Wow, thanks so much for your help through all this! I’ll definitely take your recommendations to heart and it’s really made this whole stressful college application process a lot easier.
I like your revised list! You have safeties in state (remember that safety means for both acceptance and affordability) and reasonable targets/reaches. Good job!
Regarding your Maybes… W&L is an outlier since it is so much smaller than the others and in a rural location. It also has a fit that does not work for everyone. My D really likes it, except for the location (she preferred suburban), but that was not a deal breaker for her (especially after she was awarded the scholarship). If it still appeals to you after consideration, I will add that it has wonderful pre-health advising and an amazing alumni network. It has a clearly stated goal of improving diversity and uses the Johnson Scholarship to attract high stat diverse students. My D had multiple Zoom sessions with faculty and current students when she was making her decision and felt it was a good fit for her.
Soooo… UPenn & Brown - If you apply to them and are accepted, will your parents pay $80k per year (without loans)? How will you feel about asking them to pay that given you stated you were trying to minimize cost for undergrad (presumably to save money to pay for med school)? If they do pay $320k for undergrad, will that impact your ability to pay for medical school? I will let you answer those questions yourself and if you still want my thoughts, I will share them.
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Very true, you bring some good points. I’ll likely end up avoiding ivies altogether at this point, but it ultimately is the smart move for a pre-med. Thanks for the advice.
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I think W&L gets a bad rap. So it has Lee in its name. There’s a lot of that around unfortunately.
The Johnson Scholarship is UNREAL. The school is gorgeous. The students and faculty I’ve talked to all first rate.
The schools is making a huge push into diversity. The Hillel is extremely impressive.
You may not like its ruralness - and yes, it’s drink heavy but for every kid who drinks there’s one who says they don’t.
In our case, had we gotten either a full tuition or Johnson we’d have gone. It was $81K since we didn’t get it - so dad nixed it.
If you get on their email list, they’ll send you an app waiver.
If you got a common app spot open, it’s worth a flyer for sure. The odds of merit there are far greater than any of the top 6 on the new list.
Hi! My daughter is on W&L email list, high stats, and checks the diversity box. Can’t figure out why she hasn’t gotten an app waiver.
Anyone else get one recently?
Thanks.
We got one related to Johnson Scholarship - if you apply for that, they waive it.
I’d assume they send to all. Maybe not this year or maybe it’s too early.
You can call and without disclosing yourself ask admissions - will you be sending out app waivers. The person who the letter came from was Sally Stone Richmond - you can email here and say we’re going to apply for Johnson…blah blah.
Chicago did one too - surprisingly - if you filled out FAFSA and asked, they’ll waive the fee.
btw - the funny thing is about all these schools - there’s typically not a code. When you get to the payment in Common App it will ask do you have a waiver or something - and it will be in the drop down. We didn’t do ones we weren’t promised because the school might think we were cheating - but I was tempted. I spent a lot for my son on apps. Too much.
Paying for the privilege of paying a lot more later!!
My D got one last year unexpectedly. I believe it was after an online session or meeting with a rep at a college fair and signing up for more information. We were never sure why she got it. So I know it happens, but I’m not sure what initiates it!
Perhaps others can add more specifics. Or would it hurt to contact Admissions and request one? With some schools it is as simple as confirming you will apply for financial aid and they will provide a waiver.
ETA: I just saw @tsbna44 post. I guess we got it because of applying for the Johnson. Mystery solved. 
Hmm… I’m rethinking this. Wouldn’t we have received the waiver before applying for the Johnson??? So I’m not sure about the mystery being solved now.
Thank you both! I may call. I have triplet seniors. The application fees alone require a small loan 
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Oh, maybe it’s because we went to an online session - but they would remind you in every single email, letter and otherwise. They were hard core. It wasn’t like a one time mention. It was tied to Johnson - but if you weren’t applying for Johnson, you wouldn’t be applying to W&L.
Could be different year, different process but I doubt it. These schools crave apps.
Their AOs are really good - well ours was - so you can probably flat out ask (say you heard it happens) and they’re not going to hold it against you.
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Just an FYI, my S22 has received 2 emails from Washington and Lee offering to waive his application fee. First one was after he signed up for a campus tour and second one after he signed up for an info session that will be held at his school in a few weeks. His spam is also filled with fee waivers from a number of other schools that he has no interest in.
Thanks for the information. We are clearly doing something wrong. We maybe have 2 application fee waivers.
What we did - we set up an email account just for college. My daughters first name, HS name, grad year @ gmail. so like susansmithtown21@gmail…example…not her email
Then we started with a list of 100 schools - I know most don’t do that - but we looked at every school in the country and that was our beginning list.
We got all on their info requests - so they started emailing. I managed her account. I’d open emails, etc.
I think when you interact with their stuff - the schools that will - will send. I think 6 of the 21 we had gave a fee waiver - and then as you said, schools you never asked about - like Ohio U did too.
Pitt had one after an info session, Miami Ohio after we took a tour.
Then there’s already a ton of schools that have no app fees - you can find them by googling niche colleges no app fee.
The crushing blow is sending the ACT but more and more schools are letting you self report.
Good luck.
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Pitt I believe checks most of the boxes that you are looking for. It is very highly ranked for medical research. There are plenty of internship opportunities, great school spirit and a city with plenty to do.
They also have a special Guaranteed Admission Program or Gap. You can find more info on on the Pitt website. Basically if you get into the program and maintain high grades you are guaranteed admission to Pitt Medical School.