Just checked and yes it is
Thanks, I’ll definitely look into that!!
Thank you. Yes, my parents are definitely underestimating the cost of education here. I forgot to add that they are willing to lend me more than 20k, but I’ll have to pay that back. I do have transcripts from the online school, but I’m not sure whether admissions would understand how it works and if the grades are good. For example in my country we are graded 1-6. 1 is the worst, 6 is the best. However, a 4 is considered a good grade and is definitely not equivalent to a C in the American school system. Most of my grades are 4’s and 5’s.
I forgot to add that my parents are willing to lend me more than those 20k, but I’ll have to give them back the rest after I graduate college. I’ll look into that, thanks!
Our immigration lawyer says that he’s 90% sure we’ll have our green card by this time next year, so I don’t wanna rule out med school just yet as it really is what I want to pursue. Do you think I should take a gap year so that I can apply to college after getting that green card (assuming that we’ll get it)?
This is where you need to change your perspective.
First off, ok - you have more money - but you have to pay it back? Where will you earn the money to pay it back? Will there be interest, etc.
What one gets from having excellent stats is financial flexibility.
I mentioned Bama below - you’d be $20K-ish. It’s ranked 100+.
Rutgers is 40.
Do you really think there’s a difference?
Same with most any other flagship.
What your stats got you was taking Bama from $50K-ish to $20K-ish.
So it’s not a question of where you can get in top 50 - Rutgers, Purdue, Illinois, Georgia, etc.
It’s a question of what you can afford - and lucky for you, your grades/test give you options.
Do those change with a green card - I don’t know.
If you’re going to med school - I put on another thread I think - but I was looking at Vanderbilt Urology residents. They have top schools but then they have K State and KU, Colorado, etc.
Going to a school you don’t deem top does not mean you aren’t able to go to medical school - your grades, MCAT and more will determine that.
Also, you know there is no top 50. Just because US News says someone is top 50 doesn’t mean they are - that’s just a listing for them to generate revenue.
So be thankful you have opportuntiies.
What you don’t want to do is borrow money; to owe someone and have that debt hanging on you.
And what happens if you take a gap year b4 medical school and are earning little, how will you pay it back? How will you pay for med school?
Keep costs low - you’ll be glad later.
Your hard work isn’t paid off by getting in a top 50. Your hard work is paid off by achieving an affordable collegiate experience that otherwise wouldn’t be so that when you’re done, you have no debt…or afte rmedical school less debt.
That’s what you accomplished by kicking butt!!!
Only you can decide whether to take a gap year. If you have assurance you’d qualify for in state in a year - then Ohio has a lot of great public schools.
You might not love Bowling Green or Toledo or Akron - but guess what, you could better afford medical school after studying there - and that’s what matters. Plus you have Ohio U, Miami, Ohio State…lots of options.
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My parents would lend me money with no interest, so I’d just have to pay back what they gave me. I don’t think they really understand how much everything costs. I don’t want to go to top schools for recognition, but going to top schools gives you the opportunities that going to lower ranked schools just doesn’t. Especially if you want to pursue a graduate degree.
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hmmm - that is not correct.
You will determine whether or not you are able to get into med school.
Top schools send more because top schools have more top students to begin with.
But look at law for example - Harvard has 147 schools represented in its first year class. UVA a similar amount. Penn 239 students - schools like Adelphi and Arkansas and Florida Gulf Coast and SUNY Potsdam, and UT Chattanooga and so many more.
If you were going for a PhD maybe - but you are going to med school. You will need a great MCAT, shadowing, and more.
My daughter goes to the 16th highest rated school of 17 she got into - she just loved it - and her opportunities there have turned out, likely more than the top 50s she got into - where she’d just be one of another.
But you have a financial issue - and even if your folks lent you money - then how will they pay for medical school.
You have a gift.
And frankly there are no less opportunities at - for example Alabama since it works financially and actually more if you get into the McCullough Medical - than likely any of the top 50 state flagships.
Don’t confuse what US News says with reality. They’re not the same. For the most part, a flagship is a flagship is a flagship, all with Ivy caliber kids roaming campus.
In the real world, we have a Harvard Law grad working for a Fairleigh Dickinson…a Vandy MBA for a U of West Georgia, a school I hadn’t even heard of, etc. -and it’s like that at lots of companies, etc.
You’ve bought into the marketing/hype that schools love to take advantage of so they can take your money.
Tons of great schools out there but you need one you can afford - and then you take advantage and you create your success.
Borrowing money is not affordable - especially in amounts you are talking about.
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True. Now, what kind of schools do you think I should shoot for? Because while T50 isn’t necessary, I also don’t want to go to a school with 98% acceptance rate. I know a degree is a degree, but classes at Harvard are significantly more challenging than classes at University of Wyoming.
Your pre-med classes are going to crush you.
And I’m not sure that’s true. In general it is, but my kid, a stud (11 APs, 34 ACT) had to WD two classes at Bama…got hit butt kicked and my daughter had to WD a class at College of Charleston.
Both got into top 30 - like UF, etc.
You’re making a lot of perceptions.
If you want to be challenged, you’ll be challenged.
In your pre med classes, you’ll get your butt kicked anywhere.
Normally I say a student needs to go to a place that is best for them - environmentally - and that’s no different.
But affordability is step 1, 2, and 3.
So figure out what type of school you want - and then let’s find them to narrow in your budget.
But are classes at Wyoming going to necessarily be easier than at Rutgers or UIUC - highly doubtful.
Are there easy classes at Harvard - you bet.
Will certain schools be more rigorous than others - yes - but that’s not just school related but major related too.
None of it matters if you put yourself in a position where you are paying back loans for years and years - because you have grad school too.
And in some ways, an easier school is better for you to pad grades - if you want to look at it that way - so you’re ready for med school.
But all four year schools can challenge you - and you can also take Honors classes.
College is not HS. Many high school have grade inflation…as do colleges - but many kids in HS aren’t working hard and still getting great grades.
Again, you first need to focus on budget.
Find schools that will be $20K - and go from there.
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So, why only 20k? My parents aren’t the type to hold my debt against me. Also, sorry to ask, but I really have no idea how it usually works - how much would you say do parents on avarage contribute to their children’s college education?
Some contribute nothing, some $95K a year +.
It depends on the school, the student’s wealth (some colleges provide need aid).
Both my kids chose their schools - and got substantial merit aid.
One met your budget and had a great outcome. He had auto merit - why I keep mentioning Bama. They don’t differentiate international vs. out of state like most.
One is about your budget - but won an endowed scholarship.
Money is very individual family to family.
Let’s say, for example, your family had need and applied to Bowdoin. If Bowdoin determined that your family could only afford $5K, assuming admitted, that’s all they’d pay. There are schools that meet need for international - such as Franklin & Marshall - but there’s 8 that meet need and are need blind - meaning at F&M, they can decline you based on you need too much whereas Harvard won’t do it.
But with your folks having $800K, you’re unlikely to qualify for much need aid.
In the end, other families don’t matter- just yours does.
But no one should take on substantial debt; especially future doctors who will pile up so much more.
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You should find out whether you already get in-state status at your in-state public universities (which include Ohio State if I am remembering this correctly). You could also apply to a few schools that are likely to be affordable and see what happens. If nothing comes through, then reapplying a year later with your green card in hand is likely to improve your chances at both admissions and getting an affordable offer.
My understanding is that having a permanent resident visa (aka green card) versus US citizenship does not matter at all. Getting the permanent resident visa is what is important.
Also, you might very well get into an affordable university for a bachelor’s degree without your green card. Getting into medical school without a green card could be tough. However, it sounds like you are likely to get it before you need to apply to medical schools so this part is likely to be okay.
There are LOTS of schools that cost quite a bit more than $50k per year. However you should be able to find some very good universities that fit this budget.
This is the part that I actually wanted to comment on based on personal and family experience. There are a LOT of universities in the US, hundreds of them, that are very good and that have very good premed programs. If you attend nearly any top 100 university, and probably nearly any top 200 university, it can prepare you well to apply to medical school. I have a family member who attended an in-state university ranked somewhere between 100 and 130 for their bachelor’s degree (with merit aid, and living at home to save money) and then got two related master’s degrees in a health care related field at an Ivy League university. I know someone else who attended a different university ranked between 100 and 130 for their bachelor’s degree, and is currently getting their DVM at a “top 5 in North America” program (and doing well). A couple of doctors who I know have told me that the various students who were in their MD program had gotten their bachelor’s degree “all over the place” (this is an exact quote from one of them). You really can attend any one of a large number of universities and get a very good education.
However, premed classes are tough. These classes will be full of many very strong students. The main point of having done very well in high school is not to get into a “top 50” university. There are two other issues that are more important. Having done very well in high school might make it possible for you to get good merit aid at some universities (and this is going to matter if you are trying to keep the cost near $20k/year). Also, premed classes are going to be tough. You are likely to see exams with class averages in the mid 50’s in classes that are full of very strong students.
Arriving on campus very well prepared, and being ready to work very hard in university, and having very good study skills, is likely to help quite a bit in these classes. For a potential premed student the most important point of the strong effort that you have put in throughout your education is to be ready to do well in these tough classes, with the possibility of getting merit aid being another possible major benefit.
All of the hard work that you put in up to now is not going to waste, even if you attend a university that is not ranked in the top 100 in the US News rankings.
You might want to get them to run the net price calculators at a few top universities. If you Google “net price calculator harvard university” you will for example find one of them.
As @tsbna44 suggested, with $800,000 in the bank the result is likely to be eye opening for your parents. @tsbna44 is also entirely correct that if you are serious about possibly attending medical school in the future, you are best off avoiding debt now as much as is possible.
Generally admissions staff at universities in the US have someone on staff who understands the grading systems used in a wide variety of countries. As one example I originally applied to a highly ranked university in the US with grades that would never have been sufficient from a high school in the US, but that were good enough to be the #2 student in my high school in the country and province where I grew up. Admissions here in the US seemed to understand how to interpret my grades (and I did get admitted). Your grades will be interpreted in the context of the country and school system that you studied in.
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I note one of the reasons US med schools tend not to care too much where you go to college is this is much less likely to be meaningfully true of many med school pre reqs. Like, the first Organic Chemistry course is Organic Chemistry, there is not some special Ivy League version of Organic Chemistry. The first couple years of Physics is Physics, and so on. And even things not required and not on the MCAT but that are often recommended, like saying learning Spanish, are also pretty standardized.
Generally, at research universities like the ones US News ranks as National Universities, where you will likely see more difference is in smaller upper level classes, which mostly only majors in that department take. And that is usually beyond the med school prereq level.
That said, I think one reason to be cautious about going too far with this logic is that it is very likely you will not end up going to med school. It is just a fact that most people who start off pre med do not, indeed just a fraction do. So the ideal college will be both highly affordable, allowing you to save for med school, but also will give you lots of good Plan B options in the likely outcome you do not end up going to med school.
OK, for kids with good numbers but significant cost constraints, this often points to a good in-state option. They usually have solid pre-health advising, many solid Plan B paths, good upper level courses, and so on. But it could also point to a private college that gives you a big merit offer.
And I think sometimes people not very familiar with the US education system overlook the possibility of going to a small liberal arts college with a good merit offer. At least if it is affordable, these sorts of colleges can consistently offer a very high quality of experience, close relationships with professors who really care about undergrads, research opportunities that at universities would go to grad students, and so on. In addition to placing well in med schools as long as you get a good MCAT, these colleges also tend to place disproportionately in PhD programs and so on.
OK, so some small colleges with excellent life sciences programs and also robust merit include Kalamazoo College, St Olaf, Allegheny College, Juniata College, and Hendrix College. There are more, but these are some of the ones I have personally heard people talk about very positive experiences.
And I think if you are looking for quality alternatives to a big public university experience, while keeping it at least reasonably affordable, chasing merit at colleges like that is a more promising path than trying to go higher on the US News National University rankings.
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Going to a lower ranked school is not going to keep you from obtaining a graduate degree, just like going to a higher ranked school will not guarantee a graduate degree. It depends on the student- their grades, drive, relationships they develop, what they take advantage of, interview skills, etc.
A very smart, driven student at a lower ranked school is not going to be held back…imo.
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If your parents have 800k in savings, you will not qualify for fin aid anywhere. Go to the cheapest 4 yr college for you, if you are sure you want med school.
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You won’t qualify for need based aid most likely…but merit aid doesn’t usually consider family finances…although there are some merit awards that have a need component. So you need to check that.
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True, but it’s also about the people I’ll be surrounded by. People at higher ranked schools are usually more ambitious. Sure you can find ambitious students at state schools, but there is drastically less of them there.
All of your idealism is great - but in the end, can you afford to go to school or not?
If you can only afford $20K a year, then you need to go to schools that are $20K a year.
If your parents are giving you $50K but making you pay back $30K (x4), you cannot afford that school.
There are schools where you will be challenged and surrounded by smart kids. Look at one you can afford - Alabama - they have the most National Merit Scholars in the country.
Like you, their credentials got them “bought” in.
You have this idea - it’s a very nice idea - that you cannot afford.
No matter someone’s education or status in society, they need to live within their means.
You clearly need to learn that lesson.
Learn it now, before it’s too late.
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Thank you. I think I’ll just end up attending a university between T100-150, if possible. Hopefully on a pretty good merit scholarship. Do you think it’d be possible for me to get a full ride at one of those schools?