I am calling on your help...again

Parents Forum
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<p>I know I've made an almost countless number of threads on just about the same topic, but some things have occurred, and I think I need a new perspective once again. You guys are always so helpful, and I feel more comfortable posting this for adults.</p>

<p>Anyways, I'm having trouble finding schools that suit me. I know I said I'm interested in pharmacy, but I'm not sure if that's what I want to do so I want to explore some non-pharmacy schools as well. My other interests are biology/environmental science/animal behavior, English, and romance languages (spanish and french). I'll post my stats here:</p>

<p>3.82 gpa weighted/3.7ish unweighted
rank: don't know exact, but inbetween 15-20%
scores:
SAT: 1850 (610v, 610m, 630w)
ACT: 28 (english- 26, math- 25, reading- 34, science- 27)
AP Scores: 4 on ap bio, 3 on us history, 2 on ap euro
go to a suburban, average public school in Ohio
female, african-american</p>

<p>What I'm looking for:
larger LAC/Small/midsize Uni- anything between 2,500-10,000
located in midwest or northeast- i'm open to anywhere but the south really though
small frat scene- I just don't want some big jocky fratty college
only considering coed schools with close to equal gender ratio</p>

<p>Something to keep in mind:
My parents are very recently divorced, and money is extremely tight
I have 4 siblings, one of which is a college junior
dad extremely opiniated on where I should go
I have a safety (university of toledo) but no real matches or reaches</p>

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<p>Try looking for schools that meet 100% need of 100% applicants. Use an EFC calculator to get a ball park figure of what you could expect in need-based aid.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Try looking for schools that meet 100% need of 100% applicants.

[/quote]

Aaargh.<br>
My experience with kid #1 was that financial aid was significantly better at schools that didn't -- that is, he got larger awards at the colleges that combined merit aid with need-based aid and gave the money to some, but not all, of the students. Admittedly he also was deprived of the opportunity to go to his first choice college because of such policies -- when he fell into the have-not category -- but he sure got plenty from two other colleges where he fit the category of "students we wish we had more of".</p>

<p>I'd say: if you look pretty much like all the other kids in the applicant pool, go for one of those 100% need colleges. If you have something that makes you stand out -- that is, you offer something that differentiates you from the applicant pool -- go to the college that leverages its aid packages. They generally have more money to bestow on their favorite admits. </p>

<p>This strategy may differ from one college to the next. At one LAC my son's stand-out, grant-money-attracting characteristics was that he was male with a strong math & science background and test scores. Neither characteristic would have been particularly significant at a university with a larger percentage of male applicants or stronger math/science programs. </p>

<p>But my point is that if you dismiss a college because it doesn't promise aid to everyone else who needs it.... you may be missing out on a lot.</p>

<p>Since Celebrian is an African-American, I don't think it will be that difficult for her to find places that will dip very generously into their financial aid coffers to attract her. To Celebrian: I'd suggest looking out of state to also get the benefit of geographic diversity, and look at colleges that seem to have low yield on the African-Americans that they accept. So you not only fall into the "students we wish we had more of" category, but also the "students we need to work harder to attract" category. DStark's thread on "Acceptance rates at liberal colleges for African American students" gives you a link to an article that is an excellent starting point.</p>

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<p>I won't get a lot of need-based aid most likely at any school. So I'm looking for some colleges under the 40k mark. I'm not really sure how divorce affects any of this stuff.</p>

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<p>Then go for schools that offer merit aid, and also look for colleges where your stats are at or above the median level. The "Colleges that Change Lives" list is a good starting point -- many of those colleges do offer merit aid, and just about any college that offers merit aid will also use those aid dollars to help meet goals of increasing diversity on campus.</p>

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<p>thank you for your help calmom</p>

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<p>You might check into Lawrence University in Wisconsin. It is a nice little LAC, very friendly and helpful people there. They will give you an estimated financial aid statement ahead of time, which can be helpful. They offered my son a $10,000 a year merit scholarship, along with need-based aid. He has a higher Math SAT score and little higher GPA, but is otherwise similar to your stats (but not minority). I don't know about all their departments, but I do know they have a very strong science department.</p>

<p>I'm sure there are a lot of other great places, too. That just happens to be one I am familiar with. (I was a bit sad when my son decided not to go there--mainly because he wanted a bigger music school. Theirs is good, but small.)</p>

<p>Good luck, Celebrian!</p>

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<p>Check out Oberlin and Colby.</p>

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<p>I noticed that 91% of students got grants that averaged 12,350 at Lawrence.</p>

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<p>Purdue University is known to have an outstanding pharmacology program -- and is generally strong in the sciences.</p>

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<p>Here is something which may or may not be pertintent. It is a press release from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. It looks like it is going to be primarily a graduate program, but maybe not. Anyway, if they open a BS program, it might be good to get in on the ground floor!</p>

<p>$5 Million Gift to Fund Wegmans School of Pharmacy at St. John Fisher College</p>

<p>PITTSFORD, N.Y., January 18, 2005—Dr. Donald E. Bain, interim president of St. John Fisher College, announced today that Robert B. Wegman has donated $5 million to be used for the creation of the Wegmans School of Pharmacy at the College. This gift is the largest in Fisher’s history.</p>

<p>The School, expected to open in fall 2006 with an inaugural class of up to 50 students, will be the first of its kind in Monroe County and the fifth in New York State.</p>

<p>For the past two years, Fisher has been exploring the viability of establishing a School of Pharmacy to help alleviate the projected shortfall of qualified pharmacists for the communities and hospitals in Central and Western New York. Such a move is consistent with the College’s commitment to offer educational opportunities that serve the needs of the Rochester community. Mr. Wegman’s generous gift will allow the College to move forward with this plan.</p>

<p>“Like so many categories of health care professionals, there are simply not enough pharmacists,” explained Mr. Wegman, chairman of Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., “This will help to address that issue, while investing in a local institution with a reputation for excellence. I was especially pleased to learn that St. John Fisher College students often stay in the Rochester area after graduating, and that certainly benefits our community.”</p>

<p>The College has established a School of Pharmacy Task Force and has contracted with a prominent consultant to help work through the planning process. Over the next few months, the key challenge will be to identify a founding dean, whose charge will be to establish the pharmacy curriculum and to recruit faculty for the School.</p>

<p>Initially, Fisher will accept students for the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. The College is also considering the addition of a B.S. in Pharmaceutical Technology degree to the roster of programs of study.</p>

<p>“St. John Fisher College has always had a strong curriculum in the sciences and health professions,” said Dr. Donald E. Bain. “The new Wegmans School of Pharmacy will position the College as a major resource in the growing biomedical/health services sector of the Rochester community.”</p>

<p>The College will construct a new building adjacent to the Skalny Science Center to house the School of Pharmacy. It will be a mix of classrooms and lab space to support the program, and will contain a Dean’s suite and faculty offices. Construction is expected to start this fall.</p>

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<p>I was going to recommend UT when I first saw you wrote this thread, but then I saw that was your safety. LOL Anyways good luck at Toledo!</p>

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<p>Might also try Ursinus. It is supposed to be strong in science. i just went on their website. You cannot major in pharmacy there, but it another school to explore. Chemistry is a major there by the way. 98% get grants that average around 15,000 according to the stats I read on nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool.</p>

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<p>Well, this is very much a YMMV (your mileage may vary) experience, but we did extremely well with the 100% need schools. The few schools that were state schools but we were out-of-state, or did not say "meets 100% need" did offer substantially less. Wake Forest was particularly stingy, but it is not a meets 100% need school, either.</p>

<p>I do agree that being at the 75% mark of the applicant pool, when possible, will get you a preferred aid package--heavy on the grants. Our need based packages contained more free money than the merit based packages. Again, this is what happened with my two sons.</p>

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<p>Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI has 4,000 students, no frats, prepharmacy, good humanities, and generous merit aid and a relatively low overall cost. It's working hard to attract a diverse student body. 90% of the students are on aid. I think it also has some diversity college. It is well regarded academically.</p>

<p>It is a Christian school. Check it out unless you have strong feelings against going to a Christian school. Another similar school is Hope College in Alma, Mich.</p>

<p>A non Christian school that you might want to check out is Kalamazoo College.</p>

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<p>Might want to look into Rutgers...very cheap, but a good school. Very good for pharmacy, but I'm pretty sure that you spend a year or two in a general school before focussing on your major, which would give you a chance to figure out what exactly you want to do. Just thought I'd suggest.</p>

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<p>Rutgers is excellent for pharmacy, but I did not mention it since it is huge and you need to pay oos tuition. New Brunswick is their main campus and it is a large research based university.</p>

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<p>What about St. John's University in NY? It has an excellent pharmacy program.One of its advantages is that it allows you to minor in one of the liberal arts. It also has a lot of African-American students and, of course, it's well known for its basketball team. I think it would be a safety for you, but it might be a "low match".</p>

<p>See <a href="http://archive.stjohns.edu/pls/portal30/sjudev.school.pharmacy%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://archive.stjohns.edu/pls/portal30/sjudev.school.pharmacy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If the link doesn't work, just google "St. John's University" + pharmacy and you'll find it.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone for all your help. I'm looking into all of your suggestions. I know my SAT is a little low, but I'm retaking it in November so I hope to bring it up a lot.</p>

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<p>Have you looked at Ohio Northern's Pharmacy program? Several people from my high school went there and recieved plenty of aid. Good luck.</p>