Looking for chancing & matches based on the info below! Demographics
US Citizen
State/Location of residency: Florida
Type of high school: Magnet (currently in their Biomedical Science Program)
Other special factors: n/a unless Black and LGBTQ (no related ECs) are something
Cost Constraints / Budget
I’m definitely not getting need-based aid, so I need substantial merit aid for any OOS colleges (I’m talking less than $15k/yr paid from me). I have 100% Bright Futures in-state though.
Intended Major(s)
Biomedical Sciences
Pre-med track in any Biology major
Cell and Molecular Sciences
I’d love to get a minor in Music Performance
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA (4.0 scale): 3.94
Local Weighted HS GPA: 6.86 This uses the UW, then adds +0.04 for honors or +0.08 for AP/IB/Dual-Enrollment/etc
Core Weighted HS GPA: 4.57 This considers all science/math/english/social-studies courses with +0.5 for honors and +1.0 for AP/IB/Dual-Enrollment before averaging
Class Rank: 34/146 (77th)
ACT/SAT Scores: 1540 (750wr, 790ma)
List your HS coursework
English: English 1 & 2 Honors, Dual Enrolled ENC 1101 & 1102 (English 3 and 4)
My only non-A grade was a C in ENC 1102
Math: Algebras, Geometry, & Precalc Honors; AP Calc AB (4), College Algebra (Dual Enrollment), AP Stat (current), Mathematics in Context (current, Dual Enrollment)
Science: AP Chem (5), AP Physics 1 (current), Anatomy & Phys H, Physical Sci H, Bio H, Chem H, Many Science Magnet courses that were generally anatomy & physiology or biotechnology
History and social studies: APUSH (5), AP Psych (4), AP Human (4), APWH (4), Government (Dual Enrollment), Econ w/ Financial Literacy H, Cultural Anthropology (Dual Enrollment)
Language other than English: French 1 & 2 (2 is in progress currently), ASL 1
Visual or performing arts: Orchestra all 4 years, Semester of 2-D Art, Public Speaking (Dual Enrollment), Intro to Music (Dual Enrollment)
Other academic courses: AICE Thinking Skills
Awards
All music-related ones are for Double Bass
1st Place for Instrumental Music Performance & Poetry at local ACT-SO (NAACP hosted olympiad)
Orchestra Director’s Award for Leadership
1st Chair of 9/10 All-County
1st Chair High School Orchestra for all 4 years
2nd Chair of the Highest Youth Orchestra in my city
Superior Solo at District Solo & Ensemble
Outstanding Delegate at a Florida MUN Conference
Gold Key & American Voices Nominee
Bronze Barbra James Service Award from HOSA (for 110 health-related volunteering hours)
National African American Recognition Program
Extracurriculars
Orchestra
President of High School Orchestra (our one director’s busy managing all of the music programs, so I handle a lot of the course management, and a decent amount of the day-to-day rehearsals and music choices)
2nd Chair of the highest-level youth orchestra in my city
Annual member of All-County Orchestra (1st Chair in 10th, 4th in 11th)
MUN: Treasurer since 11th, which has only gotten more stressful and time-consuming; Joined in 10th
Creative Writing: Started a local hobby writing club on campus with ~10 members in 11th
Clinic Volunteering: Between 9th & 10th Grade I volunteered at my family’s clinic for ~110 hours total as a front-desk receptionist
HOSA: Participated in 9th and 10th local competitions & got a state-level award
Essays/LORs/Other
Personal Essay: 8/10, my college counselor says she likes it but I’m reworking it for length and personal voice
Supps: 6/10, likely will be weak since I’m starting them so soon
LORs: ???/10, I have quite a few people who will write one for me, but I’m unsure of the ones I’m riding on (2 science teachers)
Schools
I’m also applying to each school’s Honors College where permissible
Reach
Vanderbilt (haven’t looked too far into it)
Swarthmore - RD
Target
UF - EA
Northeastern - EA
BU - RD (would need Trustee Scholarship)
Kenyon (haven’t looked much into its chancing)
Drexel (applying BSMD here but should I even bother?) - EA
Fordham (here because I need amazing merit aid from them; might drop entirely) - EA
Safety/Likely Admit
UCF - EA
USF - EA
UPitt (applying BSMD here) - RD
Applying for Fun (will not attend)
Harvard - RD
Columbia - RD
Reed - EA (may attend if can convince parents)
Saint Mary’s College in Indiana (applying on accident, I got forced to send an SAT score to them and I’ll feel bad if I don’t apply) - RD
I’m aiming for a scholarship from all schools
Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): USF
Extremely Likely: UCF, Saint Mary’s
Likely: n/a
Toss-up: UPitt, Fordham, Drexel, Northeastern, UF
Lower Probability: Reed, Kenyon, BU, Swarthmore
Low Probability: Vanderbilt
No money : Harvard, Columbia
Things I Prefer From a College
Medium to Large-size
Good pre-med program (research, job opportunities, local hospitals, good med school admit rate)
Urban setting and/or walkable campus
Especially somewhere in the New England/Atlantic region
Study abroad options in Europe and East Asia
Minimal local conservative area (most of the South doesn’t meet this, but I’m still open to matching with a Southern School)
Take a look at Alabama (you said you were open to a southern school).
Pitt BSMD (GAP) is not a safety/likely. It is a reach. It is also a reach even if you do not apply to BSMD, as you need a very large scholarship to attend and that is not guaranteed.
Take a look at the University of Buffalo @aunt_bea
It sounds like your family doesn’t qualify for any need based financial aid?
If so, you will need to substantially redo your college list. Almost all the schools on your list either don’t offer merit money or give very little to very few.
There is no point in applying to schools that you will not be able to afford.
As you’re probably aware, schools can by longer directly consider race in admissions but you can speak about your racial identity in your essays.
Being LGBTQ is not a special factor for admissions.
I would discourage you from applying “for fun” to colleges you cannot afford. I don’t think people find it fun to either get rejected, or get admitted but then cannot attend.
And speaking of which, I believe Swarthmore at most has full tuition merit scholarships (which are themselves incredibly unlikely), and that would still leave you at over $20K in cost of attendance.
If you want to take a swing at scholarships that might get you all the way to budget, you could look at Duke, Wake Forest, UNC, and NC State (it is a NC thing apparently). Providence also has a scholarship specifically for premeds (Roddy):
Villanova has a program for people from diverse backgrounds:
Since you are willing to consider smaller colleges, you might want to check out Washington and Lee (one of the most attainable), Richmond, Sewanee, and Davidson.
You want a medium to large college and won’t get aid. So why are Swat, Reed, and Kenyon (very rural) on your list. And Pitt, Drexel, etc your list is filled with schools that don’t meet your budget criteria. A few may - Vandy, as an example, if you win a full tuition scholarship.
Btw if you have Kenyon, you are better with W&L. It gives 10% of enrollees a full ride. It’s small but you can stumble down a hill into town.
I don’t know if SUNY Buffalo still has merit dollars but you can check; they have had a phenomenal honors program for premed, and you can possibly apply to the medical school.
Our eldest graduated from SUNY Buffalo with a degree in engineering and computer science. The school is vastly underrated. It’s located in the town of Amherst, just north of the city of Buffalo.
You’ll be on winter break when it snows, so you’ll miss that. Did I mention that we’re from California? She had a direct flight from San Diego to Buffalo on Southwest.
Ah ok, I had put Pitt into safety/likely just based on the chances of admission & generous merit aid but I didn’t know much about how much they’re really giving out.
Thank you for the compliments and recommendations!
@Wanbon491 you have a strong application! Congratulations on your hard work; it will payoff.
But now it’s time for some practical and mature reflection. College applications, at least good ones, take a lot of time. You have schools on your list that have zero chance of affordability so that’s a waste of time and money to work on those applications. Many full pay students must make these decisions to prioritize their efforts toward applications that are reasonable (for both admissions and affordability). Many premed students must look at saving on undergrad to have funds for med school. So you aren’t alone in having a budget that is less than what a financial aid office may calculate.
It’s great you have Bright Futures and reasonable options in FL. That’s fantastic and probably your most realistic options. That gives you the flexibility to reach for privates and OOS publics that have some chance of hitting your budget. You’ve already received some good suggestions from others. If OOS is a priority, look at some more assured options like Bama or Miss schools. If you’re willing to do the work for competitive scholarships, look at Duke, Vandy, WashU, UNC, UVA, Davidson, W&L, etc… just know they will not be affordable without the big scholarships. There are other great schools on your current list that will reliably offer you merit, but I don’t think enough to get to your budget of $15k.
So this is where you need to do some research and honest reflection and evaluate how your time is best spent. Once you submit the applications that have a chance of affordability, no matter how remote, if you still have steam in the engine then apply to Harvard etc… the ones that have no chance of affordability. If bragging rights mean that much to you, have at it, but don’t take time away from the applications that matter.
In essence: the environment at Swat drew me to apply there, I already signed up for an applicant program and told my counselor about Reed, and Kenyon has an (I think) good music scholarship that I planned to apply for.
I’d prefer a medium to large school, but it’s not important to me as long as they have a good amount of resources (like many medium to large schools do).
If you don’t mind, could you expand on those lists of colleges? I just want to figure out what I should keep and cut; I had a feeling that my list was bloated in some manner.
Ah, that’s fair. My parents want to test if they can get bragging rights over my acceptances, so I’m applying to those schools way later down the line to my serious ones. Though I might just cut those fun schools with the way things are looking now.
Vandy - Hail Mary - meaning you need a full tuition scholarship
UF
UCF
USF
That’s it - you don’t need St. Mary’s of Indiana…they may have your SAT but that’s no reason to apply there. A lot of schools get SATs - don’t you get all the free apps in the mail…that’s based on your SAT…if my kid applied to those that came in, it’d have been 50 schools.
What should you add:
In state - FSU which has a Healthcare LLC. It’s small but since you have small look at FAU Wilkes (only 500 kids - in Jupiter).
Out of State - a little high but Bama, Ole Miss, MIssissippi State come close to budget (Ole Miss might make) - and Bama has the McCullough Medical Scholars pre med program I posted above.
WUSTL, like Vandy, has a full ride - but again this is a hail mary. Same with Emory and Miami I believe.
My daughter goes to College of Charleston - and has 3 endowed scholarships and we get free tuition and money back ($2500 or so) - but Charleston is pricey to live - but it could work.
SMU has the Presidential full ride.
But again, these scholarships are all - likely little to no chance - but you can try knowing you’ll have a USF/UCF in the bag.
Forget the bragging - focus on putting in great apps where you’ll end up.
And it’s not a brag to say, I got into Harvard but went to UCF. In fact, most people will look at you like you’re delirious - although I, myself, would appreciate it!! But i’m not the norm.
Here’s my advice. Go for the big scholarship and don’t look back. If you’re planning for medical school, you’ll need all the debt savings you can get. That’s guaranteed money for college in writing.
Regarding BSMD programs…just don’t. College is a maturation process where students find their real passions through exploration. You don’t want to be stuck in a program you thought you wanted but found out later you like something else.
If you do decide medical school, you can get in from UCF, USF or UF, etc. Your best chance for medical school is in your home state. Graduating from an honors program is a tangible accomplishment you can put in a medical school application.
Not that I am suggesting you get in a big fight about it with your parents, but speaking as a parent, I think it is both immature and putting all the wrong sorts of pressure on kids for parents to see their college admissions as an opportunity for bragging rights.
College admissions SHOULD be about your kid getting the best possible combination of an education and four-year experience, subject to affordability and as appropriate for their individual talents and interests.
Using them instead as a way of comparing who has the better/best kid is . . . not good. Including because these colleges do not even pretend they are thinking that way themselves about admissions, so why should parents?
But anyway, just know that whatever your parents may think, you don’t have to buy into that.
Bragging rights are superfluous, especially if you need financial or merit aid. You will receive the same education at what your parents consider lesser schools, and if you’re planning on graduate school, the more money you have saved by going to a lower cost school will make your life a lot easier than spending more money on a prestigious school without financial or merit aid.
If you like the idea of Reed you might want to check out University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. It’s in a neighborhood similar to Reed but has a couple full ride scholarships you could apply for. It’s definitely a more liberal area with the school wanting to increase their diversity. Plus it has a music conservatory. I hear they have great premed advising. Reed is very much a fit school have you visited them?
Also make sure to pay attention to the deadline for the big scholarships. For instance, I believe you have to submit your application for the school and the scholarships by 12/1 for Vandy. I think for the Robertson (big scholarship at Duke & UNC), I think first deadline 11/15.
Do you know if your parents could be flexible on the 15k budget? Because that doesn’t even cover Room/board/books at many colleges.
Honors at UCF, FSU, UF are your best bets.
I don’t understand bragging rights in that context. They can’t brag you got in if they don’t let you attend. Their friends would be really puzzled and they’d lose the “benefit” of bragging.
Outside these options, you’d need so much merit - but since you like Kenyon, look into Mount Holyoke or Skidmore; seconding the North Carolina colleges&their scholarships and also Washington&Lee, I think you have a shot at the Johnson.
(StOlaf would be great for premed+music, but the highest merit scholarship doesn’t bring costs down to 15k. UPuget Sound might work.) Merit deadlines are fast approaching.
I’ve asked them about it & looked into it. They seem fine with paying insubordinate sums for me to attend Harvard and the like, but I know them to be frugal, med school to be expensive, and they may cut me off sometime in the next decade due to some personal stuff. It probably won’t happen, but I’d rather not be saddled with 250k in undergraduate debt because I attended a school presuming my parents would support me and they didn’t.
I’m going to be honest, I barely looked into Kenyon beyond its scholarships & rankings (it seemed like a waste to not apply to a school with a large music scholarship). I do still like it, but it’s not a really big thing for me. Thank you for the college matches though! I do like Washington & Lee by the looks of it.
: Harvard, Columbia
Merit deadlines are fast approaching.