I need help picking financial safeties!

Hi, I want to major in biochemistry (pre-med) but I’m really confused on what schools to pick. I want schools in the NorthEast
or in the Midwest. I also need substantial financial aid.
I have these schools on my list right now:
UW Madison
Georgetown University(I know it’s expensive but…)
UM Amherst
Vanderbilt
I would really appreciate any help. Thanks

  1. Where are you in state?
  2. Do you know your EFC?
  3. Do you have stats for big merit?

1.Oklahoma
2.About $8000-9000
3. I’m not entirely sure because I don’t go to school in the US. But I have a 4.0 UW gpa. I retook the SAT and I’m hoping for a 1450 or higher. I also have a lot of ECs.

How are you in state for Oklahoma if you go to school outside the US? Do you have a parent who lives in Oklahoma?

I have an address there.

Why is your EFC a range? Is that your parent’s budget or have you started your FAFSA yet?

Do you qualify for these scholarships at OU?

http://www.ou.edu/content/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html#freshman

That’s my parent’s budget. I qualify for some of the scholarships. I don’t really want to stay in Oklahoma though

What is your parent’s EFC, then? If your EFC is close to your budget, then need based aid will do it. If it’s not, you need a huge merit school. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/estimate

Try Alabama: https://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php

Also, kids with tiny budgets don’t have the same say in where they go to college that kids with big budgets do. Don’t turn your nose up at OU until you have a better offer in hand.

@cnc2000 What is your actual EFC? How much do your parents make it you don’t know. For presumed you need and inexpensive option that you can get high GPA and prepare for the exam.

So which has more opportunities for pre med OSU or OU

Also, UW Madision and UM Amherst aren’t likely to fund out of state students to the amount that you need to attend.

Georgetown NPC: https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/georgetown

Vandy NPC: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/financialaid/net-price-calculator.php

@gearmom it’s $1250. I understand about the inexpesive option because of the cost of med school

@cnc2000 Is OU the university of Oklahoma? They are the top state schools in Oklahoma so either would prepare you. That is what most premed students do. Go to a top state school and save $$ for medical school.

@gearmom I’ll add those to my list. Besides those, is there any other school I should consider?

That’s actually good news that your budget is higher than your low FAFSA EFC. That means generous schools like Vandy are likely to fund you if you get in, but please run those NPC calculators just to make sure. Private schools consider more data than the FAFSA and often result in higher EFCs.

Your list needs to consist of:

In state public options

Private colleges that meet 80% or more of need (College Board Big Future will let you see this - look up a school and pick “Paying” in the left menu bar then “Financial Aid by the Numbers” from the red menu bar across the top). After finding a promising school with this filter, check by running the net price calculator on the website.

Out of state public schools that are known for giving big merit awards, such as Alabama

Schools that you have to cross off: Most out of state publics, private schools with stingy financial aid (NYU, many Catholic universities, schools with smaller endowments that need kids that can pay, etc)

Catholic schools are stingy? Noted.
Thanks a lot everyone. I’ve been searching for a while now.
I’ll take everything into consideration.

@cnc2000 There are likely more options with that EFC @prezbucky @MYOS1634

@gearmom do you have any specific suggestions?

Georgetown would be a major reach for you and you would not likely receive any merit money. Very few in-state flagships offer merit aid for out of state students.

@cnc2000 I don’t but @prezbucky and @MYOS1634 are two awesome posters who I tagged for you who may have good suggestions. You just have to wait for them to get to you if they can.