I don’t think we will qualify for need based aid, but I am trying to find merit aid where I can. As for SUNY schools, I have not, but I will definitely start looking at them now.
With scholarships and/or loans, I plan to help out.
With a $50K budget you’ll have plenty of affordable options. Don’t take loans out for undergrad if you are planning on med school.
Don’t waste your time applying to schools that are above your budget.
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Ok, so it looks like Cornell and JHU aren’t affordable…but Cornell is closer to budget and if you took the $5,500 Federal student loan for first year it would be close to affordable. Show these numbers to your parents, and do the NPCs for all your schools.
If your parents have to take out loans to pay $50K per year, they shouldn’t do that. Med school is very expensive, and generally 100% funded with student loans so it is imperative to minimize undergrad loans (or take none).
Brown and Swat academics are so very different. Swat is an intensely academic school, one that generally I don’t recommend for pre-meds because it’s difficult to earn a high GPA. Same for JHU. Brown has an open curriculum, and does not have grade deflation so can be a good choice for pre-meds…but it is a high reach.
Regarding Caldwell…why is that on the list? Does the religious aspect appeal to you? I took a look and can’t see that they have pre-health advisers, and if that is the case, I would encourage you to take it off the list.
It sounds like Rutgers is probably a highly likely admit for you, and will be affordable…does your HS use Naviance? If so, does it show Rutgers as a likely admit for you?
You have received a number of good school suggestions so far…do some research on these schools and some virtual admission sessions to see if any appeal. Run their NPCs too.
I sense a bit of contradiction - you’ve got Brown, Swarthmore, and Colgate, etc. but then you say tri-state area which I take to mean in the immediate NYC area (NY, NJ, CT) - and not upstate.
So you need to clarify that first - because many you mentioned aren’t in the tri-state area.
Also, if your Net price for Cornell is in the 50s - they are saying you’ll get some aid. They should have provided you amount of how much - about $20K.
But again, you can find “merit” aid - and go to school for less.
The first thing is - really clarifying - do you want to be close to home or being 4 or 5 hours is ok?
Also, if you want to be “in the city” then maybe look at NYC schools - from NYU to CUNY - or Philly schools such as Penn, Drexel, Temple…which aren’t far from home.
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If you plan on the med school route, you need to look at costs first and keeping undergrad costs as inexpensively as possible. Just because your parents are giving you a $50,000 budget doesn’t mean you need to spend all of that $50,000. And is that per year or is that total? Any school in any large city will work. It’s what you do at that school that will impress the admissions officers at the med schools.
I would suggest NOT majoring in biology and or public health because the job outlook for bio majors and PH is really weak. What if you don’t get into med school? A lot of students do not get into med school; it happens more often than not. There just isn’t the space, or, your GPA or MCAT score doesn’t meet the standard.
(Students tend to forget that there are some really academically “strong” undergraduate students competing for med school. Just because you’re a star in high school, does not mean that you will be the star at your university. The competition at a university is even worse when you find out that 500 others are competing with you for a med school spot.)
There are thousands of bio majors who have difficulty in finding jobs after being denied admission to Med schools.
Our daughter who just graduated from UCSF, had an expensive and competitive school experience. She completed her undergrad at UC Davis. In her Davis science program, there were 1000 other graduates, with a large number applying to med school. That was at one UC in a Spring season. Fortunately, because she took advantage of every opportunity available to her at her large undergrad, she was admitted to UCSF’s program.
At UCSF, we paid for her educational expenses, as well as her rent/expenses. Expenses continually occur and add up, like lab coats, stethoscopes, sturdy but comfortable $300-$500 shoes, etc. Also some medical programs don’t provide health insurance. She was fortunate that hers did and still covers her. That’s important because you will become ill, at some point. Good health insurance is no joking matter. It’s expensive if you’re not covered.
Her 5 initial roommates were at all levels of med school. They were all on loans, loans, and more loans.
Find a program in a large city that you would like to experience. Make sure it’s very affordable and take advantage of what the city has to offer you for your medical school experience. (Our eldest went to SUNY Buffalo, on a scholarship, intending to go to med school.) The SUNY school system has really good post undergrad med opportunities. Our daughter ended up in engineering, because she found out that she really liked math as well as, biotech and bio engineering classes. The SUNY schools are very underrated, but provide a really good education for New York residents. SUNY’s are not really in the tri-state area but the opportunities in those cities are pretty good.
Look for an inexpensive undergraduate experience because you will need money when you are volunteering. You won’t be able to really work, given how hard the materials are for studying in this field, and the group labs.
Unfortunately, yes.
I thought they did, but seeing as it is otherwise, it is now off my list. I’m going to alter my first post to show some of my other targets and safeties.
Yes, Rutgers has been shown to be a likely admit for me.
Oooh, okay thank you! I plan on completing a spreadsheet of colleges I’m applying to, and then showing it to them.
Please don’t change your first post. Folks have responded to it as is.do a new post that explains your updated list and then list it. Please.
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By tri-state area, I mean around NY, NJ, and CT as a whole. Sorry for not clarifying that earlier. I also think that eastern Pennsylvania schools are also an option. I understand that Carnegie Mellon is one of the schools that are farthest from me, however. As far as schools that fit my interests, I know that JHU is a little farther away, but they have a lot of what I want in a school, so they are on my list. Being 4-5 hours from home is okay.
Thank you! I haven’t looked at CUNY, as yet. However, I definitely will be! I will also be looking for as much merit aid as I can.
Okay! Thank you - will do!
Just wanted to say thank you for all of your advice!
Per year!
What do you recommend majoring in then? Thank you, I didn’t know this.
Thank you! I do plan to look further at the SUNY schools.
If you are strong in any of the math areas I would suggest that you major in something near Math because you’ll be very employable if for some reason you don’t get into med school.
My eldest developed pneumonia in the spring of her 2nd year at SUNY and she was out of school for three weeks. Her GPA tanked because she missed crucial group projects and labs which just couldn’t be made up. Although she had written proof from the hospital, they couldn’t reschedule her group labs and projects in several classes. For Med School your GPA has to be perfect. Yes she had a strong GPA, and had proof, but she found that she received more support in her math and engineering classes.
You don’t know what will happen in your four years of undergrad; the unexpected is more often than not. Look at what happened with Covid; numbers of students did not expect to be leaving their universities and going to Zoom courses. Go as inexpensively as possible because later on those dollars will be needed.
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Two of my daughters with similar stats (3.9 UGPA, 7/9 AP’s, 33/34 act) applied to several public northeast schools and got enough merit to bring a lot down to around $35,000 a year (which is pretty much how much Rutgers costs and they gave nothing). UCONN, UMASS Amherst, Temple, SUNY Bing ($29000) - Saint Joe’s in Philadelphia was the highest award by far. Pitt and UMD were not generous.
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Thank you! I will definitely keep this in mind.
I’ve actually been thinking about UConn. Thank you for your suggestions!
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You should consider applying to Dickinson College. It is a small liberal arts school in Pennsylvania that places great emphasis on community service and the college’s relationship with Carlisle, the local town. Dickinson has excellent science programs and a pre-med program with a strong track record of getting students into medical school. With your stats, you would likely receive merit aid, which would help you save for medical school later.
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This site supports the inclusion of some of your current choices:
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That’s a 2-guy shop for admission consulting.
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Add Marist.
Is Marist College good for pre-med?
Since 1999, our pre-med students have enjoyed a 78 percent rate of acceptance to medical schools, compared to a nationwide average of less than half that rate.
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Thank you! I will definitely keep this in mind, wow.
I’ll take a deeper look at it!
Thank you! I’ll definitely look deeper into this as well!
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