She may reconsider if/when she sees who puts the $$$ on the table? (And you can revisit the idea of prestige with her with further insights here hopefully)
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Thatâs the thing - itâs NOT better than Rutgers.
Itâs a completely different school.
One is a large public.
One is a small LAC - that even kids there will tell you - not many know of.
I was in Spain. Macalester is a similar type LAC. I was on a train and saw some girls wearing Mac sweatshirts. I asked them if they go to Macalester in Minnesota - and they said - youâve heard of it?
Thereâs people out there that think Penn is Penn State, that havenât heard of Williams or Amherst, that think Wash U is U Washington.
If you go by US News, Rutgers is a top school - tied for the #15 public, tied for 41st nationally.
W&L is #19 of a much smaller list - LACs. Itâs a wonderful school but itâs not Rutgers - nor is Rutgers W&L. They will attract two different types of students.
Again, stop with the entitlement. If you get into W&L greatâŠand if you donât, you are still the envy of millions of students - free tuition at a top school.
PerspectiveâŠ
PS - look at Berea (very good school) - everyone is free tuition and most are full ride.
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Four things I could mention about Rutgers:
When you get to university, if you are a premed student or if you have a major that overlaps quite a bit with premed classes, then you are going to find that quite a few of these classes are very academically demanding. There will be a lot of homework. Exams will be tough. The main point of doing well in high school for any premed student is to be well prepared to do well in these tough classes. The most important issue is not whether you attend Harvard or Princeton or Rutgers. The point is that at any of these schools your premed classes will be tough, and you want to be prepared for these classes. Even with your very good results in high school, you will find some classes at Rutgers which are tough. You will need to work very hard to get a medical-school-worthy GPA at any school on your list, including Rutgers. If there is someone from your high school who had lower grades in high school and a lower SAT score, they might have to work even harder or just might not be able to maintain a medical-school-worthy GPA. Donât worry about them. You be the best version of you possible.
I have known quite a few Rutgers graduates. They have all made the university look very good. They have all made the point that you can do very well with a degree from Rutgers.
I got my masterâs degree at Stanford, in a specific subject where at the time Stanford was ranked number 1 in the world. The other students in the same program came from a huge range of undergraduate schools. Of all the other students who I knew in the same program, there was only one single case where more than one of them had come from the same undergraduate university. This was three students who were Rutgers graduates. They all did well in the program and graduated along with me. They again made the point that you can do well with a degree from Rutgers.
There are thousands of colleges and universities in the US. Rutgers seems to be ranked somewhere in the 40 to 60 range (depending upon which ranking you look at). Letâs average this at 50. Being ranked 50 out of several thousand schools is really very good.
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Youâre getting a lot of great thoughts and questioning of assumptions from people whoâve been helping college applicants for years, and I hope itâs helpful for you.
Some of us are hitting our greatest hits. Hereâs one of mine: if you do matriculate to Rutgers, I guarantee you that you will almost never be the smartest person in any room. Will you be one of the smarter ones in some rooms? Probably! And then you should find some other rooms!
But Rutgers - and pretty much every university mentioned in this thread - is full of bright and motivated students who are there to learn and make something of themselves, and like you, many are at Rutgers because a series of events in their life brought them there - maybe it was affordability, or access, or a need to be close to home, or whatever circumstances they had which, like you, led them to where they are. Your job is to surround yourself by people who motivate you - and, frankly, to let go of whatever negativity youâd be carrying, because nobody will want to hear about it.
I donât know that youâll be a QB Finalist, or if youâll match, or if you will be one of the students that some school decides to essentially fully fund. I hope you are. But whatever happens, the opportunity to get a tremendous education, and apply that to whatever you do next, will be yours.
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And that is fine. You should be able to find schools in your state that will work. You already have Rutgers. Look at Rowan and Stockton, and TCNJ. I donât know if any of those will meet your price point but worth trying.
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Please put this thinking aside. There are plenty of very smart students at Rutgers. Actually, there are very smart students at most colleges.
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OP, I donât want to pile on. I know you are young and I know college admissions is stressful. Please talk with your social emotional counselor at school about how to process your emotions. Also, do not let any of these feelings/beliefs of being better than your peers or more deserving of a spot at elite schools creep into your essays.
This.
Hope is not a strategy. This is why you have to apply to some other schools.
Look to see what other NJ schools would be affordableâŠdo you like any better than Rutgers? Then look at non-QB meet full need schools and the many other school ideas posters have given you here. You have a lot of research to do.
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Where you a youngarts finalist in music or something else? If music or theatre dont forget to reach out to the schools and prepare your supplement. Being a youngarts finalist is very helpful for admissions for performance based areas. I dont know anything about the questbridge application but can you include an arts supplement in that?
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Great idea to include an arts supplement. Some QB schools will allow an arts supplement, some wonât. OP will have to check details on the schoolsâ QB pages, or on their main websites.
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One more thing. I know you said no LACs but maybe look into a fly in program for one and see what you think of it when you are there. The support systems and resources for the top lacs for low income students is amazing and Asian men are under represented at many. They may be good options for your regular applications.
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Donât you think there are many students who feel like you do? We are full pay, donât get a dime in FA, but had a budget of about $35,00 fit each. My kids were good to excellent students, with high gpaâs and scores. A few worked their buttâs off, at least top 3%. They mostly applied to safety/match schools, because any others would be unaffordable. Threw in a couple applications to more selective schools but they were completely unaffordable. CC is skewed a bit, the majority of college applicants are tied to a budget, there are hardworking fantastic students who have no choice but to start at community college. You have a good opportunity with QB that many donât, I think Iâd add some more likely schools as well.
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Sounds to me like you need a plan in place in case QB does not work out. What is that plan? Budget is a reality for many/most students.
Keep in mind that if Rutgers is affordable and you attend, you will have your work cut out for you. There are plenty of smart students there.
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Am now considering LAC after hearing your guys input. Looking at W and L
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I did YoungArts in creative writing, same with scholastic
Have you considered some less competitive schools for admission. W and L is very competitive, and has gotten moreso since becoming a meets full need schoolâŠthat also gives great merit awards.
I think someone upstream mentioned DenisonâŠa great option.
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W and L acceptance rates hovers around 20% and they appear to be great for pre-med. And theyâre a QB partner
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A 20% acceptance rate means the school is a reach. Itâs fine to apply, but you need a school that is affordable and more of a sure thing for acceptance.
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This. OP, your academic profile is great, but âŠyou will be up against people with 4.0s and 1600s for most if not all of the schools on your list. You need some proper targets.
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Not sure if lots of 4.0s and 1600s will be looking to enroll in W&L, and even if they do apply they may get accepted somewhere better. Besides, lots of these schools a smudge below Ivyâ;s may look to protect their yield rate such as Northwestern, UChi, etc
Yes they will. Some will not be accepted to other schools on their list, others might be getting better merit or FAâŠwhile others see the school as their first choice.
FYI you will see 4.0s and 1600s at Rutgers as well.
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