Here are the matches that I have been thinking about:
Boston University
New York University
Tulane University
UCSB (we can afford this)
Case Western
URochester
Brandeis University
Wake Forest (not sure if this is a match)
If you can help me whittle it down to 3 or 4, I’d appreciate it.
Bio:
Citizenship: US, Egypt
State of residence: Ohio
Class: 2018
Race: White (Middle Eastern)
Gender: Male
Intended Major: Biology (pre-med)
School:
Private school (around 240 students total, 57 in my grade)
Graduates (How many go to Ivies): 3 per year, 5 last year (there’s normally only around 30 students in a graduating class)
APs Offered: 11, 3 of them fine arts (3 APs per year maximum)
Only 5 classes per semester, including free period 90% of students take
Academic Profile:
Unweighted GPA: 3.90 (calculated this myself, school doesn’t send unweighted)
Weighted GPA: 4.10
UC GPA: 4.083
SAT: 1500 (730 rw, 770 m)
AP Scores: Biology (4), Psychology (5)
Rank: school does not report class rank
Senior Year Courses (APs):
AP Calculus AB (school doesn’t offer BC)
AP Chemistry
AP United States History
ECs):
Varsity Tennis Team co-captain
Science Olympiad co-president
45+ hours volunteering at local university hospital
30+ hours fundraising/volunteering for local mosque
75+ hours of shadowing at a local hospital
Math Club
Honors:
Academic Honor Roll
National Society of High School Scholars (school isn’t a member of NHS)
National Spanish Exam Medal Winner (Gold last year, Silver this year)
Maybe ask yourself why each one is on your list? What do you like about each school? Are they all equal in your mind or do you have preferences and criteria that will make a few more appealing than others?
The only campus that I may be worried about is NYU. In addition, I’m not really worried about “party reputation” schools, because I know that I can resist going to these parties. I do enjoy being near large cities, but if the education is good (like Wake Forest), then I’m not concerned about it. In addition, school spirit is something that I’d like a school to have, but I wouldn’t take a school off of my list just because they aren’t into spirit.
I am applying to some of my in-state options, but I’d like to also keep my options open and see where else I could go. I think that I may be in a little bit of debt, but I don’t believe it’ll be too drastic (hopefully).
As a pre-med, you may want to consider making cost a higher priority, so that you can save money for medical school, which tends to be very expensive. High medical school debt can be a huge burden even at physician pay levels, and can pressure you into chasing the money even if you would prefer to make other career choices (e.g. if the specialty you really want to do is a lower paid one).
“As a pre-med, you may want to consider making cost a higher priority,”
“Even you can afford it, it is not worth to go to UCSB from OOS particularly you want to go to med school afterward.”
Just as one data point: A couple of weeks ago I happened to have a chat with a very highly ranked specialist at one of the excellent well known medical facilities in the Boston area. He went to a VERY reasonably priced (and highly ranked) undergrad and medical school, which at the time cost probably at most a quarter of what a full pay undergrad university plus medical school would cost today. More than 10 years after completing his residency, he is still paying off student loans.
If you are serious about medical school, and if it is possible to go to an academically very good university without taking on any undergraduate debt at all, then pick a school that allows you to totally avoid any debt for undergrad. I do understand that this might rule out all of the schools listed in the original post above (although you might not know for sure until you get the admissions offers).
@DadTwoGirls So by going to a school that I can graduate without any debt, do you mean to go to any in-state public options? I am applying to Ohio State’s Honors program, and if I get in, I will seriously consider it.
“So by going to a school that I can graduate without any debt, do you mean to go to any in-state public options?”
I would apply to in-state public options, and also apply to other options (perhaps the ones in your original list, and/or ones recommended by others), then see what sort of offers you get.
@DadTwoGirls@billcsho I am pretty set on going to med school after my undergrad. Because of this, do you suggest I take UCSB and UCSD off my list, due to them not giving any aid to OOS students?