1590 test score what would be good reach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:once you get to a baseline, the GPA and scores don't matter.

the story is more important for reaches - what makes your kid compelling, different, memorable.

If pre-med, I'd highly suggest not to state of major pref in bio or a science - especially if Indian or asian.

What ECs? What activities? What awards? Hobbies? All more important once you reach the baseline.

OP. ECs are routine, nothing really stands out. Mostly school-related: sports, clubs, summer camps. DC wants to take time to figure out the major, but refuse to consider computer science or engineering. Not obsessed with prestige/ivy.

Johns Hopkins, Duke, Vandy, Williams, Penn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ by the way, Im just a mom. One kid in college, and one a senior. I'm just into the college process - hope this was helpful and not overstepping or overwhelming for you.

OP here. Thanks! Those are really good advice.

Happy to help. Hopefully he finds some things that move him.

There are a bunch of wilderness first aid programs at various colleges so if he’s able to get certified in that, it would be a natural thing to join once he arrives on campus. And a good thing to talk about in essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:private no ranking no weight, highest rigor math/stem. UW gpa guessing in the top 20%, but definitely not tippy top if not weighted.
What would be good reach schools? DC does not like large universities in general, a medium/small size university or a LAC would work. Undecided major potentially premed. Unhooked full pay.

Williams
Pomona
Bowdoin
Amherst
Wash U
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth

I'm not sure that any of those schools are very likely but there are plenty of excellent choices.
University of Rochester, CWRU, Lehigh, Brandeis are all very good R1s that are reachable
Lafayette and Union are very good LACs with engineering. Bucknell is an option and a very good school
Syracuse is larger but a comprehensive R1
Trinity, Conn College, and Holy Cross are good possibilities
For hardcore STEM RPI and WPI are very good and underappreciated.

If you set asaide prestige and focus on fit there are great options. I kept these selections in a tight Northeast circle. Go wider and you will find even more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From a med Anthro perspective, talking about measles in refugee and immigrant populations is very of the moment.

If into enviro science though, I’d go the community gardens, medicinal plants and natural wilderness medicine route. Great easy & natural way to combine the two disparate interests into a compelling and memorable story.
Make sure kid took Enviro Sci and see if kid can take Anthro next year or this summer? Think Brown & Penn offer it.

OP here. "combine the two disparate interests into a compelling and memorable story". I didn't get it. How would you combine them easily? Could you elaborate a little bit more?

Enviro science and medicine intersect in a lot of ways. You would create a story/narrative/admissions hook/whatever you want to call it based around the intersection of the two as part of the kid's story (assuming this is his interest bc he co-founded the enviro club??)

How? Our environment directly impacts our health, and understanding these connections can help show a holistic approach to healthcare.

How to combine these 2 interests in a college application:

ACTIVITIES
- Study medicinal plants: Document local plants with medicinal properties, research their traditional uses, and connect this to modern pharmacology. This combines botany (environmental science) with medical applications.
- Community garden health initiatives: Help establish or work with gardens that grow nutritious food for underserved communities, connecting environmental sustainability with nutritional health and food-as-medicine concepts.
- Wilderness medicine: Take wilderness first aid courses and volunteer with outdoor organizations. This combines environmental knowledge with practical medical skills.
- Environmental health research: Study how environmental factors (air/water quality, climate change) affect human health in your community. Collect data, interview residents, and propose solutions.
- Conservation medicine: Focus on the intersection of ecosystem health and human health - for example, how habitat destruction leads to disease emergence.
[NOTE: google these for summer programs and other local ideas - in my community there's a BUNCH of stuff to volunteer for like this. Also EMTs and outdoor wilderness medicine courses this summer]

TRANSCRIPT
Taking Environmental Science is excellent groundwork
An Anthropology course (especially medical anthropology) would strengthen this narrative - I think Brown and Penn both offer summer anthropology programs for high schoolers.

ESSAYS
Might cover an EC experience or something learned in the class?

HOW OR WHY DOES THIS WORK?
It may not, but if its authentic (and your kid wants to do it and has passion for it) it can show the AdCom that the your kid doesn't just want to be a doctor, but someone who understands health through multiple lenses. This is a kid who can think critically about emerging challenges at the intersection of environment and medicine. Certain colleges (looking at you Northwestern and Brown) love kids who combine two totally different fields together.

Wow. This is really good advice.

I wonder if we should create a separate thread where everyone can post profiles about their kid and we can crowdsource this kind of stuff, ideas for activities, including summer programs in extracurriculars? Amazing ideas.

[Anonymous]

At Northwestern, apply as an environmental policy & culture major, combined with Anthropology.

At Brown, I’d also combine Anthro with something environmental.

Or if the kid is able to start a medicinal community garden at your school and then give those medicinal plants to some sort of holistic practitioner, as evidence of a long-term project, may be more competitive or some of these accelerated med school programs (PLME).

You might want to hire a college counselor.

[Anonymous]

ED to Emory

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At Northwestern, apply as an environmental policy & culture major, combined with Anthropology.

At Brown, I’d also combine Anthro with something environmental.

Or if the kid is able to start a medicinal community garden at your school and then give those medicinal plants to some sort of holistic practitioner, as evidence of a long-term project, may be more competitive or some of these accelerated med school programs (PLME).

You might want to hire a college counselor.

OP here. Thank you. Great advice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to find out if your private school will disclose the 20% ranking or not. Most do not.

Then you need to ask your college counselor if kid does certain things from a story, EC, impact perspective, then what are some good options for ED - reach for him.

It’s surprising you don’t have access to any of your schools data. How are you supposed to tell if you’re competitive or not for school? Maybe you haven’t gotten access yet and it’s coming?

Not op. At our private, can tell if top 10 percent because first half of cum laude society announced in fall, and can tell top 5-10 kids (kids, not percent) by awards received at end of junior year. However, school does not technically release rank.

I think top schools can determine where in class kids fall beyond this because they receive some many apps from our private year after year. So school not releasing rank doesn’t necessarily mean colleges can’t figure out.

[Anonymous]

I had a high stats non-stand-out kid this cycle. His counselor seemed to think he had a great shot at Cornell, a good shot at Georgetown (GU loves high test scores), and Tufts (with ED). Obviously options open up outside the Northeast. Mine was open to midwest so he picked Chicago for ED (he didn't love Northwestern which was the other obvious option).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:once you get to a baseline, the GPA and scores don't matter.

the story is more important for reaches - what makes your kid compelling, different, memorable.

If pre-med, I'd highly suggest not to state of major pref in bio or a science - especially if Indian or asian.

What ECs? What activities? What awards? Hobbies? All more important once you reach the baseline.

OP. ECs are routine, nothing really stands out. Mostly school-related: sports, clubs, summer camps. DC wants to take time to figure out the major, but refuse to consider computer science or engineering. Not obsessed with prestige/ivy.

Johns Hopkins, Duke, Vandy, Williams, Penn

None of these, much too ambitious except as a high reach, given gpa.

[Anonymous]

If into wilderness EMT, Dartmouth all the way!!!

Dartmouth offers a 3-week Wilderness EMT (W-EMT) program every Fall break that a lot of premeds do, and it's facilitated through EMS. Additionally, every year there's Wilderness First Responder (WFR) courses in the spring usually. People have worked in wilderness first responder capacities as well, helping people who got hurt on the trails nearby.

Almost no other university offers these certifications; you typically have to travel to take the courses and get them. Also, if you're a skier - ski patrol is the best extracurricular.

Honestly though, your kid will need “something special” to stand out and not be another boring science/pre med kid.

Like working at a plant nursery, local farm or health food store? Or beekeeping and producing medicinal honey? Or foraging for medicinal mushrooms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If into wilderness EMT, Dartmouth all the way!!!

Dartmouth offers a 3-week Wilderness EMT (W-EMT) program every Fall break that a lot of premeds do, and it's facilitated through EMS. Additionally, every year there's Wilderness First Responder (WFR) courses in the spring usually. People have worked in wilderness first responder capacities as well, helping people who got hurt on the trails nearby.

Almost no other university offers these certifications; you typically have to travel to take the courses and get them. Also, if you're a skier - ski patrol is the best extracurricular.

Honestly though, your kid will need “something special” to stand out and not be another boring science/pre med kid.

Like working at a plant nursery, local farm or health food store? Or beekeeping and producing medicinal honey? Or foraging for medicinal mushrooms?

Dartmouth didn’t release much info about its ED acceptances but they did release this “ Ninety-eight percent were ranked in the top 10% of their senior class, and a record-setting 22% are projected to graduate as either valedictorian or salutatorian.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If into wilderness EMT, Dartmouth all the way!!!

Dartmouth offers a 3-week Wilderness EMT (W-EMT) program every Fall break that a lot of premeds do, and it's facilitated through EMS. Additionally, every year there's Wilderness First Responder (WFR) courses in the spring usually. People have worked in wilderness first responder capacities as well, helping people who got hurt on the trails nearby.

Almost no other university offers these certifications; you typically have to travel to take the courses and get them. Also, if you're a skier - ski patrol is the best extracurricular.

Honestly though, your kid will need “something special” to stand out and not be another boring science/pre med kid.

Like working at a plant nursery, local farm or health food store? Or beekeeping and producing medicinal honey? Or foraging for medicinal mushrooms?

Dartmouth didn’t release much info about its ED acceptances but they did release this “ Ninety-eight percent were ranked in the top 10% of their senior class, and a record-setting 22% are projected to graduate as either valedictorian or salutatorian.”

Sorry, meant to include this is from this fall, ED for class of 2029.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to find out if your private school will disclose the 20% ranking or not. Most do not.

Then you need to ask your college counselor if kid does certain things from a story, EC, impact perspective, then what are some good options for ED - reach for him.

It’s surprising you don’t have access to any of your schools data. How are you supposed to tell if you’re competitive or not for school? Maybe you haven’t gotten access yet and it’s coming?

Not op. At our private, can tell if top 10 percent because first half of cum laude society announced in fall, and can tell top 5-10 kids (kids, not percent) by awards received at end of junior year. However, school does not technically release rank.

I think top schools can determine where in class kids fall beyond this because they receive some many apps from our private year after year. So school not releasing rank doesn’t necessarily mean colleges can’t figure out.

Cum Laude a joke at DD’s private. Kids only there for 2 years and not even IB, which top students do. At my high school was different. It depends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If into wilderness EMT, Dartmouth all the way!!!

Dartmouth offers a 3-week Wilderness EMT (W-EMT) program every Fall break that a lot of premeds do, and it's facilitated through EMS. Additionally, every year there's Wilderness First Responder (WFR) courses in the spring usually. People have worked in wilderness first responder capacities as well, helping people who got hurt on the trails nearby.

Almost no other university offers these certifications; you typically have to travel to take the courses and get them. Also, if you're a skier - ski patrol is the best extracurricular.

Honestly though, your kid will need “something special” to stand out and not be another boring science/pre med kid.

Like working at a plant nursery, local farm or health food store? Or beekeeping and producing medicinal honey? Or foraging for medicinal mushrooms?

Dartmouth didn’t release much info about its ED acceptances but they did release this “ Ninety-eight percent were ranked in the top 10% of their senior class, and a record-setting 22% are projected to graduate as either valedictorian or salutatorian.”

Yeah but most schools don’t rank. Two kids from our school got in ED. Neither received cum laude after junior year and so neither in top 10%. But they don’t count because school doesn’t rank.