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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So haven’t read all the other comments and I’m sure you’ve gotten similar:

  1. You’ll need to go TO - but I worry about a kid dreading a test, and then wanting medical school. That makes me think about the LECOM list that we’ve learned about from @momsearcheng whos student goes to Rhodes. You’re set up for automatic med school admission if you meet the criteria because if you’re uncomfortable with an SAT/ACT, how will you be with an MCAT? I’ve linked the LECOM school list below.

  2. You named a lot of high end schools and these are $80K + a year and medical school is expensive- and it’s not necessary to go to these schools. So can you afford them and medical school? Or if you have need - you need to ensure you do.

  3. Early decision will be your friend - but then you are binding yourself (assuming they meet the price point the NPCs show).

I think your list is reach heavy and unnecessary. But as along as you have an assured and affordable admission, where you apply doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, the “reach” list you have isn’t an assured admission nor an assured affordable school.

So Miami will be a safety - so with that - you’re good. But Honors will not be a safety!!

Cincinnati will be a safety - and sounds like you like it.

Denison - a match or slight reach - but like the others - can you afford it? Same with Kenyon.

UDayton - will be a safety - if you can get the money (will be good merit). They are on the LECOM list I posted below - so med school without the MCAT.

If you seek an LAC, and if your need component doesn’t work out, you need to downshift in selectivity to those who spend more buying students - such as Kalamazoo, Beloit, Depauw, Hobart, Hartwick and more. I hear good things about Ohio Wesleyan (also on the LECOM list) and Wooster may come in ok financially. So they may be worth checking out in addition to Kenyon and Denison - as you’ll need to qualify for need at those but may have a better chance of big merit at these other names.

The same with the mid size schools - the likelihood of admittance to those you listed is likely very low as they are all very competitive, and like it or not, the test is becoming increasingly important today (even if a school remains TO).- but perhaps a Butler, College of New Jersey, St. Josephs, Marist, Ithaca, Elon, Denver and others would be likely substitutes - but again, money could then be the issue.

There are other schools that could/would meet budget (yes, in south) but you aren’t interested - so in addition to Miami and Cincy, you might look at some SUNY schools (Geneseo seems to be popular on here and Binghamton or Buffalo for bigger meet cost). Then there are more regional schools like Millersville and West Chester in PA or Southern Illinois or Western Carolina that will meet budget.

Hopefully you can figure out the financial situation and please review the link below.

Good luck.

LECOM-AFFILIATED-COLLEGES-AND-UNIVERSITIES-3-4-24.pdf

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Obviously if the student isn’t interested in the deep South, Bama (or UAH for midsize) won’t work.

But to OP - basically they buy top students and that’s why they are often mentioned.

In your student’s case, tuition would be (based on current rates) about $8K after $24K off (given the 30 ACT)- so all in mid-20s.

And they have a special pre-med program although I don’t know how competitive it is to get.

You noted in your message the deep south isn’t right for your student so I didn’t go there - but this is why this one is mentioned. There would be “ample” schools in the south - TN, AL, Florida, etc. that would meet your budget but as I showed above and you already noted, you have similar opportunities at home (although I’m unsure that Honors would happen - at least at Miami).

Good luck.

McCollough Scholars – Pre-Medical Studies at the University of Alabama (ua.edu)

Out-of-State Freshman Scholarships – Afford (ua.edu)

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Personally, I’d skip the Ohio State tour and just ensure he applies. It’s on the common app and they don’t consider demonstrated interest in their admissions decisions. It’s important that their application is completed by their EA deadline (submit in plenty of time for transcripts/any test scores to arrive as well) and review these links Who gets in - Columbus campus first-years - The Ohio State University, Merit-based scholarships - The Ohio State University, Frequently Asked Questions | Honors and Scholars Center Admitted student tours are much more informative and fun.

I’d reconsider Ohio University. If med school is on the table minimizing undergrad costs are important and they have very good merit. They also offer strong honors and other cohort experiences and they have a medical school. Athens is arguably the best college town in Ohio.

Review what University of Toledo which also has a lot of automatic merit based on gpa and test score and a med school could offer, too.

The other schools I’d investigate at this stage are those that have an early assurance program with Neomed. https://www.neomed.edu/medicine/admissions/paths/early-assurance/ Hiram offers a lot of merit aid and is also on the list of the Colleges that Change Lives. https://ctcl.org

And obviously keep Cincinnati and Miami on the list. Hopefully, those work out for you, too. Ohio State beat them on budget when my kids applied.

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He might be interested in this program at Wright State. I’m not sure how competitive it is.

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To clarify…LECOM is a DO school. Aspiring doctors can either go to DO or MD schools.

And to the OP…ALL of the tests in medical school (and they never seem to end) are not optional.

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My S24 with a 4.0 and 12 APs got excellent merit from Dayton, and I remember thinking it would still be close to 50K. We didn’t like the school anyway, so it was a nonissue.
UK is not throwing the merit at kids like they did a few years ago.

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Check out Centre College.

Has some merit scholarships, including for music and foreign language.

Sophomore year, has an Early Assurance program with University of Kentucky College of Medicine Northern Kentucky campus.

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Re: retaking the ACT – is there a reason that your son hasn’t taken the SAT? Students usually do better on one or the other; and it could be that he might do better on the SAT than the ACT.

Re: applying to Vanderbilt – look at Section C7 and Sections C9-C11 on Vandy’s Common Data Set for information on how Vandy weighs various academic and non-academic admissions factors, as well as GPAs and test scores for matriculating students (you might get a rough idea of admissions chances based on how your son compares).

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I don’t think Vandy or Notre Dame will happen for an unhooked student outside the top 10% of their HS class. And since they will be unaffordable, why apply? He should go TO at both, if he does apply.

CWRU Class of 2027 ACT 25/75 range was 32-35, so TO there as well. https://case.edu/ir/sites/default/files/2024-03/CDS%20-%20CWRU_2023-24.pdf

CWRU will be highly unlikely to get to $40K. COA is $85K for 2024-2025, and max merit is less than $40K.

Big picture…why visit or apply to schools that you know will be unaffordable? There are so many good choices that may meet your budget…focus on those. Lots of good schools mentioned so far that could work.

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Lots of great and informative comments. Really appreciate it. A few clarifications.

  1. He took the ACT twice and is bummed with his score. After visiting Kenyon today I think he wants to try again. All of his practice tests were much higher so I think he’s just disappointed. He is also very fact based analytical and usually does very well on tests, so I think an MCAT style test would likely be more in his wheel house than an esoteric test like the ACT. Having taking the LSAT and Bar, it seems it would be a similar dynamic.

As of today, his list in order is Miami, Cincinnati, Kenyon, Denison. He would be happy at any of those. But, adding a couple of reaches seems appropriate. I know, and he knows, there is a chance is doesn’t get into any reach, or he gets in and the cost doesn’t work.

Regarding cost, if he was only doing four years, our budget would be higher. But, given the cost of med school (or grad school, or some other post UG program) we are trying to limit the burn in UG. Since Miami and UC with no help would be $35k / Yr, and he would be happy at those, that is how we created the benchmark of $35 / $40k per year. If Case or Vandy accept and are slightly higher we can discuss if the cost is worth it. It’s more about value and all in cost over possibly 6-8 years versus actual budget limitations. I guess the open question is whether a more expensive UG school is worth it before med school. I’ve read conflicting opinions, but the majority said to keep UG costs low.

Regarding the south, I think it’s a combination of being too far from home, too much party atmosphere, too much frat life, and in Bama’s case too big. But knows. None of Cinci, Miami, Denison or Kenyon were on his list until I made him visit. Dayton and Xavier were on his list but were dropped after we visited. But, I need to review the LECOM list.

In short, I think the question is, are there schools that are better than UC and Miami he could get into without a significant cost increase.

FYI, when I run the NPC for CWRU they show $35k of aid. That puts it at roughly $50k before student loans. We have around $60k in 529 for him and budgeted $15k OOP per year (so roughly $30k / year). We could make $50k work, but we would have to decide if a school like CWRU was worth $50k vs Miami or UC at $35.

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The question is for pre - med is a CWRU better than a Miami that it’s worth spending more?

You can always apply - and worry about that later if they come in?

If Miami and Cincy are safe and affordable, the rest of the list doesn’t matter. But - I don’t think Honors was likely at Miami and you noted interest in that.

There are other schools - mid size - cheap and yes South - like a UTC or UAH - maybe you throw in an app and if you make a trip to see (they’re not far), great - and if not, no harm.

But in the end, if he’s good with Miami and Cincy - the rest of the list doesn’t matter.

But if he wants Dennison and Kenyon - there are many LACs in the midwest that will give you a much better “merit” deal…much better…so why those two specifically?

To get lower costs, you have to go lower pedigree - Juniata, Susquehana, Ohio Wesleyan, Beloit, Kalamazoo, etc. and more. Or a public like SUNY Geneseo, etc. and there are others.

Many believe they’re going to hit a need # because they do an NPC but then get the offer and it costs more than they thought - because an entry was off or something like home equity catches you.

So you want to find those schools that are most likely to hit a cost…without need.

Good luck.

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D24 applied to Miami this year with a 4.4 weighted, 33 ACT, and a variety of ECs with leadership roles. They offered her a really nice scholarship that brought the (OOS) cost down to the mid 20s…and then rejected her for honors.

Based on her experience, I would be cautious of considering honors to be a safety. There were obviously other factors in play for honors that didn’t affect her merit aid (maybe essays, or possibly honors were over represented in her major, we never really figured it out).

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College Navigator lists average net price numbers paid for private schools by different income brackets. State schools list these for their in state students. The numbers are for prior years but can be useful for some ballpark comparison between schools. At the end of the day you won’t pay an average price, you will pay based on the very specific offer made to your student from the college they attend.

Kenyon College Navigator - Kenyon College

AVERAGE NET PRICE BY INCOME 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022
$0 – $30,000 $14,958 $13,244 $17,808
$30,001 – $48,000 $18,974 $15,601 $17,325
$48,001 – $75,000 $20,727 $18,962 $20,493
$75,001 – $110,000 $27,798 $27,334 $28,824
$110,001 and more $48,306 $44,020 $51,597

CWRU College Navigator - Case Western Reserve University

AVERAGE NET PRICE BY INCOME 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022
$0 – $30,000 $16,063 $18,240 $16,010
$30,001 – $48,000 $15,570 $20,149 $17,541
$48,001 – $75,000 $19,864 $21,047 $22,653
$75,001 – $110,000 $29,971 $30,752 $32,824
$110,001 and more $43,692 $47,859 $47,824

Hiram College Navigator - Hiram College

AVERAGE NET PRICE BY INCOME 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022
$0 – $30,000 $15,364 $15,284 $14,455
$30,001 – $48,000 $15,266 $13,778 $14,589
$48,001 – $75,000 $17,993 $15,208 $14,973
$75,001 – $110,000 $21,738 $19,075 $19,511
$110,001 and more $29,041 $24,996 $25,074

Wooster College Navigator - The College of Wooster

AVERAGE NET PRICE BY INCOME 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022
$0 – $30,000 $12,636 $13,382 $14,697
$30,001 – $48,000 $17,111 $13,744 $17,220
$48,001 – $75,000 $21,438 $17,792 $21,865
$75,001 – $110,000 $25,909 $24,202 $27,263
$110,001 and more $32,223 $30,187 $32,373

Miami University College Navigator - Miami University-Oxford

AVERAGE NET PRICE BY INCOME 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022
$0 – $30,000 $13,956 $14,029 $16,970
$30,001 – $48,000 $16,062 $16,432 $18,309
$48,001 – $75,000 $23,513 $22,742 $23,621
$75,001 – $110,000 $26,704 $25,772 $25,398
$110,001 and more $27,948 $28,471 $26,610

Cincinnati College Navigator - University of Cincinnati-Main Campus

AVERAGE NET PRICE BY INCOME 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022
$0 – $30,000 $15,061 $14,344 $12,066
$30,001 – $48,000 $15,966 $16,397 $13,815
$48,001 – $75,000 $20,867 $19,980 $20,258
$75,001 – $110,000 $24,534 $24,209 $25,042
$110,001 and more $25,253 $25,019 $25,710

Ohio State College Navigator - Ohio State University-Main Campus

AVERAGE NET PRICE BY INCOME 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022
$0 – $30,000 $7,068 $7,759 $6,956
$30,001 – $48,000 $8,581 $8,932 $8,402
$48,001 – $75,000 $13,273 $14,619 $13,620
$75,001 – $110,000 $21,575 $22,494 $22,528
$110,001 and more $24,870 $26,051 $26,186
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I’m not sure this is entirely true. @WayOutWestMom

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I am not sure that I understand the reasoning behind the MCAT being a better test for him than the ACT (MCAT is more in his wheelhouse).

My suggestion is to put medical school to the side and keep the focus on finding colleges that he likes, where he stands a good chance of acceptance, and that you can afford. Once he has this list you can begin to add reaches. But…the focus should be on affordable safety and likely schools. Vandy is a big reach …and imo Case is a reach- a lesser reach, but still a reach. Apply if he wants- but do not focus on these schools. Apply TO to Case Western.

You asked if a more expensive undergrad school is “worth it” before med school. My answer is as follows: almost any school in the country will get him to med school. A more expensive school is not the golden ticket- that’s on him. Also- do not underestimate the strength of the premed students at his safety schools (not saying you are).

Your son is still in HS and med school (or some type of grad school) is quite a few years away. I would take this one step at a time.

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I’m not following your comment here. Are you suggesting that some of the safety schools like UC or Miami have a stronger premed student population and thus be a harder program do to competition? I really have put no thought into other students. I know some schools get very competitive and that can be a challenge on the social aspects of college, but I’ve not put any weight to that. Or, are you commenting on the difficulty to get a higher GPA? I’ve struggled to really figure out how to determine which schools would be “deflationary” to use an oft used comment. It seems the opinions vary enough to make the concept not worth chasing.

I appreciate that med school is a ways off and he may not make it there or might decided to go into something entirely different. That is also why I’m trying to ensure any UG school would be a good place for him in case he pivots. But … while it certainly is possible to get to med school from any UG and to decide that later, every single admissions person we spoke to said that if that is a goal to start with that goal in mind from day one.

Regarding Case, I think their stats are off a bit based on out of state kids who missed Ivy. We know quite a few kids locally with quite a bit lower profiles than my son who got accepted. Some went and some didn’t based on price. My son has a friend who is a freshmen there now who had very similar scores, including ACT, but less ECs and less rigorous classes, so while I appreciate that it’s a reach, I think he has a fair shot to get in.

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Thanks for the data point. That’s interesting to hear. We are IS for Miami, and I know that outside the few very competitive scholarships they don’t offer a ton to reduce instate tuition. So, I’m working on the assumption we would pay full rate.

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We have visited and he (and I) really liked the schools and programs. He preferred Kenyon, I preferred Denison (not that my opinion matters). I’ll look at some others, but I know some have unique issues. We visited Albion and their financial mess is a concern so I vetoed that one. I know Kalamazoo well, and I’m not sure I’d let him go there. A few of the smaller LACs in Ohio are struggling. A few are too focused on politics as in Oberlin and Hillsdale. We were supposed to visit Hillsdale and after a Zoom with admissions crossed them off the list. Many LACs lack much in the way of real science backgrounds or options, and thus a smaller research school like Miami or UC might be better even though it’s larger than he really wanted. I’m looking into Wright State and Wooster.

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I don’t mean anything other than very strong students attend safety schools all the time.

He may very well get into Case. I just hesitate to call it a target.

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I will say…premed students at all colleges will be a strong group. Your student needs to choose a college where they will do well, be happy (happy students do better than unhappy ones), that has a variety of majors in case the students changes their mind, and is affordable without loans in case med school does happen.

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