Yeah as for major, I don’t plan on pursuing my current major as a career. I’m probably going to do Pre-Med or try to work in the DOD.
About the other virginia schools, I just forgot to put them there, but my plan is to apply and just see the merit based scholarships they give.
I think that some of the low probability schools are worth taking out ~100k in loans, correct me if I’m wrong.
But keep in mind that most scholarships that students receive come from the colleges themselves. My kids managed to get between $500 - $10,000 in local scholarships (and there were only 300 in their graduating classes).
Yes, but to think you’d earn $75K in scholarships is very very unlikely. Perhaps someone will, maybe you - but highly unlikely. Scholarships are typically small, require essays (on top of college apps), and are very competitive. You SHOULD NOT count on scholarships - they are a nice get but nothing more.
You should focus on schools that hit the budget you 100% assuredly have - and focus on schools that will get you there without any extras.
Counting on scholarships is just adding another unnecessary hurdle - and for someone like you, it’s 100% not needed. You’re a stud. Take advantage of the largesse.
Add a few that will surely hit budget - take your pick of many I put above - like UMN, Bama, UDel, Ohio State - all great schools.
Swap in the Vandys, Rices, Emorys, WUSTL, Miami, RPI for the Ivies.
Keep your Va publics
And you have a great list…with actual possibilities for you to attend vs. what you have now - which is a bunch of big names that you can’t go to even if you get in.
hmmmm - Loans aren’t good - there’s a reason the feds only let you borrow $27K.
hmmmm - heck no - $100k is a HORRIBLE idea. So then you go to more school. So now med school is $100K+ a year (no scholarships likely), and you are paying upwards of $1300 a month on your undergrad loans for 10 years. Who’s paying? and btw when you borrow $100K, you need to borrow $104K or so - because - there are fees.
If med school is your goal - go cheapest - in state - whether it’s UVA, W&M, MWU, CNU, etc.
Where you go to undergrad is unlikely to impact med school admissions - but your GPA and MCAT will - and you are clearly a good test taker. Debt is your sworn enemy; not your friend.
For your edification, here’s a list of undergrad schools Radiation Residents at Vandy (where I was a patient), Hopkins, and Duke went.
Vandy
Auburn
CWRU
Florida A&M
Florida State
Fordham
Lipscomb
Luther
Murray State
Northern Illinois
Pitt
Princeton
Tulane
Tuskegee
U North Carolina
U Puerto Rico
U Tennessee
Duke Medical - this was just the early letters of the last names of the alphabet
Arkansas
Michigan
UNC
Princeton
Rochester
South Florida
Southeastern Louisiana
Texas
JHU
UMD
UMBC
U Miami
Morgan State
South Carolina
TCNJ
U of Puerto Rico
UT Dallas
Towson
Vandy
and more
Just to say this, my oldest brother received ~45k in scholarship money (not including his full tuition scholarship) with a 4.25 and a 1290.
Aren’t schools like Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory just as expensive as ivies (ik some of them offer scholarships).
So is your stance no applications to ivies at all? Do you think the value of an ivy league degree has significantly diminished for undergraduates?
You are very wrong. Sorry.
How did he get the $45K? Outside scholarships come from organizations, companies, civic groups. You have to apply - they’re often not academically based. Most, in fact, want some sort of aid.
What you are showing for GPA/SAT is what I showed you at Alabama, for example, that has a chart. I know because you have more than a 3.5 and a 1420 SAT, you automatically get $28K a year. You do nothing but apply to the school. Others I mentioned have merit they’ll give you but they’re more opaque - but you’d clearly be under $62,500 a year ($250K). Some like Purdue, the UFs and FSUs of the world, would be well under - at full pay (no scholarship).
Have your family fill out the NPC for the Ivies - if it says no aid, why would you apply? It’s time wasting. Forget loans - that is INSANE. Guess what, the Ivy people are often like anyone else. We have a Harvard Law grad working for a Fairleigh Dickinson undergrad. Sure, it’s not the norm but Ivy people work side by side with others - just like the Cornell guy in my neighborhood of 7 figure homes who lives amongst the Lipscombs, Mississippi States, UTKs, Auburns, Long Beach State, Rutgers people.
Are schools like Vandy, Rice, Emory, WUSTL, etc. just as expensive as the Ivies? Yes -100% - but the difference is they offer merit (including full tuition scholarships) where the Ivies don’t.
That’s why I said to sub them in. If you’re seeking a big name, they are just as strong (or close to it) and you have a chance to attend budget wise whereas with the Ivies you are wasting your time even applying. All are low reaches and unlikely for you to afford - but one set gives you a chance whereas the other does not.
Make sense??
He got a 10k/yr from dominion energy, 2.5k GEBA, 3k Apple FCU, 1.25k Purple Heart, 4.5k Peraton, i’m forgetting some.
Yeah I got it, cause it’s like 100% chance i get no aid at ivies vs some non 0 % chance at schools like vandy.
With all these schools you mentioned, what about common app space (20 schools?)
Thee require work but. I put a few links below. Your brother did well outside and you might too. But the odds for outside aren’t good.
Anyway, debt in general, is never good and I encourage you to live within your budget. And frankly you can go way beneath just by school selection.
You think med school or grad school is in the equation. Are your parents willing to fund it ? If not, ask if you spend less than $250k, will they use the rest toward future school? Or maybe they’ll use the savings to buy you a car or a house down payment.
In most cases (med, law, business), where you go undergrad matters little.
Best of luck.
Thanks
This is your family choice…but the loan payback amount will be a lot over a ten year period. Consider that.
For medical school, it’s highly likely you would be taking $100,000 a year in loans, unless your bank of mom and dad is helping to fund.
Congratulations on the strong profile you’ve built in high school! You are prepared to do well at any college in the U.S.
I would call this amount $60k/year before scholarships, which allots a little bit of money for the increasing costs of college as you go from your freshman to senior years.
As your brother was extremely fortunate in the amount of outside scholarships he received, then it’s understandable why you might apply to a couple of schools that do not offer merit aid that you’re particularly interested in should you be as fortunate or moreso, but you should realize in advance that the odds of this happening are quite slim.
Going to a T20 (and whose ranking of T20 is it? And for an overall ranking or a ranking in your area(s) of interest?) isn’t going to make you happier day in and day out if the school feels claustrophobic and too small for you. Thus, it sounds like you want a population of at least 5k.
I’m curious by what you mean by “public” here. All of the low probability admits on your list are privates. Can you clarify?
Not only are there limitations on the amount of loans you can take out, but the federal government is currently thinking about limiting the amount of loans that can be take out that would also affect medical school loans. Since the picture on that is still rather murky, I would definitely avoid taking out undergraduate loans since your family has already provided a very healthy budget that would allow you to attend some great schools without taking out any loans.
Based on what you’ve shared, these are some schools that you may want to consider. I suspect that you would receive merit aid at the majority of the schools, and might even be considered for some of their big named scholarships (full tuition or full ride or similar). If you share where your interests lie in linguistics, then @dfbdfb may be able to provide additional guidance on the different schools.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Indiana U.: About 37k undergrads. It’s within an hour of a big city, but Bloomington itself is surprisingly cosmopolitan.
Michigan State: About 40k undergrads
U. at Buffalo (NY): About 20k undergrads
U. of Arizona: About 42k undergrads
U. of Minnesota – Twin Cities: About 40k undergrads
U. of Utah: About 27k undergrads
Likely (60-79%)
Ohio State: About 46k undergrads
Rutgers – New Brunswick (NJ): About 36k undergrads
Stony Brook (NY): About 18k undergrads
U. of Maryland – College Park: About 31k undergrads
U. of Pittsburgh (PA ): About 25k undergrads
U. of Wisconsin – Madison: About 37k undergrads
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Boston College (MA): About 10k undergrads
Boston U. (MA): About 19k undergrads
Northeastern (MA): About 16k undergrads; I put this here if you want to start at the Boston campus; if you’re open to starting at a different campus then I think the odds switch to likely
Tulane (LA): About 8100 undergrads; demonstrated interest is very important here
U. of Florida: About 35k undergrads
Low Probability (less than 20%)
Duke (NC): About 6500 undergrads
Emory (GA): About 7400 undergrads
Georgetown (D.C.): About 8k undergrads; no merit aid here
U. of Southern California: About 21k undergrads
Washington U. (MO): About 8300 undergrads
Like GT, UUIC, Purdue, UW, didn’t know whether to list them or not because i haven’t looked into them.
Welcome to cc, @anon1987488264 ! Re: loans, yes $100k is often considered too steep (and you would need parent loans), especially if you are considering professional school after undergrad. I know you are here to learn and get assistance from those with experience. There are kind, knowledgeable posters like @AustenNut who have offered great guidance in your thread. You are an accomplished student and will do well in your future endeavors.
There are some significant potential changes happening to federally funded student loans, particularly for graduate school and professional school. You might want to keep an eye out for those changes if they happen…and when they will happen.
Most students applying to colleges do not have a “spike”. They just don’t. You are a strong student…and you have some likely and probably likely choices on your list of colleges…and instate for you which would be more affordable. If you are happy with these choices, your list is fine.
But please discuss what your parents will really pay…it’s always heartbreaking here to read about students who get accepted to their top schools only to find out after acceptance that their parents simply cannot or will not pay the costs to attend.
If your parents really are willing and want to take out loans for you, that is their family decision. We didn’t do that in the Thumper family, but we aren’t your parents!
@AustenNut called me in for linguistics, and so yes, what sort of linguistics are you interested in? It makes a difference if you’re interested in, for example, linguistics as a means of understanding/analyzing languages or as a cognitive science.
But I will say, absent anything else, that you have a fabulous in-state public option for linguistics in William & Mary.
Swarthmore placed 11th nationally in this ranking of colleges and universities together:
If read the site, you will see Swarthmore included as one of four featured schools.
Nonetheless, some public universities, a category in which you have expressed an interest, place very highly as well. As examples, Georgia Tech appears at #14 and UCLA appears at #28.
Both are interesting, but I think I’m more interested in the cognitive science portion.