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I’m a high school junior applying environmental science on a pre-med track. I have a $250k college fund and probably won’t receive any need-based financial aid anywhere. Due to the cost of med school, I’m trying to go to a cheap or relatively cheap school, but would still like to attend a “traditional” college rather than a commuter school.

Here are my stats:
4.3/5 Weighted GPA (4.12 Freshman and 4.4 Sophomore and Junior)
3.85/4 Unweighted (3.75 Freshman, 3.93 Sophomore, 3.72 Junior)
1460 SAT (760 Math, 700 Reading)
1500 PSAT (National Merit qualifying)
8 AP’s (AP Physics I and II, AP Chem, AP Calc, AP US History, AP Bio, AP Environmental Science, and AP Gov)
Class Rank (20/350?) (My school refuses to give out rank)
Captain of Science Bowl Team
NHS and National Science Honor Society
~900 volunteer hours working with/mentoring young kids (K-5)
Founded a recycling program at my school that improved recycling practices and collected ~4000 bottles ($200 worth) donating it to a local food bank. At that rate would have been about $1k by the end of the year if COVID didn’t happen and I was in the process of expanding the program into neighboring towns.
Track and Field all 4 years

At the moment I’m going to apply to UConn (in-state) and Baylor (Absolutely love the school), what are some similar schools that (with scholarships) won’t cost more than $30k a year? There is absolutely nothing my grades hate more than cold weather, I cannot focus at all when it’s cold out, so warmer weather schools would be appreciated.

3.82/4 UW*

If you are looking for a school similar to Baylor, I recommend looking into TCU. They offer good merit aid for kids with high stats. Are you interested in any LACs? Also, what are the qualities that you really care about in a school?

You would qualify for the Presidential Scholarship ($26k) at UA. Assuming you get no need-based aid, it would bring your cost to around $20k.

https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/out-of-state/

If you end up as a National Merit Finalist (which is most likely), there are a number of really good university which you could attend for no tuition at all, and more. Even as a Semifinalist you will be eligible for a number of good scholarships.

USC Columbia Honors
Virginia Tech? (Nor sure it’d be within budget)
UNC Asheville

Definitely look into the schools the provide BIG scholarships for being a National Merit Finalist!

Another option is Miami of Ohio. With your test scores and GPA you’d be eligible for half - full tuition.

https://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-guarantee/

Utah, Texas tech, Texas a and m, unc,

If you like Baylor and want similar schools in Texas or the south then look at:

TCU (beautiful part of Fort Worth)
SMU (very upscale part of Dallas)
Trinity (nice part of San Antonio)
Alabama (full ride for National Merit Finalists)