<p>Agree that the geography diversity and the legacy may work in OP’s favor. (But the gendor may not.) I also agree that OP has more insights than a typical 17-18 yo does. I also want to point out that some ivies are fun for 4 years (and their 4-year graduating rate is astonishingly high) and OP would likely not regret going there if she gets in and attends ( especially on her parent’s dime.)</p>
<p>A majority of med school students rely on their “future income” (i.e., student loans) to get through the med school. Not all parents are financially capable of suporting their offsprings at med school. Their life style will suffer somewhat in their first 10 years of careers, but they could likely survive.</p>
<p>Also, do not assume that you will attend med school when you are 17 or 18 yo. You should attend a school with the attitude that it is only one of the choices but not the only choice. You never know whether you will like to commit a big part of your young adult life to this long, occasionally grueling, career path. Many are not willing to after they understand themselves better and weigh the pros and cons of getting into it in college even though they are academically good enough to get into a med school.</p>
<p>Actually, I think it’s refreshing that someone is thinking of applying to an Ivy but is not so stuck on it that she has gone off the deep end. OP, have you visited? Because otherwise, it’s just a name to you, and a name loaded with your dad’s history. But Yale is a real place and a darned cool one. </p>
<p>I WOULD use the ED for Yale because I don’t see why you would need to for any of your other current choices. If you are going to get in there, the ED could help. But if you find a choice you like more for ED, then move Yale to RD. </p>
<p>Finally, if the family finances turn out to be tighter upon discussion with her dad, then I would suggest that she add some merit-based schools to her list. I like the OP’s scores and ECs and think many admissions officers would too. If she wants to keep Wisconsin and Yale in her list, why not? One favorite for her and one favorite for dad and it’s $150 in app fees. Not that big a deal in the scheme of things. </p>
<p>^
this…and it also often brings out people’s ugly sides. The higher income spouse resenting that a low income spouse is going to get half the assets, half of retirement, and may also qualify for many years of support. This can really annoy someone who plans on maybe dating/remarrying and can cause someone to strategize in a rather ugly way.</p>
<p>The lower income spouse realizing that that he/she is behind the 8-ball (having sacrificed career for family) and needs to fight for a fair outcome. </p>
<p>If this is the first child to go to college, then likely Yale-dad has not kept up with the difficulties of admission. He probably is of the generation where a 1350+ SAT had a good chance. Heck, he may not even know the full COA. </p>
<p>Her father is likely in his 40s. When he went to Yale in the 90s, just like today, it required a lot of As, a top percentile ACT/SAT score and extra curriculars. I have no idea why people seem to think the meritocracy has been severely modified, or for that matter the sticker price. If her dad was say a Y '90, the cost of attendance was $22,000. Using an inflation calculator, that’s over $40,000. People act as if 25 years ago privates were a buck and a quarter. And I find it really odd people are questioning the savvy of an erudite Yale grad Chicago lawyer, who also sends his kid to a pricey private (day) school, while urging her to apply to his alma mater. The guy isn’t some rube. The family’s entire ethos is full of competitive, status-seeking community members sending their kids to pricey preps and elite colleges.</p>
<p>@jinglebells85 apply with your stats to the schools that will provide good merit and where you will enjoy attending. What is your in-state flagship?</p>
<p>How supportive is your mom on college application process? What about logistics of distance from home. Younger siblings?</p>
<p>If you are 100% sure you want to become a physician, you will look to the UG programs that will provide you a solid UG education - along with the EC opportunities, Honors College, etc - physician shadowing experience and other.</p>
<p>You may need to gently educate your dad in what is good for you and use the resources (including links and electronic information to dad). UW-Madison can provide you with a great education. Are there other schools that you like too? Dad may think Yale will be door opening, he had great experiences there, etc - but ask him to please allow you to express where you will be happy attending.</p>
<p>Obviously an emotional time if parents are divorcing. I started treatment for stage III cancer when my older child was a high school sophomore - and many families have difficulties. My two are in college and at in-state programs (for eng. and nursing) - both at very good reputation colleges.</p>
<p>Hope the comments on this thread are helpful to you. </p>
<p>@Rebecca17 - I can find information on ACT scores for the incoming freshmen at UW-Madison for Fall 2013 showing that the top 15% of admitted students who will attend that took the ACT are in the 32-36 range, but I can’t find support for your statement that a 33 ACT is among the top 5%. Please provide.</p>
<p>@Madison85 “Admitted” is not synonymous with attending.</p>
<p>The data set only says 34% attending scored 30-36. Where are you sourcing nearly half of them are 33-36? Based on the fact that the overwhelming majority of the class is 24-29 range, I’d rather safely bet far more than half of the 34% were in the 30-32 range.</p>
<p>I’m hoping to sit down multiple times this year with both my parent, as well as the college counselor at the <em>public</em> high school I attend. I sure hope it doesn’t cost 30k a year. Our college counselor is very nice, and he gave me some statistics to use when my dad starts talking about schools he wants me to apply to, but none of those really worked. It’s going to be an interesting few months when I apply and get decisions. We’ll see where I end up getting accepted.</p>
<p>The one thing both my parents agree on, and I’ve talked to them both, is that college is going to be a financial priority for the next few years. I don’t know what that’s going to look like because I can’t tell the future, but at least they’re on the same page.</p>
<p>University of Minnesota Twin Cities sent me their special application thing, where I’m automatically considered for scholarships and their honors program, all without any essays. I’m almost done filling it out. Are there any other colleges with a decent chance for merit aid you all would recommend I look into?</p>
<p><<<<
65% of UW are far below her achievement. Where as a school like Yale would have 95% intellectual peers.>>></p>
<p>You can’t really compare big publics to small privates like that. Large publics serve the masses and offer a wide variety of majors that often don’t need high test scores. It isn’t as if the ACT 30+ crowd is equally spread amongst all those UWisc majors. No, they are more largely concentrated in probably about 12 majors.</p>
<p>The 65% that are below her in stats are not likely going to be in her classes/major. As a premed, she will likely be selecting a challenging academic major. Her classmates will likely be, at least after the first semester or so, her academic peers. </p>
<p>If they were distributed similarly to the National score distribution for the ACT last year - 33 and up would be top 9.3% at UW. Nationally 33 and up scorers are 62% of the total who scored 32 and up. See <a href=“http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2014/pdf/profile/National2014.pdf”>http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2014/pdf/profile/National2014.pdf</a> for the raw number at each ACT composite score. 67732 scored 32 or higher, of these 42208 scored 33 or higher (ie 62%). So that would represent the top 9.3% if the UW scores were distributed similarly to the national scores (my assumption would be that that is a little high since those with the top score, 36, will have more options, and more often prefer even higher ranked colleges)</p>
<p>Thank you for confirming 15% of the school are her intellectual peers. I see zero reason why a girl with her stats, legacy at Yale and apparent full-pay would bother applying to Wisconsin. ED at Yale and go from there. I’d put $100 on her getting accepted ED.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids - the above was referring to post #39, specifically the part that said “I infer she’s at a Chicago area day school, which could easily be $30,000 per year”</p>
<p>@rebecca17 - thank you for your optimism, but few people seem to share it. I wouldn’t even put $100 on acceptance, but I’m going to try for it.</p>
<p>Your numbers are right in line. Your dad is a legacy. Your dad is potentially connected, depending on his alum and law firm connections. You are a full-pay. I’m as confident as I can be regarding an Ivy applicant. Have you visited New Haven much?</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve been to Yale and New Haven a few times. It’s nice. I’d never want to be out alone late at night, but other than that, I really like it. My dad has showed me around, and I got to see where everyone in my family (that went there) stayed: Timothy Dwight. I’m not sure if I want to go that far from the midwest, but I have time to figure that out.</p>
<p>What’s the allure of Wisconsin? Just seems odd for a Chicago student with your stats and background to drop Wisconsin. Northwestern, Wash U, perhaps UMich seem standard.</p>
I’m almost done filling it out. Are there any other colleges with a decent chance for merit aid you all would recommend I look into?</p>