Here's her stats - suggestions appreciated!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>DD14 is just starting her college search and one of the moms in the Parent's Forum suggested I start a post in here for some ideas.</p>

<p>We visited Vandy in the fall over a long weekend and I think she really loved the "collegey" feel of campus. (Not really spread out and it felt like it's own island in Nashville.) </p>

<p>Though I don't know if she'd fit in - southern belle she's not. </p>

<p>She's quirky, and funny - she's a debate nerd, a talented vocalist & pianist and brilliant, if I do say so myself. But labels and eye shadow just isn't her thing - no offense meant! (DD15 would fit in PERFECTLY as a Vandy Girl!) She has no problem in talking to anyone/everyone ... but she's not a social butterfly. </p>

<p>She'll most likely be pre-med - and would like to major in biology or neuroscience, neurobiology, etc. With the end goal being a neurologist eventually.</p>

<p>She'd love to minor in German. (She'll have 5 years of high school German.)</p>

<p>She just took the SAT w/ no prep - 2080. I'm quite positive it will end up being somewhere around 2200+ in the end.</p>

<p>Top 1% of her class.<br>
Unweighted GPA - 4.0
IB Diploma Candidate
Captain of Mock Trial & Debate
State ranked in Debate
Gold Medals in State Level Vocal & Piano Competition
All State Honor Choir
Couple of other clubs, non leadership positions in those though
Classically trained pianist - private lessons for 12 years
Part time jobs as a children's tutor & children's piano teacher</p>

<p>She's not curing cancer on the weekends or building school houses in Burundi - I'm very realistic (as she is) that while she's got a solid resume, she's also fairly interchangable with the other 20,000+ Ivy League applicants. Though she does have some flair w/ the written word & creativity - I would hazard a guess that her essays would be above average.</p>

<p>Finances ...not a big consideration. We'd make it work.</p>

<p>No geographical constraints.</p>

<p>Over spring break we'll be touring up the east coast - starting at Duke and ending at Cornell. If you have a suggestion for this general area: great! If not, please add your two cents anyway ... </p>

<p>I appreciate any & all suggestions!</p>

2

<p>Definitely stop off at UVa, UNC, and an Ivy or two. Also try Richmond or Elon for something smaller.
Good luck with your tour!</p>

3

<p>While you’re in the Northeast your daughter should look at some of the small liberal arts colleges in the area like Williams, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Amherst. Williams especially likes likes multi-faceted kids and has both excellent sciences and excellent music performance facilities, even for non majors. Plus very good medical school placement.</p>

<p>For private colleges and universities, your daughter should submit performance tapes as supplementary materials with her application.</p>

4

<p>Thank you to you both!</p>

<p>@momrath … Wesleyan is on our list! I’ll definitely take a look at the others you suggested as well as adscram14’s ideas.</p>

<p>Even though she won’t be majoring in music, she should still submit performance audio? (Pls. bear with me, this is indeed my first rodeo! lol!)</p>

5

<p>

Yes, for small to medium sized privates especially. These schools look for students who will contribute to the campus community. Their participation in the arts is highly valued, even if their majors are altogether different.</p>

<p>Two more that sound right: Dartmouth & Colgate</p>

6

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<p>Cheaper is better for a pre-med, though, since medical school is expensive. Less or no undergraduate debt, or saved money that can be applied to medical school costs, can give her more options if and when she does complete medical school. High debt medical school graduates may be forced to choose specialties based on pay levels, even if they prefer something that is not as high paying (e.g. primary care specialties).</p>

7

<p>Have her look at the University of Rochester. It has a strong pre-med science program with a solid admission rate to med/dental schools. In addition, the Eastman School of Music is part of the University and even though she doesn’t want to major in music, she could pursue some aspect of it. And they have a minor in German as well.
They also have a good amount of merit scholarships available.</p>

8

<p>Where are you located?</p>

<p>Rice
Emory
Johns Hopkins
Wash U</p>

<p>These are good premed schools. The full pricetags in privates these days go up to 60+ per year. If you are ok with that, we will need to see scores to figure out where she would be competitive to get in.</p>

9

<p>I’ll second U Rochester. My middle son is there now as a freshman Neuro or Brain and Cognitive major + potentially pre-med and loves it. There are oodles of research options (he’s expecting to start research next semester). Rochester has all three aspects of brain studies (neuro, cognitive, and psych) and does in depth research into all while still being a relatively small school. That’s what drew him there in spite of their notorious weather. Those who go there love the school. They have a 95% freshman retention rate… but that was just a minor factor for us.</p>

<p>His second choice would have been Pitt - they have extensive research options (and nice merit aid) there too. My guy just ended up preferring a smaller school with more overall research emphasis among all students (roughly 80% do research) - perhaps more “nerdy” would be a good description. He’s not into sports and that seemed to put him in a minority at Pitt based on those he ended up talking with. U Roc has its own campus in a small city. Pitt is truly urban with the city/college distinction being less clear.</p>

<p>Since he may be planning on med school we stuck with schools that offered merit aid (eliminated Ivies and some others). If you truly don’t have that as a concern, U Penn is also a good school to check into neuro-wise. I believe Johns Hopkins would be good too, although for other reasons, that one never made it to our short list.</p>

<p>I know there will be those who disagree since one can do an LAC followed by grad school, but many who truly like the field enjoy starting with it in undergrad and really want an in-depth neuro program (with extensive research, etc) - look at post 11 on this thread to see some advice:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1417737-pre-med-pitt-vs-juniata.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1417737-pre-med-pitt-vs-juniata.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you are merely intending on med school, any degree can work from pretty much any college. My guy isn’t sure which path he wants, so left his options open and tried to pick a school that worked and fit him. He’s happy - and doing well.</p>

10

<p>Depending on your route, Bryn Mawr could be a logical stop. Every young woman should visit one of the women’s colleges to see whether that environment is a good fit. BMC has a good record for med school admissions, an active arts community, and decent financial aid.</p>

<p>At Cornell, a pre-med should investigate the College of Ag & Life Sciences and the College of Human Ecology, in addition to the College of Arts and Sciences. Each of those divisions has something different to offer a pre-med.</p>

11

<p>Wow. </p>

<p>Great suggestions to wake up to! I believe I might just be beginning to feel as overwhelmed as she is! :)</p>

<p>Someone asked where we’re located - Chicagoland area would be the answer. </p>

<p>You’ve suggested some schools that were already on our list (Johns Hopkins, Wesleyan) and some that weren’t even a blip on our radar (U of Rochester, Dartmouth) </p>

<p>I am REALLY excited about the fact that she should submit audio of her playing - I think it’s her first love. When asked why she won’t consider music as a major she’s pretty realistic about her limitations - she has no desire to teach really and while she’s extremely talented, she’ll never be at the tippy top elite concert pianist level. But she’s loves it … she’s literally been playing since she was about 18 months old. (When she picked out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by ear on her Fisher Price piano.)</p>

12

<p>If she is ok with all girls, people have been happy with Wellesley. Swarthmore may be in the way.</p>

<p>Generally, you can do one school per day and two if they are nearby. How long are you driving?</p>

13

<p>I’ve brought up girls-only and was met with, “Mooooooooommmmmmm Nooooooooooo”.</p>

<p>So, there’s that. ;)</p>

<p>Friday - Sunday … a week plus. I’m not concerned with trying to hit every organized information session - I know w/ our time restrictions and amount of schools we’d like to cover, that just won’t be possible. I also have a feeling that she’ll arrive on a campus or two and it will just be an immediate “no”. If that’s the case, I’m not wasting anyone’s time trying to change a gut reaction.</p>

14

<p>I hear from parents that there is no dearth of males for wellesley girls though! They go to parties at MIT and Harvard and many take lots of classes at either. I do know what you mean since my Ds refuse to consider them too. </p>

<p>Couple of years ago we did a 10 day drive starting in philly and going all the way to Dartmouth. We had to pick a school to visit within 7 hour drive from Brown and tossed a coin between Cornell and Johns Hopkins and went Baltimore.</p>

15

<p>At this point, with such a cluster of schools farther north, I think we just might have to dump Duke this time around. </p>

<p>Sigh.</p>

16

<p>Make sure you look at the schools online first as some can be eliminated that way for students who know what they are looking for.</p>

<p>Check out neuro offerings - what profs are doing what research, etc, to see if they appeal.</p>

<p>Many schools are, indeed, nice, but when they don’t actually have what one is looking for, why spend time at them? (We learned this the hard way… and improved for my middle son, though he also looked at some with guaranteed merit aid just for financial reasons. We ended up not needing them, but I’d do it over again in the same situation.)</p>

17

<p>Oberlin might be a good choice. Or Macalester as more of a match/safety type school. I see an awful lot of suggestions of reach schools (they are reaches for everybody because the admissions rates are so low). Your D has good statistics, but you need to make sure you get a couple of schools on her list that she is really pretty certain to get into. Believe me, it is MUCH harder to find those match/safeties, and make sure they are schools she really would want to attend. Plus… you say you will make cost work. Med schools is very expensive, though. If she attended a school where she could get some merit aid (and she would be a great candidate at many schools that offer it), you could save that money and maybe help out a bit with med school.</p>

<p>The other thing to consider is that grades are critical for pre-med. There is a lot to be said for attending a school where she can be sure of getting good grades. Some kids shy away from a school like Johns Hopkins because there are a lot of pre-med kids there gunning for As in the types of majors she is considering. Also… she does not have to major in a science to be pre-med. My nephew was a double major in history and philosophy at Williams, also picked up one pre-med class per semester. He is a doctor now.</p>

18

<p>@creekland - most definitely agree!</p>

<p>I’ve given her a list (which, is about to grow a bit bigger thanks to everyone here!) and have asked her pare down if they don’t look like they’d be a fit. The problem is, is that she still doesn’t have a grasp on the type of school she’d like - small, big, city, rural … blah blah blah. </p>

<p>I’d also hate to have her pick a school based entirely on neuro - she’s had several years having a career path as a neurologist picked out, but let’s be honest … she’s 17. Her goals and career trajectory could change entirely.</p>

19

<p>@intparent … she’ll apply to a state school as a safety. That she has covered she tells me. ;)</p>

<p>As for majoring in science - it’s her favorite subject. I’d prefer to have her major in music, get her pre-med classes in there too, and apply to med school and really stand out w/ a not typical major … but as I’m told, it’s not my life. lol!</p>

20

<p>At least neuro is a good one to be changing from. I’ve yet to see a school with a decent neuro program that is only so-so with other academic majors. ;)</p>

<p>That can happen with engineering folks or some other specialty majors.</p>

<p>Enjoy the journey. I found that I ended up enjoying it. Just this morning middle son and I were reminiscing that at this time last year we really didn’t know where he would end up and were thinking that by this time this year we’d know.</p>

<p>My youngest is a junior (definitely not pre-med), so we’re starting the journey all over again looking for totally different schools than either oldest or middle.</p>