cross0328

I am a high school senior in michiganand am wondering what my chances of getting into my colleges are. I go to a small private high school that has a rigerous liberal arts curriculum My gpa is a 3.0, but typically it is waited to a 3.6 or 3.7 for college admissions. My act scores were: writing-28, reading-32, science-30, math-30, composite-30. My sat scores were reading-660, math-650, writing-580, composite-1890. I have a decent amount of extracurriculars: 4 years of jv and varsity sports year round, some competitive water skiing in the summer, a year of student government, and drama for 4 years. the combination of these has kept me very busy during the school year so i really didnt have much time for anything else. these are the schools i'm applying to:
-Fordham
-Loyola Chicago
-University of Michigan
-Marquette University
-Boston College
-DePauw University
-Depaul (maybe)
-Hillsdale College
At this point I dont have a top choice, a large factor will be financial aid, but i am wondering which one would be best for pre-med, and i am also considering a political science major and maybe law school after that. I am mostly wondering how good Fordham, DePauw, Marquette, and BC would be. I am also wondering my chances of getting into most of these, specifically BC and Fordham. Some advice would be very appreciated so i can have some help deciding.

mom2collegekids

I think you should have some Catholic universities on your list. Just kidding.

We're Catholic, so no offense meant. It just made me smile to see such a list. It left me wondering where Gonzaga and the other Loyolas are.


Ok...first things first...

You say that money is an issue, and that you'll need FA. I'm thinking (guessing) that since you go to a private school, that your family's income may be too high to get much, if any, FA from these schools or any schools for your stats. (My kids went to Catholic schools, and our income was too high for FA. The same for my kids' classmates. )

Do you know what your family's income is? Do you know what their EFC is?

Do you know how much they've said that they can contribute each year for your education?


We first need to know the answers to these questions before we can really give you fair advice. There's no point for you to apply to schools that won't be affordable.

I don't see any financial safeties on your list. Anyone who's concerned about money, needs to have 2 or 3 financial safeties.

With your stats, you could get some good merit at some schools, but not at the schools that you've listed. You might get some merit, but you'd be left owing maybe $30k per year.

You need some schools on your list that will give you a lot of merit w/o leaving you with a lot to pay.

So... answer the above questions and we can give you more tailored advice.

But, don't worry, with your stats, we'll have some good suggestions for you that will get you into a good pre-med program or pre-law program or whatever you want.

entomom

About pre-med schools, go to the Pre-Med Topics subforum and read the sticky thread at the top about selecting a school: take home message, go to the school that fits you best.

cross0328

i think i will get decent financial aid because my mom is getting chemo so our income is very low. luckily my parents have saved some money so i can afford u of m just fine, its the private school tuition that i need help on. i probablky should have another financial safety, but i guess u of m and hillsdale are because i know i can pay those without loans. loans are not necessarily a huge worry, but since i might want to go to med school they do worry me. ha, i do have a lot of catholic schools but its because i am catholic and i really like the type of education jesuit schools have. also i was looking for schools in big cities in the east or schools in the midwest because thats where i live. i dont really expect much merit based aid, i'm hoping for need based. i know loyola gives something like 90% of their students aid and i know one or two of these give good aid to but i am not sure.

the problem i've had with looking for best or even just good pre-med schools is that all they list is ivy league and top tier schools that i cannot get into. I am trying to figure out what schools arent necessarily the best but good. also what i have heard is that as long as its a good school overall and you do well in school and on the mcats.

cross0328

i forgot to say, but i had at least a pretty good essay. one of my teachers helped me with it so i think its well written and outside of the typical mold for essays. also my recommendations are from teachers that like me and i did well in their class. i was curious if a teachers credentials have any effect. also i am applying to college of the holy cross. at this point i know i wont get into BC too.