@ohiojr : What if she were not premed ? (70-80% self declared premeds change their minds during freshman year.)
Which among her schools might be a good compromise (not too commuter, reading scores close to her range ?)
To everyone who is saying “welcome to the real world,” I understand where you’re coming from by I don’t see why adults on this website feel the need to belittle an 18 year old trying to make an important decision. I’m not interested in BU/Northeastern because they are “name brand” schools. There are many factors, such as Co-ops, internship opportunities at longwood medical center, and well-ranked pre-medical advising that were appealing to me as a student. I understand that part of being an adult is compromising, and I never suggested that I deserved anything because of my hard work, I’m just dealing with the disappointment of accomplishing something that is most likely unattainable. The reason why I came here for advice was to see if UMass Amherst would be a reasonable alternative to the two schools I really wanted to attend instead of going into debt before four years of med school. That being said, I calculated the net price for the schools I have financial aid packages from (BU and Amherst) and BU would actually be less expensive, because they gave me 42k in financial aid, 35+k of which is in grants, so I will most likely be attending there anyways because UMass only gave me loans. Thank you to those who gave valuable, reasonable advice, it was greatly appreciated at a time when I was panicking.
Congratulations on getting such an excellent package from BU! They’re usually pretty stingy with aid, so they must really want you. 
@MYOS1634 Thank you I’m incredibly thankful that it ended up working out
@drdiva I apologize if you took my comments personally. They weren’t at all directed toward you specifically. I was just in a snarky mood. If you read the forums right now, it is inundated with kids wanting to know what they can do to get more $$ bc they worked hard, have been accepted into schools, need more $$ to attend, and they are crushed bc their dreams are being shattered and they might face attending their dreaded safety school.
Glad things worked out for you.
Congrats, OP. So glad that BU will work out for you! Amherst is a great town, but you are obviously more excited about BU, and the money is in your favor. From your posts I like the way you bounced back, and yes, you are an 18 venting / getting feedback / seeking advice all at once. We get it. Other kids in similar situation sound neither respectful nor appreciative, sometimes. Again, glad that you are taking things in stride, that BU is going to work out, and that you have put $ in perspective.
If she changes her mind about med school and wants to do something else, then her low cost options may hurt well. I guess that is the main drawback of taking the debt free route. The best middle of the road solution is to go to the state flagship school which is pretty good and she just has to pay room and board. She, however, hates how big the school is.
BU costs $68,000 and you got $35,000 in grants…leaving you with a $33,000 balance.
Cost of attendance at UMass Amherst…$27,000 a year instate.
How is BU costing you less than full pay at UMass?
@thumper1 I’m not sure where you’re getting the information for BU’s cost of attendance, but on my student portal the numbers are vastly different. Not to mention that the grants I are only part of the financial aid package that they gave me. My net price would be under $25,000 according to mine and my financial aid counselor’s calculations.
From BU’s website: $65,110 direct billed costs + $2,950 (estimated) related expenses = $68,060 per academic year.
@BelknapPoint I understand what is published on their website, and with all due respect I trust the information given to me when I was admitted more than what is told to me on this forum, especially since it is posted on the portal that only accepted students have access to and is the updated information for the 2016-2017 school year. Either way, my net cost would still be lower than at UMass because I got 44k total for financial aid at BU, and the calculated net price is still a couple thousand lower. I only received loans as financial aid from UMass.
This was your post. How are we supposed to know that UMass isn’t the cheapest if you said it was? How much of that $44k from BU is loans?
@twoinanddone only about $8,000. I made the post before I sat down with a financial aid counselor and realized that BU is actually cheaper.
Just making sure you are comparing costs in the same way. If UMass is $27k, but you were offered $5500 in loans, you are paying $27k. If BU is $65k and you have a $44k financial aid package, it would appear you are paying $21k. Cheaper, than UMass until you add back in the loans of $8k, and now you are at $29k.
I thought your original post was asking for suggestions of where to go as you couldn’t afford BU or Northeastern. I guess you didn’t want anything?
A lot has happened in the last couple of days in terms of where I thought I could afford to go to school, and I ultimately figured it all out and the issue is resolved. I thanked people for their helpful advice and at this point I’ve made my decision, as I mentioned earlier.
@ohiojr
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Full ride. She is not eligible for any need-based grants either. We can afford to pay all costs but we see no logical reason as a premed to give up money in places where she can maintain a good gpa to go to places where she might struggle to maintain 3.5 against very strong competition.
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I can tell you this… a 3.5 GPA won’t cut it for a traditional unhoooked med school applicant either.
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well-ranked pre-medical advising that were appealing to me as a student.
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Where is this so-called premed advising ranking??
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If she changes her mind about med school and wants to do something else, then her low cost options may hurt well. I guess that is the main drawback of taking the debt free route. The best middle of the road solution is to go to the state flagship school which is pretty good and she just has to pay room and board. She, however, hates how big the school is
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There are onl 1 or 2 careers where your choice of major may be affected by school choice. If your DD ends up not being premed, I doubt that her low cost options will hold her back.
RE: large schols. If she’s coming in with AP credits, then she may miss many of the large classes where a student feels the affects of a large school.
Closing thread since OP appears to have decided.