Help me narrow down my matches?

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)

Thanks!

I’d recommend you keep URochester and Wake Forest.

Are you full pay? If not, will NYU be affordable? They aren’t known for being generous.

@doschicos I am full pay. Also, I am 100% sure I’ll be applying to Case Western, and I’m sure that I will not be applying to Brandeis.

Here’s my new list:
Boston U
NYU
Tulane
UCSB/UCSD
URochester
Wake Forest

Thanks!

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?

For bio you may want to also keep UCSD.

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 think you should scratch NYU.

I didn’t really feel like NYU would fit me well anyway.

Updated list:

Boston U
Tulane
UCSD
Case Western (I’m already sure I’ll apply to this)
Rochester
Wake Forest

You say that you are premed. Can you afford 8 years full pay without any debt?

You have strong in-state public options.

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).

If you can also suggest some that you believe may suit me well, I’d appreciate it.

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).

Even you can afford it, it is not worth to go to UCSB from OOS particularly you want to go to med school afterward.

“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?

Yes, unless you want to burn $250k for an undergraduate degree.

I talked to my guidance counselor and he recently told me to take UCs off my list.

Updated List:

Boston U
URochester
Case Western (already 100% sure I’ll apply to this)
Tulane U
Wake Forest U