My S is going into his senior year. He eventually wants to go to medical school – trying to avoid undergrad loans.
Looking for strong merit scholarships.
NO NEED AID: White/ Middle class family - two income parents.
STATS:
Core 40 with Academic and Technical Honors Diploma
ACT Score: 34 SAT Score: 1500
Weighted GPA: 11.48 Simple GPA: 10.41
Class Rank: 47/522 (top 10)
ADVANCED COURSEWORK:
PLTW: Principals of Biomedical Science, Honors Human Body Systems, Honors Medical Intervention,
Intro to Engineering and Design
Honors: Anatomy, Physiology, Algebra II, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, English
AP: English, Calculus based Physics: Mechanics, Calculus AB, Biology
Honors Dual Credit: American History
Co-op: Senior year with Orthopedic Manufacturing Company for three periods
MISC:
Volunteered at local hospital for a year
Works at a pharmacy
Assistant Math Coach for academic super bowl / Private tutor for pre-calculus
Assorted sports and activities
We visited Johns Hopkins U and Washington U St Louis. Even acceptance into these schools is tight, much less a sizable merit award. We have some great college options here in INDIANA but he wants to spread his wings.
The college doesn’t need to be top 20, but a RATED college would be nice.
Maybe a merit scholarship that would keep tuition at 10 K or under.
Is that possible?
If that 3.4 is an UW GPA without any kid of caveat from you, it may be a hurdle for big merit. As he s top 10% one assumes there is some explanation? Does the school profile adequately indicate this? Some merit is just straightforward stats based that the 3.4 just won't satisfy whatever the rank.
$15k tuition + Room/Board/Books/Transportation is our budget
I agree about the GPA. Grades pulled down by his easiest subjects, like Health class.
Good suggestions. You have several colleges I need to look into.
It seems you are staying within the top 50.
Do you think medical schools would prefer that?
What if he headed to Eastern Tennessee State in the honors college?
Is it my imagination or is Biomedical the hot new major?
Kids can apply to medical school with educations at any college. The MCAT score and GPA, and LOR and significant medically related volunteer or work experience will be the first cut. That will get the student an interview…after that…it’s up to the student to get through the door.
You don’t have to go to a top 20 college to get into medical school.
Consider a co-op program at Northeastern University. Co-op also offered at WPI and probably RPI and RIT. Merit for no need not likely. Look at the Common Data Sets for these schools. Top 10% is very normal. It adds a year but reduces cost while adding educational value.
If serious about med school, why go to those grinders
Med schools will not care. East Tennessee State is fine
Biomedical engineering is a hot major because it has a sexy name. Many Premeds wrongly think that med schools are going to be so impressed by the major and that will be their ticket to Med school.
The truth is, engineering is such a difficult major, that many end up with GPAs that are not med school worthy.
Thanks for the information above. Spent last few hours on Common Data Sets.
Gave me a more realistic outlook.
Aid starts with brisk handouts to financial need & athletics
And the little that is left goes to merit scholarships, and it is less then I realized.
You are right about the visits.
It’s like window-shopping because even if you are accepted it has to be tied to a merit award.
My daughter got more in merit aid than athletic aid. Some schools have quite a bit of aid, but they might not be in the area you like (some are in the south, or west, or southwest). They may not have the prestige. When you are looking for money, something’s gotta give. That might be location, might be prestige, might be that the school doesn’t offer the exact major you are looking for (mech engineering rather than aerospace is a common one).
Rated by? Most schools are ranked, and often several ways. Best public, best LAC, best in the south, best of large schools, etc. etc.
Room and board can vary. I had one kid in at $8500 and the other at $13500 in similar COA areas and similar housing (nothing fancy). That was 4 years ago so assume both have gone up. The cost in big cities like NY and Boston can be even more. The $13500 was a shock to me (and my budget).
Look around at the STEM schools (Illinois Tech, Rose Hilman, WPI, RPI) and he may like them or he may decide the Indiana schools are just fine. I’d be surprised if you can get Hopkins or WashU down to $25-30k. Alabama (Tusc or Huntsville), Missouri schools, South Dakota, NM? Yes.
George Washington gave one of my biomed students $30K in merit two years ago. Montana has also been giving. good aid to my students. I second Ohio State and Miami of Ohio. Minnesota and Utah have also been good to my biomed eng. applicants. Purdue is a great option if in-state.
Be sure to have your child apply early action since I find the best merit is in the early action programs if offered by the college. A good research tool is the website collegedata.com Enter a college’s name in the search engine and then look at the money matters tab. Scroll down to the entry for merit based gift for freshman with no financial need. You will get the percentage and the average amount of the award. This data will give you a good idea of how generous is the college and what is the amount you can expect.
Private scholarships are tough to get but I have found the most for those with STEM majors. There is no easy way to find them so do the research. My DD has gotten a lot of STEM organizations and industry. Do the research now so that you have it organized and know of the due dates. Here is one listing of them https://www.thebestcolleges.org/scholarships/engineering/ The nice thing is that private scholarships do not reduce merit scholarships if the student receives no financial aid from the college.
As an aside, when it comes to med school, be sure to concentrate on the supplemental application and interviews. My DD’s roommate, sorority sister and best friend all applied with great stats and scores from top colleges and the one that is most personable and modest is the one that did the best with med school acceptances (9 admissions & Fulbright Scholar). The one who thought very highly of himself was only accepted to a brand new for-profit med school.
@BiomedicalDad
I don’t know if it is ranked, but I do know it gives excellent merit aid AND has a direct to med school option. Rowan University in Glassboro NJ - 30 minutes from Philly.
I am biased - both my kids will graduate from there next year. There will be zero debt of any kind.
My foster son is currently at UPenn doing research for the summer and plans to attend grad school. The honors program is excellent and vibrant. The school is growing rapidly, but class sizes remain <40 or even lower. Great professors.
