Help with College Search Process

College Search & Selection
1

Now that my first SAT scores came out, I feel that I can finally ask for some college advice on here.

I am a 16-yr old high school junior (Asian) from NY looking for a good college that fits me and will help me fulfill my goal of becoming a veterinarian.

Here are some of my stats-
GPA- 3.93 UW 4.07 W (as of sophomore year)
SAT- 2090 (750 M 650 CR 690 W 9 E) (looking to retake in January)
SATII- 770 Bio M 760 Chem 790 Math 2
APs so far- World History (3)
Taking pretty rigorous schedule this year (I hope), including AP Chem, Physics 1, Calc AB, Lang, American History

ECs-
Leadership positions in Animal Welfare (9-11, position 9-11), Literature (joined 11), Environmental Club (joined 11)
Tri-M Music Honor Society (9-11)
Piano (passed lvl 8 ABRSM & lvl 6 NYSSMA, play for jazz groups in school, Pit Orch) (9-11)
Lead Children’s Sunday School (10-11)
Columbia Science Honors Program (11)
I’ve done some teaching (academic and piano) in the past
Have about 32 hrs shadowing at a vet clinic
Looking to start volunteering at animal shelter VERY VERY soon
Trying Science Olympiad this year
I did JV tennis 9-10 but got cut 11 so idk if I should put that
(as you can see I am starting a bulk of my ECs this year due to me not liking the clubs I joined freshman year and dropping out so I don’t know what colleges are going to think about that)
I can’t think of any more so if I do think of more I will post them here
I did Cornell summer program but idk if I should put it as my family is low income

College Preferences-
I am looking for a college with a good animal science/biology/something of the sorts program and offers a good pre-vet track. The vet I shadowed said that I would fare best at an agricultural school.
I think I would prefer a college with a beautiful campus and large green grass squares but I think I would also honestly enjoy an urban campus as will. Basically I am willing to sacrifice this section for a really good college that would otherwise go.
I think I would be willing to go anywhere in any variety of weather, but I prefer the east coast. Again, willing to compromise for a good college.
I want a good social scene (as opposed to a nonexistent one) with no single religious affiliation and many on-campus activities. I think I would fare better in a college with a more liberal outlook (just nothing solely conservative or too extreme on both ends of the spectrum. A mixed political scene is good).
I don’t think I would want a small college (so probably no colleges with <5000 students). I think I prefer a medium or large college.

Finances-
As I mentioned before, my family is low income, and I qualify for free lunch and fee waivers. I THINK my parents make around $15,000-20,000. My brother also goes to NYU, which is supposedly one of the worst colleges for financial aid. Therefore I need an affordable college. Ideally I would want to pay for college by my own means (through work and scholarships) but honestly I don’t know how realistic that is considering that I also want to go to vet school. My mom has told me not to worry about finances too much as she would be willing to pay for anything (she has been unwilling to give me a number in terms of how much my parents will contribute) but I seriously don’t want to be a financial burden anymore.

College List-
So because I didn’t have any SAT scores before yesterday, what I did was I went on a bunch of college search threads on here by people with similar goals as me (go to vet school and become a vet), found a bunch of schools that had a good programs for those who want to become vets, and stuffed them on my Naviance account.

Here is that list-
Boise State
UC Davis
UConn
Cornell (1st choice but idk if it is academically or financially feasible)
University of Delaware
University of Findlay
University of Maryland
UMass Amherst
Michigan State
Penn State
UPenn
Purdue (they have a 7-year BS/DVM program that seems interesting)
Rutgers
Tufts

So yeah, I need some guidance. I have an SAT score and a college list and I have no idea what I should do with it or how to narrow it down. I want to categorize them based on reach/match/safety but am afraid that I will be grossly wrong. Can someone help me with that?
Also, what are some colleges that aren’t on my list but I should consider? Any that is on my list but shouldn’t consider? I am aiming for 2200 on January SAT but are my reaches (like Cornell and Tufts) too much of a reach? Is there any other advice or anything else that I haven’t considered?
I want to have a realistic college outlook so don’t be afraid to be critical :slight_smile:

Thank you for reading such a long post, and thank you in advance for any help! :slight_smile:

2

I have no idea how accurate this is, but I found a list that included several SUNY school: Albany, Binghamton, Geneseo, Buffalo, Stony Brook:

http://prevetadvising.com/index.php/resources/30-recommended-pre-veterinary-colleges-and-universities

3

@bjkmom thank you for the list. I will definitely take a look at it, but I was kind of expecting something a little more specific and tailored towards the info that I put up. I don’t want to make myself more confused than I already am lol.

I will assume that you mean that I should take SUNY schools into consideration, which I will. Thank you :slight_smile:

4

If your parents make $15000-$20,000 per year, I would think that SUNY would probably be a very wise choice.

5

@bjkmom ok I will definitely consider it now thank you :slight_smile:
I just looked at their websites and they seem like places I would be able to attend. My only concern is that they don’t have any animal science/biology/related majors, but I guess I shouldn’t spread myself too thin.

Also question- are Cornell state-endowed colleges such as CALS SUNY colleges? After reading your first comment I looked though a SUNY booklet I picked up from guidance and it has sections for state-endowed college as well as the College of Vet Med?

6

I’m in totally over my head here-- I’m a math teacher and my son is looking at Sports Management. But SUNY is a great deal, with a solid reputation and reasonable costs for NY kids. Ask your guidance counselor when school resumes about Cornell.

Also, I’m not sure where in NY you are, but see whether CUNY has anything if you’re in or near NYC. Both Bronx CC and LaGuardia CC seem to have pre-vet programs and are affordable, though I don’t know anything more about those particular schools. I’m not sure whether you’re interested in a CC first, and then a transfer.

Also, take a look at MCLA. http://mcla.edu/Academics/undergraduate/biology/pre-med/index It’s about half an hour from Albany. They give a huge discount to kids from NY State, making it pretty close to SUNY in terms of price. It is a small school, possibly smaller than you want, but we really enjoyed our visit there.

7

You mention “reaches” but that’s probably not the most useful approach. Look at the variety of schools that the Michigan State University Class of 2019 DVMs went to for undergrad:
http://cvm.msu.edu/future-students/dvm/class-of-2019-profile
You should consider cost, prereq course offerings, and choose a place that will be good for you for 4 years. Vet School will be expensive. While a CC post may give some direction, you are going to need to do some deep research on your own. Good Luck!

8

Many of kids from farming families in my area who want to study some form of animal science have attended Delaware Valley University. Many I know have received large scholarships, and are happy there. It won’t meet all your requirements, but may be worth looking into: http://www.delval.edu/academics/undergraduate

9

Based upon your list, you’ve taken this advice to heart and chosen colleges that have a vet school. However, look at the link posted in #6 for Michigan State. Very few students attending this top vet school went to a large land-grant/agricultural school for their UG degree.

I think your undergraduate options are completely open, except for your need to have significant financial aid. With your stats and assuming you keep up your GPA, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Consider schools that “meet full need” or have automatic (GPA- and test score-driven) merit aid. There are links to lists of these colleges floating around these boards.

I suspect many of the public universities outside of your home state will be too expensive for you, but there will be exceptions to this rule.

10

Thank you for all the replies!

@bjkmom Thank you! I live very near the city, though I think I prefer to go somewhere a little bit farther from home. I will definitely consider MCLA!

@snarlatron Thank you for the suggestion! So I should categorize my list as “Most desirable”, “desirable”, and “least desirable”?

@Marylandfour I just looked into their website and it looks like a college I would definitely consider going. Thank you!

@dadof1 Ok I will hunt around for those lists. Thank you!

11

Most of the schools on your list are going to be unaffordable. Most public universities give little or no aid to out of state students. You need to go to the financial aid website page for each college on your list and run the net price calculator with help from your parents. You must get your mom to help with this – there is no point in wasting time and application fees on unaffordable colleges. These tools give you a pretty good idea of your cost of attendance.

Cornell is going to be cheaper than most of those (if you can get in). But go run the calculators. You have some other suggestions already in this thread that are more reasonable than all these OOS publics.

12

Happy new year!

Ok I’ve decided to scrap my original list and come up with a list of colleges that are more affordable and would give me and merit aid based on my stats.

I’ve done some research and I’ve come up with this so far-
(for some of these I qualify for tuition & board scholarships based on my stats OR if I can get a slightly higher CR+M)

A bunch of SUNYs (Oswego, Binghamton, Geneseo, Buffalo, ESF)
Michigan State (have scholarships for room & board)
University of Kentucky
Oklahoma State
University of Arkansas- Monticello
Tuskegee University
Virginia Tech (idk about financial situation though)
Delaware Valley
Cornell (cuz why not)

My mom is still in “IMPROVE YOUR SAT SCORE” mode and also keeps telling me that because we are low income tuition will be covered by financial aid (and she’s willing to pay for room & board) but I’m going to try to convince her to run some NPCs soon.

Also she said that they make slightly more than $20k/yr if that slightly changes the situation.

I would appreciate any further advice/more college suggestions.

13

When I visited Tufts, the admissions officer spent a lot of time talking about their unique/amazing vet school. Tufts also seems to be a really great place overall, and I wouldn’t consider it too much of a reach for you. You seem like a very focused student with a clear passion, which I’m sure all schools will appreciate. Tufts also seems to meet full need, but it’s certainly possible I misread their website. Here’s the link:
http://admissions.tufts.edu/tuition-and-aid/types-of-aid/
If Tufts is still one of the schools you’re considering, I would look over the website with your mom. You could also email a person who works in admissions with questions about your specific situation. (That goes for any school!) Good luck; I’m sure you’ll be an amazing vet one day!

14

Are your parents taking out PLUS loans to pay for NYU for your brother? If they’re trying to carry any debt for that, I’d limit searches to schools you can pay for with a combination of merit aid, the federal Pell grant (up to ~$5k/year if you qualify), the NYS tuition assistance (TAP) grant (up to ~$5k/year if you qualify), the federal student loan (~$5500/year), and any summer work earnings you can save.