US citizen, CA resident, competitive public HS
preferred majors : neuroscience/ neurobiology
Prefer schools in CA, but open for OoS public schools
UC weighted capped 3.97
Weighted 4.52
Unweighted 3.6
SAT 1520
Multiple AP courses
2 varsity sports, extracurriculars in research work, published articles, paid job, volunteering
Why just public schools?
To keep undergrad costs low as planned to go to med school …
Out of state public schools can be expensive (depending on the school). Do you qualify for need based aid? If yes, private schools are more likely to give you financial aid than public schools (almost none of which give need aid to OOS students). Many private schools also provide merit aid that can bring down their COA.
What is your budget? And have you run any net price calculators?
Would not qualify for need based merit aid. Budget is ~50k
Keep in mind that oos public’s can cost $50,000+ for oos students.
Many OOS public schools are more than $50k. Some have list prices lower than that, but otherwise you may be looking more at less selective big merit schools (public or private) and those offering WUE tuition.
What “fit” do you want beyond neuroscience major, cost <$50k, and at least a reasonable possibility of admission?
With WUE, Utah could work or Boise State.
Any other pre med track would be okay … I looked into cognitive science but not sure if that would be good major to go for med school later.
To help you think about this, here are some questions that might prompt your thinking:
Most liberal arts majors are fine for medical school, since they typically leave enough elective space for pre-med courses. Biology does have the greatest overlap with pre-med courses. But you can take the pre-med courses alongside a major in philosophy, economics, statistics, physics, etc…
You may want to choose a major in something that you like and can do well in, and which can help you career wise if you do not go to medical school (most frosh pre-meds do not eventually apply to medical school, and most who apply get shut out).
Your CA public universities are where you should start your search. You are a strong candidate. You could also check out Arizona or University of New Mexico, both not far away, both publics, and both very likely will come in at your price point. I think you would get the Amigo award at New Mexico, and auto merit at Arizona.
You could also check out University of Alabama and their McCollough scholars program.
UC admit rates based on the Capped weighted UC GPA and not major specific:
| Campus | 3.70-3.99 |
|---|---|
| Berkeley | 3% |
| Davis | 25% |
| Irvine | 13% |
| Los Angeles | 1% |
| Merced | 95% |
| Riverside | 84% |
| San Diego | 9% |
| Santa Barbara | 8% |
| Santa Cruz | 65% |
San Diego state has a Psychology major with a Neuroscience emphasis that might be of interest and within budget.
As mentioned, the WUE schools might be an option. https://www.wiche.edu/tuition-savings/wue/wue-savings-finder/?majors=Neuroscience
For CA publics, high 1520 SAT won’t help you. And because of the lower UW and UC Capped GPAs, I would apply to all UCs, just in case.
For CSU, besides CPSLO, I would also apply to SDSU, CPP, CSULB and etc.,
For OOS public, because of high SAT for merit consideration, I would apply to Arizona State, Oregon State (WUE), Ohio State
FYI S24 with 4.0 UW, 4.21 W and 1440 SAT got below merit offer per year. Good Luck.
U of Arizona ($32K)
Oregon State (WUE, 1.5 in state tuition)
Ohio State ($14.5K)
uDub ($4.5K)
Is this Washington or Wisconsin or Wyoming?
Washington
Private schools that offer merit aid may make budget easier than OOS publics which usually don’t provide OOS students with money.
While most public schools don’t provide need based aid to OOS students, many provide merit scholarships to strong students. Several provide a full ride, or substantial reduction such as through an OOS tuition waiver. Of course, you have to go down a few notches in selectivity and reputation.
Correct. U of Washington, S24 got direct accepted to Engineering School with $4.5K merit per year. Still about $20K over UCs in state
In the UC system, Riverside is a likely admit and has excellent support for premeds https://msp.ucr.edu/ as well as an early assurance program that might be of interest. As a reach, UC Davis is another great campus for premeds, with many interesting major options in the College of Biological Sciences.
As already noted, you can get tuition reciprocity at WUE schools https://www.wiche.edu/tuition-savings/wue/wue-savings-finder/ Utah, with their strong honors college, could be a good option. UNR is another solid option where over 1/4 of the students are from California.
There are also private liberal arts colleges that could give you enough merit aid to make your budget. Looking at the “Colleges that Change Lives” website could be a good start if you’re interested in a smaller school. College Profiles – Colleges That Change Lives Quite a few of these schools have early assurance programs with osteopathic med schools, if that’s of interest. Not every CTCL school offers as much merit as you’d need, or has the strength as a premed school that you’re looking for, but many do, and your strong SAT score will help on the merit front. A few to start with could be Rhodes, Whitman, Allegheny, Juniata, and Clark.
Good luck!