UNC Charlotte and ECU are good highly likelies/safeties, as long as you would be happy to attend either. ECU does have a very good honors college and early assurance program in medicine that you might consider: https://honors.ecu.edu/admissions/early-assurance/
WashU and NU RD rounds will be difficult to stand out. Certainly apply to several reaches, but these two are unlikely…especially considering you will need $20K-25K or so merit.
Did you take the PSAT/are you likely to qualify to be a national merit scholar? If so, you might look at schools that offer large NMF merit like U Alabama, ASU, et al. Nothing wrong with saving money to apply to med school.
For matches/targets: Case Western (but HAVE to apply EA and demonstrate interest), Wake Forest (but enough merit might be hard), Lehigh, SMU, U Denver, Santa Clara, U San Diego. Larger schools that could work price wise and are in a city/suburb would be OSU, Mich State, Indiana U.
@Publisher Looks like OP needs merit aid (aside from in-state publics), so the schools on your list that don’t offer merit won’t work (e.g, Swat, Williams, Pomona, Amherst, etc).
OP is not going to receive merit aid at Northwestern & is unlikely to get any at WashUStL, yet they are OP’s top 2 target schools. This leads me to believe that OP’s parents would like merit aid, but that it is not necessary. If it was, then many large state publics would / should be on OP’s list as should lower cost Rice University.
“not comfortable” paying $70k plus per year is different than “unable” or “unwilling to” pay above $70,000 per academic year.
I stand by my recommendations from #15 for schools from the midwestern part of the U.S. so consider those additions to this list. You’re so lucky that you’re in North Carolina and have such amazing public schools available to you.
The schools below are in urban/suburban locations with a mix of medium and larger schools. They would be very good options for pre-med, and there was a particular focus on being near hospitals, preferably multiple ones, with a variety of different experiences for shadowing and volunteering. Emory would be the least likely to meet budget, followed by Case Western, but they do offer some merit aid.
Guaranteed (100%)
U. of Iowa
Extremely Likely (80-99%)
U. of South Carolina (with a very well-reputed honors college)
U. of Alabama – Birmingham
Thomas Jefferson (PA )
Likely (60-79%)
NC State
College of New Jersey
SUNY Binghamton (NY)
U. of Washington
U. of Pittsburgh (PA )
Toss-Up (40-59%)
UNC-Chapel Hill
U. of Florida
Southern Methodist (TX)
Rhodes (TN)…if you’re willing to go for a smaller school
My DD had similar stats and loved both Wash U and Northwestern. She ended up at Vanderbilt, and loves it! I would consider adding Vandy to your list. Vanderbilt gives fantastic financial aid and there are a number of scholarships available. Finances played a role in my DD decision, she got a great offer from Vanderbilt, but ultimately can not imagine herself anywhere else. It is similar to both Wash U and Northwestern in size and urban/suburban location. Nashville is a vibrant city, the student body is diverse, it does not have a typical southern feel, the campus is gorgeous and climate is mild.
If you’re pre-med then you compete for admissions with other pre-med candidates, and it’s a much lower chance of admissions. You’ve got some great in-state options at least in NC.