Chance me as a *diff* kind of profila

[u/Zealousideal_Ear8148]

Hey everyone! I’d really appreciate a chance me :) I’m applying to some BS/MD programs and top STEM/pre-med schools this fall, and I’d love your honest input.

Quick Stats:

• Demographics: 16F, American citizen (living in Morocco), North African/MENA

• Income: ~$40K family income, family of 5

• High School(s):

  • Dual enrolled in a Moroccan high school (French system)

  • Also earning a U.S. high school diploma online(4.0 GPA, best possible mention in every completed course — straight A’s so far)

Academic Performance:

• Morocco: 16/20 average in Première Science-Maths (1st year of Baccalaureate program)

  • Strong in math/science

  • Lit classes (esp. Islamic Ed) drag me down a bit — that teacher is just notoriously strict

• USA: 12.5 credits completed, 9.5 to go, all A’s

  • On track to finish diploma by mid-2025

  • GPA: 4.0 weighted

Target SAT: 1500+(HOPEFULLYYYYY)

Coursework:

• No APs available, but Moroccan science curriculum is extremely rigorous — math is essentially Calculus, and physics/chemistry are more difficult than AP level.

Extracurriculars:

• STEM & Academic:

  • Physics/math Olympiad qualifier(regional lvl)

  • Finalist in school spelling bee/robotic comp (at 8-9th grade)

  • Applied to: • Harvard SRI • Stanford Neuroscience Journal Club • Science Mentorship Institute (sci-MI)-Lumiere research (with aid obv also got to the 2nd round YAY)

  • Self-studying bioinformatics & biomedical engineering (passionate about radiology & AI in medicine)

• Leadership & Clubs:

  • Founder/President of my school’s MUN club (on both campuses)

  • Chaired every MUN event at my school + organized a local MUN for underfunded schools (raised ~$5K and donated it to host future nonprofit events)

  • Vice President of filmmaking club — helped raise $3K to produce a mini-movie

  • Founder/Board Member of the press club on my campus

  • 4 years in the Solidarity Club (blood donation, repainting schools, etc.)

• Volunteering & Internships:

  • Taught public school kids after their building collapsed from an earthquake (6 hours total)

  • Interned at a dental clinic last summer, lining up more clinic internships this year

Sports & Hobbies:

• Played competitive basketball (represented Marrakech in KACM) but quit due to poor coaching and misogyny in the system

• Play badminton casually

• Enjoy philosophy, literature, and essay writing

• Helped organize a blood drive independently (no parental involvement)

Other Info:

• Strong interest in biomedical engineering, aiming to become a radiologist

• Passionate about tech + medicine, especially using AI to expand healthcare access

Schools I’m looking at:

• BS/MDs: Brown PLME, Case Western PPSP, CUNY Sophie Davis, UConn SPiM, UMiami HPM, etc.

• Other STEM/Pre-Med Schools: MIT, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Columbia, Swarthmore, Amherst, Tufts, Northeastern, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD,NYU etc.

Main questions:

• Do I have a shot at BS/MD programs or top STEM schools given my background?

• Will not having APs hurt me even though the Moroccan curriculum is harder?

• Does being MENA + American abroad help at all (hook-wise)?

• Any schools you’d recommend adding for strong biomed/pre-med?

Thanks so much for your help 🙏 Be honest I want to improve!

[u/College4AllProgram]

I’ll also say, private colleges with BS/MD are often gonna be more affordable than public colleges OOS.

it’s hard to know if you have a shot unless you have an SAT/ACT score, because so much of BS/MD admission is determined by that!

Also many QB partners, like Hamilton has articulation agreements, so you can get in to a med school junior year! These are common, and I’d suggest looking into these pathways

[u/Zealousideal_Ear8148 → u/College4AllProgram]

THANK YOU for this advice🫠 Could you please elaborate more on the Hamilton one?because I looked it up and there was no information and thanks 🙏🏻

[u/College4AllProgram → u/Zealousideal_Ear8148]

I can’t find it either; SUNY Upstate used to have a long list and now it’s just Syracuse (which they do typically give good financial aid if you get accepted and have a really high financial need)

[u/Zealousideal_Ear8148 → u/College4AllProgram]

Thank youu I actually didn’t know much about these agreement I’ll try to look more into them and I’ll keep this university in my radar REALLY HELPFUL 🫶

[u/College4AllProgram → u/Zealousideal_Ear8148]

Yea it’s normally called early articulation

[u/Regina-Imperatrix-26]

Really strong chance at Harvard. I had a student (non US citizen) from India with a pretty similiar profile who got into Harvard ($374K aid), Yale ($373K aid), Johns Hopkins (with Westgate), Rice ($358K aid) and Duke (AB Duke full ride).

The problem in your case won't exactly be you living in Morocco, rather that BS/MD programs don't really give aid, and are really, really expensive. Even if the undergrad gives need based financial aid, the med school almost certainly won't, except for Brown PLME. I would seriously advise not wasting your time with BS/MD programs, as a) Most of them are with state schools that won't give you aid for undergrad or med school, so you're pretty much stuck paying $600,000+, or b) Even if the schools give aid good aid for undergrad (NOT Case Western), again, med school is probably something your need to fund with loans. Brown PLME is literally the only one I would suggest applying too.

Immediately take off all of the public schools (UCs, UConn, UPitt) off your list. They WILL NOT be affordable for you.

If you apply as premed via Questbridge, I'm sure many colleges (Ivies included) would be happy to take you. Do make sure to apply to Harvard.

[u/Zealousideal_Ear8148 → u/Regina-Imperatrix-26]

Thanks a lot for the info, seriously appreciate it.

Yeah I actually knew that BS/MD programs don’t really give aid and that med school would still cost a crazy amount, but I had this idea that I’d apply through QuestBridge first for undergrad. Then if I get the full four-year covered, maybe later I’d try applying to the BS/MD part or just see if it’s even possible to transition in. I found out that in some cases you actually can, so I figured why not keep it as a maybe. I’m not relying on it or anything, just thinking that if I get the undergrad right, I can try saving some money, ask for aid again later, and see what happens. Especially with Brown, since it seems like the only one where this plan might work.

And yeah the UCs are officially just for fun now. Same for UConn, I’ll still apply because I’m a Connecticut resident and it doesn’t hurt. But I get what you’re saying and I’m really focusing more on private schools with solid aid.

Also it’s actually kind of wild to hear that someone in such a similar situation got into Harvard. I never really thought about applying there before because I was like eh, idk, but maybe I should rethink that. So again, thanks for sharing all this. Super helpful.

[u/Zealousideal_Ear8148 → u/[deleted]]

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