Chance Me: Northeastern, BU, BC, CWRU, Lehigh mainly test-optional for Pharmacy or Neuroscience [NJ, 3.77 GPA, 1320 SAT, divorced parents]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • Gay male at an average, mid-sized public high school in New Jersey
  • Divorced parents (One makes 250k, the other makes 100k)

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • FAFSA SAI of about 74000, can afford ~40-50k a year

Intended Major(s)

  • Pre-Pharmacy
  • Neuroscience

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.77/4
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.05/4
  • Class Rank: N/A/313
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1320 SAT

List your HS coursework

  • English: 2 honors classes, AP Lang (5) and AP Lit
  • Math: 2 Advanced courses, highest level Precalculus
  • Science: 4 honors (3 of them are dual-enrollment), AP Biology (3), AP Environmental Science
  • History and social studies: 3 honors classes, APUSH (4)
  • Language other than English: 3 honors classes, AP Latin

In total, 12 honors (3 of them are dual-enrollment), 2 advanced, 6 APs

Awards

My weakest spot

  • National Honor Society
  • Latin Honor Society
  • AP Scholar
  • CPR Certification

Extracurriculars

  • Co-President of environment club
  • Leadership in robotics club
  • Blood drive committee
  • Writer for school newspaper
  • 50 hours volunteering at hospital, 15 of them shadowing a pharmacist
  • Camp Counselor
  • Election Poll Worker
  • HOSA
  • Red Cross Club
  • 75+ General community service hours

Essays/LORs/Other

  • Personal Statement (9-10/10): I had my AP Lang teacher read it and she said it was excellent so I’m pretty confident in it.
  • Counselor Recommendation (7/10): She had a pretty lengthy questionnaire to fill out before she writes the LORs, and she met with me to discuss certain things she thinks I’d want to be included and emphasized so it shouldn’t be too bad.
  • AP Lang Teacher (9-10/10): I have a great relationship with her and she too had a very extensive questionnaire to fill out so I think it will be good.
  • Dual-Enrollment Teacher (9-10/10): He taught all of my dual-enrollment classes which are all science/healthcare related, and I have an amazing relationship with him; we’re always talking and laughing and bantering so it should be good too.

Schools

Acceptances:

  • University of Pittsburgh (Pre-Pharmacy)
  • Binghamton University (Integrative Neuroscience)

Safeties:

  • TCNJ - Biopsychology (Legacy and in-state, submitting scores)
  • University of Rhode Island (Pre-Pharmacy, submitting scores)
  • St. John’s University (Pre-Pharmacy, submitting scores)

Matches/Targets:

  • Purdue University (Pre-Pharmacy, submitting scores)
  • UCONN (Pre-Pharmacy, submitting scores)
  • Rutgers University (Pre-Pharmacy, Test-Optional)
  • University of Maryland (Neuroscience, Test-Optional)
  • University of Vermont (Neuroscience, Test-Optional)
  • George Washington University (Neuroscience, Test-Optional)
  • Fordham University (Integrative Neuroscience, Test-Optional)
  • Stony Brook University (Biology, Test-Optional)

Hard Target:

  • Lehigh (Neuroscience)

Reaches:

  • Boston University (Neuroscience)
  • Boston College (Neuroscience)
  • Case Western Reserve University (Neuroscience)
  • Northeastern (Pre-Pharmacy)
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Congrats on a fine record.

However, when you have a budget, you need to pick schools within budget.

Your parents make $350K - I can’t imagine you’ll get a nickel of need aid. You can have them run the Net Price Calculators - here’s an example of one. You can google the school name and Net Price Calculator. Your SAI doesn’t matter for these schools - they are private and will require the CSS profile.

Congrats on Pitt - unless you receive merit aid, it will be over budget (I’m using $50K but $40-50K is a wide range. You should narrow down with your parents - and don’t forget added expenses - transport, books, nightly pizza, spring break etc.

Bing may work. OOS direct costs are $52K today. Hopefully you’ll get merit aid.

TCNJ - you’ll get accepted - and yes to submitting the score. It’s about $37K b4 merit - so it works.

URI - if you get merit - works.

Purdue - pre-pharmacy - what major? I assume Pharm Sciences. Hits cost and is a target. I personally think LGBTQ kids can prosper anywhere - and I saw it at my son’s and daughter’s southern schools. But state laws are changing and Indiana is a very conservative state - something to think about.

UCONN - $59K so you’ll need merit aid. Can go either way.

Rutgers - can go either way.

UMD - you won’t get in and you can’t afford. I assume you applied but if you haven’t, I’d tell you not to.

UVM - It’s $65K - you’ll need a lot of merit aid.

GW - no shot of getting that much merit. I wouldn’t apply. That you are full pay might get you in - they want the $$.

Fordham - not shot of getting that much merit. I wouldn’t apply. I think you’ll get in.

Stony Brook - you’d need merit to get under $50K. It’s a target but I’d lean toward yes.

Lehigh is a reach and you can’t afford it. Don’t bother. If you want a private to hit $50K, look at LACs such as Allegheny, Kalamazoo, Washington College in Maryland, Ithaca. Quinnipiac is a maybe.

Reaches - forget that you won’t get into any of the four, you have no chance to afford them. One exception would be Case Western where you won’t get in - but they do get aggressive with merit for some kids - so you might get under $50K.

One private not on your list but far out - that might make budget - is U of Denver. It’d be close.

I think your list is long - and while some are budget friendly, most aren’t.

If you wanted to add schools, Salisbury, Mary Washington, Christopher Newport, WVU, MIllersville, West Chester could be schools that aren’t far that would work.

Good luck.

Welcome | Net Price Calculator

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Having a “realistic budget” that is lower than the official SAI is relatively common. There are a number of reasons this can happen, with divorced parents sometimes contributing to this (other factors can also cause this, some of which we ran into).

I think that this makes affordability questionable at any of your reaches. Both admissions and affordability are of course important. One daughter got into two of your reaches (she only applied to two of the four) but neither was even remotely close to our budget, and if you get the same lack of aid they won’t fit your budget either.

That is okay, you have lots of other very good schools that you have applied to (as did she – she went elsewhere and did very well).

The first question that some of us ask here on CC is “what are the safeties”. Of course nothing can be safer than a school where you have already gotten admissions, so long as it is affordable. These are two very good acceptances. Congratulations! Are they affordable? Is this a case where you hear about admission and financial aid at the same time, or is the information about financial aid going to follow?

I would predict that you will get into TCNJ and being in-state it should solidly fit your budget. I have no idea whether URI or St. Johns’s would be in-budget, but I would expect you to get accepted.

One daughter attended UVM. I think that your chances of admissions are excellent. You will however need good merit based aid for it to fit your budget. Merit aid out of state is possible at UVM. For us, also out of state, the NPC did predict merit aid and turned out to be spot on accurate.

I think that your chances are also good at Rutgers, and again being in-state should put it solidly within your budget. I happen to have known a number of Rutgers graduates, and they have all made the university look very good. You can get a very good education there. I do not think that it is a safety for admissions, but it looks likely to me.

I would expect you to get some more acceptances from your other “target” schools. It would not surprise me if some are affordable and some are not. That is fine, you can only attend one university and you seem to me to have very good solid safeties.

My best guess is that if you get into your reaches they are not likely to be affordable.

I think that this is a good list. Also…

For someone who is thinking of being pre-pharmacy, I like the fact that you have at least some experience shadowing a pharmacist. Hopefully you will continue to get some more experience in this area.

At least to me it looks like you are doing well.

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I won’t chance you on all. You have a chance everywhere on your likely and safety lists…

I’m not sure any of your targets, hard targets, matches, or reaches will be affordable. But if you have already applied! Just wait and see.

Does the $40k to $50K number include the federally funded Direct loan ($5500 for freshman year) or some money from a job you might have?

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The 40-50k doesn’t include the direct loan or any personal money. Only what my parents could afford out of pocket.

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Well…if you are amenable to taking the federally funded Direct Loan, that increases your budget by $5500 for freshman year. Any money you earn yourself can be used for books and personal expenses.

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I’m not sure about CWRU and Northeastern, but Boston University and Boston College will be unaffordable. They are more than $90k a year and offer almost zero merit aid. For example, BC’s only merit aid is their Gabelli Scholarships, which are full tuition scholarships and are awarded to a total of 18 students/year (out of more than 40,000 applicants). BU is fairly similar, with a similar number of full tuition scholarships offered (20 total), and with a few lower awards, but those won’t reduce the cost enough for you to make it affordable. The next highest merit scholarship other than the full tuition ones is $25k which would put tuition at best at over $65,000.

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Thanks for the insight. And yeah I expect my reaches, if I even get accepted, to be unaffordable. Case Western gives pretty good aid based on what I’ve heard but other than that the rest will probably be unattainable.

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@dogdaysofsummer

You need to speak with your parents. $40k to $50k is $40k apart over four years. Which is it? You have both on your list. The publics I listed above, like Salisbury, will be under $40k. Salisbury under $30k with $7500 merit, at least in 2025/26 prices.

An alternative to Fordham and BC that could hit is St Joes in Philly. Very aggressive merit wise. Not sure about St Johns on your list but I believe it’s heavy commuter.

You don’t want loans. Why ? In general you don’t want them - they have to be paid back. But in your case, you have schools you can afford without and more importantly, you also have grad school.

That’s additional expense.

Good luck.

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OP- if Pitt is affordable you’ve hit the jackpot. Fantastic for anything life sciences related, and so much exciting inter-disciplinary stuff going on at the intersection of cognitive science, brain chemistry, genetics, etc. Congrats!

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Bing too!

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It’s a range because one parent receives supplemental income which varies each year- for all intents and purposes 45k is the base of what they can afford each year out of pocket

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Pitt is a great school; it’s honestly probably my #1 unless other schools are extremely more affordable. I haven’t received an official financial estimate but based on what I know it’s towards the upper level of affordability. However I wouldn’t need to take out drastic amounts of loans

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It is a wonderful school - but this is why it shouldn’t be on your consideration set, if it doesn’t get to $45K.

You can get a science degree anywhere and get to Pharmacy School from anywhere - and that will cost so you need to determine how you will pay for that (you can save undergrad vs. your budget to then have more already in the bank for Pharmacy school).

Pitt does have merit and while in past years a 33 ACT was required for merit, on the Pitt thread there are some TO receiving.

Pitt is $59K direct costs this year - so it’s not really close and while you can hope, I would find alternates - because it’s not going to be in your financial range.

I doubt you want to go South (but you have Purdue which government policy toward LGBTQ is similar - but UAB is - I’d say the Pitt of the South (a slight exaggeration but a healthcare powerhouse) - and will likely be under $30K. I use the Pitt analogy because it’s also city located (although not as nice a city). It’s about $45K OOS and you’d get $17.5K off using your test score - so under $28K (if using this year’s dollars).

LGBTQ kids prosper all over - but other parents have noted on here it’s the state policies, moreso than the schools that are a concern. Not having an LGBTQ kid, I can’t comment on how important/impactful that may be to a student.

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Terrific!!! And such a nice lifestyle as well- so much going on, both on campus and in the city itself!

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how sure are you about Pharmacy? is it more of a backup career with exploration of other preHealth career tracks (premed, predental, preoptometry, etc.) or are you fairly set on Pharmacy? As an NJ resident, i don’t know how you can get a better deal than Rutgers’ 6-year pharmD program (even over UPitt - which is a very good school but is it worth the extra $$$ over in-state Rutgers?). i agree it is more of a target for you so you will just have to see if you get in, but this may be your sweet spot (in-state tuition and shave 2-years off the typical 4+4 PharmD track) financially and value-wise (Rutgers is an excellent career launching pad especially if you are considering a future in the Biotech/Pharma industry).

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It’s not a backup for me, I’m pretty sure on it. And yeah Rutgers is a good school and has a great pharmacy program

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ok - even if you got into your reaches, i can’t imagine it will be a better deal than Rutgers. Northeastern has a fine 6-year pharmacy program as well, but not a better value proposition than Rutgers. btw, CWU, BC and BU do NOT have pharmacy schools so you will have to go the 4+4 route if you are considering those schools - just making sure you are aware. If you are open to going to ohio, Ohio State does have a 6-year program but i can’t imagine it will be much better (value-wise) than UPitt (which is already in the bag for you). Good luck!

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Thanks, and yeah I’m aware those schools don’t have an accelerated pharmacy program. For the schools I’m applying to that don’t have it (where I’m applying Neuroscience) I actually wouldn’t be going to pharmacy school after and instead would either get into clinical psychology or research. Pharmacy is still my #1 career choice but Neuroscience appeals to me too and it’s something I’d do. I would only go to pharmacy school through the schools that have that 6-year program.