FSU seems to be pretty great for NMFs from what I’ve seen. They say that they have guaranteed admission to the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program for NMFs, which I love. Do you know if everyone gets their scholarship?
As long as your safeties are 100% assured for admission and affordability, the rest of your list can be anything.
The expected result for each reach is rejection.
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No need to apologize! It just means your affordable options may come from a narrower pool, say geographically. But whatever you want to prioritize is up to you.
ETA:
That can be fine for many kids. The only caveats I would add is sometimes it is nice to have at least some range of choices, including because sometimes what kids think they want evolves between the start of the process and actually accepting an offer. And then there is also a psychological component–it is not necessarily a lot of fun to get into a couple schools followed by a long parade of rejections.
But in the end, you can only attend one school. So if your process gets you to an affordable college you are excited to be attending, that process worked, and likely all this will quickly become a distant memory as you get going at that college.
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I don’t know if it’s automatic or not. Reach out to the admissions office. It’s always best to get your info directly from the schools.
Once you have a few safeties it’s perfectly fine to reach for the stars. The only caveat I would add is affordability. Applying to a school with no hope of affording without FA or scholarships is a waste of time.
Good luck.
My essays have been written since the beginning of August; I need to make the final edits, and they’re ready to go. My parents are not funding my education after undergrad. Because I have worked really hard throughout high school, they are rewarding me by supporting me through undergrad. Also, I’m not stupid. My dad’s cousin is a neurosurgeon, and he has spoken with me and my parents in-depth about what becoming a doctor entails. He took two gap years, and I will probably have to take more, as I don’t have an IQ of 150. Most of my accomplishment comes from my hard work, not my God-gifted intelligence. I’m aware that I don’t just graduate with a basic degree in biology and immediately get hit up by Harvard Medical School. I didn’t wake up one day and decide that because I’m the top of my high school class, I MUST be the top of my undergraduate class; then after that, med school and residency will be a breeze! I will know by the end of my freshman year if I have a future in medicine, and I will adjust accordingly if I do not. My parents don’t care THAT much about prestige. It’s just Alabama (#170 nationally according to U.S. News) that concerns them. The other schools I’m applying to (except Miami, where I’m a generational legacy) are top 100. Congratulations to your daughter on making it through. I’m very aware of how difficult the journey is, and I know I have a very good chance of not making it. Thanks for the comment.
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Yeah. I’m thinking about maybe just taking USC and UNC Chapel Hill off of the list. I would probably feel too guilty about spending all the money my parents have saved. I want to make their lives easier.
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Whether to cut out-of-budget reaches really comes down to the individual.
Some people will be stressed out by having a lot of reaches because it often results in a lot of rejections. But others find it easy to shrug off.
Some people (or their parents) would be stressed out by getting into an expensive school because they would feel internal pressure to take out a bunch of loans in order to make it work. Other people would just take the offer of admission as a confidence booster and be able to walk away without regret.
So either way can work as long as you know yourself and what your reaction would be.
I do think that if it were me (and I know it’s not, obviously) I would choose to attend Madison over Chapel Hill because both are excellent schools but Madison is so much more affordable. Likewise, if I got into Notre Dame at full price vs. Fordham at full tuition scholarship, I would choose Fordham.
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Only if you prefer the safeties over possible targets. Think of it this way, if you didn’t get into a single reach, would you be happy just choosing between your two safeties or would you like additional choices?
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Agreed, and if applying to UNC, this is your move. While you don’t declare a major, you put down an area of interest, and I think history will go better for you than biology. This year at UNC 3500 of the 5000 freshman say they plan to major in bio or chem (premed). Your app may be looked upon more favorably if it doesn’t say that. My kid is a history major and has yet to meet another one on campus - no lie.
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Having two safeties is fine - if you would be happy to attend said safeties.
If you say your folks would rather save money for other purposes, are you truly sure about your budget?
Yes. My dad sat me down and told me that that was their budget. I know he would be thrilled if I went for cheap though. He said he would reward me by helping me buy my (future) first house.
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Pick an undergrad major that you enjoy and where you will do well.
For now, your goal is to find a great undergrad school for you that is affordable, where you will be happy and do well. Any post undergrad work can be decided upon later.
I will say…just keep in mind that the classes the first two years of medical school are not a cake walk either. And neither is law school. Tons of reading and studying.
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I’m sorry that you took my comment as harsh and it wasn’t intended to be.
I’m glad that you have your ducks in a row and that you thought about it for a while. Not a lot of posters understand what’s involved. Hence the reason for my comments.
Someone with your grade point average and your activities is intelligent and I hope you see yourself as a strong applicant. Enjoy your university experience.
Pick a major that you like so that you won’t be miserable in competing with all those kids that think they have to major in biology. As long as you fill in your electives with your bio classes and organic chemistry I think you’ll be fine.
Remember that it’s about you, so visit the schools you are considering because it does make a difference.
Our eldest daughter was accepted into Yale as well as USC and Johns Hopkins. She also thought she was premed. She ended up at University of Buffalo and graduated in engineering and computer software. (They had a strong honors program to get into upstate New York medical schools.). She got a full ride there. You just never know.
We did a visit at Yale and she barely put her foot on the pavement and said “no”. She just didn’t feel comfortable there. I don’t know why. She doesn’t know why; she just didn’t feel right. You do you.
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Hey there @aunt_bea great well thought out response 
I applaud you for acknowledging that it was taken the wrong way 
I love that you walked this young lady through your kids journey. I am am super impressed that your child had taken the intuitive to become fluent in Spanish before entering Med School. One of my regrets when interacting with patients is that I only speak one language fluently.
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It’s never too late to learn a language. I have friends taking community classes that are teaching ASL.
My ASL is kind of rocky but I can get through a simple conversation.
My Spanish is native and regional. Our daughter’s Spanish is now Castilliano, but Spanish is Spanish, and she’s modified her Spanish since being in Spain and working with patients who speak the region’s Spanish.
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Why would the school accept so many bio/chem majors? I understand some schools do not admit by major but would it not behoove a school like UNC to at least consider an applicant’s area of interest so as to not only ensure there are enough resources in a department to serve the incoming students but also to make sure certain departments will not be left with no students to teach?
A lot of the incoming/potential biology majors probably change their major. The class of 2021 (the latest data I could find) had 4,068 graduating seniors. 470 were biology majors, and 115 were chemistry majors.
Our experience was similar (different graduation year).
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Yes I understand that area of interest is not going to necessarily lead to students to the major though will often be in a similar area ie. many who express interest in biology often end up majoring in psychology, for instance. However, this is almost an order of magnitude difference. Is it normal to expect of the 3k students who express interest in bio or chem, that only 500 or so will stick with those majors? Were 2500 of the seniors from 2021 originally intent on a bio or chem major? That might be the case I don’t know but it seems very high. I think some of the universities in the UC system list bio as an impacted major which limits the intake of students with this interest.
I think there are normally 400-500 graduating bio majors each year (sometimes more). I really don’t know what’s going on with those high numbers.
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you might want to add UT Dallas to your list as a safety, it’s not everyone’s vibe but they do have a good record for getting students into med school and law school and with NMS it’s pretty much a free ride. It’s a nerdy but solid school my boys (both NMF) were happy there.
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