital system that you might get at other schools. but there are still ways to go there via bus and/or get involved in Ithaca I've heard

[austere sleet]

The bus is $100

Per direction

Not worth the waste of time sitting on a bus for four hours

Cant do clinical throughout the schoolyr at cornell

Unless u do like cayuga med or smth online but cayuga isnt that good