Anyone who is mature enough to apply and attend medical school should realize the advantages and disadvantages of medical school. You’re saying this student at 20 something who is trusted to give patient care can’t be trusted to do the research and make the decision when he accepts his med school admit decision?
Move on from the OT sidebars please. The kid in question is not 20-something.
It’s bugging me that the issue of La Tech being subpar has come up so much. We aren’t talking about one of the easy majors or the kids who slide too easily from hs to college, ill-prepared.
Their 75th %ile is supposedly 1260. Not 1500+, right. But CC is always touting schools like WY (1280) or UNM (1120.) Seems not much higher at LSU.
This isn’t the way to judge the rigor of a stem program or your ability to make friends with the smart kids. Imo, we can’t make blanket statements about stem jobs or med school admits being tougher to get (the path to med school admissions has its own challenges, from anywhere.)
That said, D2 turned her nose up at our flagship. BUT, this wasn’t stem/premed. In fact, they didn’t have her major, she would have been forced into the next closest, one of those attractive to less purposeful students. But stem? Dig deeper into that track.
I’m not advocating it should be La Tech. But less expensive doesn’t necessarily mean a poor program, a poor choice, a dull 4 years.
5 Likes
OP, I’m not sure if you or your ex-wife is the custodial parent, but if your son is up for another application, he might want to submit to Vanderbilt (deadline 1/1) to see if the financial aid works out better. Vanderbilt does not include the non-custodial parent’s income/assets when determining FA. If he was accepted to Rice, he would be a competitive applicant.
7 Likes
The stats I found for their top 25% was 500 math, 470 EBWR (Collegedata, as per CDS). Is 1260 LSU?
Seconding running the NPC on Vanderbilt.
Thanks for clarifying info. I think you’ve got a decent list including some honors colleges, but agree it makes sense to look into adding a couple more options (Lehigh, Lafayette, Vandy) before the deadlines. You say your son is “pre-med” - but bear in mind that a large percentage of students who say they are “pre-med” freshman year quickly change their minds. And not everyone who applies to Med School gets into Med School. So it’s a long haul, with many changing course along the way. As for your twins (current freshmen), you’ll enjoy the benfit of 2-in-at-once (maybe 3 for one year?) when next applying. We have twins (HS '14, College '18) and I will say both colleges asked for details about how much financal aid the other twin was getting each year. Good luck. Keep us posted.
1 Like
USNWR. I can’t get deep enough into the CDS to check there.
At Bama your son can also apply to Randall Research Scholars if research from the get go is his thing.
There is also Blount Liberal Arts program, which takes ALL majors incl engineers, for a residential LAC-style experience - if he is looking to recreate the Rice residential thing to some degree (and yes, it won’t be identical before anyone shouts!)
We also had to take a cheaper school for the $ and she has had lots of opportunities and is doing well. Of course it’s not the same as the elite, but for a no debt, affordable education, I have only a few complaints.
2 Likes
Same here. I was very shocked that basically we’d have only room&board to cover at Miami (OH). Debt free with the ability to do summer study abroad, take unpaid internships, etc. is very appealing.
4 Likes
Check out University of South Florida in Tampa. Very reasonable OOS tuition, Nice Honors program and Medical School program https://www.usf.edu
1 Like
Yes, except taking unpaid internships is not appealing!
There seems to be confusion with regards to which Louisiana university OP is talking about. Is it LSU or LATech?
According to their common data sets on their websites, LSU had a 75%th percentile ACT of 29 for 2019-2020 and LaTech had a 75th percentile ACT of 28. The strength of the student body seems to be roughly the same. Very few students submitted SATs.
1 Like
Can you confirm that the 110k loan amount is the full amount of the family pay portion?
If so, and we compare to the Miami Oh full tuition which means you’d still be paying R&B, I’d support the argument that a top 20 is worth an extra 13k in loans each year with the goal upon entry of taking a lucrative job for a year or two to pay them down, then revert to any other desired career path.
I don’t see Rice as a mecca for pre-meds, they have the same 50% of students dropping the pre-med and ending up on a different path, and many of them because they can’t make the grades. Yes, you get the stimulation of a bevy of super bright kids, you also get the competition for grades and outside opportunities. Many of them end up choosing easier majors to maintain the grades, so you might not be getting to follow the passion there either.
Attending Rice for free is not a reasonable expectation in your situation. I know lots of people who would have been thrilled to pay $27k a year for that experience. You’ll have to decide if you are really not willing to pay anything out of pocket for your DS’s education, and if that is the case, then LaTech is the clear answer.
If DS has a 4.0, I’d be having him practice all break and test again to go for the ACT 36 for the extra money from Alabama. Plenty of smarts in that pool, and getting down to 3 years R&B for an honors college experience might be one of the best options out there.
2 Likes
I am surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that Ladadof3’s child was accepted ED at Rice - and indicated that they received more financial aid than expected - and is or has backed out. The anti-thesis of binding Early Decision. @Ladadof3 I am trying not to be too harsh but ED is binding unless there is a change in financial situation or the financial package didn’t meet your expectations.
Regardless of the ED situation, the question posed in this thread is certainly a valid question - and I agree with many of the comments that no college is worth going in to that amount of debt for.
6 Likes
I think I finally understand … your expected contribution is $110K (which is less than the calculator told you) and you had hoped that some/all of that would be covered by merit aid based on the 20% of students receiving merit aid (as told to you by Rice)?
@DCCAWAMIIAIL. You are correct. During the tour Rice mentioned that 20% get merit scholarships. There was no expectation to go for nothing. If the number was 50-60 he would definitely be going.
Except perhaps in CA, this is rarely, if ever, recommended for those knowing they want med school. Only about 41% of those who apply to US MD schools get any acceptances, so one wants to be as competitive as possible. All US med schools are super competitive. CC credits can be frowned upon, esp for pre-reqs. More forgiveness is given for those who decide at a later date they are interested in med school, but this isn’t the case here.
If curious about LA Tech’s ability to get kids into med school, ask their pre-med or pre-health department where recent students have been accepted. (Specifically where - not just how many were accepted as many places count Caribbean and more in their counts.) If you are happy with what you see, it’s good enough assuming your student does their part. If not, it’s a caution flag.
1 Like
I think the original question should be ‘Is Rice worth $27k per year’ as that’s what OP would be paying/borrowing after Rice’s FA.
If the family doesn’t have $20k (plus direct student loans) and would have to borrow it all, then it probably isn’t the school for that family. ED should be turned down, and the decision moved to RD and what schools are affordable.
There are bright students on every campus, even the big party schools, football schools, commuter schools. There have been Rhodes scholars from all kinds of schools lately, not just T20.
7 Likes
I think we have a case of buyers remorse.
Your Son got accepted to RICE “Bravo” at a price that was less than you planned based on NPC and you applied based on that information.
ED a binding agreement which you agreed to, and the price is actually less than the NPC said it would be.
While no-one here knows anyones financial situation the real lesson is don’t apply ED unless you are able and willing to pay the full EFC
11 Likes
Can you pay what you expected to pay, and your son borrows the rest? I assume it’d be considerably less than 110K.
Another thorny question is: what had you told your son? Did you say he could apply and attend if a scholarship for $X was offered?
Have the scholarships for the universities (UA, TAMU, UTD) arrived? They’d be better choices than LaTech but likely cheaper than Rice.
Have you run the NPC on Vanderbilt, Lafayette, Lehigh, Miami-Ohio? Are any acceptable?