Chance me - white female from FL public HS [3.98 UW, 34 ACT, biology, pre-med, BS/MD, need merit]

Chance Me / Match Me
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1

Chance me please.

Will also take match me suggestions

Demographics:
-Public school in Florida
-Female, white, upper middle class

Intended Major(s):
Pre-med and probably biology. Applying to BS/MD programs.

GPA/Test Scores/Rank:
-Top 4% of class
-3.9/5.1 GPA (4.6 on a 5-point scale)
-GPA starting 9th grade: 3.98/5.37
-34 ACT with no plans to take again; STEM is score 32

Coursework
-5 AP through Junior Year: Biology (5), U.S. History (5), Human Geography (4), English Language (4),
World History (3)
-4 AP for Senior Year: Literature & Composition, Physics,
Chemistry, Calculus BC
-2 Dual Enrollment through Junior Year: PSY 2012, STA 2023
-2 Dual Enrollment for Senior Year: POS 1041, ECO 2013
-8 AICE Exams: General Paper, Digital Media and Design, Physical Education, English Language, Global Perspectives, United States History, Mathematics AS Level, Mathematics A Level

Awards:
-AP Scholar with distinction
-Industry designated scholar (have three medial certifications)
-State designated scholar
-Two-time regional champion in HOSA

Extracurriculars:
-part-time job since summer before freshman year and also drive a little girl to gymnastics every week
-120 medical shadowing clinical hours
-600+ volunteer hours, largely serving special needs population
-Will start a research internship at a prestigious institution in the fall while in school
-4-year varsity cheerleader
-Founded non-profit to host cheer clinic for kids with disabilities
-Raised $30k for Best Buddies, also chapter president and served on all major local event committees. -Attended two Best Buddies leadership conferences
-HOSA chapter VP
-College Board Big Future Ambassador
-Volunteer Cheer Coach
-National Technical Honor Society, treasured
-National Honor Society
-National English Honor Society
-Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society

Budget:
Need some merit or schools with higher financial cutoff. Parents aren’t gonna beam the bank

Schools:
-Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Georgetown, Wash U, UNC, U Miami, Boston College, Emory, 7/8-year BS/MD programs (including USF Honors track)

2

Congrats on your record.

I don’t understand your budget…saying I need merit isn’t answering the question of how much - because an FSU or UF, for example, will be cheaper than a Miami or Emory with merit - so you need a $ amount.

Now - you need to have your parents run a net price calculator - because upper middle class may mean that you don’t qualify for need. I put one below - what’s it say? These schools are $90K+ (some of them).

So if you are full pay, Dartmouth, Cornell and Gtown have no aid and UNC, Miami, BC and Emory are difficult to get aid.

So you asked for a chance me - I’d feel good about Miami and BC. So so about Emory - and the rest are reaches. It doesn’t mean you can’t get in - but you are going pre-med so the where won’t matter much but your MCAT will, shadowing experience will, and budget will - and you already said your parents don’t want to pay.

So I need a # to find you alternatives.

But as an example, you could go to Alabama and join the McCullough Medical Scholars for $20K a year - all in with automerit. They achieved in their first class 100% med school acceptance. Truth is, a flagship is a flagship is a flagship - so if you have Bright Futures, why not UF or FSU instead of UNC? FSU has a healthcare Living Learning Community.

Assuming your “privates” are too expensive - why not find schools likely to give merit - Miami is great but find other midsize such as Denver or some Jesuits - such as Loyola (Maryland, Chicago, New Orleans), Creighton, Dayton or others that have aid.

Your stats entitle you to FANTASTIC prices - and you noted your parents don’t want to spend.

So

1: See if they qualify for aid

  1. If not, see what they’re willing to spend - and tell us

  2. Then build a list from that - if you’re really looking at med school, you don’t need to be at a big or prestigious name. You need to be somewhere that you can excel - and save $ for med school.

PS - you might look at a school like Washington & Lee - take a flyer on its Johnson Scholarship, College of Charleston (you can shadow at MUSC) and it’s Charleston Fellows Program, or SMU and its Presidential Program.

Good luck.
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Getting Started | Net Price Calculator (collegeboard.org)

Program Description – McCollough Scholars (ua.edu)

Health Professions Learning Community - College of Health and Human Sciences (fsu.edu)

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You have some schools on your list (eg, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth) that do not give merit aid.

Have you run the NPC on each school on your list?

What is your budget for a full 8 years of university? What is your budget without taking on any debt at all?

Are you also applying to in-state public universities?

There are a huge number of universities (hundreds of them) which can prepare you very well to apply to medical schools and to do well in medical school. However, medical school is expensive. If you attend an in-state public university you can be well prepared for medical school, and you might be able to save some $$$$ that can be applied to medical school (or you might at least avoid or minimize debt for your bachelor’s degree).

And you will find premed classes to be very challenging at any one of at least 100 and probably more like 200 colleges and universities across the US. Both daughters had majors that overlapped with premed classes and I have heard many stories about how tough these classes are and how strong the premed students are (and I have met several, friends of both daughters). If you show up on campus in the top 1/4 of incoming students, then you will still find premed classes to be very challenging and you will find a lot of similarly strong students in these classes.

I really do not know how 120 hours of medical shadowing compares to other high school students who are applying to BS/MD programs. Our daughter who is currently studying for a DVM had a LOT more relevant experience by the time that she was applying to DVM programs, but she was quite a bit older when she was applying to them. I would consider all BS/MD programs to be high reaches.

To me it sounds like you are serious about getting your MD. With this in mind, I think that you need to keep your budget in mind unless your parents are fine with spending something like $900,000 over 8 years, and you should be applying to some in-state public universities or other universities that are certain to be affordable.

Also, think about what you might want to do if you do not end up in medical school. The large majority of students who start university thinking “premed” end up doing something else. Some versions of “something else” are also medicine-related (such as a PhD in a subfield of biology). Some versions of “something else” can be in entirely different fields.

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Thank you so much. Sorry, I am applying to all my state schools and feel fairly confident about those, I was just wondering more about the others. Agree about UNC.

Budget is probably $30K a year after any aid if I were to get into a very top school, but I’m applying to a lot of scholarships.

All of this said, my parents and I have talked a lot about this and know that we have to select the best value prop for undergrad.

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Thank you so much. I am definitely applying to all my state schools.

I am on track to have maybe 200 clinical hours at application time, but I’m also starting a well-regarded research internship so I hope that helps.

My parents would pay more if I was lucky enough to get into an Ivy, which I know is a a complete reach, but I am also applying for a lot of scholarships because of how long I plan to be in school for and know I need to get out of undergrad for as little as possible. Truth is, I would probably go to school in state if that was the best value prop.

In terms of major, I love biology. I got a 5 in AP Bio and truly enjoy the subject, so it might actually be a good fit.

If I didn’t do medical school, I would do PA or NP.

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If the amount they would pay is contingent on the school, my advice is you go through each school’s NPC with them and see if they will commit to actually paying that amount. This is based in part on encountering many stories of kids who thought they had gotten a promise to pay, got excited when admitted, and then were belatedly told by their parents they would not pay that amount for that school.

Generally, I note that among the savvy premed families I know, many choose colleges which are not the most selective their kid could get into, but they have all the characteristics they need and are relatively affordable.

So many do in fact choose an in-state option. Others choose a private where they can get substantial merit. Case Western, for example, is a popular choice. Some also do liberal arts colleges, which can be excellent for premed, good experiences in general, and under the right circumstances offer a lot of merit. And so on.

Again there is often nothing wrong with just going in-state. But if you would like some alternatives to that, I would encourage you not to just focus on highly selective privates with little or no merit (although if need aid alone would be enough, you can include some).

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Thank you so much! Yes, that’s the plan. Shoot for the stars and then take the smartest road. I will look into Case Western!

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Congrats on all of your achievements!

You can apply wherever you want as long as you also have some instate publics (or other safeties) that are affordable and you would be happy attending…and it seems you do. Your current list has several reach schools that may also be unaffordable. Miami might be a nice target, but again…it may not meet your desired cost. I would run the NPCs with your family. The schools are fine if your family is ok with the costs.

I would do some additional research into your Plan B. You may be happy as a PA or NP…or maybe not. An accelerated NP program will require you to get the nursing degree first- see if you like the classes and experience. PA programs require a lot of shadowing hours- that is fine but you would need to pivot. There is no rush- you have time to do your research. It also is very common to take time off before returning to school to complete the requirements, etc.

Good luck!

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Thank you so much! I will do that research. :slight_smile:

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Most BSMD/DO programs don’t give merit aid.

Regarding outside scholarships, many colleges won’t stack merit aid. So for example if you qualify for need based aid (please do run those NPCs), and you do get an external scholarship, the college will reduce their need based aid package by the amount of the external scholarship. Some schools will start by removing the student contributions like summer earnings, loan and/or work-study which is a benefit of course. But you do need to look up this policy for every school on your list. Here’s Browns policy: Other Grants and Scholarships | Undergraduate | Financial Aid Undergradute | Brown University

You also might look into colleges with early assurance med school options and/or the LECOM DO early assurance schools

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A guaranteed acceptance program (GAP) at an affordable state school is great way to keep costs down.

For private schools, maybe take a look into Seton Hall’s new-ish BS/MD. They tried to change how these programs work. You are considered for undergrad merit like any BS student and SHU gives a lot of merit (like $20-30k) so that can bring the cost way down for a private school (still not Florida in-state of course). They are affiliated with Hackensack Meridian medical school and Hackensack is a top NY area hospital. As a student in the program, you are guaranteed an interview (only) with the med school and they have a certain number of slots. Not guaranteed acceptance, but you get the interview. Scroll down to the FAQ links at the bottom of this page Joint Bachelor’s/M.D. Program - Seton Hall University

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I hope you spend your time on applications and not on this - the return for 99% isn’t great.

And you already qualify for such great automerit.

And if you’re studying biology the where isn’t going to matter - because it will be med school, other grad school or likely (not assuredly) a lower paying job - like research, etc. whether you go to Ivy or FSU.

If the budget is $30K - make sure your parents do that net price calculator I posted - because if it says $60K or $90K, take the school off the list - and do that for each and every one that is on your list. Now if your folks say - yep we’ll pay $400K for the Ivy vs. less than $80K for UF/FSU, then strike the answer. But then how will they pay for med school?

You are better to seek schools that can get to your price - than ones that will not. The first three and UNC have zero chance - if the Net Price Calculator does not show you are there. Nothing worse than getting into schools you can’t afford to - so make sure your parents know what these will cost (do the net price calculator for each because they all calculate need differently). They say they’ll pay - but will they really when they see the delta?

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This makes sense. We are going to run the NPC on all of these to make educated decisions about where to put effort. Thank you so much.

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What is your unweighted GPA?

What is your GPA calculated with UF weighting?

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My overall unweighted (with 8th grade HS courses) is 3.9 and since entering HS in 9th grade, 3.98. State core is 4.66. I will apply to UF.

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This is fantastic information, I will research that today. Thank you so much.

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so that’s based on the +.5 for Honors and +1 for AP.

So your 3.9 is actually out of 4 (unweighted)? All As except maybe 1-2 Bs?

That’s what I thought from the initial.

And you qualify for Bright Futures in state?

This is the most recently posted profile so assuming this is all correct, you have a very good shot of admission. is this the best place for pre-med? That’s up to you - obviously there are smaller in state schools including the Wilkes Honors College, New College, and more.

GPA

4.4-4.6

SAT

1350-1490

ACT

30-34

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Do you by any chance qualify for NMSF?

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No, unfortunately not! I didn’t prepare as I should have.

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Yes, all correct. I am very interested in the USF Honors College as they offer a 7-year BS/MD pathway that I qualify for based on my ACT. The MCAT threshold is high but I am a good test-taker.

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