Correct-- hopefully to be updated in a positive direction in a couple of weeks. 88-92%ile currently, depending on whose criteria you use.
“Have you done some campus visits to help your student develop a feel for what kind of environment she’d enjoy for four years? Small v large, urban v rural, east v west, dry v wet (climate), big sports v none, frats v none, etc.”
Both rural and urban.
Boston area schools–BC, NE, H, BU; Brown, Yale, Both Amherst schools, Williams, Maine LAC’s, Dartmouth, maybe a walk through Tufts if we get to Boston again soon. Wanted to visit U Mich. but will have to wait to see if she gets accepted first. We wanted to visit NYC schools, especially Fordham and Columbia, but she can’t stand the NYC smell.
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Dartmouth very much cares about how you fit in your class, and now only publishes scores in relation to HS percentiles and not absolute numbers on their most recent class profile (will be curious about their next CDS…)
I think they also went test truly test required a year before a lot of schools and CDS reflects that too, right? (May be off on the years, there though..)
OK - I took from CDS:
Honestly, I was surprised at the low score - and they have a high test rate (maybe now required).
Scores have been required for 2 years, I think, but they stopped putting the numbers on their website this year, just the % that are above 75th percentile of their class… I am curious if they stop reporting in CDS this time too…(in past had the absolute numbers on website too). My 27 may apply and I have crazy spreadsheets:)
I am also curious what cornell and yales will be now that they require scores for all too. (I don’t think we have CDS for them, yet, either, since requiring?) MIT is a whole other ballgame…
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Hobart and William Smith appears to have alpine skiing and an active dance dept. I would read the info on premed.
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Dartmouth did require tests for Class of 2030, which is what the CDS you are showing represents. https://www.dartmouth.edu/oir/pdfs/cds_2025-26.pdf
The relatively low scores are likely from hooked matriculants…athletes, questbridge, FGLI, rural, etc.
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So @L_NewEngland just started a thread that UVM is joining the New England Tuition Break program or is adding programs. Not sure.
But Dance is one.
So you might look into it.
https://db.nebhe.org/fmi/webd/TuitionBreak?homeurl=https://www.nebhe.org/tuitionbreak
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Here’s the thread. UVM is down attendance wise so this could be a financial gift for you.
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Wait, I don’t think you can make that assumption. Why would FGLI have lower scores? Why would Questbridge?
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Questbridge Finalist
Middle 50% SAT or ACT (if reported)
1290-1460 or 27-33
No clue what the cohort that matches at Dartmouth and Ivys are, but they would above Questbridge 75th to be in the Dartmouth middle 50th apparently (roughly)
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Thanks! UMass for dance and neuroscience, too. We can give the admissions office a call to find out more about dance at UVM. Hopefully, they are no longer tripling up their doubles as they did a few years ago when they accepted too many kids.
I know NOTHING about med school or the details about loan forgiveness, so feel free to stop reading now 
but I think counting on (not that you are) on 3-5 years in rural/shortage area is not a great financial plan.
Although, now that I think about it…I believe ID (maybe it was ND) had the highest physician salaries in the country - because nobody wanted to live there. But with her love of skiing, that could work out for her! 
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Yeah. That’s not happening. They are far short with overall college attendance declining and New England faring poorly I believe. I’d imagine they are discounting as a mechanism to fight the loss and it’s smart marketing if you were going to give merit anyway.
OP (and others) may find this thread informative while planning for both undergrad and medical school.
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It’s not as simple as that.
PSLF has to be renewed annually by Congress and then approved by CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services). IOW, it can’t be counted on to be there in 8-10 years when your daughter will want to use it. Current thought is that high earning potential recipients will be excluded when the program gets out of its current ligation.
Additionally, PSLF ONLY applies to federal loans and cannot be used to repay private loans. (And with the new lower loan caps, most students will need to take out private loans in order to afford med school. Even in states where med school is relatively low cost.)
Service repayment programs all come with important qualifiers (eligible specialty restrictions, very limited for choice of the location one will serve, repayment caps, repayments may only be applied to federal student loans)–and because of funding cuts to the NIH, IHS and other federal healthcare providers, these programs have become extremely competitive in recent years.
The number NHCS recipients has been cut by over 1/3 in the last 3 years.
Maine’s healthcare provide loan repayment program is fairly new and only repays a maximum of $75,000 over 3 years of service. Eligibility is limited to primary care (family medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, general internal medicine) and psychiatry.
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Pre meds have always been advised to pay attention to the cost of their undergrad education because med school is over $100K/year. Any undergrad federal loans taken out count toward the lifetime cap for federal student loans.
The median debt for current med school grads is around $250K. But that median is highly misleading since 30% of ALL medical students graduate debt free/no loans. largely thanks to the Bank of Mom & Dad.
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This article, which describes a student’s intent to combine alpine skiing with a well-rounded college experience, may be of interest:
In this excerpt, she speaks of her approach:
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That’s a ton of college visits! So … based on all those visits, no specific preference for the type of campus or environment has developed other than no NYC smell?
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I think your daughter should consider staying in-state while also applying to schools where she may receive merit (not sure exactly what her test scores are other than “mid”). Medical school (and dental school) are really, really expensive. I don’t think it is a good idea to rely on PSLF programs 8+ years down the road. It is extremely risky.
I think there is a lot of focus on very reachy schools, and while there is nothing wrong with applying to a few, it is my opinion that there needs to be a list of realistic options where the student will thrive, both academically and socially.
Your daughter sounds great and I wish her the best!
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You will need to check…and there is not skiing nearby…but Ohio University in Athens Ohio used to have a great modern dance program. There is a D.O. School on the campus, and the college is highly regarded also for allied health professions.
Great college town. But not near urban or even suburban settings. BUT many students do their shadowing etc during their school breaks or during a glide year before applying to medical school.
I agree with the advice above…I would remove preparation for medical school from the criteria list. Fact is, a student can take the required courses for medical school applicants at just about any four year college in this country…and they can major in anything as long as they take the required courses for medical school applicants.