Help me parents, please!

Parents Forum
41

<p>Today I received an email from Ohio State telling me that I won the Morrill Scholars Program Excellence Scholarship! I am pretty excited about that. It is the value of instate tuition. The distinction is a full ride, but I guess I didn’t get that one. </p>

<p>You all told me not to give up and look what happened! :)</p>

<p>@CountingDown‌ I am considering Miami-Oh. I have applied there and will find out in February. I also attended their bridges program which gives a full ride to 10 of the participants. I like the odds because instead of competing against every applicant, I’m competing against about 600( other bridge participants).</p>

<p>@Ramon712‌ Yes I received it! It is finals weeks and I figured the best way to quickly update everyone was to post on this thread until the week was over( finals next week also).</p>

<p>I believe someone stated that I should consider taking dual enrollment math class. I am(lol)! I had the Final exam today. I am also taking a biology class( and lab) at the University of Dayton. I figured if I take a college biology course along with self study, I should do pretty well( probably lol) on the SAT2s which I plan to take in January. </p>

<p>I want to thank you all again! The advice and moral support has been great! I will email everyone back either today or tomorrow(lol a little post final break).</p>

<p>Thanks again! If anyone is currently viewing this thread, please feel free to add on!</p>

42

<p>Good news! Good luck on your finals and please keep us updated!</p>

43

<p>Congrats!!</p>

44

<p>Congrats and good luck on finals! We’re all pulling for you!</p>

45

<p>@dustypig‌ @Pennylane2011‌ @sseamom‌ @CountingDown‌ @Ramon712‌ @fretfulmother‌ @TempeMom‌ </p>

<p>I just tagged everyone who was on page 3.</p>

<p>I just wanted to keep you all up to date. I just got accepted into Howard University and my grades and ACT scores qualify me for full tuition + fees! </p>

<p>I will continue to keep you all updated. And thanks again for all the support and advise you all have given me!</p>

46

<p>Awesome news! My D’s friend just talked to her a couple of weeks ago and he is LOVING his first semester there (also on that scholarship). I’ll be watching for more updates-congrats to you!</p>

47

<p>With that background and school, and those stats, I think you are in a great position, particularly if your GC explains your first semester. You are right that you can expect not to have had the same advantages and background as others, so you will want to hook up with tutors and work your butt off at the first sign of difficulty, once you are in. </p>

<p>Good luck to you! </p>

48

<p>That’s great news! </p>

49

<p>I never saw this thread until tonight. It’s wonderful that a few M.D.'s have been able to give you good advice. I live in VA, way south of D.C. but a lot of professionals here went to Howard. It’s very well regarded. Congrats and we’re eager to hear of all your acceptances! Good luck.</p>

50

<p>That’s fantastic news!! Congratulations.
Howard is a great opportunity!
Thanks for the update and keep us all posted. </p>

51

<p>Congratulations!! What a wonderful outcome.</p>

52

<p>Right now, OP would need a full ride, not a full tuition scholarship, since EFC is zero and even a small parental contribution is impossible (and I assume OP is working to help his family* so wages couldn’t be set aside to save for college.)
However, scoring almost at twice his school’s average on the ACT (with especially remarkable scores in English and Reading, demonstrating personal reading and self learning) + A’s in PSEO will open LOTS of doors - by which I mean most Top 25 universities and LACs.
I’d recommend OP apply widely to schools that guarantee to meet “full demonstrated need plus”, ie., super aid schools for lower income applicants such as Yale or Brown, plus schools that have made announcements regarding recruiting and retaining more first gen kids such as Colby, Davidson, and Hamilton. Essentially all schools that promise to meet 100% need without loans for families below $65,000 will give OP a full ride.
These are likely to be far cheaper than state schools, even with the scholarship, and since he’s already gotten into quite a few universities with scholarships (congratulations Jalaquan!!!) there’s no risk in applying to these top schools.
In addition, these schools take into account the cost of transportation so distance wouldn’t be a concern there.</p>

<ul>
<li>OP: if you work, this “counts” as an EC, especially if it’s many hours a week or on weekends, and if it helps your family. You’d have to explain it in your activities’ list on the commonapp.</li>
</ul>

53

<p>@Jalaquan‌ I have kids at Howard and Miami, so I can give you the rundown on both. </p>

<p>Howard’s room and board runs about 11-12k per year. if your tuition is covered, you still need to cover room and board, spending money, and travel costs. You will probably receive max Pell grant, but that will leave you with at least 6-8 k shortfall. Books are also expensive. Yes I know, all college textbooks are expensive, but my child at howard spends much more on books, and it’s not because of a stem major. Howard has books that are published specifically for howard, so resell can be difficult at times. I must tell you that DC is crazy expensive! Not only that, Howard has parties off campus, and the tickets are high! In addition to all of that, Howard is ranked as top five best dressed campuses, and yes it’s true. I am telling you all of the because, you may feel pressure there to keep up with everyone. My child at Howard has had great opportunities regarding internships, three internships to date as a current sophomore. I cannot lie , there are administrative challenges with financial aid, etc at Howard. We fortunately don’t receive fa, so I don’t have to deal with the office. Regarding med school, if you do well undergrad, and really concentrate on your medical school entrance exam, you will be fine. I know several doctors who went to howard, and they are all successful, one of them attended Harvard medical school. Howard will provide you with excellent opportunities and a great education. </p>

<p>My take on Miamii, it is an excellent institution. Given your poor performing high school, you may need more support. I am not saying you won’t receive support at Howard, but I know that Miami has an easily accessible free tutoring center (<a href=“http://miamioh.edu/student-life/rinella-learning-center/”>http://miamioh.edu/student-life/rinella-learning-center/&lt;/a&gt;). You can literally get a free tutoring there, for all of your classes, that is flexible to your schedule. During orientation, a rep from the center said she had kids barely making it, think 2.0 , and some kids that had a 3.5 , but they would come to the center weekly just to stay on task. In addition to the Bridges program, Miami has an initiative to make college affordable for families making under 30k
(<a href=“Costs, Scholarships, and Financial Aid | Miami University”>Costs, Scholarships, and Financial Aid | Miami University). If you are indeed serious about grad school, you should attend the school that will give you the best package so that you get out debt free. Miami also has a very high grad school matriculation rate. My child at miami has also has a number of internships, and some summer research with a tenured professor. My only negative with Miami is the lack of diversity, not just ethnic, but also socio-economic. However, that should not dissuade you, as you have to keep your goals in mind. </p>

<p>So if I had to pick, in your instance, I would probably choose Miami. I would be shocked if you didn’t get a full ride and they have he infrastructure to fully support during your time there. You should remain instate to keep your costs down. Please feel free to inbox me, if you have additional questions. </p>

54

<p>If you need a full ride, <a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/&lt;/a&gt; lists the following automatic scholarships for your stats (3.7 HS GPA, 27 ACT):</p>

<p>Alabama State
Prairie View A&M</p>

<p>If full tuition will do (leaving about $10,000 to $15,000 other costs), the following may be doable:</p>

<p>Troy
Tuskegee
Howard (scholarships are first come, first served)
Arkansas - Monticello
Florida A&M</p>

<p>$15,000 remaining cost after a full tuition merit scholarship would be at the outer limits of affordability:</p>

<p>$5,550 Pell grant, if FAFSA EFC = $0
$5,500 maximum federal direct loan
$4,000 or so work earnings</p>

<p>Obviously, lower remaining cost is better, so that you are not at the very edge of affordability (in case you are unable to work as much as needed, for example).</p>

<p>If looking at schools with need-based aid, remember that any Pell grant will be packaged in it, so you need a net price under about $10,000 as the outer limit (with the federal direct loan plus work earnings – again, lower is better).</p>

<p>Looks like you have Alabama State and Howard admissions already – you may want to verify your scholarships at those schools.</p>

<p>Howard has a medical school and a 6-year bachelor’s/MD program, which can be less expensive and less stressful than a typical pre-med-to-MD-school route.
<a href=“http://www.healthsciences.howard.edu/education/schools-and-academics/medicine/education/programs/dual-degree”>http://www.healthsciences.howard.edu/education/schools-and-academics/medicine/education/programs/dual-degree&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.coas.howard.edu/preprofessionaleducation/bsmd_brochure_july2011.pdf”>http://www.coas.howard.edu/preprofessionaleducation/bsmd_brochure_july2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
You have to apply separately to this program (deadline 3/1).</p>

55

<p>Congratulations! You have a bright future ahead of you.</p>

<p>If you’re still up to completing a few more supplemental applications below is an additional list of no loan/100% need met colleges. Amherst College, for example, provides full financial aid package to students with your family income. Amherst FA includes full tuition, room, board, airfare, books, internships, study abroad, etc. Amherst also has summer programs in the sciences and humanities to assist accepted students from lower performing high schools acclimate academically prior to beginning freshman year. If you’re accepted they also have a free fly-in program to visit the school. The list below include colleges with similar offerings.</p>

<p>NO-LOAN SCHOOLS
Amherst
Barnard
Bates
Bowdoin
Brown
Bryn Mawr
Brown*
Bucknell
Carleton
Claremont
Colby
Colgate
Columbia*
Cornell*
Connecticut College
Dartmouth*
Davidson
Dickinson
Emory
Franklin Marshall
Gettysburg
Grinnell
Hamilton College
Harvard*
Haverford
Lehigh
Lewis and Clark
Middlebury
Mills
Mount Holyoke
Oberlin
Pomona
Princeton*
Radcliffe
Reed
Scripps
Smith
Swarthmore
Tufts
Trinity
University of Pennsylvania*
Vassar
Wellesley
Wesleyan
Williams
Yale*</p>

56

My husband is an anesthesiologist and it’s a tough road to become a physician. He thinks Ohio State is better than Howard or Alabama State. Coming from your high school, even if you were accepted to an elite school, you wouldn’t be able to compete with the students due to your academic background. Pre-med is seriously difficult - you will be competing with the top academic students in ANY pre-med curriculum and going to undergrad at an elite school will kick-up the competition even more. Just “working harder” might not be enough. There are many who start out pre-med and many who drop out. No, I don’t want to discourage you, yet you should realize how difficult it is out there. It’s your first chance to succeed and the right choice will matter.

You will have to take pre-med classes and have a major. You could do an easy major, but what if you don’t get into med school? Then you are stuck with that degree. So choosing to be a bio major allows you options in case pre-med falls through.

You sound like a great kid - I wish you the best!

57

Based on career surveys from university career centers, biology graduates seem to have relatively weak job and pay prospects at the bachelor’s degree level, so relying on majoring in biology as a backup option to good post-graduation job opportunities if one does not get into medical school may not turn out as expected.

58

ucbalumnus, you are correct, but at least a bio major can go onto graduate school and get a MPH or something more than a history, psych, or soc major. My husband estimates that 1 in 10 pre-meds make it to med school.

59

^Did you miss that OP is taking classes at a regionally well-known, academically strong, UNIVERSITY… and getting straight A’s among college students?

In any case, for OP, admission to one of the top colleges remains the best idea financially (100% need met, including books, transportation, no family contribution, no loans) AND there will be a summer program where he can enroll (like Yale’s Freshman Scholars - which is open to any kid on financial aid.)

60

I think the advice to consider which college is most likely to lead to success in being admitted to med school is a good one, however, not knowing what the choices are, this isn’t the time to choose.

I agree with MYOS in that the OP also needs to consider which colleges will be the best in terms of finances. Since that isn’t known until acceptance, I would encourage the OP to apply to as many options as interests him, and which seem potentially affordable.

I hope the OP will continue to update this thread with results.