<p>We live in MI and are looking primarily at schools in MI and OH. My D is very interested in pathology, physiology, possibly pre-med. 33 ACT and over a 4.0gpa. Are any of the OH 6, Oberlin, College of Wooster, Denison, etc or Miami of Ohio, Hope, Kalamazoo, or Michigan State a good fit. Scholarship $ would greatly help.</p>
<p>Why aren’t you looking at U Michigan? And in the midwest but not OH or MI would be Wisconsin, UI-UC, Northwestern, U Chicago…</p>
<p>You clearly need to list criteria more specifically.</p>
<p>Apply to Kalamazoo early action. Non-binding, and then it acts as a safety. There are also merit scholarships there that are only available if you apply early. Solid placements of bio students, both Ph.D. and MD programs.</p>
<p>She does not want to go to U of M, thinking more of a smaller school where she won’t be just a number with more research opportunities, etc. Distance is a consideration, not ruling out other states but we live in SE MI.</p>
<p>Wooster is another place that’s worth applying to as EA-nonbinding. They also have some really good merit aid available. Their tippy-top award requires an additional essay, but they consider all applicants for the second-top award automatically. Your D’s stats would make her very, very competitive for the top and second-top awards at Wooster.</p>
<p>You might also want to consider some IL, WI, and MN schools. Lawrence in Appleton, WI comes to mind—they’ve got some reasonably generous merit that all applicants are considered for without an extra essay. Illinois Wesleyan and St. Olaf are also pretty good bets for merit with your D’s stats. Don’t know about whether there’s additional work involved to apply for merit at IWU, but St Olaf does require an additional essay to apply for merit.</p>
<p>As a general rule of thumb, your D is likely to get better merit at places where her stats place her well above the 75% of the applicant pool. Start by looking at schools that are direct competitors of Kalamazoo College (which is already on your list and clearly deserves a very close look) and/or are in the 40–80 group on the USNWR lists.</p>
<p>Throw IN into the mix and you can consider DePauw and Earlham. DePauw sends many students to med school and has summer scholar opportunities for research. Earlham is more grad school oriented, but has research opportunities.</p>
<p>With those stats, as an OOS your D will have any automatic $10,000 per year merit scholarship from Miami of Ohio and almost certainly in the honors college. (Renewable for four years with a 3.0) She could also apply for the Harrison scholarship program. Miami has great stats for medical school / graduate school admission and its honors college stats are even higher.</p>
<p>Knox College in Illinois</p>
<p>Case Western would fit since you specify in OH, smaller school, strong in sciences and research, offers significant merit aid.</p>
<p>She would have a shot at Oberlin for merit $ and they have excellent science programs.</p>
<p>On science at Oberlin:
[A</a> Scientific Culture / Oberlin Alumni Magazine / Winter 2009-10](<a href=“http://oberlin.edu/alummag/spring2010/features/scientific.html]A”>http://oberlin.edu/alummag/spring2010/features/scientific.html)</p>
<p>Have you visited Hope yet? They have some wonderful opportunities for undergraduate research. When D3 and I visited, we met with the premed advisor and were very impressed with Hope’s approach in helping their students best prepare themselves for med school applications. A gem of a school.</p>
<p>See my post in this thread about a Wooster Chemistry prof:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/964965-wooster-chem-prof-invents-absorbent-material-help-clean-gulf.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/964965-wooster-chem-prof-invents-absorbent-material-help-clean-gulf.html</a></p>
<p>If Minnesota is not too far you should look at Carleton.</p>
<p>It has one of the strongest science programs in the country with one of the highest PhD productivity rates of any non tech school (LAC or university). </p>
<p>Financial aid is very generous, but other than NMF scholarships merit money isn’t done.</p>
<p>Grinnell should definitely be on your daughter’s list. The only top LAC that provides both generous financial AND merit aid. Your daughter’s stats would make her eligible for the Trustee Scholarships.</p>
<p>The sciences are outstanding at Grinnell. Their huge endowment (thanks to Warren Buffet) means they have new facilities, including state-of-the-art science facilities, lots of money for student research, the smallest class sizes of any LAC (we looked at most of the top ones) including in the sciences, no distribution requirements, amazing faculty mentoring, and an understated, unpretentious ‘come as you are’ student culture. And 12% of the students are internationals (again, that endowment at work) which adds to the campus diversity. Our son-the science guy- ED-ed there after visiting 10 other top LACs and has loved it thus far.</p>
<p>@M’s Mom: Oberlin also provides both need-based and merit aid.</p>