<p>So I'm a rising senior who's trying to figure her life out.
At this point I want to become a doctor (possibly a pediatric neurologist, because I know from personal experience that there can't be too many good ped neuros in this world, but maybe not). So I really want a college that has a good acceptance rate to med schools but isn't so expensive because I obviously need to still have money for med school. Also, I plan to major in either child psych or mole bio, so while I have no idea if those are the kind of majors where one college may be better than another in that department, that's also a factor.
I'd also like to be within about 6 hours of my home (NYC)- if I'm IN NYC that's even better, but I don't insist. I'd prefer to be in a city. It can't be really expensive- I'd either want to earn a scholarship or just go someplace cheaper. (Example: even if I get into Barnard, where I'd honestly rather not go actually, you WISH I can afford it.) Problem is that even though I can't afford tuition, my family is definitely above the borderline for financial aid.
So- without further ado- my stats
94.5 GPA
2220 SAT- 800 CR, 620 M, 800 W (retaking in October for a better math score)
Just took SATIIs yesterday, will let you know June 20th how I did if you're interested :) (US History, Bio, English)
No ACT yet
Editor of school literary journal
Published in school newspaper
Published in school science journal- entered essay in Dupont Challenge
Peer tutor
Published in school poetry magazine
Science writing club member
High honor roll student
4 years of Hebrew language (honors), 2 years of Spanish language
4 in AP Euro (long story), didn't receive 11th grade scores yet
School orchestra member (flute)
Acted in school Shakespeare event
Will have taken 5 APs and 5 dual enrollment classes by the end of high school
I have no idea if this is too much or too little or what, so make of it what you will.
Thanks!</p>
<p>" Problem is that even though I can’t afford tuition, my family is definitely above the borderline for financial aid. "</p>
<p>How much can your family pay? Nothing at all? $5,000 each year? $20,000 each year? Try to get a figure out of them that they can commit to. Then you will know how deep and how far you will have to dig to come up with your safeties.</p>
<p>Your GPA and SAT scores are in the range to get you some serious merit-based aid if you are willing to be flexible about where you study. Start with these threads, and then spend a bit more time in the Financial Aid Forum to learn more about how students get the money to work out for them.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>You can major in anything at all as a pre-med, do don’t worry about that. Med school admissions is heavily numbers driven and your MCAT score, GPA in the pre-med coursework, and overall GPA will matter much much more than the name of the college/university itself. A cheap place where you can pull down something close to a 4.0 and where you will be well-prepared for the MCATs is what you need to be looking for.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is supposedly really good with financial aid.
Other schools to consider:
Rochester
Fordham
SUNY Binghamton
SUNY Geneseo
CUNY Hunters College
I think your stats are very impressive. You should definitely look at some merit aid</p>