A lot of trouble figuring out where to go for college....

College Search & Selection
1

<p><em>This is a repost of a thread I posted earlier. I'm reposting it because I received advice that said I should be as descriptive as possible in the OP, which I really wasn't last time. And because I don't have the ability to edit my OP from that thread, here it is again.</em></p>

<p>With the school year coming up, the time has come to finally figure out where I'm going to be at for the next four years. But, to be honest, I don't know where I should be going. I plan to go to medical school after college, but I just don't know which school I should be achieving that goal from. Other than a few BS/MD programs, I don't know what types of schools offer good aid and good education at the same time. </p>

<p>My stats: </p>

<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Hispanic (half of my cousins live in Venezuela)
Average: 93.85 unweighted (around a 3.75 GPA, I've kept it consistent throughout high school)
Class Rank: School does not rank unless colleges need it for scholarship considerations or something like that (that's what my guidance counselor told me lol)</p>

<p>SAT's: 1660 (590CR, 480M, 590W, 11 essay)
SAT II's: They're abysmal. I won't even go into those.
ACT: 26 Composite (retaking in September. Thank you ACT test dates )</p>

<p>Regents (grades that I remembered, anyway):
-Living Environment (9th grade...I didn't really care back then): 82
-Earth Science: 85
-Intergrated Algebra 2 w/ Trig: 75 (and that was from trying my best...if you guys couldn't tell already, I'm horrible at Math)
-Regents ELA: 100
-Regents US History and Gov't: 99
-Regents Phy Set/Chemistry: 79 (retaking in August for a 90+)</p>

<p>I take IB classes instead of AP. IB classes are like AP, but supposedly they're more harder and some are even offered in 2 years instead of one. Meh, I don't really know more about that. My school only offers AP Euro, since the other AP's were replaced with IB's.</p>

<p>Classes taken this year with final grades:
-Chemistry Honors: 88
-Chorus: 99
-IB English HL I: 90
-IB History of the America's: 92
-IB Psychology SL: 92 (gonna find out my IB exam grades on the seventh)
-Integrated Algebra 2 w/ Trig: 85
-Health Education: 90 something...my report card was torn, leaving me clueless about the second digit...lol</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
-IB English HL II
-IB History of the America's HL II
-IB Physics
-IB Living Environment
-IB Math Studies
-Anatomy and Physiology
-Sports Medicine
-Team Sports</p>

<p>And the WISE Internship as well. I'm planning to intern with a Neurosurgeon (the school has been able to get Neurosurgeon's before).</p>

<p>Honors:
-Honor Roll Grades 9-10
-High Honor Roll Grades 10-11 (and hopefully senior year)
-Health Achievement Award - Grade 11
-5 year National Roll for Piano Guild</p>

<p>EC School Activities:
-Chamber Singers grades 9 and 11
-WISE Internship - Grade 12 (this is planned)
-NYSSMA Grades, All "outstanding", grades 9-11
-Volunteered at the library for the whole summer of my freshman year</p>

<p>Out of School EC's:
-Pianist for 15 years
-Martial Artist, Red/Black stripe ranking - 8 years
-Hospital Volunteering at the Emergency Department - Grades 11-12 (planning to keep up with it senior year)
-200+ hours shadowing various doctors including a Cardiologist and an Anesthesiologist
-Piano Guild Participant - 5 years
-Pianist at the nursing home - Grade 9
-Returning pianist at winter and summer recitals for the Brookville Reformed Church (yes, this means I live on Long Island, but I am far from "rich" or even "middle class") - 10 years
-Youth Group at the Glen Cove Christian Church</p>

<p>Letters of Recommendation:
-Guidance Counselor
-Piano teacher of 15 years
-The Anesthesiologist I mentioned earlier wrote me one, and my guidance counselor said that it was awesome.
-My Chemistry Honors teacher
-My AP Euro teacher from 10th grade</p>

<p>They're all in and ready to go. </p>

<p>Employment:
-Photographer's assistant - Summer of 2008
-Auto body repair assistant - Summer of 2009</p>

<p>Intended Major: Biology (something along the lines of Neuroscience, but I'm not basing my parameters on whether or not a school has a NS major)</p>

<p>It's no surprise that there won't be a tuition fairy helping me with these kinds of stats. At this point, I know that I won't get into the BS/MD programs (I'll still apply to them of course), so my main concern is getting into a good public university. I am a NY resident, so of course I am looking at SUNY's, but the only "good" ones (when it comes to science and research) seem to be Stonybrook and Binghamton. Plus, they would also be affordable (I can commute to Stony). So if you count those two SUNY's, and three other BS/MD programs, that's around 5 schools. -_-</p>

<p>I just feel like that is a very small amount to feel "comfortable" about, especially when most aren't even guarantee's. I'm basically looking for an affordable public university with more emphasis on the sciences...but I just can't seem to find any that aren't over 30k a year. =&lt;/p>

2

<p>I wonder if you should add a few small schools that might be looking to increase their diversity and might provide aid. You would have to find those with a median close to your scores. Clarkson in New York maybe. Ursinus in Pennsylvania maybe. Then also a few public schools whose out of state tuition isn’t too bad. University of Minnesota, for example. Your ACT scores look slightly better than your SAT scores because a 26 is supposed to be equivalent to 1170 - 1200. Maybe look at SAT optional schools like Bates. You EC’s are so interesting—they might be impressed.</p>

3

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<p>Clarkson and Ursinus are both on the steep end in terms of raw tuition price, and I’m not exactly sure how generous they would be with financial aid. The University of Minnesota looks interesting, but again, there’s that money issue and the fact that I am out of state. I really wasn’t planning on using my SAT’s, given that the scores you see in the OP are after a third time taking it, after which I just said “screw this” and went onto the ACT. The 26 is after a second retake, and I am retaking it for a third time this September. Honestly, at this point, Stonybrook seems to be that school that would fit my needs (financially and educationally) perfectly, unless there are other schools like it around the east coast that aren’t so costly for OOSers (Even SB’s OOS tuition isn’t that bad…)</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply and for your take on my “interesting” EC’s :P</p>

4

<p>SophieD</p>

<p>– Don’t rule out the small privates based upon price – I know many students who received very generous merit from Ursinus making it cheaper than most state schools.</p>

<p>I agree that your ECs combined with your hispanic background is very appealing to small schools.</p>

5

<p>It’s not just the price. I should have mentioned this in the last post I suppose, but I’m generally looking for more public universities that emphasize some research. After all, I don’t plan on just trying to get a BS degree, I want to go onto medical school. Just curious though, how much financial aid did these students receive from that school?</p>

6

<p>Financial merit – NOT AID – Merit before family finances are considered - at Ursinus last year seemed to range from $13,000-$30,000 with more than usually offered $30,000. Check the individual College forums on this site to get a good idea what students were offered last year. Also - check out Ursinus’ Tower Scholars which I think would be a good fit merit for you.</p>

<p>Also – Just because a school in a LAC doesn’t mean there is no research opportunities. On the contrary – many students do research at the small schools and do not need to compete with grad students for the opportunites.</p>

<p>Financially, you will not be able to beat commuting to Stony Brook, but I do encourage you looking beyond just university’s with attached med schools.</p>

7

<p>What is your family EFC? Have you run it through a calculator? You need to learn a little bit more about how financial and merit aid work, so that you don’t make poor assumptions that will limit your options. There are some articles on the main CC site you can start with. I know kids that got enough merit aid that made the private school cheaper than the public. And many kids get good need based financial aid from privates.</p>

<p>Public research U’s are great but you also need to educate yourself about LAC’s. LAC strong in science will be just as good. What maters is you performance, grades and MCAT. LAC’s have a reputation as being supportive of your success, where some RU’s really do try to weed students out in the early stages. If you get a good financial package that covers your costs and you can go to medical school without debt you should strongly consider it.</p>

<p>Don’t underestimate the appeal of a Hispanic candidate and a school where they are underrepresented.</p>

<p>I have never heard of someone sending in 5 letters. Are you sure this is okay with your GC? Usually the schol asks for 2 teachers and the GC. One extra is acceptable if there is a particularly strong one and it is relevant, not just duplicating the others.</p>

8

<p>I only send the letters where they are necessary. For instance, I don’t think it would hurt to send in the letter from the Anesthesiologist I shadowed as part of my application. </p>

<p>As for my EFC, I don’t know it. My parents are willing to spend five minutes to figure that out because they are under the impression that a tuition fairy is going to help me every step of the way. (they are extremely delusional in this aspect, almost to the point where I don’t even know if they’ll even help pay or not.)</p>

9

<p>Here is the calculator. Try to get the information so you can get a good estimate of what your family will be expected to pay (it was right on in my case.) Then you will know how much aid you may be eligible for. If your parents won’t help pay, even though the EFC says they have to, based on income, then you will be left high and dry. Best to know ahead of time. (Except if your EFC is small then if you spend less than allocated (eat more cheaply, borrow textbooks, don’t fly home) you can make it.)</p>

<p>[EFC</a> Calculator - financial-aid - College Confidential](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/efc.htm]EFC”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/efc.htm)</p>

<p>The schools you get accepted to will give you a financial package. Even if your EFC is zero, within this package will be a mix of grant and loans. It is important for your future to keep the loan portion as low as possible, which is why people here are trying to open your eyes to private schools.</p>