My opinion…this is a very top heavy list for you…it’s a top heavy list for everyone.
What is your sure thing for admission that will be affordable, that you would be happy to attend. I don’t think any of these fit that. You need to find that school first and foremost.
How will you pay for these two sure thing colleges if your parent can’t contribute the cost to attend?
And I would suggest filling all of those QB slots. @Mwfan1921 your thoughts about this. QB could be your way to afford a fabulous college education.
We also know a number of doctors who graduated from the likes of Williams, Bates, Amherst…LACs.
There are no “random” LACs that are Questbridge partners. All are highly respected and well known in academic circles. You would get an amazing education at any of the partner schools! Some of these LACS are on the list of Colleges that Change Lives and would be amazing for someone with premed intentions. IMO, better than some of the uber competitive Ivies.
Because your GPA is on the lower side, I would highly encourage you to do some research on the LACs that you would have a higher shot at being accepted and add them to your Questbridge list.
At this point, you don’t know if your even a Questbridge Finalist, corrrect? The idea of turning down a free education at ANY of the very fine schools on the Questbridge schools doesn’t seem a wise choice. If you reach QB finalist, the advice is to fill out all of your school spots.
If you are not a finalist or if you do not match, what is your plan? As has been mentioned, Rutgers and Penn State appear to unaffordable for you. Please find a good backup plan. Many of the posters here can help you identify what that might look like.
Rutgers should be free if live at home. I posted their income table above in post 15. But then you’re living home / not a true four year experience you’d think the student wants. And lots of commute.
Edit - I never understand kids and free rides. If Montclair State or Troy in Alabama or Prairie View in Texas is willing to educate one for free, why would someone look down on it ?
Because rankings, IG, peer/family/community pressure, and even sites like this, while well-meaning, feed into this hysteria around going to the best “name” schools or risk endangering your future.
Can’t be too hard on the kids though. They’re young and don’t know any better. Its a cottage industry.
The truth of the matter is that very many low and even some not so low income kids commute to college because it’s what they can afford, regardless of their academic potential. I do think our view of the world gets a little distorted on CC and its focus on maybe 100 out of thousands of colleges in the US.
I agree with your and other assessments that the student should at least be open-minded to schools that would give them a free ride to a college so that they can gain the full experience. Only they can, in the end, decide whether a possible name “trade off” is worth it for the experience.
(Full disclosure, I was one of those “commute to local college for financial reasons” kids. At a college on the other side of the world probably no one here has ever heard of. It doesn’t limit you in what comes after that. I went to one of the top universities in the world for grad school. But would I have preferred a full undergrad college experience? Absolutely. )
Rutgers has a fabulous cancer center and their director is considered a thought leader in the oncology space.
You are fortunate to be able to consider it a likely choice!
Here is an interview with him and an interesting discussion of federal research cuts etc.
This is a rather audacious statement. As others have said, the whole premise of Questbridge is that all of the partner schools are elite colleges and universities. All are well known by those who know higher education. Some are less “famous” among those who aren’t well-informed. Your statement makes it sound as if you are more focused on impressing with a school that absolutely everyone has heard of, than in landing an amazing, more-than-full-ride scholarship to a school that some people won’t have heard of, even though many of these schools place amazingly well at top med schools, which seems to be your goal. You might consider playing the long game here. When you’re a doctor, nobody’s going to care where you did your undergrad.
That said, maybe it’s less about the “random” than about the “LAC.” Maybe you’d prefer a larger school, and/or a research university environment with robust graduate programs. Fair enough if that’s what you prefer.
But as one example, you’re not planning to rank UVA, the only public flagship on the Questbridge partner list. In my opinion, any and every QB school that you prefer to living at home and attending Rutgers should go on your ranked list, until it’s full with 15 schools. Why would you foreclose on a potential full ride to UVA, to stay home and probably take on debt for Rutgers? (Penn State is not a safety; even in-state low-income students in PA can’t afford their flagship, much less students from NJ.)
So, for your four remaining QB spots, even if you’re sure LAC’s aren’t for you, choose four of:
I’m not seeing any legitimate reason not to fill up your QB list. Even if you do, you’re taking a riskier path by choosing only larger, more “famous” schools to rank, but at least you’re taking every possible shot in the category you prefer.
Your EC’s are impressive. A lot will be riding on your essays and recommendations, as those will frame your accomplishments for those reading your application.
It’s fortunate that you have such a great flagship university in easy commuting distance. It sounds as if you can count on being accepted to Rutgers and on being able to afford it, so you’re in a very good position and don’t need to apply anywhere that you wouldn’t prefer to Rutgers and living at home. (It also sounds as if you have a positive home environment and wouldn’t mind living there for college - also fortunate.) While the “full” residential college experience has a lot to recommend it, 15 minutes away is not so far that it would limit your involvement on campus, and you might even sleep better at night and get sick less often than those in the dorms… and you’d probably make friends that you could crash with on campus at times. It’s not a bad option. I just think you should be able to find 15 Questbridge schools at which the amazingly-generous Match scholarship would be an improvement on your Rutgers default plan.
Good luck, and write great essays!
And sadly even QB isn’t assured here.
You mean becoming a finalist isn’t assured, or Matching isn’t assured once a finalist? Both are true of course. I think OP has a pretty good shot at becoming a finalist - sounds like he’s already a College Prep Scholar - but it’s not guaranteed. If a finalist, there’s a relatively high risk of not Matching, but also, as noted, his Rutgers plan is a good one so he’s not flying without a net, and doesn’t need to apply anywhere he doesn’t prefer to Rutgers. Personally, if I were working more closely with this student, I’d be urging him to give some of the LAC options a chance before ruling them out. Some of the less-reachy QB LAC’s have interesting public health and public policy majors - Denison, for example, would be a terrific higher-likelihood school, which between its Global Health major, its Politics & Public Affairs major, and its highly-regarded Lugar Program in DC, could be a great fit. But OP is allowed to prefer what he prefers!
Yes a match isn’t assured.i agree - some of the less selective could be the best odds - less selective doesn’t mean not selective.
And OP can be rest assured- if they’re bringing in QB kids, they have money. Or they wouldn’t be a QB school.
There are other no QB that meet need of course. Schools like F&M, Lafayette, Lehigh. , Miami, Sewanee that they can apply outside QB too. But as need aware odds would be less with such big need. But worth a shot.
But OP would need to alter perspective a bit.
At this point, being QB finalist isn’t assured either. Only 30% of applicants become finalists.
Thank you so much for your insight–yes I’m in CPS which is why I’m banking on being a finalist and have been framing my strategy around that. Rutgers is a solid safety and its 15 minutes away from me but then again the issue is no full ride. I will be looking into the QB LAC schools more. Appreciate you letting me know about Denison’s programs
The LACs on QB aren’t “random” but in fact are all very good LACs. There are no duds on the QB college partners list.
There’s an extra benefit too for premed students, which is that less academically intense schools make it easier to get As an have time left over for shadowing, research, MCAT studying, volunteering, maybe even working as an EMT
Think I will add Darmouth (early assurance program) and John Hopkins, which gets me to 13. Reckon bottom 2 will be LAC which I wonder what would be best for pre med
I’d probably apply to easier to get into schools. Not the Dartmouth’s / JHU’sof the world. Or find out the ratio of QB admits vs admits.
You have this fascination with the tippy top. Your stats don’t belie it. Of course we are not adcoms but I think you are overestimating based on your very good ECs.
I’d look at each of the schools in depth for which fits you best - forget rank.
Any school will get you to med school - not just high end schools.
Any non-specialty 4-year college will offer the pre-med courses (mostly a subset of biology major courses, plus English writing/literature/rhetoric and introductory psychology and sociology).
“Better for pre-med” may include criteria like:
What do you mean ratio of QB admits vs admits?