What do you mean? 
As in Iâm writing essays but it seems Iâm realistically applying to two places and that worries me
And I feel bad to keep asking since I know my situation is bad but I really want to be less anxious
You should be applying to more colleges, indeed, if only to compare financial offers.
I assume you include CUNYs (City, Baruch, Hunter?) with their Honors programs as well as Macauley, perhaps SUNYs (I would suggest trying to go for Binghamton and Geneseo if you can live on campus, Stony Brook otherwise), perhaps add Fordham, NYU, Manhattan University of you could get a full tuition scholarship and commute.
Are any among the full rides suggested upthread affordable - especially those that are more residential?
Are you working on your Macauley application?
What about the Centralia Award at Central Michigan or other similar full rides away from NYS, will you be trying those?
I wanted to apply there but my parents donât want me to since they donât want me out of NY so I donât think so.
I finished writing the two essays for Macaulayâs, Iâm waiting for school to begin to request letters of recommendations
If not Macaulayâs, Iâm expecting to go to one of the CUNYs as I AP can apply to 6 besides for the Macaulayâs app
So -
You donât want to leave NY (but listed non-NYC schools (Harvard, MIT, Columbia, JHU, Cornell).
You need free tuition or more it sounds like - but wonât qualify based on family finances - is that correct?
Youâre unwilling to take the largesse of schools that will reward your Natl Merit (Tulsa, full ride, for NMSF) and Alabama and others like UTD for NMF (very close to full ride) + Alabama has McCullough Medical Scholars.
So applying to Columbia, etc. - if the NPC doesnât come out as you need, thereâd be no point. Youâd have to look at all schools to see who has full ride or full tuition opportunities - it sounds like CUNY works for you as a possibility. Fordham used to have an NMF offer but I donât think anymore. You can run the NPC for Hofstra or schools like Sarah Lawrence or Manhattan or Seton Hall or Stevens to see. Pace too.
But your inflexibility, and itâs your choice, limits your possibilities.
That said, you need one - and only one - and if you get the CUNY deal, then youâre set. But if thatâs your only hope - that youâll have a lot of nervous nights until you find out.
But if you donât - then what will you do? You need plan B - and I suggest you figure it out now instead of later when you may have to decide between community college or a gap year.
Education is a business, unfortunately - and they have expenses so they charge to raise revenueâŠ.especially those that can pay. So you have to work within that system.
A school like Troy, btw, even wihtout NMF, I believe, youâd go full ride - but again, not NYC (or close).
Best of luck.
Parents not paying even though they could and placing significant non-financial limitations on your college choice makes finding a college much more difficult.
If you do go to medical school, it will likely cost $400k+. If you have to take loans for that (plus any for undergraduate), then you may start your medical career chasing money at every turn to pay off the debt, which may influence your career and life choices, and the recommendations you give to patients.
Perhaps encourage your parents to make accounts here and ask on the Parents Forum about what is realistic regarding finances for college and medical school.
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I should probably edit my original post since Iâm not planning on applying to those schools anymore
I would like to apply to the places that offer free tuition for NMS, Iâm just unable to due to my family
My plan B is to go to a CUNY I guess. It seems that there isnât much else
I tried I really did but they arenât budging
You can apply for schools without them knowing to leave open the option although you need a top choice to get the scholarship.
My son was all set on Purdue for engineering. Applied to Bama and didnât even tell us until he announced he got in and thatâs where he was going.
Unless your folks are taking out hundreds of thousands in loans, and they might not qualify, yes, youâll need to be home. But thereâs no assurance that you, with loans can afford CUNY - then what?
I respect what your parents think but I donât think it aligns with 2025. Hopefully Iâm wrong.
In general, loans are bad - they eliminate your ability to make choices. And doctors have many years of expense (education) followed by low pay.
If they want loans, let them take them and let them know they are responsible for paying them back. In the end, when theyâre in their name, thatâs how it is - whether they like it or not.
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It is entirely possible that medical school will be unaffordable for you ($400k cost just for medical school, maximum $200k government loans including undergraduate), so you may want to give more thought on alternative career paths that do not have as much of an up front cost for the needed education and training (e.g. career paths that only require a bachelorâs degree at a CUNY or SUNY school that you can afford without parent money).
Consider your major choice in relation for those other career paths. Pre-med does not require any specific major, although some majors are more convenient in overlapping with expected pre-med courses.
Thereâs nothing else that I could ever really want to do. CUNYs dont seem to have that high a cost even if I donât get into Macaulay so I think thatâs my plan B
Of frosh pre-meds, only about 16.5% complete the pre-med courses, according to The process of attrition in pre-medical studies: A large-scale analysis across 102 schools - PMC .
Of those who do, a subset of them apply to medical school, and only about 40% of the applicants get admitted to any medical school.
In addition, you may not be able to afford the up front cost of medical education, even if you manage to go to college at no cost.
So all pre-meds need to consider their alternate career paths.
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There are alternatives among the array of health care providers, such as physicianâs assistants and nurses. Many of the services which were once provided by doctors are now being provided by these other health care providers.
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If your parents arenât paying for anything, they lose a right to forbid you from applying to full rides. You simply have no choice - you need an affordable college. Obviously you wouldnât word it like that but thatâs the reality. And if they are stubborn&unreasonable, and wonât hear it, then you have to do it on your own without telling them. They leave you no choice.
Macaulay, but also Sophie Davis, right? Plus all the Honors programs (those come with perks/scholarships).
Do try Fordham just in case you get a full tuition NMF scholarship and can commute there. Although these are no longer automatic, they still exist.
The federal law about student loans has just passed: your lifetime right to educational loans is now 200k. It means you CANNOT take loans for undergrad if you want to become a doctor because these 200k must be left for med school.
You, as a student, can get 5.5k in federal loans for freshman year (deducted from your 200k lifetime potential loan). Everything else has to be signed on by your parents. Check with them whether they intend to take these loans for you - I suspect they think that like in their day you could borrow whatever you need through a combination of federal and private loans and didnât think theyâd be on the hock for any loan you take on. Once school has started and youâve been able to talk to your GC, do encourage them to talk about it with a GC.
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And read this site for other health care options. There are a LOT which arenât as lengthy a process as doctor, and also are health care related.
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Admission to Sophie Davis comes with guaranteed on campus housing. You can wait and see if that cost is covered by grants and/or aid.
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OP, make sure your school sends documentation of your val status to SBU as itâs due in September: Merit Awards | Financial Aid
There are also BSMD programs that come with full scholarships like Wayne Med-Direct scholarship - Wayne Med-Direct - Wayne State University
And SC has a BSMD program and merit scholarships: Scholarships for Nonresidents - Financial Aid and Scholarships | University of South Carolina
FIU and USF both give scholarships for national merit finalists and have BSMD programs, although USFâs only guarantees an interview.
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Since CUNY Sophie Davis has been part of the vconversation, I think itâs also worth mentioning that Brooklyn College has a BA/MD direct admit to med school program with SUNY Downstate Med School. This is an 8 year program, not 7 years like Sophie Davis, but it still offers the benefit of very low SUNY tuition right through med school. There are similar BS/MD programs at SUNY Stony Brook and SUNY Binghamton/Upstate Med School.
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