<p>Bd, good points. Too, money is, with med school costs, an issue. $50,000 for eight years…if you don’t have to…gotta ask “why”!! Is the knowledge gained that different? Time will tell, but I’ve gotta keep one foot in reality financially…and he’s not an only child. </p>
<p>The conn…it is, somewhat. Trinity and Wake. Forgot why we dropped Wake, but it has been a topic. Looking forward to learning more about Trinity. Is it much of a commuter school?</p>
<p>Long haul. Interesting, and your in Pa.? What did he decide? Rhodes IS a neat place. CC ‘sensitive’ to need meaning they don’t want to deal with providing it? GWU is a Wild hair, he just spent a week there interning in DC and stayed in he dorm by the med school. </p>
<p>Psycho, well put…not where you go but what you do when you get there!!</p>
<p>Several kids from D’s HS wound up at Trinity because they wanted an LAC with good merit money. They’ve all had very positive experiences (none have graduated yet). Another kid is happy at Rhodes, also with merit $. </p>
<p>If med school is even a possibility, I’d look for the best combination of minimal undergrad costs and strong pre-med advising.</p>
<p>My D is a recent Rhodes grad and current MD/PhD student. She decided very late (June after her junior year) to apply to MD/PhD programs rather than PhD programs. Rhodes was very supportive and helped her get things together to apply that summer. She had a great experience at Rhodes, had a full tuition scholarship, met wonderful people (including a lot of Texans), and felt that attending a small LAC in a fairly large city offered some wonderful opportunities. (Trinity was another school she considered.) Good luck with the college search!</p>
<p>shy, it is a small world!! interesting. yes, Rhodes seems like we couldn’t go wrong there. also Trinity, which we will visit in the fall.</p>
<p>yapon, i have heard that both schools have decent merit money offers. seems like two very siimilar schools, in that.</p>
<p>WHAT would you say are the DIFFERENCES in these two schools…RHODES and TRINITY. in student body, in pre med advising, in biology programs, in professors…how are they similar and how are they different?</p>
<p>looking forward to visiting both. i do think small LAC in larger city is a good combo. thanks all!!</p>
<p>Update. we are going to a preview day at Trinity U, sounds like a great option. And in a nice part of SA. A very similar comparison for him of Rhodes. Metro area - small LAC - great pre med. with Tulane still on this list, but yes, a bit larger which is fine.</p>
<p>The public state u list is texas A & M and Tech, with UT a close third. No out of state u’s are too highly considered. Honors at Tech. Regular at A&M, bio med or bio, he met with both and was quite impressed. Going to do a fall preview weekend (stay in campus, no parents) in the fall at A and M and is excited about that. Tour and meetings at UT were less impressive to him, but likes Austin. </p>
<p>Trying to keep this from getting too complex. Go where he will have a great education and research/shadowing opportunity, but also fun and rea$onable!!</p>
<p>Only about 50 schools are both need-blind and committed to covering 100% of demonstrated need. I don’t think any schools in the thread title are. A few of them do claim meet 100% of demonstrated need (or close to it) for those students they accept. However, unless a college is “need blind”, high need could tip the decision against a borderline applicant.</p>
<p>Colorado C - let me clarify – An ACT of 33+/SAT of 2200+ all around kid won’t be accepted if he doesn’t also meet the financial profile.</p>
<p>From what I learned “off record” and several experiences of families on CC, Colorado College is very tough admit if you need aid and are not “lower” income. They seem to have shifted focus. They give huge money to lower income students to increase diversity. They offer very small money (<$7,000/student) to a a large group of higher income. They protect the yield by admitting students who fall into one of these two groups. I do not believe the “quality” of the student accepted is lower at all – they have enough strong applicants to do this. </p>
<p>Rhodes, Trinity, Furman, Tulane, Baylor and GWU all are likely to accept OP kid’s stats for middle income households. </p>
<p>OP - Can’t wait to hear what you think of Trinity! I prefer San Antonio over Memphis and prefer Rhodes campus over Trinity. I think your son will have some great choices!</p>
<p>For premed, honestly, you do not need a big name school, but rather a good school that will prepare him well for the mcats and allow him to earn a good GPA. I would remove all state universities because of this. State universities are often known for their “weed out” classes. It can be harder to earn good grades there too, due to overcrowded classes, lack of prof hours, difficulty scheduling, etc. Medical school costs a lot too, so you want to pay as little as possible for undergrad. Also, he should carefully plan his major. Biology is NOT the best major for premed students. I guess biochem is supposed to be the worst. He has time on this, but if one is serious about med school, it is best to research now, what he will need in 4 years to get in to med school, so he can make sure he is doing the best thing now. I hope that helps!</p>
<p>I also have heard from people whose kids had top stats, but then did not get in to CC because of financial issues. They would call these people and ask them for financial information, before they would finish the admissions office would give a decision. </p>
<p>Also, I have heard from some people who attend there that they are miserable there. So I would just cross CC off the list.</p>
<p>Also, have you looked at the 6 yr to MD programs? I know WashU has one, I think Rice might have one, and U of Mich and a few others.</p>
<p>Imkh, interesting what you say crossing all state schools off. We looked at A and M, and felt pretty good about that track. I think we can cross CC off due to lack of merit aid. You say bio is not the best major, curious what you think are some good majors? I agree completely, figure this stuff out sooner than later. Appreciate all your advice!!</p>
<p>To, not sure I am following…but I don’t expect to get any need based aid. Merit is what will make privates competitive. We can’t do $50 k a year! </p>
<p>Long haul, CC seems unreadable financially. Heard this a number of times. Neat school though. Just unrealistic and not necessary. Other schools can fit. I think the list you spell out will all give five digit merit money. I’m interested in Trinity too. Memphis was nicer than I expected…not downtown, but midtown. Yes, beautiful campus. Your pick?</p>
<p>Here’s how schools in the thread title compare for financial aid, according to USNWR based on 2011 data:</p>
<p>College … % whose determined need was fully met … avg % of need met
W&L: … 98.6%, 99%
Richmond: … 93%, 100%
Colorado: …80.8%, 98%
…drop…
Tulane: …66.4%, 90%
GW: … 56.8%, 88%
Rhodes: … 51.8%, 91.6%
Wofford: …44.4%, 83.9
Trinity TX: … 39.6%, 88.2%
Furman: … 36.4%, 79.7%
Baylor: … 16.4%, 66.2%</p>
<p>According to the Colorado College 2012-13 Common Data Set, determined need was fully met for 175 of 182 incoming freshmen who were determined to have financial need (96%).
On average, 99.5% percentage of demonstrated need was met of students who were awarded any need-based aid. So, the financial aid awarded to admitted students appears to be quite generous (and perhaps getting better). </p>
<p>On the other hand, CC is not need-blind. Very few colleges are both need-blind and committed to meeting full need. It may indeed be the case that CC is rejecting some well-qualified applicants (not just borderline applicants) with high financial need. However, I’m unaware of any data or policy statement (only a couple College Confidential anecdotes) that shows a well-qualified applicant definitely will be rejected if he doesn’t also meet a specific financial profile. It is not unusual for selective schools with holistic admission policies to reject some applicants with very high stats.</p>
<p>In Princeton Review’s 2010 rankings, Colorado College ranked #13 for “happiest students”. In 2009 it was #10. It is no longer in the top 20, so something may have changed, but I doubt students collectively have gone from “happiest” to “miserable” in 3 years.</p>
<p>A somewhat less selective LAC that appears to have a strong biology department is Earlham College (IN). The full sticker price is a little under $50K. On average, they meet 96% of determined need (per USNWR 2011 figures). They do offer merit aid. </p>
<p>Average entering HS GPA is 3.4. Average ACT = 26. So, nettiK’s son probably would be in the running for merit aid.</p>
<p>Earlham ranks ~10th for the percentage of alumni who go on to earn doctorates in the biological sciences. </p>
<p>W&L is great school with great merit aid, but getting that aid may be tough. Definitely need to visit there, very greek. D loves it there and has lots of premed friends with good med school results. Lots of Texans too! </p>
<p>Furman and Wofford also have good rep for premed and are less selective than W&L. Not sure how aid would stack up. For just merit, I wasn’t that impressed with Furman and I love the school and D got top merit scholarship but still had pretty decent gap to pay. Mine weren’t interested in Wofford, but nephew who went loved it - good premed rep and very tight alumni network.</p>
<p>Add in some NC schools and you could have a nice visit east to check some out.</p>
<p>^ Only about 15% of W&L students get merit aid.<br>
You’d need a combined SAT M+CR of over 1480 even to be among the top 25%.
81% of freshmen were in their HS top 10%.
With a 33 (~=1460) / 3.6 / top 15%, admission (let alone merit aid) will be a reach, given the low admit rate.</p>
<p>Some of the OOS public LACs could net out lower in cost than the private schools we’re discussing (even after average merit aid.) St. Mary’s College of MD is a nice public LAC in a beautiful waterfront setting.</p>
<p>Just a note about Baylor, if your son wants to go someplace interesting, Waco is not it. There is definitely more stuff to do there than when I moved, but over all there are not many options. No real music or arts scene, limited movie selections, mostly chain restaurants, and no real culture. Also Waco is overall a poor city with a high crime rate for it’s size. Baylor has a lovely campus, but the neighborhoods around the campus are rough and there are lots of robberies around the area.
Baylor is not a small school, and I personally would never go there because of the policies of the administration, but I’m not a Baptist or a Christian (it’s not inhabitable for those who are not, but it may not be the best option.)</p>