The main concern is financial. Assuming the end goal is medical school, it’s stupid to take on ridiculous amounts of debt at say an Ivy League school if in the end I am aiming for medical school. However, I know that medical schools take into account GPA and the environment at a private school say versus a large public university might help with EC opportunities, affect GPA rigor (inflation), and provide social opportunities (competitive vs cooperative), ultimately increasing my chances of admittance into medical school.
As of right now my family wants me to stick with the UC route (Berkeley, LA) because it is much cheaper tuition wise while still offering a solid education. However, with my current stats I may have a chance at low to mid tier ivies. This opens me up to colleges like Brown where the environment is more relaxed and possibly beneficial toward me reaching medical school. I must admit it seems more attractive to me. However, without financial aid, this can cost up to 60k annually vs. the ~20k annually for UCs.
What is the ideal decision for me considering I want to be pre-med? Also, how much financial aid could I expect from a school like Brown if I applied ED? I live with a single mother who makes around ~115k in the Bay Area of California which is fairly expensive.
Medical schools do not consider the name of the school you attended for admissions decisions. Public/private also doesnt matter. I think private schools (especially the Ivy League) are more likely to inflate grades.
The ideal decision is to attend the best school you can afford. An excellent education at a UC where you can maintain the best grades.
However, most good-financial-aid schools require the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA, and require the non-custodial parent information. This means that your father, if alive, will have his income and assets, and that of any new spouse, counted for financial aid purposes at those schools. If he is wealthy but won’t pay, or will be uncooperative with financial aid forms for you, then those schools may be financially out of reach for you (or, even if you can afford their list prices without lots of debt, it may not be a good idea to use the money on undergraduate versus saving it for expensive medical school).
Fortunately for you, UCs and CSUs only use FAFSA information, so only the parent you live with matters for their financial aid calculations. They, and all colleges in the US, should have net price calculators to use to estimate financial aid. For FAFSA-only schools like UCs and CSUs, you can use only your mother’s income and asset information; for schools that use CSS Profile, you must include your father’s (and new spouse’s, if any) income and asset information as well unless the school specifically says that the non-custodial parent is not considered (e.g. University of Chicago).
If the issues is a UC vs. Brown…
1° Can your parents pay for Brown without loans? Are they willing to?
2° Considering that the average GPA at Brown is around 3.6 (ie., an average student makes a med school-level GPA) vs. in the low 3’s at UCs (grade deflation? curve) AND that med schools won’t care, if you have enough money in a college fund choose Brown.
3° More than the federal debt limit is NOT worth it, even for Brown.
4° Is this a hypothetical or were you actually admitted to Brown and UCs?