I assumed you are not a FL resident, as you would have Bright Futures, that would cover tuition. In FL, UF undergrads have a step up,for their grad schools, be in medicine, PT, or dental school. UMiami has a UG/mdprogram, not easy to be accepted. Still, UMiami is generous with aid, based on scores.
@3scoutsmom Great point. I have already “planned” out possible schedules for some of my top choices and for the most part around 55-70 credit-hours will transfer before it reaches the maximum amount. I know that most schools require that I take ~60 credit-hours of their classes but still, knocking out almost all of the Gen Ed/Introductory courses with the AP and DE credits will be incredibly helpful. I will definitely keep that in mind when deciding on where to attend!
Follow the money. You do not want to go into undergrad debt if you plan on going to medical school afterwards. GPA is super, super important, and med schools take applicants from all kinds of colleges. Better to get a 3.9 at a top-100 school that threw you a ton of money than a 3.4 at a top 20 that’s gonna put you in some serious debt.
It may be a great school,idk, but that Top 25 ranking is only looking at the honors programs of 60 public schools for the book “Inside Honors.” No offense, but hardly a recognized ranking. Rankings are often manufactured and don’t represent the entire picture.
@ripasians2023 - You know better than any of us whether or not your parents can be brought around to a different notion of what is possible, and what is truly affordable. All we can do is suggest some supporing arguments. All too often asian immigrant parents are unable to shake the college admission notions that they brought with them from their home countries. There admission to a top institution guaranteed access to significantly better jobs and income, and admission to an institution just one point lower on the scale meant a life-long lock out from certain opportunities. The wild variety of options here, and the effect of individual committment and drive on long range results career results and income, are hard to adjust to.
You need to make your own plans for what to do if/when you are told that you can only apply to certain places. Will you apply separately to places that guarantee you a full-ride for merit? Will yôu apply separately to mid-range institutions hoping your parents will see those as viable options if you get shut out from every place on your parents’ list?
Just agree with them…apply to some…apply to some more affordable schools and then when next April comes make your decision.
University of Kentucky in Lexington often gets over-looked here on CC when we start talking NMF and big merit awards.
The Patterson Scholarship at UK is automatic to NMF and NHS. Last year, the Patterson was full tuition plus $10K towards on-campus room and board for the first two years.
There’s a medical school & teaching hospital on campus. Definitely worth a look if you are looking for value and are looking ahead at grad school or professional school.
Stress grad school when you talk with them.
You have a good chance at a substantial scholarship at TCU, which is opening its own med school with preferential admission to TCU students next year.
I am a first generation immigrant (black latina) in my family, that prestigious university was important. I opted For one if top 3 universities in my area. I would have preferred a smaller school upstate actually. I tried to be more level headed with my two college age kids. My oldest absolutely refused to apply for any Ivy League schools, it sure would have made me happy. She got into a great college for writers with a very good scholarship. I only pay $6k per year. My youngest is in a top BFA program which she needs to adequately prepare for a career as a dancer. It is very pricey but worth the expense for her to have a real chance at a professional dancer career.
Since you plan ti become a doctor I can tell you, medical school is very expensive. I have two nieces that are doctors. Right nou want to be in a great school that will adequate prepare you to get into a good medical program.
Do your research, some of the state colleges have great programs. I know Stony Brook in N.Y. has a great premed track and is very selective but not a super expensive school.
Do your research and tell your parents to save up their money to help you with medical school. I know how they feel, I would love to brag that one of my kid goes to Yale or Princeton but I’d rather have them attend an academically rigorous program in an environment where they are happy, supported and is a good fit.
Read up on the schools you are interested in, go on college tours, maybe even prepare a little presentation for them with your too schools of interest and to humor them, apply to a few Ivy league schools or not…
If you are serious about med school, your plan to attend a lower ranked university with a generous package is fantastic. Medical schools care about GPA and MCAT score, as well as clinical ECs, public service, research, etc. They don’t really care about the prestige of your undergrad. Why compete with a class full of other students with stats as good as yours or better for that 4.0 GPA? Why not go to a school where you will be comfortably at the top, get the GPA you need, have first choice of the best internships and save money at the same time.
As for convincing your parents, I would take things one step at at time. Will they let you apply to the schools you want? If so, apply there and at the schools your parents want. Then just bide your time until you find out where you are accepted and what your financial packages will be. Your parents may very well come around at that point. If not, come back for more advice!
@gallentjill While I understand the position of going to a lower ranked university to have a better chance at a higher GPA for med school application purposes, there are other points to consider. To start with, that relatively higher GPA might never materialize. Additionally, a student might decide the dedication needed to go on to med school is not there anymore or find a different path to pursue or still might not be ultimately accepted to med school.
In any of those cases (and I think those cases represent >50% of students who enter college as pre-meds), the student now has a degree from a lower ranked university than they would have had. Still might be worth it to some, but maybe not to others.
I absolutely agree it can make sense to save money, especially if any type of grad school is planned, but think there are broader considerations to the ‘drop down a level (or two) to maximize GPA and med school chances’ that is frequently espoused on CC and other places.
@Mwfan1921 Its a valid point. Sstudents who think they might want medicine should make sure they are attending an undergrad that can give them what they need if they change their minds. That doesn’t need to be top 20. Each student should decide that for himself.
I don’t understand the whole premise of this thread.
OP, your parents want you to attend a top 20 university. You can likely get into a top 20 university. Your parents say that they can afford a top 20 university. The price that you quoted of $22K is not that high. You didn’t say that YOU would have to borrow that much money. You want to go to medical school.
In your calculations, you are assuming that the benefits of attending a top 20 school are all prestige. You are missing the following benefits: 1) GRADE INFLATION - this is YUGE, 2) smaller more personal administration, 3) outstanding peers, 4) more resources per student for pre-med advising, 5) faculty who expect undergraduates to do research.
While attending Florida or Florida State would save YOUR PARENTS a lot of money on something that they have been looking forward to spending for your education.
I totally understand parents who are concerned about costs encouraging their kids to look for scholarships. But in your case, you don’t even acknowledge the added benefits of attending a private school.
USC gives some big NMF scholarships. Maybe that could be a school where your criteria and your parents’ could intersect. (If they can stretch Top 20 to Top 21, lol)
Yeah, I agree that prestigious schools are overrated, but…If they’re paying for it and you get into a top 20 school, then problem solved. If you don’t get into a top 20 despite your best efforts, then I’m sure you’re parents would be willing to put you in the best school that you get into, as long as it’s close to top 20. I’m not agreeing or disagreeing, I’m just elaborating on their thinking. Sometimes it’s good to go to a top 20 to keep the peace in the family. You probably know better than me how strong that cultural belief is to a lot of Asian parents. I’ve seen kids go against their parent’s wishes and it can get ugly FAST!
We sent both our kids to excellent schools, full pay (Swarthmore and Yale). We had the money saved for them, no debt. We were happy to do so. My husband and I both went to similar schools (Swarthmore and Princeton) and wanted to give the same experience to our kids. While I absolutely agree with the little-to-no-debt mantra emphasized here, if parents are willing and able, then it often a gift they want to give.
But if your kids had wanted to go to UMass and Rutgers, would you have happily let them do that? The OP here is fighting for where he wants to go, and his parents (may) think those schools aren’t good enough for him.
University of Florida is a top 10. Yes top ten us public research university. It had the second most number of med school acceptances in the USA. Partly because of size and partly because so many top performing Floridian students attend because of the financial terms. It’s also a fabulous school for the other parts of an undergrad experience.
Lower ranked school? I really can’t understand this perspective. Does anyone really think going to notre same or cal ,as examples only, will set one up uniquely in life versus a UF premed. I don’t. And the money saved in real life will be very valuable for med school.
If you decide to not attend med school it’s the same for other professional degrees post grad. MBA. MS. Etc UF send thousands of kids onward each year.
If you only have an UF undergrad it’s still really ok. Gator nation as alumni network is very real and very active. They are actually a bit snobbish is FL about their UF degree versus others
I say apply to a broad range and compare offers. The financial offers will seem very real when checks are due. And you may get a surprisingly good offer from a so called higher prestige school and choose that path
Congrats on your opportunities and keep up the hard work. It will pay off in the end when you are wearing the lab coat to work.
Full disclosure. No one I know or anyone in my family has or will attend UF. And I live in New England.
The “top 20” is clearly an artificial barrier. Perhaps you should consider number 21?
Over 40 years ago I looked at a very expensive and extensive market study completed by one university. It concluded that the parents perception of a college’s prestige were the primary determinate in final college selection.
I vote for “compmom’s” approach.