My parents practically forbid me. They hate the U of M (my dad went there for law school so I trust him). Nothing particularly wrong with it.
Itâs your college education at issue, not theirs. And if you were to get a great financial package to attend, then there is an argument in favor of going to the University of Minnesota.
As others have pointed out, if you end up in medical school (or going for a post-graduate degree), then that is where you will really need to spend your money.
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Also, I went to law school once upon a time, and I hated my law school also; itâs just part of going to law school. The law school experience should not be an indictment of the undergraduate educational experience.
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Congrats on getting NMSF and on being a strong student overall. My S22 is at Fordham and is enjoying his experience. As you know, Fordhamâs full tuition scholarship is not guaranteed. In years past, about 70% of NMSFs did receive it, but rumor is that percentage has dropped. However as a student from the Midwest, and as a prospective History major, you would be an attractive candidate for them. Definitely demonstrate a lot of interest (read their emails, do all the âoptionalâ essays, do a school visit either in person or remotely.) For students who are considering being pre-med (along with whatever they intend to major in) I recommend the Rose Hill campus over the Lincoln Center campus, just because RH is bigger and has so many more of the pre-med classes located there. It is also a much more traditional campus with beautiful old building, sports, etc. It might also make sense for you to reach out to an admissions officer and express interest in the honors program. The honors program is small and by invitation only, and Iâve heard that it is an especially great experience at RH.
If you have any questions about Fordham, feel free to PM me.
Also here is a link to many of the schools that offer big merit for NMSF/NMF status if you havenât found it already: Big merit NMF/NMSF schools and their specialties
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UNC costs for the current school year total $60,040. Keep in mind that the cost noted on the website does not include health insurance. You can request a waiver, but the insurance that you have needs to be approvedâŠ.and there is no guarantee that the waiver will be granted. Getting insurance through the school will add to the cost.
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USF has full ride for national merit finalists
UNC , USC , notre Dame are all reaches for any one
UF , UW Madison are targets , most likely you will get it
FSU, OXFord and Albama are safeties and you can add USF to this list
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All of the schools on your original list will get you to law or medical school. Regardless of schoolâŠ.itâs on you. You will be earning grades, you will be getting to know profs, you will be volunteering, participating, etc.
My advice is to forget about any form of grad/law/med school for now. Choose a school that will be affordable for all 4 years and that you feel is a good fitâŠ.for you. Find a school where you will get involved.
UNC will go up again for the fall of 2025, and will go up each year. Itâs a great schoolâŠit really isâŠbut by the time your senior year comes along it could possibly be pushing $70,000 a year (if costs continue to go up each year). You need a plan to pay for this, and as noted above it is wise to save money for graduate studies if possible.
I keep bringing up UNC because you questioned it in your original post (title) and I know a lot about the school as it pertains to OOS biology majors.
Good luck!
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My S22 is at UNC and the waiver process was very straightforward and our insurance was immediately accepted (literally same day). We are out of state. I did hear (via the grapevine) that if you have a HMO plan it can be more challenging to get your insurance through (OOS) as students need to have the possibility of local coverage.
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We had the same experience (OOS) but others may not.
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Any interest in looking at Liberal Arts and Sciences colleges, aka LACs? They can be good for both premed and History, and with your numbers you might get some nice merit offers. Let us know if that sounds interesting.
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In addition to being potentially unaffordable, your list is also reach heavy. ND, Chapel Hill, Florida and USC are all reaches , and potential Wisconsin as well if your school has a bad track record there as you suggest. Thatâs fine, itâs where many students start out, but I would add some more likelies and targets. Since you like the South, consider adding Clemson, U of SC, Auburn, and Tennessee. These schools will also be more affordable. You would likely get merit at schools like Furman and Rhodes if you want to add some smaller schools.
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FSU has some very nice opportunities for NMF students. S21 is very happy there. The honors program is solid.
Not sure itâs a safety for OOS students anymore. Acceptance rate for RD was around 15% last year. NMF status might change the odds.
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OK I think you need to listen to yourself and your high school counselors with regard to where you apply.
Iâm concerned you will be impacted by the financial limitations and the number of essays that you will have to write for the schools where you hope to get accepted (and then reject them).
You wonât have time, given your activities, and âdaily lifeâ issues to put a lot of thought into writing these essays unless youâve already pre-written them. Also a lot of the schools are a large âchunk of changeâ.
I wouldnât necessarily rely on parent loans to get you through grad school or law school because you do have siblings coming up and your parents will need to look at this in a mature manner: they have to fund siblings.
If you major in biology, every other student, who dreams of med school, is majoring in biology everywhere so it will be very competitive no matter where you go because you have to maintain a high grade point average.
You have to pay for all the tests and fees that come with med school applications. After our daughter graduated from UC Davis, she took a year off to continue to volunteer in a low income clinic and to study for her med school test.
We paid for her living expenses and rent while she was in farmland working in a clinic. She also did an immersive internship in Spain to learn about their medical system.
She went into her med school program, completely fluent in Spanish, (which they loved). She also came in with hard earned lessons in Medicare and private insurance when she volunteered full time in the clinic.
Itâs not just about thinking this is your major and once you graduate you just go to med school.
Itâs very difficult; itâs very expensive to get there and once you get there, thereâs even more expenses and more responsibilities on you.
Plus you wonât get any sleep. Youâll be on your feet most of the time; your meals will consist of a fruit bar in your coat pocket. Your social life is the hospital. You will get to decorate your lab coat with phlegm, blood, and bile. Youâll see everything and the worst and best in life. You will smell everything and will deal with everything that is smelly and gross. So before you go spending your familyâs hard earned money, you better know what is involved.
Right now try to go to a school that fits you and that isnât too expensive. If you canât deal with that, or your parents canât deal with the lack of the prestige factor, then good luck because it might come with some hard lessons.
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Below are my guesses as to what your chances for admission might be at the schools on your list:
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
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Alabama
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Miami (OH)
Likely (60-79%)
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Florida State
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Fordham
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UW â Madison
Toss-Up (40-59%)
- U. of Florida
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
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Notre Dame
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UNC
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U. of Southern California
This is a really important part of selecting any school and any course of study. If studying biology was going to keep you from enjoying your time in undergrad, I would give serious thought as to whether or not medical school is something you want to do.
The link that @fiftyfifty1 shared is a great resource to learn more about schools that might appeal to you that donât have the same intensity of winters as Minnesota and Wisconsin, since thatâs a concern of yours.
If you want additional suggestions of schools that might come in well below budget that might be a better cultural fit for you, let us know, as well as what kind of a culture you are looking for.
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Are you open to LACs?
Rhodes College has an interesting population. It is 1/3 premed, 1/3 pre-law, 1/3 anything else.
You will get significant merit 100%. I think your bill would be within 40k.
It may look to your parents as more prestigious than Alabama.
It is very beautiful campus with many very smart kids, but in Memphis.
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Iâll third Rhodesâit was one of the specific colleges I had in mind when asking the OP if they would be interested in LAC suggestions.
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I like both history and biology. I just know how hard the undergrad biology classes will be and it makes me very worried.
Yeah, I think they would rather use it for my brothersâ school and save the rest for their retirement.
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They sound fantastic for my prospective majors, but I am looking for a larger school. Iâve gone to small schools my entire life and would love to not be known by the entire school. Sorry!
Does it matter if my list is reach heavy if I have two safeties I would like to attend? Is there a chance I might not get in?