I had a meeting with my guidance counselor, who I trust very much, because he has several kids admitted to top 25 elite schools, and he has had me change my list quite a bit. What I need help specifically now in is finding quality matches. He told me Vanderbilt, NYU, USC could be considered matches for me. UNC-Chapel Hill he said is between a match and a reach. He additionally said Boston College can be a safety, which I suppose makes sense given our school’s relation with it. However, I am not a big fan of NYU and I don’t believe USC is that amazing in Physics. So could anyone please help me with finding those caliber-level of schools, while having awesome physics departments?
Current List:
Safety:
• University of Florida
• University of Central Florida
• Rutgers
• University of Miami
• George Washington University
• Boston College
Matches
• Emory University
• Vanderbilt University
• University of Rochester
Reaches
• University of Chicago
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• University of Pennsylvania
• Rice University
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Johns Hopkins
• Cornell University (Possibly EDing)
Stats:
2270 SAT (800 R, 720M, 750 W) - Retaking
UW GPA: 3.9
W GPA: 4.5
Rank: Top 10% (Most school will say is this unless if you’re valedictorian or salutatorian)
State: Florida
Finances: Want to keep cost of college below 20,000 per year; looking for merit aid schools (I am projected National Merit Semifinalist)
Hooks: First Generation
Major: Physics (and I would like to double major in something else, possibly Computer Science) and will be doing Pre-Med Curriculum
Race/Gender: White/Male
Thanks to all those willing to help!!!
For matches, I would add Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve and drop Boston College, George Washington. CMU and CWRU have very strong, highly respected science and engineering.
Is University of Virginia a good add?
Two comments;
(1) Regarding merit aid. Your comments regarding “merit aid schools” gives the impression that you do not expect to get need-based aid. If that’s so then most (if not all) of your reaches are out since they give only give need based aid. This is also almost the case for some of your safeties, such as Boston College. It gives very limited merit aid. Most publics do not give merit based aid. So the University of Virginia also mostly does not offer Merit Aid.
(2) Your proposed major: physics with double major in computer science and a pre-med track is unrealistic for the reaches (and indeed most of the colleges) on your list. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do justice to such a mix. Physics, taken seriously would occupy you and then some at universities like MIT, Penn, University of Chicago. If indeed you go on the track you’ve described you won’t need “amazing” physics because you won’t have the time to take advantage of such an environment.
Because of (1) and (2) I find it very hard to comment on your list. It seems unrealistic.
@fogcity For top-tier schools, such as Harvard, my total cost is around 13k to 10k. I only say I want to keep it below 20k because some public institutions are above that mark. A double major is just something to think about, it’s nothing set in stone. I am serious about physics and pre-med however. I hope now you understand my situation better.
Your adviser undoubtedly knows more than I do, but I’d be inclined to label Vanderbilt a “reach,” also, although not an unrealistic one for you. If you scroll through the results threads, Vanderbilt was something of a crap shoot for applicants with your stats.
With a $20,000 per year budget, it looks like some of your “safeties” are not. For example, at Rutgers, you need to get a competitive merit scholarship to bring its price into your range. Check each school’s net price calculator; if you cannot afford it without a competitive merit scholarship, it is not a safety, even if you are sure of admission (which may not necessarily be the case for all of them).
@ucbalumnus I am guranteed a full ride to UCF and UF. UM, I am confident I can secure a large merit award, possibibly even presidential. Rutgers, I have it there because they are good in physics and I would like to see how merit plays out there.
@woogzmama I think our school just happens to have a really good relationship with Vanderbilt, with 20+ being accepted every year.
OK, so UF and UCF are firmly in the safety category if you have guaranteed full rides, assuming that you like them (i.e. you will be willing to attend one if they are your only two admissions).
Miami and Rutgers should be moved out of the safety category, since you need the competitive merit scholarships, not merely admission.
It sounds like you want to go to medical school so it won’t really matter too much how “amazing” the school’s graduate program in physics might be. That is what all the rankings measure, not the undergraduate program…
I agree that a double major in physics and CS plus premed is quite unrealistic. if your goal is medical school, go for one major plus the premed prerequisites. You can get a fine physics education at just about any university which has a physics degree if you put the proper effort into it. For sure, you can apply to some reach schools but you might be well advised to save your money for medical school.
Frankly, even if you are more serious about physics as a possible career, my advice still holds, Focus on just physics as an undergraduate and get involved in research as much as possible and maybe take come graduate courses in physics instead of taking extra classes for a second major. Get your undergraduate work out of the way in 4 years and then apply for graduate school.
If you really have full rides at UF and UCF then either one will be perfectly fine for physics as an undergraduate. They both have Ph.D. programs and opportunities to engage in funded research. Of your other schools, choose a couple that you really would love to attend for whatever reason and apply to see if you can afford them. Any one of them would be fine for a B.S. in physics.
Finally, for both a pre-med or a physics career, you need to find a program which is well matched to your academic abilities. You need to get good grades to go to medical school or to get into a selective Ph.D. program. If you choose a school that expects and demands more than you are able to do when you start out, you might find yourself in a GPA hole that limits your future opportunities. Sometimes it takes a little bit more time to reach the level you want to achieve and that is OK, what is important is to get there.
While a double major in physics and CS plus pre-med courses is unrealistic, a few CS courses may be useful support for a physics major, plus cracking the door open for computer software job possibilities if you do not go to graduate or medical school.
@xraymancs Thanks for all that information! My ultimate goal is to get into a MD/PhD program, as I would like to do a speciality radiology and PhD in physics.
@ucbalumnus That sounds like a good idea. I only suggested computer science, because I understood Physics majors take a good amount of computer science courses and I thought one only needed a few more to get a major, it appears I am wrong. Oh well Physics > CS lol.
You’re guaranteed a full ride at UF? Is that through a private scholarship? UF really doesn’t do “full ride” scholarships, with a few exceptions.
University of Wisconsin- Madison used to have an excellent physics dpt at the graduate level, and I believe it’s easier to get into than some of the other top-name state schools. But I don’t know about their OOS financial aid/ merit aid, nor if the department is still considered top-notch. Might be worth checking out, at least.
The requirements for FIS are in flux. Hopefully it will be including in this year’s budget (the Governor didn’t include it, but it’s been put back into the budget by the Florida senate and house), but plan on a back-up.