I know this is a long list, but these are all my safe schools (financially and acceptance) to get into. Originally I had planned on attending CU Boulder, although I still really want to the cost of attendance gives me so much anxiety. A $200,000 education doesn’t seem worth it, even though my parents are well off I’d rather not put myself or my parents paying of HUGE student loans. My major will be Psychology with emphasis on Pre-Med incase I want to pursue Medical School. (Maybe Clinical Psych or NeuroPsych)
A little background about me. I’m a very liberal but tolerant student living in Texas. I love getting into school pride and having a sense of community wherever I attend, so I’ve taken that into consideration when mapping out these choices. I know what you’re thinking, liberal student in Texas, why not go to UT? The thing is, UT may be a reach for me. Updated ranks haven’t come out yet, but I’m crossing my fingers I’m in the top 7%. Right now my ranking is 13/119 and I go to a very academic rigorous career tech high school. I’m a little hopeful my rank will go up just because my average is higher this semester, and last semester I bumped up from 20-13. I’m in a program to where I’m enrolled in AP courses for high school but also taking actual college courses and getting 42 hours of college gen ed out of the way. Also after my senior year I will be certified EKG and certified Phlebotomist. Although my outlook for UT is a tiny bit pessimistic, my counselors assure me that UT will take into account my accomplishments/the school I go to and I’ve always been a great writer so my essay may be a godsend for me when it comes time for applications.
UA and KU offer very generous scholarships. Currently my SAT is a 1300 (M+CR) which will land me half tuition scholarships for each school. If I bump up my SAT score or my ACT score ends up being better, (realistically) I could get up 2/3 tuition to U of Alabama. KU is close to my mom’s side of the family, and is always where we go for family events and holidays. I think I’d enjoy being near my cousins and family especially when school gets stressful. KU has a surprisingly beautiful campus and a very cute college town, I’m actually really confused on why it’s not a more popular school? Awesome Pre-Med program, and KC is just about a 45 minute drive away. I haven’t visited UA but my friend goes there and talks highly about the school. Huge school spirit especially when it comes to football, and I’ve also heard they have an esteemed pre-med program there. I’ve looked up pictures of the campus, and it looks beautiful as well. UA may be a little bit too conservative for me, but living in Texas the cultural landscape will be familiar and I’d think I’d fit in despite my political and social stances.
A&M is instate so COA for this school would be a no brainer as well. A&M has very good connections employment wise and HUGE school spirit as well. Although, I’m almost turned off by the cult-like feel A&M has. Although it would be extremely cheap to go to this school and many of my friends from high school will be attending there, the conservative culture may be a bit too much for me. Living in Texas I’ve had to grow pretty tolerant to it, but from what I’ve heard and read A&M is a very conformist shove-it-down-your-throat conservative atmosphere. I’d love to be proved wrong, but this is my main reason holding me back from A&M.
Any input/personal experience will be of help. Thank you!
Scholarship renewal GPA requirement for KU is 3.4 vs 3.0 for UA. If you plan to major in Psychology this may not be a problem but is something to keep in mind if you intend to take any hard core math and science classes.
UA has a beautiful campus and Tuscaloosa is its devoted college town. Tuscaloosa is a mid-sized city (100k population), so it’s not just school and town.
The politics range from liberal to conservative. The campus was Obama land during the last two elections. The area’s congressperson is a Democrat. So, although the state is red, the area is mixed. Like most college campuses, the profs are liberal in most cases.
When can you visit? When you do, set up your campus visit and then contact the Honors College and they’ll set up the rest of your day, meeting with faculty and honors folks.
UA has a devoted Pre-Health dept, Premeds who sign up to be on the ListServ get all the info, meeting times, advising opps (appts set up online), shadowing opps, etc. You can be added to the ListServ now if you’d like…just go to the link below, scroll down and look on the right side, and click on the link and add your email address.
http://prehealth.ua.edu/
UA does bring in REAL med school interviewers to provide “mock interviews” for practice. UA also writes Committee Letters and does a Committee Interview. If you get the grades and have a med-school worthy MCAT, you are almost certain to get into at least one US MD med school.
Although all schools “weed”, UA does not interfere with anyone’s desire to apply to med school, even if their stats are not med school worthy. When my son was going thru the process, the head of the preHealth Advising told me that UA students who have at least a 3.6 GPA and a 30 MCAT, have an 85% chance of getting into at least one US MD school. Students with “lesser stats” can still apply, but typically also apply to DO schools. The reported numbers for acceptances only considers those who are accepted to a US MD school.
There is a very active premed club that features weekly speakers and other pertinent info. Here’s a link to all the preHealth student organizations http://prehealth.ua.edu/student-organizations/
If you can move ACT score easier than SAT. My DDs were better on ACT. This was a concentrated thing for us first semester of senior year, meeting the school testing deadlines. You want to get UG degree with as low of cost as possible. UA is a great option.
I am a graduate alum of TAMU; my DD goes to UA. I lived in both states, but longer in AL. Home state is WI.
I met a TX native a few years ago on AU campus who was attending AU because TAMU had so many from his HS class and with a scholarship, his out of pocket was similar attending either school. He liked having a bigger mix of students from different places. You would certainly have a slightly larger percentage of your class OOS at UA.
You may see people you know at TAMU, but it won’t influence you at TAMU. Such a large campus - easy to form new friendships, and in campus groups where you have similar interests.
I meet up with TAMU alum with our local Aggie group.
UA is getting to be like TAMU with people and groups all over. TAMU has the military reach more so than UA. Pictures from Aggie Muster include many remote military sites.
Can say many good things about both campuses, and it sounds like you have some good feelings for KU.
You are on the right path. Good luck on getting your ACT/SAT score higher.
A&M is the most conservative public school in the nation.
Go the cheapest option then transfer to UT-Austin after a year or two.
@mom2collegekids My parents have already spent a lot on college visits since about February, I think they’d give me the side look if I threw another college in there. Plus my mom would probably say “Alabama? Are you sure?” My plan is to at least apply there, show my parents the scholarships I receive (once I bump up my scores) and they’ll definitely have a reason to schedule a visit then.
I’m glad UA has a very devoted and motivated Pre-Med program. It sounds a lot like KU. I’ve noticed a lot of schools with good pre-med program are extremely pretentious when it comes to helping you average pre-med student. It’s nice to know Alabama works with everyone. Also like another poster above stated, I could transfer to UT after if I don’t get accepted right away. I love UT, however, one thing I wasn’t so keen about was their self-entitlement. It was almost sort of a “we don’t need you, you need us” vibe going around with the faculty.