Match Me: Ohio 2025 Grad, Bio-Premed [3.87 / 4.36, 30 ACT, <$35-40k, need based aid unlikely]

Chance Me / Match Me
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White male, US / Ohio citizen.
Current junior at a highly rated public high school.
Pre-Med with major in Bio / Biochem, minor in Spanish, ideally minor or time to participate in band/music/jazz band. Possible other minor in related science field. Will likely to Ph.D. if med school doesn’t work out. Having a school without a ton of first and second required course would be ideal so he has time to focus on minors, pre-med, band options.

Current Jr Yr UW GPA: 3.87
Current Jr Yr W GPA: 4.36
Class Rank: School only informs the top 10% and he is just outside that. Possible top 10% after Jr year.
ACT 30. ACT Superscore of 31. Debating but dreading taking it again.

Coursework
Will have 5 APs by end of Jr year and 10 by end of Sr year.
AP includes Euro History; Calc AB; Chem; Gov; Physics for Jr Year. Sr year include Physc; Stats; Bio; Spanish; Language.
Honors includes Band (twice) English 11, Spanish IV, Chem; Bio; Algebra 2; US History.
5 years of Spanish (including a summer independent study).
Planning a semester study abroad in Spain or S. America.

Awards
Eagle Scout
10 years in Scouts and virtually every leadership role.
Attended Philmont Trek.
4 years of band in HS, 8 total. 1st chair in the top bank and top Jazz Band. Several awards and honors band selections. Several leadership roles. Plays Tenor Sax, Alto, Bass Clarinet, Clarinet, piano and guitar.
National Honors Society

Extracurriculars
Scouts (see above). Has hundreds of volunteer hours with Scouts in HS, including his Eagle Project, helping on other Eagle projects, numerous hours with veteran orgs.
Band (see above)
Certified Lifeguard and worked as a Lifeguard the last three years memorial day to labor day.
Two shadowing programs. One with an ICU doc and one with a physical therapy doc totaling 55 hours. Another shadow setup for a week full time this summer at an ER, and another next school year at a IVF practice.

Essays/LORs/Other
None yet, but essays are his weakness. He is a math / science mind and writing in a non-analytical way is a struggle.

Cost Constraints / Budget
Ideally under $35 / 40k per year since he will continue beyond UG (med school or Ph.D.).
He will not receive any “need based” except maybe from the high priced privates, so would need merit based or scholarships to help with costs.

Schools
Main target is Case Western. Would need financial help. Really likes the vibe and the student population and the proximity to hospitals. He is anti-party atmosphere (at least right now).

Reaches:
Vanderbilt (seems not likely to me, but we will let him try - would need financial help)
Notre Dame, maybe. Would need financial help.
U of Rochester. Maybe (unsure of the cold / snow). Would need financial help.
Maybe one more to be identified.

Likely / safeties.

  • Miami Ohio Honors Program. Affordable. Seems likely to get at least a bit of merit funds. Likes the Honors program and the pre-med staff, decent fun activities (watching sports) and great rec center. Dislikes that is a heavy party / frat school. Loves the campus.
  • Cincinnati. Affordable Likes the pre-med setup, the tie into the med school for classes, and the hospitals nearby. Likes the campus setup and options for fun activities (watch sports games, decent rec center). Unsure about the size and party scene.
  • Denison. Likes the smaller campus, but not sure about the pre-med focus, clinicals opportunities, and tiny town. Would need financial help.
  • Kenyon, maybe. visiting tomorrow.
  • U of Dayton. Maybe. Liked the campus and students and housing options. Unsure on Dayton for pre-med and heavy science focus.

Not considering.

  • OSU. He won’t even go visit, but I might make him. Thinks it is way too big.
  • Xavier. We visited and he liked it okay, but didn’t feel they are a good option for a heavy science focus or pre-med.
  • Ohio U. Seems like Cincinnati and Miami are better options so no need to look at OU.
  • MSU (sadly). Same as OSU.
  • Mich. Unsure if he will visit, but doesn’t seem interested, and OOS tuition is a big issue.
  • Albion. We visited and I vetoed it. Only school I gave a real opinion on.
  • Kentucky. Loved the campus and dorms, but all else being the same thinks Cincinnati and Miami are better options, and very similar to UK.

In summary, if he gets into Case and it’s under $40k that’s likely the end of the though process, unless he also gets into Vandy then there is a decision to make. If he doesn’t, he is wide open and trying to figure out other options to look at. We started discussing other highly selective schools, but I’m not sure the 30 ACT is enough to get in at most of those programs. Does not have to be midwest, but he won’t consider the far south, west coast, Texas, etc. It was all I could do to get him looking outside of Ohio.

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Have you used the NPC for Vandy, Case, and Rochester? These schools are very costly.

I would put Case Western into the reach category with the others. It’s not as reachy as Vandy, but it is not a target imo. His ACT score is below the 25th % and the acceptance rate at Case is 27%. Apply…but I would consider it a reach.

Given the possibility of med school/grad school combined with a $35,000 a year budget, the best bet will be your instate schools. I would also look at Alabama - but I know he doesn’t want the south. Take a look at the smaller SUNY schools- many are targets and will come in at your price point (SUNY Geneseo, New Paltz, Oneonta).

As far as a PhD if med school does not work out…that is a long haul filled with lots of stress. I would take it one step at a time.

For now I would just focus on finding affordable schools. He can be premed at almost any school. Congrats on Eagle Scout!

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Adding to this. I would suggest focusing on an undergrad school. Find a place with options in case he is one of the very high %age of entering premeds who drop that idea. I’m suggesting that premed be left out of the equation because he can take the required courses for medical school admissions at just about every four year college in this country, arts conservatories excluded.

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Thanks for the comment. I sort of did the NPC’s but I have a small business and really wont know AGI for a couple of months yet. Based on estimates, I’ll be slightly over the price tag but maybe close enough for the right fit otherwise.

Mom is a PhD so they had discussions about it. He is a science kid, so pretty much any science is going to require some post-grad extra study. The focus on schools is part, which have the resources to help you get to med school, and part, which have great science programs in case you don’t go to med school. With of course his view on school size, fun, population, etc.

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If the reach schools are affordable there is no reason not to apply, but I would focus on safety and target schools. Those are the schools he needs to get excited about.

You are right to think about what he would do if med school does not pan out. IMO a PhD is not a plan B.

Does he want a career in health care?

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With an ACT of 30/31, would you recommend not reporting to Case? Vandy I think he definitely would not. RU I’m not sure as we have not focused on that school enough yet.

Why Alabama vs Cincinnati or Kentucky? Our thoughts were that even if other OOS, state schools offer enough to bring the cost down similar to Cinci or Miami, there wouldn’t be a lot of reason to not pick Cinci or Miami. I.E. Kentucky he liked fine, and they have great campus, but otherwise they seem similar to Cinci and Miami as far as his ability to get a good education so we struggled to decided why he would pick UK over UC/Miami. It would be different if he got into a “better” school. Maybe I’m not thinking about it completely.

Any other schools you think he should consider?

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Is Case test optional?

Cincinnati and Kentucky are perfectly good options, imo. Will he consider those schools? Are you saying that they give merit to OOS kids?

All of these schools will provide an excellent education for premeds/prehealth.

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He is interested in health care. He is looking into becoming an EMT this summer (he turns 18 this summer). But, he does not want to be a nurse, or a vet, or a dentist. Maybe he could become a P.A. He’s though is medical research so it’s still med field and patient centered.

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Alabama seems to be a default suggestion for large merit scholarships for stats on these forums, although it sometimes gets suggested even when it is otherwise not a good match for the student’s preferences.

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There are various other health care professions like physical therapists and occupational therapists. It is not just physician or nurse.

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There is a lot going on here. I am confused about Kentucky given his preferences.

I am also confused about a PhD given his interest in health care. Also- that is not a plan B. I suggest taking a look at some of the healthcare options and seeing if any are of interest.

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Cinci is instate and around $30k all in. So that is an easy yes. He will get into Cinci, hopefully also into honors. Miami he will get into and it is around $35 all in. UK does give generous merit scholarships, including to OOS to make it more like instate, so roughly the same cost. Any of those three seem like fine choices to round out a good set of target / safeties. I personally like Cinci better, but he likes Miami (in spite of it’s party vibe).

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Sorry that I’m being confusing. Kentucky is like an hour south of Cincinnati, so not that far south from where we are at in N.E. Ohio. Despite not wanting to go South, he would love to get to Vandy, even though that’s a stretch.

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I would suggest your son look at this site. He may find some other patient centered field of interest. Good for those plan B!

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You might want to check this program at University of Alabama before you totally rule it out.

https://mccolloughscholars.as.ua.edu/

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My kids with similar stats/budget stayed in state. My kids with higher stats/same budget who wanted oos applied pretty much to safeties where they would be top students in order to get enough merit to bring it closer to $35,000 act 33 and 34). Their highest awards were from UMAss Amherst, temple, Saint joes, SUNY Bing, URI, UNH, UDel (where one went) - I think all were $30,000+. Unfortunately they wanted east coast. My UDel graduate was in health sciences and is now at BU. Many of their acceptances did not come with enough merit to make it possible.

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Will your son go to the northeast? If yes, the smaller suny schools will come in at your budget. Cinci is a great school btw.

I know he doesn’t want Alabama, but I agree about looking at the program that was posted.

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If you’re having a hard time getting your son open to visiting schools outside of Ohio, have you looked into more of the Ohio privates?

  • Oberlin
  • Ohio Wesleyan
  • College of Wooster

The three above, especially Oberlin, are pretty heavy-hitting when it comes to people who went on to earn a PhD in biological sciences. John Carroll and Wittenberg would also be worth a gander. (I also peeked at the chemistry & physics PhD lists…source for info is here.)

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Broadening the scope behind Ohio, here are some schools that are in neighboring states to Ohio that your son may want to consider.

  • Allegheny PA ): About 1400 undergrads

  • Calvin (MI): About 3k undergrads and has stronger ties to its religious affiliation than many other universities with religious affiliations

  • Duquesne (PA ): About 5100 undergrads

  • Hope (MI): About 3300 undergrads

  • Indiana U. of Pennsylvania: About 7k undergrads

  • Juniata (PA ): About 1200 undergrads

  • Kalamazoo (MI): About 1200 undergrads

  • Millersville U. of PA: About 5800 undergrads

  • U. of Scranton (PA ): About 3600 undergrads

  • Ursinus (PA ): About 1500 undergrads

If your son is willing to extend a little further, here are some additional schools that he may want to consider:

  • Clarkson (NY): About 2700 undergrads

  • Illinois Wesleyan: About 1500 undergrads

  • Ithaca (NY): About 4600 undergrads

  • Knox (IL): About 1100 undergrads

  • Lawrence (WI): About 1400 undergrads

  • Loyola Chicago (IL): About 12k undergrads

  • Marquette (WI): About 7500 undergrads

  • SUNY Fredonia (NY): About 3200 undergrads

  • SUNY Geneseo (NY): About 4100 undergrads

  • Wheaton (IL): About 2200 undergrads and has stronger ties to its religious affiliation than many other universities with religious affiliations

For all of the schools listed, I think your son would stand a decent to excellent shot of getting the school within budget via merit aid and/or list prices. With that said, you are very fortunate to have excellent in-state public options, and I don’t think your son can go wrong if he chooses one of them.

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Thank you. I’ll look into those and pass them on to him.

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