Hi everyone!
I am a current junior at a private rigorus high school in suburban Pennsylvania. I have narrowed my college list to about 10 schools, Richmond is definitely one of my top choices, but I am just super worried about money, as I am at high school on a full scholarship. I want to go on to med school after undergrad, and don’t want to be in much debt. All and any information is appreciated!
Stats:
GPA: 4.197 (W) 4.0 (UW)
SAT: Currently around a 1340- hope to get it up to a 1450 with a few months of prep
Course Load: 3 APs this year, 3 APs next year, everything else honors
Extra curriculars: XC (4 years), Swimming (4 years- state champions), Track (2 years), Chorus (3 years, leadership position), Auditioned chamber choir (2 years, leadership position), Mock Trial (3 years, leadership position), Music Ministry (4 years, leadership), Model UN (4 years), Latin Club (4 years), Math League (3 years), Annenberg Science Symposium (2 years)
Honors Societies: NHS, Tri-M Music Honors, Math Honors, Latin Honors (possible leadership senior year)
Job Experience: Lifeguard (2 years) Starbucks Barista (1 year)
Volunteer Work: 5 hours per week at local hospital
Summer Activities: I applied for a competitive internship at CHOP for this summer, hoping to hear back soon!
I am also beginning my own medicine club at school next year for anyone interested in going into that field. I want to major in either biochemistry or biomedical engineering as a pre med with hopes of pursuing med school in my future. If you could tell me whether or not Richmond is realistic for me and also let me know if you know of any other schools that would be matches for me that are worth looking into!
You look like you might be a strong candidate for admission, particularly if you can increase that SAT to the 1450-range as you said you are hoping to do.
As for scholarships, Richmond does have the Richmond Scholars program, but that is extremely competitive and likely to go to someone with much higher stats and a highly developed talent or interest in a particular field. Richmond also offers a limited number of Presidential Scholarships, which are worth 1/3 tuition (not 1/3 cost of attendance, just 1/3 tuition).
Other than that, Richmond’s aid is completely need-based, so will depend on your family’s finances. We did not think Richmond was generous at all. My son applied to 14 schools, some of which are just as pricey as Richmond. We have heard back from all but 3, and Richmond is so far the least generous financial aid package we received. Take a serious look at the NPC on Richmond’s website. The FAFSA EFC alone is NOT a good predictor of what Richmond will expect your family to pay. There are also other threads on this topic (look in the Univ. of Richmond forum) - you should look for those to gauge what you might receive from Richmond.
Of the private schools, I thought Fordham and Dayton were generous to my son. My son got scholarships that seemed to be based on a combination of merit and need, and brought COA right around our FAFSA EFC, which was more than I was expecting from either of them. It’s hard to compare the need available at privates with the need available at publics, but of the public schools to which my son applied, I thought South Carolina, Indiana and Miami (OH) were generous with merit based scholarships to my son - we were not expecting any need-based aid from the public schools to which he applied.
This is very much a YMMV situation, though. These schools may be more or less generous to you than they were to my son. Richmond may be more or less generous to you than it was to my son. You have to look at what each school on your list offers in terms of merit scholarships, need-based aid, or some of each; if merit scholarships are available at a particular school, what the school looks at for criteria (some are strictly stats-based, some are holistic, some have a need component even though they are merit scholarships) and how you think you will fare given those criteria; and if the school is only need-based, what your family’s financial circumstances are.
I’m a senior Richmond Scholar (for music) at UR. Richmond Scholars and Presidential Scholars are not the only four-year scholarships that exist. As a vocalist, you can audition with the music department for a department scholarship, and those can be pretty substantial (up to 25k per year). Other departments have scholarships as well, and there are also the Oliver Hill Scholarships (1/2 tuition), Bonner Scholars, etc. I think you have a good shot at the presidential scholarship (there are typically about 100 offered a year), if not the Richmond Scholar.
Richmond is actually really highly regarded for financial aid. They meet 100% demonstrated need, but they are a CSS school, so you have to run the NPC. Do you know what your parents can afford and ballpark what they make in a year. Unfortunately most schools don’t give good aid to middle class families, and for that reason I only applied to schools where I had a good shot at getting full tuition or were in-state and cheap.
You might want to consider applying for an ROTC Scholarship (Army) if you are interested in attending medical school. My son was just selected for a full, four-year NROTC Scholarship and it covers all tuition, books, etc. for four years. I’d suggest you spend some time exploring your options. Good luck to you!
My D18 applied EA and was accepted to URichmond and had a very competitive financial aid package. UR was her first choice but another college offered a little bit better FA pkg that did not include Student Loans as part of the equation (but she can still take them out, they just do not factor that in). She has to follow the money and was a little disappointed at first because she LOVED Richmond. But alas she didn’t have any outside scholarships to help make up the difference. I think based on your stats you have a good chance to be accepted; apply EA and you will know sooner. However note that there are less Full-Scholarships available now than there once were. UR is committed to trying to help more students through need-based aid, than through merit and by that more students are given money but less are being given a full-ride. Run the Price Calculators and FAFSA estimators with your parents. UR was very close to what I had estimated (actually gave us a little more than I calculated but I tried to over pad my estimates so when we wouldn’t be hugely disappointed). Also definitely apply to scholarships NOT offered by the college… if for any other reason they follow you not the school and can be useful when deciding. Good Luck!