<p>I'm another lost Junior currently on my way to being a Senior in High School '14-15 and after 8 years of being forced to fill out "plans" for college, career, and future choices; I'm finding it's time to do it for real and none of that prep has helped much.</p>
<p>My first concern is money. According to my mother(who saved up) I could go through undergrad completely paid for, no loans, or anything. IF I go to a less accredited college or anything ok in general.
She is telling me I should continue living with her to reduce expenses as well, which means the pool of colleges I can attend is even smaller. </p>
<p>U of M-Flint; Kettering; Mott Community; U of M-Ann Arbor(as a stretch); MSU(just recently considered)</p>
<p>I know Ann Arbor is recognized but it's more expensive as well.
I'm a high achiever and want to attend the best I can, but I don't want to end up in a place that just turns into a lot of paying back considering I have my eyes set on Medical School.</p>
<p>Background:
Mixed race: White/African American (says I could claim the minority for aid)
Father died
low annual income
ACT Comp: 27 (Debated retaking as I did really well on science and reading, feeling like I could improve the other subscores)
GPA: 3.728
Class Rank: 121/651 (81th percentile)
Some EC: Girls Track & Field, recently joined Powerlifting, plan on dance club next year, (was limited because of driving)
Have taken AP and honors courses, no blow off courses. Mostly due to my math classes since I was moved up in elementary and exhausted the material I can take. </p>
<p>I've been told I could easily get into a lot of places but I'd like to aim higher. Some advice would be nice.</p>
<p>U should add, U-Michigan Dearborn. You qualify for 4,000/yr with your current gpa/act therefore it would cost you $8,000/yr if you commute.
Delete Kettering and Mott from your list.</p>
<p>You don’t get more aid for being an URM unless there are specific targeted scholarships designated as such. I would retake the ACT or look at the SAT. Also look up the Financial Aid pages of the schools you listed to see what scholarships they may have. </p>
<p>There are a number of threads in the Financial Aid forum that you should take a look at. Start with the ones on automatic merit-based aid. If you can pull up your ACT score (or do better on the SAT than on the ACT) there should be some decent affordable options for you.</p>
<p>My mother is REALLY good with her money because she had struggled so bad when she was young. She literally starved through her education but she didn’t owe a thing when she graduated. Over time she has earned, saved, and invested enough to send my sister and I through undergrad. I’d assume she has a lot considering all the things she has paid for, for my older siblings. But she also now doesn’t work much, earning less than 30,000 a year last I looked. She just doesn’t want to, nor feel the need to work and with that we end up qualifying for certain things. She hasn’t told me how much exactly, but every time I mention my concerns for paying for things she tells me to stop worrying I’ll get through. </p>
<p>Yes I live in Michigan. U of M flint was first on the list because it’s pretty near. Using the highway I could get there in a reasonable amount of time compared to ann arbor where I’d have to move there most likely. Rather not make that drive.</p>
<p>Yes, i am assuming the OP lives in Michigan given her list of schools and that mom suggests she live at home. So Michigan is a lot cheaper, AND the OP is likely to get better need based aid. OP, run the net price calculators for the colleges you are interested in – they are on the financial aid pages of the college websites. You will need your mom to help you. And I agree that you ought to study and take the ACT again, it would be well worth your while to gain 2-3 points if you can.</p>
<p>With an income at 30,000, you’d do well to fill out the net price calculator… Your FEC might be close to 0, meaning you could potentially go to U of M Ann Arbor for free. </p>
<p>"Every time I mention my concerns for paying for things she tells me to stop worrying I’ll get through. "
I know this will be hard, but you and your mom need to be honest with each other. She may have very unrealistic expectations of what college will cost. A frank conversation may save you both years of regret.</p>
<p>I think the savings aren’t as high as we might imagine. I’d like to see OP try a net price calculator; his/her mom might be shocked by how little someone in that income bracket’s expected to contribute. </p>
<p>Although it may not seem like it Vctory are telling you the same thing essentially. Your mom’s savings may seem large to her, but may still qualify you for financial aid. Talk honestly to her about how much is saved and then run the net price calculators at a number of different colleges. If you don’t have the talk and she tries cover the cost by herself without sufficient funds you will both regret it.</p>
<p>Why not look for merit scholarships at LACs? You could get great preparation for med school in a supportive environment and it could cost a lot less than your current choices. </p>
<p>I talked to her and she has about 250,000. She really doesn’t like to spend but she planned for that to be for my sister AND I and then whatever was left for her. I’m going to meet with a few counselors on this soon and also see what I can get scholarships for and etc.</p>
<p>Have you given any thought to filling out the net price calculator with her? It might shine some light on the situation before you meet with the counselors. They’ll more than likely recommend you do that as well. (When you fill it out, you see an estimated amount of grant money you’ll receive and the total cost of the university after that grant money’s factored in)</p>
<p>So the OP can definitely pay for Michigan. Plus, if income is low, fin aid should still be decent even with those savings. With her stats, merit money at any place equal to or better than MSU is quite doubtful (so MSU likely would be the cheapest best option, with an outside possibility of UMich). For pre-med, MSU may actually be a better option than UMich as there are significantly fewer smart pre-meds killing the curve there. BTW, have you considered a backup plan in case you don’t get in to med school? Why pre-med, BTW? Do you really want to help people? If that’s the reason for going pre-med (instead of a bogus reason like prestige or money; big changes are coming to healthcare, and both the prestige and money are at risk of going away over the next several decades, so those are poor reasons to want to become a doctor), have you considered an undergrad nursing program (while still going pre-med and trying for med school)? Both UMich and MSU have one.</p>
<p>A but off topic but those aren’t bogus reasons for going into any field that is prestigious or lucrative. The field’s changing, but the shrink in supply of doctors will force the gov’t to forego the price ceiling (ObamaCare). I doubt we’ll get anywhere near European levels. Even if we do, we’d probably sink down to France where many surgeons still make ~200k (~50% of what American surgeons make, but oh well). </p>
<p>Back on topic, I’d agree with PT in that you might wanna consider going to MSU or a lesser ranked school, rocking every class, and getting a 4.0/35+ MCAT score. Depending on grant aid (which is why you should apply to all schools and wait to hear back on aid, then post this question again), you might want to go with the cheapest school. </p>