Need Help with college choice

Cavalier16
Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:33:25 +0000

Hello all, thanks for helping me with my college choice. I’m down to the following list of colleges:

UPenn (with Vagelos Scholars Program) Full pay
Pros: Ivy, Philly, Special Program, Research Opportunities, Would join a Frat, Club sports
Cons: Expensive, Harder coursework?, weather

Vanderbilt possible 5k a year (NMF)
Pros: Beautiful campus, name recognition, great sports, Frats, Nashville
Cons: Expensive (and not really giving good FA this year)

UVA (Echols) Full pay
Pros: Cheaper than others, Echols is amazing, great sports, Charlottesville, club sports
Cons: No merit scholarship options, still too expensive

UNC-CH (Honors Program) Possible 1k a year (NMF)
Pros: Fantastic sports, club and varsity, Chapel Hill, cheapest full pay option, research
Cons: Too many in-state?, still on the expensive side.

Tulane (Honors Program) with 29.5k a year
Pros: NOLA, Honors Program, weather, graduate with no debt, Pre-med program
Cons: Don’t have club sport I want, Great school but not as prestigious as others

Financially, my father is willing to pay about 30k a year for my schools. Unfortunately, he is businessman, and consequentially, our FAFSA’s EFC is a lot higher than it should be…We’re going to talk to all the schools. Do you think any of the schools would take another look at my family’s personal financial situation (Debt-business, not consumer)?

Also, I am looking to go pre-med and want to graduate with as little debt as possible. Can anyone comment on the pre-med opportunities at each of the schools above? Thank you!