<p>I saw a decision deciding post on this forum that I thought it was a brilliant idea (cr. to unicameral2013) so I decided to make a thread as well. This is pretty nerve-wracking, waiting for everything to come in, and recording my thought process might help keep my options straight. Getting some insight by anyone willing would be wonderful. I am completely open and appreciative to any advice anyone wants to give on anything.</p>
<p>Perspective on my own situation: Contemplating a major in biology, potentially a double major with neuroscience or philosophy. But most importantly, I'm shooting for medical school. Pretty open to most academic environments and I'm looking forward to visiting most of my accepted schools to gauge whether or not I'd be a good fit there when the time comes.</p>
<p>Current situation:
COA doesn't include work-study/loans just to put everything into a similar perspective.</p>
<p>Accepted and Considering:
UChicago: COA ~$14,000
Williams: COA ~$26,000
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign: COA ~$0 (plus an extra $10,000 for research/study abroad purposes)
Case Western: COA ~9,000
UIC: waiting on the GPPA Program results</p>
<p>Waiting On:
Harvard
Yale
Brown
UPenn
Dartmouth
Duke
UChicago
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins</p>
<p>Waitlisted:
WUSTL</p>
<p>Rejected:
Check back later.</p>
<p>I know I shot pretty high, but I'm simply hoping for the best when the time comes.</p>
<p>I plan to hopefully visit the Williams campus sometime early April to get a feel for the school since I’ve never visited before.</p>
<p>You have some excellent choices already! I can’t wait to see what you choose.</p>
<p>how much can you/your parents pay?</p>
<p>@flymetothemoon Thanks!</p>
<p>@lilkickster My parents say they are willing to pay whatever it takes. But that’s not to say they don’t care; it’s just a smaller factor they’re considering than it may be for other families. Though I’m personally uncomfortable with too much debt under my belt before medical school when the time comes. I also have a little sister too who is going to college in a couple years too so taking that into account too.</p>
<p>You have some crazy good choices! Did you accept the WUSTL waitlist? I heard there are a lot of people they accept as soon as they join the waitlist, idk if that is true though. I see you’re waiting on loads more decisions though, things will probably become clearer as more acceptances and financial aid come in. Congrats on your acceptances!</p>
<p>Medical school is expensive – will your parents contribute the money saved by going to UIUC or other low cost school to your medical school if you get in?</p>
<p>@unicameral Thank you! You have some pretty awesome choices yourself as I recall. I did accept the waitlist, but I’m not quite banking too hard on actually getting it changed into an acceptance, though I’m okay with that.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus My parents will most likely direct that money to when my sibling needs to apply to college. Otherwise, I believe my parents are willing to contribute money to medical school as well.</p>
<p>Are the COAs you list per year or the total over four years?</p>
<p>@momrath The COA is per year. Sorry I didn’t make that clear.</p>
<p>Haru, Even though I’m a Williams fan, I wouldn’t advise a debt of over $100,000, especially if you are contemplating medical school. I know it’s nerve wracking but just wait until you have all the offers and all the packages. At that point you can try to negotiate the best deal from your top choice. With Illinois as your fall back, you have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>@momrath It’s a push and pull between the money and the school. I could try negotiating though not really sure how I’d go about it.</p>
<p>Some updates. I’m just waiting on a couple more.</p>
<p>Accepted and Considering:
UChicago: COA ~$14,000
Williams: COA ~$26,000
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign: COA ~$0 (plus an extra $10,000 for research/study abroad purposes)
Case Western: COA ~$9,000
UIC: waiting on the GPPA Program results COA ~$0 (just gave me an offer to cover everything)
Duke: COA ~$27,000</p>
<p>Waiting On:
Johns Hopkins (I can’t get onto its system.)</p>
<p>Waitlisted:
WUSTL
Northwestern
Dartmouth
UPenn
Harvard</p>
<p>Rejected:
Yale
Brown</p>
<p>Any this point, any thoughts? Right now, I’m stretched several different ways because I know Duke has a great pre-med program while at Williams, I’d get the small classes and attention I’d like. UChicago is a quirky school. But at the same time UIUC and their offer is really enticing. I’ve already booked a trip out to Williams next month and I’m hoping I can do that for UChicago and Duke too. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Just on cost, UChicago seems the no brainer (and worth it over UIUC). But I honestly don’t know about their med school placement.</p>