Grinnell appears on this online list, “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs,” has a well-funded financial aid program, and could be an excellent school for you.
Based on the atmosphere you are looking for, you may want to eliminate Colgate and Bucknell (not “‘nerdy’”).
I agree with Grinnell. Carleton is another very nerdy, geeky school.
Visit your California list - figure out what feels right about each one - then post that information and people can help suggest similar schools across the US
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My family income is lower than 40k/year, w
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Do you have a non custodial parent? Do your parents have a business?
I live with both of my parents and they are not working. (We transfer rmb(money in China) into USD to cover living expenses.–i would not tell college that, i suppose)
Does that help me to get scholarships to cover college tuition?
Even if your parents only transfer $40,000 per year for living expenses, they have to report ALL their assets (including those in China, and including almost all types of assets) for you to get need based financial aid in the US. And you MUST reveal all your sources of income to the colleges. “I will not tell the college that, I suppose” is wrong. You do need to tell them.
Just to clarify, are you a US citizen? The answer changes dramatically on these questions if you are not.
Being an international does make a huge difference here, as intparent says. Financial aid for internationals is much more restrictive than it is for low-income US citizens. Getting into a US medical school as a non-citizen is nearly impossible. If medicine is your goal, you need to look at getting your education elsewhere.
Yes, I am US citizen.
I am too naive on college admission… Well, it is a good thing that i get clarified now instead of during my senior year.
Does asset matter? My family report income taxes for 40k per year(base on earning from rentals in china), yet we live mainly by transferring currency to get cash.
Need-based financial aid implies that a student cannot reasonably afford to pay for his education. So, yes, family assets matter.
Ordinarily, with a family income of $40K/year, a US citizen could qualify for substantial need-based aid at selective private schools like the ones listed in post #1 (Pomona, etc.) The amount at some colleges could even approach the full cost of attendance (minus several thousand dollars/year in “self help”).
However, substantial financial assets could reduce the amount of aid. Such assets must be disclosed. Failure to do so would be fraud, which is a crime. The following article describes possible penalties:
http://www.fastweb.com/financial-aid/articles/what-happens-if-you-deliberately-don-t-report-assets-on-the-fafsa
Try running the online net price calculator for any college that interests you.
Be sure to enter business income and the value of real estate your family owns.
You may still be eligible for significant need-based aid from some colleges (although the amount may not be as much as if all your family income were from wages and you owned no rental property.)
Yes, all their rental properties will need to be reported to most schools, even if they are held in a business.
I will tell you that my friend’s daughter got into 3 medical schools coming out of UNC-Ashville. She felt the opportunity to be published as an undergrad, become well known to faculty and do the honors program was huge. Other friends…NC State…Kenyon…UNC-Charlotte all got into good medical schools.