Current Junior Match Me!/Searching For School Suggestions [IL resident, 3.7 UW, 1450 SAT, 33 ACT, pre-med path, $0-20k (uncertain) parent contribution]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Student survey results.

Unfortunately state laws do impact campus experiences.

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As for racial diversity 69% white.

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Either they are unaware / uneducated on the educational landscape - or who cares !!

Are they paying for your four years of college ?

Are they paying your loans each month if you go to one of their desired schools ?

I’m hopeful you mis heard because that’s a ridiculous thing for any counselor to say.

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Does 48% white make it diverse? Maybe I’m just confused because my school’s percentages are a little bit closer together.

Thanks! I will take a look into both UNM and UAB :saluting_face:!

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This post is focusing on medium-large to larger schools, as that seems to be your preference at this point. Only one category (the first) shows the schools that look as though they will definitely hit budget. For that category only I included some of the enrollment demographics.

Extremely Likely for Admission AND Budget

  • Southern Illinois – Carbondale: 4h58m from Chicago. Looks like you’d qualify for about $3500/year in merit aid (if you get your unweighted GPA to a 3.8 it jumps to $5500/year and you could compete for the full ride). So the direct-billed costs would be $25,675-$3500 for $22,175 if your unweighted GPA remains below a 3.8. This is not in an urban, bustling location. But I’ve been super impressed by the number of alums from here who have gone on to get doctorates in many different fields. So I think you’d get a quality education and you’re at a price point that appears as though your family can afford. 2% Asian, 17% black, 10% Hispanic, 66% White, 81% in-state.

  • U. of Louisville (KY): 4h33m from Chicago. According to the chart on the Border Benefit scholarship, you’d get $20k in merit ($16k + $4k). With $41,658 in direct-billed costs, Louisville would end up costing about $21,658 after merit aid, which would be within your family’s budget. U. of Louisville is located close to downtown and has lots of school spirit. 6% Asian, 16% Black, 8% Hispanic, 61% White, 73% in-state.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • U. of Iowa: 3h19m from Chicago, 32m from Cedar Rapids. NPC came back as $36,921 for direct-billed costs (tuition & fees plus room & board - $10,000 merit scholarship
and I entered figures for no financial aid to be given). Thus, this doesn’t look like it will be an affordable option.

  • Iowa State: 5h13m from Chicago, 40m from Des Moines. According to its NPC, you could expect $11k in merit aid, so with $37,409 in direct costs – $11k in merit would bring the price to $26,409, so getting closer to budget.

  • U. of Cincinnati (OH): 4h28m from Chicago

  • U. of Missouri: 6h3m from Chicago
unless you fell in love with this or you get significantly more merit aid, I’d probably focus on other big state schools.

  • U. of Dayton (OH): Many people have said that this school felt a lot like Notre Dame, but an easier admit.

  • U. of Wisconsin – Milwaukee: 1h30m from Chicago

  • Saint Louis (MO): 4h24m from Chicago

  • U. of Kentucky: 5h39m from Chicago

  • U. of Minnesota – Twin Cities: 5h58m from Chicago. Same distance issue as Missouri, and I think their merit might cap off at $16k which wouldn’t get you close enough to budget (might end up being around $40k).

  • Michigan State: 3h18m from Chicago

  • Loyola Chicago (IL): 17m from Chicago

  • Marquette: 1h21m from Chicago

(If none of these are coming is as affordable with merit aid, try Western Michigan, Bowling Green, where you’d need to contact an admissions rep, and Grand Valley next, and then UIC.)

Likely (60-79)

  • UIUC: 2h9m from Chicago. Do not sleep on your in-state flagship. As shown on the chart above, it has one of the highest ratios of bio doctorates to total bio grads out of the 47 schools on that list (all of which are good). School spirit, tons of activities, and likely not too far from home, plus in-state pricing!

Toss-Up (40-59%)

Lower Probability (20-39%)

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Northwestern (IL): 30m from Chicago. Only if the NPC works out

  • U. of Notre Dame (IN): 1h26m from Chicago. Only if the NPC works out

Frankly, if you’re looking for a big school experience, I suspect that you’ll either attend a school like Louisville, SIUC, Bowling Green, or Grand Valley, unless UIUC comes in as affordable or if your family increases its budget. But check the individual school’s scholarship pages and/or run the NPCs (the ones for Iowa, Iowa State, and MN will let you get a scholarship amount for the academic stats and you can enter an SAI of $100k to make sure no need-based aid gets in).

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this is all very helpful so thank you! don’t think i see myself in kentucky but I’ll definitely take a look at the other schools!

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What doesn’t appeal about Kentucky?

According to U. of Louisville’s page about the city, the city ranks as #9 in best cities for food, #4 for most beautiful and affordable cities, #14 as best cities for recent college grads, and has received a perfect score every year since 2015 from the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index for support of the LGBTQ+ community.

There’s a variety of different neighboorhoods, walkable shopping areas, the riverwalk, etc.

I wouldn’t eliminate anything without investigating, particularly when a school seems to hit most of your desires AND your budget, which is not an easy combination.

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Most would think over half non white is very diverse.

Compared to some of your choices -

IU is 2/3 Caucasian

Pitt is 61% Caucasian.

UMAss 58%

So by race UAB would be more diverse. Yes.

Of course there’s other types of diversity - wealth, sexuality, gender, geographic and more.

Louisville rocks btw - and both schools are - U of L is not downtown but not far. UK is downtown.

Please open your mind and don’t live on stereotypes, like I showed above from Peruna.

You will have a tight budget and even if we find out you have big need, the Emory, NU and NYU types will all be high reaches with your stats.

So you need to start opening your mind to schools you can afford to attend. And both these could be great.

And yeah, Louisville is awesome - at least for a weekend family visit. We used to go to the cool zoo and Abbey Road on the River festival every year.

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oh i see. i wasn’t aware of those stats in particular but thanks for letting me know and yeah i was referring to racial makeup when talking about diversity.

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You can see by race in each school’s CDS section B2. Some schools don’t have a CDS. I couldn’t find one for UIUC.

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Yeah I guess beggars can’t be choosers. I don’t exactly know how to phrase this without seeming you know so I apologize if this sounds wrong but I didn’t exactly like the overall vibe when I visited Kentucky and the minority just seems too minority (as a person of a minority group).

But I don’t have many options and if I get into a college that’s decent enough and affordable, then that’s good enough!

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There will be enough choice but you are confusing a visit to who knows where in the state with an actual school and surrounds.

For example, in your state, people may find Chicago vibrant and fun but 30 or 50 miles south redneck and white. Much of the state is red, not blue.

Paducah KY is not Louisville which has a big Jewish hospital, Jewish mayor who is a democrat as is the state’s governor.

So given that many schools will likely be off limits for you - I don’t want to say beggars can’t be choosers but if you value diversity as much as you are claiming, then you need to be diverse in your openness. You don’t seem open minded - in what you’re writing.

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If you’re open to a smaller school, these are some small to mid-sized schools that you might want to consider. If you end up opening to places that aren’t in pretty close proximity to big metros, let us know, as there are other schools we might suggest.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Augustana (IL): 2h39m from Chicago. This is in the Quad Cities, so a metro population of about half a million.

  • Kalamazoo (MI): Mentioned this one earlier, as I think it’s curriculum’s openness would really appeal to you, plus it’s strong academically and has Western Michigan in-town to drastically increase the city’s undergrad population.

Likely (60-79)

  • Ohio Wesleyan: 5h5m from Chicago, 30m from Columbus (and The Ohio State U.). In case you’re not aware, the Columbus metro area has 1.7 million people, so it’s not some small town. Really strong offerings with animal science in particular. Gives generous merit aid.

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Occidental: This school is in L.A., so big city, southern California, lots of warmth and sunshine. It does offer merit aid, though not as generously as the schools in the likelier categories. Check the NPC to see if it might be affordable.

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Case Western (OH): 5h17m from Chicago. This schools is in Cleveland and within close proximity to lots of cultural and sporting events and is definitely more mid-sized, with over 6100 undergrads. There are some significant merit aid awards here, but I don’t think they’d be big enough to get to your current budget. But, perhaps when combined with any need-based aid your family would qualify for, it might be able to get into budget.

  • Macalester (MN): This would only work if the Net Price Calculator comes back as affordable for your family, but it’s in a lovely area of Minneapolis.

  • Scripps (CA): This is a women’s college, which you don’t prefer, but it would get you to California, warmer weather, etc. It’s part of the Claremont Consortium which is about 5500 undergrads. Students can cross-register (and even major) at the other colleges, with a couple of exclusions (probably CS and engineering). Harvey Mudd & Pomona both have a lot of alums going on to earn bio doctorates, so the strength in the life sciences is there in this consortium. There is some merit aid available, but unless the NPC comes back as affordable, then it wouldn’t work out.

Low Probability (less than 20%)

Forgot Augustana, which I added in.

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thank you!! you’re super helpful with options so i appreciate that so much. i really want to attend school in California because I have family there, it has beaches and the ocean, warmer weather, more opportunities because there’s a lot in LA and then there’s the Silicon Valley. so if you’re able to provide some more schools in CA, that’d be very appreciated! I am considering kalamazoo, oxy, and scripps (though this one’s kinda reachy) and then I’ll look into the others!

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Oxy and Scripps only work if you have need.

Schools by Silicon Valley will be too much.

Ca Publics will be too much - you are OOS. Unless you go where they buy kids in, and CA doesn’t, public colleges are tax supported so they are cheaper for residents. A person from Indiana pays a lot more for UIUC than you do, as an example.

But that’s where the southern schools, Kansas schools, or regionals like Truman Syate or Millersville come in - big merit.

You could run the NPC for u of Pacific and LMU (on your list) but both are likely high. You can check out Redlands maybe.

You’re in a tough spot. You’re unlikely for a meets need USC but potentially ok for meets need Oxy - but they might not see your need as meeting what your family is willing to pay.

That’s why I said - budget is 1,2,3.

If CA can’t happen now, then maybe grad school or after college.

https://npc.collegeboard.org/app/occidental

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thanks for being realistic for me. but what if hypothetically speaking i have my old, kind, and loaded successful relatives who would love to have me stay with them and help me out with finances?

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Strictly speaking, that is not necessarily the case. For example, Tuskegee meets that criterion, but is not particularly diverse, according to College Navigator - Tuskegee University . However, it does offer a full ride for the OP’s stats: Freshman Scholarships | Tuskegee University

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Thanks so much! Will consider that one for sure! Do you know any other schools with lots of scholarship opportunities like Tuskegee’s?

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University Scholarships - Office of Scholarship Services (full ride for 3.5 GPA, 26 ACT)

Scholarships - Alabama A&M University (full ride for 3.75 GPA, 28 ACT)

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One thing to note about California is that it is expensive there. Room and board alone will probably eat up nearly the entire budget. The various UCs run $70k+ and there’s virtually no merit aid to speak of and absolutely no financial aid for non-Californians. Most of the Cal States are commuter schools, which I think is inadvisable for someone who is coming from across the country.

Cal Poly - Humboldt on that ratio chart above is a mid-sized school of about 5600 undergrads with a residential campus, but it’s in a remote location and even its “bargain” price of over $33k will be too high for your family’s budget.

Cal State - Chico is another one of the residential Cal States. It will run over $36k.

And the privates in California (like U. of San Diego, U. of San Francisco, Chapman, etc) don’t need to be generous with merit aid, because lots of students want to live in California and have families that are willing to pay more to make that happen.

Here’s that ratio chart for some additional California schools. Of these I think that U. of Redlands and California Lutheran would probably be your best bets to get closest to your budget, but both are between 2100-2400, so not the big school experience you mentioned as preferred. U. of the Pacific may be worth investigating too (thanks @ucbalumnus for the geographic correction!).

School # of bio doctorates 2000-2018 # of Current Undergrads Ratio of Bio Doctorates to Total Undergrads # of current Bio Bachelors Ratio of Bio Doctorates to Total Bio Grads (1-yr)
Occidental 108 1,854 0.0583 55 1.9636
Scripps 59 1,082 0.0545 52 1.1346
Cal Poly - Humboldt 162 5,594 0.0290 143 1.1329
U. of Southern California 205 21,023 0.0098 217 0.9447
U. of Redlands 32 2,100 0.0152 37 0.8649
Cal State - Chico 78 13,160 0.0059 110 0.7091
Santa Clara University 68 6,249 0.0109 111 0.6126
Whittier 27 813 0.0332 51 0.5294
California Lutheran 26 2,380 0.0109 52 0.5000
Loyola Marymount University 38 7,336 0.0052 79 0.4810
U. of San Diego 60 5,726 0.0105 169 0.3550
Chapman 19 7,874 0.0024 90 0.2111
U. of the Pacific 29 3,297 0.0088 153 0.1895
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These are HBCUs. So they will be majority African American. Tuskegee is in the middle of nowhere.

Note these are great but you have to apply - so not automatic.

So you still need schools to assuredly meet your cost.