Posted on 06/06/2017 6:23:46 AM PDT by taxcontrol
My son got his SAT pre-test results back and he has a little bit of work ahead of him. Did ok on English but needs to brush up on his math. Overall score was a 960, so I am looking for recommendations as to a course of study for the summer. He is going to be a senior next year, and currently is a 2.9 / 3.0 student. He will be taking his SAT in spring of 2018.
Has he considered one of the Armed Services, enlisting for medical training .. Army medic, Navy corpsman?
My son did not take pre-med, he majored in Electrical Engineering and took pre-med courses as electives. He graduated from Purdue with a 4.0 GPA and got accepted into IU Medical School on the first round, did his residency at the University of Louisville, and is now a Board Certified Trauma Surgeon.
My point is not all med school openings are filled by pre-med students, a portion (15 to 25 percent) are from other disciplines where the competition is not nearly as intense.
And, sorry, I skipped over that part about medical school.
I would never tell a HS senior that they couldn’t do it. I had a 3.0 HS GPA and I did it (I was lucky a bit, applied to 13 med schools, got accepted at 2), BUT, I had very high SAT scores which predict MCAT scores pretty well.
You have to weigh the “If you want it, go for it” feeling with the probable outcome, which is a crash somewhere between second semester Inorganic Chemistry and first semester Organic, maybe a dropout and a least a change of major. How your kid would handle that, I can’t say.
He could always get his maht credits at a local community college that will transfer credit
Here they can do that while still in high school
If he has to take all the remedial classes at least they’re cheaper
Bu if he’s a bust at math- maybe he needs to broaden his career search
“WHY do you want to send him to college ?”
I was thinking the same thing. If I were to do it over, I would probably go the Vocation route. I was not crazy about spending 30 years as an IT desk jockey. I really liked working with my hands. Just my opinion.
Most SAT Math problems can be broken up into steps, each one involving a level of math skill that doesn’t involve anything more complex than Algebra 1 (especially factoring) basic Geometry including basic trig functions, percents, ratio, proportion. Barron’s SAT prep book has always had a good reputation. Use that book for sample problems and tests. Having that knowledge and learning to break each problem up into individual steps for each process, writing everything down one step UNDER the other (that’s what all the space is for!) is an approach that raises most Math scores.
Before you spend money, go to the Public Library and check out the SAT books. Also, ask if they offer the free service tutor.com, and, if they don’t, ask them to get it.
I took the SAT twice, got a 960 twice. Still did ok in College and Grad School and getting ready to retire.
If he wants to succeed, he’ll do it!
Good for him!
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice/full-length-practice-tests
For SAT in particular, I’d start with the above tests - better than any book (you should be able to figure out why when you look at the source).
https://www.khanacademy.org/math
For math weaknesses that you identify from SAT practice, or for general math learning, Khan is free and fairly good. If he has the motivation (and premed is a goal that might motivate some kids enough), he can learn more than either of you imagine in one summer and then build on that during the school year. I’d recommend almost any workbook for algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, etc., for the purpose of practicing the skills - so long as he checks his answers to make sure he is doing it right. Whatever you use, the key to everything from basketball to piano to math is the amount and quality of practice.
I’ll mostly skip the discussion on whether college is right for him. That’s a much more complex question, and online is not the place to go into that much detail, but you should have that discussion with him. How much does he want to be a doctor and how much work is he willing to put into reaching that goal? Does he understand how hard other premeds will be working and how big a head start they have? It’s not necessarily out of reach, but he needs to know what he’s getting into. The outcome depends on whether he is trying out for the NFL when he’s 50 pounds lighter than anyone else on the team, or he is starting to train now so he won’t be in that situation when he gets to tryouts.
Very interesting.
But I’d hardly call EE the easy route. Speaking as an engineer myself. At least it’s guaranteed work for “little” education/$ if the med doesn’t work out.
Good advice. I once worked in adult education at a community college, helping people prepare for the SAT. They had a high school diploma and I was amazed at how some of them passed as they lacked basic skills.
The book shows one HOW to take the tests as well as just giving examples and trials. Don’t poo-poo the books.
Not to bum you out, but without the 200 extra added points to “norm” the SATs in the 1980s, he would have scored 760 in 1963. The average SAT score in 1963 was 1050. Public education has failed bigly.
Perhaps community college would be a reasonable choice at this point. A online college?
FWIW, with all the jobs/careers/interviews I have had in my life, never once, *not-one-time* did anyone ever ask me what my grades were in college, or my scores on the SAT, GRE. Not one.
Take heart. They are looking for experience and drive.
Medical technician or LPN is possible he wanted to go into medicine.
For the SAT, Kahn is about as good as it gets unless you want to go the private tutor route.
In High School I took the Kuder preference test and it identified three areas of study: MD, EE, and Teacher. I did not consider MD as my counselor and I did not understand the term they used (Physician REV). At any rate, I studied EE and have the degree. My SAT was 1400+ and college was still not a breeze. This test does not measure aptitude, instead it compares likes and dislikes with groups and helps you understand what group or groups you have a natural fit with.
My point in adding to this discussion is that there are links between Med careers and engineering careers. Both rely on a lot of memorization and problem solving. It turns out that I later learned that this was something I was good at.
However, in engineering, I found myself in a job that was currently boring and switched at that time to teaching. This turned out to not be as financially beneficial, but was a lot more enjoyable.
960 and 3.0 does not a doctor make. He should have a 4.0-4.5+ with several AP tests under his belt already. Honor and AP classes starting back in middle school take him over the 4.0. His best grades should be in the sciences and have taken all the advanced science classes his school offers.
If he wants into the health field, he should look into pharmacy school or associate degrees in radiology or lab work.
Perhaps he doesn’t have the pure processing power to get a 1200+ SAT score and would benefit from learning a trade.
He’d likely make more money and have far less debt that way.
Is he smart enough to be a doctor?
Forget the prep. Total waste.
Tell him to self-identify as a black woman trapped in a white male body
- with deeply felt guilt for being forced to experience white guilt. Add that he is bisexual and his personal pronouns are they theirs.
He’ll get in and get a scholarship.
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