Advice for High School Senior Seeking Career in Science

[Rhomkin]

Hello, and greetings!

I am a senior in High School, but had the revelation this year that I want a career (and education) in science. I've narrowed down my interests as best I can, but my area of interest is still fairly broad. I'm aware that this post includes career advice, but it is tied closely to the education I am pursuing. If you could offer any assistance in regards to my questions posed at the bottom of this post, I would be incredibly grateful.

Background:

My GPA in High School has been mediocre at best, and I've managed to slide with a grade of about 3.34 (unweighted) without trying at all for all four years. My years were not pleasant, and I dealt with a lot of social, mental, family, and physical issues simultaneously. Despite this, I have always been curious about science, mathematics, and reading. I've wanted a career which will challenge me, and offer a variety of puzzles and mysteries which have not been solved. My interests are in the fields of Biophysics, Biomedicine, Biotechnology, Genetics, and Genomics.

My ideal education would combine learning from both science and medicine, and allow for me to apply it in both research and treatment after I graduate.

I will be working towards an AS in Biotechnology at a local community college after I graduate, and it is my goal to acquire at least a 3.8 GPA after my first two years. After that, I wish to transfer to UNC (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) for my Bachelor's degree. Afterwards, I would also like to enter in a joint M.D./Ph.D program.

My plan so far:

1. Acquire Associate's in Biotechnology
2. Acquire Bachelor's in Biophysics
3. Acquire Master's in Biomedicine
4. Acquire Ph.D in Biomedicine

If I also decide to pursue Medicine, I wish to apply for medical school after acquiring my Bachelor's degree, working towards a joint M.D./Ph.D.
If I do so, I would most likely skip the Master's degree, and works towards my Ph.D instead.

It's an ambitious plan, but I am willing to work my *** off to reach my goals. Questions:

General (To all readers)

1. Is it true that top-level universities in the United States will only examine your College GPA and SAT/ACT scores (as opposed to High School GPA) after two years of undergraduate education?

2. Can you retake the SAT multiple times to supplement your previous scores during college? (And by extension, will these universities only examine the new scores?)

Specific (To those who work/are educated in the related fields, and/or have experience)

3. How applicable are graduate degrees in Biophysics/Biochemistry in the fields of Genetics and Genomics?

4. How does a joint M.D./Ph.D program differ from pursuing these degrees separately?

5. What jobs did you work in shortly after you graduated? (To: Biophysics, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Biomedicine, Genetics, Genomics majors)

 

[jtbell]

1. Is it true that top-level universities in the United States will only examine your College GPA and SAT/ACT scores (as opposed to High School GPA) after two years of undergraduate education?

Check the web sites of some universities that you are interested in, to find out what they require transfer student applicants to submit. Here's UNC, for example:

http://www.admissions.unc.edu/Apply/Transfer_Students/Requirements.html

which indicates that they do want high school transcripts.