Intelligent kid with many blessing in search of a college

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hello and thank you for taking time to read this.</p>

<p>I am a junior in high school in Alabama and am looking forward to a near by path of opportunities to come my way.<br>
My parents have a PACT plan which pays for full tuition in-state and the AL VA which also pays for full tuition in-state (both undergraduate and in-state only). Also, the post 9/11 GI Bill will pay for 4 years entirely(or at least mostly, parents can easily cover anything left over; can be used in or out of state; undergraduate or graduate)</p>

<p>I have a 32 on the ACT, 4.3 GPA adjusted, 4.0 unadjusted. Will graduate with 11 Pre-AP classes and 5 AP classes(all A's). I am in NHS, Crimson Society(school representative organization) and have played soccer for two years, being captain one year. I am a (soon-to-be) Eagle Scout. I have also been to various prestigious camps such as US Naval Academy STEM program and plan to attend more such camps this summer.</p>

<p>So with full tuition nearly guaranteed and full ride probable in-state, where would you recommend I attend college? If i stay in state the money from scholarships and previously mentioned sources will pay for more than the cost of college, meaning i can be PAID $8-20k to go to college. The problem is I am in Alabama. Auburn is looking like the only college I'm considering in-state. My parents can pay for college; just not ~40k a year. We will not qualify for very much if any financial aid, even at Ivies. I want to be a doctor so I know attending a more prestigious school could help my chances of being competitive come time to apply for medical school.</p>

<p>Any input or comments will mean a lot to me! Please excuse any typos =P
Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Auburn, not Alabama? Attending a more prestigious schools will NOT help you for med school. Med school entrances are based on GPA and MCAT scores. Wait until Mom2CK hears about you wanting Auburn when you could get a full ride at Bama. Her son went there and is in med school now.</p>

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<p>act32 congrats on your achievements so far… a word of caution however… the pact plan in alabama is not a definite right now… it is currently in the supreme courts hands to decide if they will cap payments at 2010 rates (which means you would only receive the tuition equivalent of 2010 tutition)…while they are currently paying as they are supposed to…the fund is almost empty…*they lost a lot of money during the stock market downturn…and at that point stopped any new enrollments… funds run out this year… unless the court says 2010 rates are constituitional and pact can reduce what your contract says they must pay… The legislature promised money would be added but that doesnt happen until 2015…it wont last that long if they have to continue paying full tuition. (if you use your pact for an oos school also remember that pact only pays the average per credit charge that an alabama school would get…ie i think it about 167-200 per credit now?.. so if you went out of state and took 18 credits the most pact would cover is 3600.)</p>

<p>another thing to consider…if you want premed and med school you should also look at uab. it obviously is a different school tha au or ua (ie not big, not football, not greek) but with your grades etc…you would be a strong contender for sci/tech honors. there are so many hospitals available for shadowing, volunteering etc and wonderful opportunities for research.</p>

<p>btw medical schools dont care where you do your undergrad…no advantage to attend one school over another. they look at your gpa (in particular your science gpa) and mcat scores. they want good grades on the pre-req courses and good grades overall. they want to see that you are committed to medicine through things like volunteering, shadowing research etc. unless you are talking about going to an ivy school (and even that is questionable)_ your undergrad school name doesnt matter… its what you do there</p>

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<p>Totally agree re UAB. It has a top 20, nationally recognized medical school that you can take advantage of as a pre med in terms of research and volunteer opportunities. </p>

<p>Also, disagree with those who say where you attend college does not matter for med school. In other posts, a member of Hopkins admissions committee has made it very clear Hopkins and its brethren consider school attended strongly in the calculus. Does not mean you can get into med school with a 3.0 from an Ivy but does mean a 3.6 from a top school will put you in better stead than from an average one (also will give you better research and volunteer opportunities, which med schools strongly consider).</p>

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<p>Thanks all for the replies! UAB is not an option… I have visited the campus a few times and went on tours of Children’s Hospital etc. I did not like the atmosphere of the city. I won’t waste your time with all my reasons but it just isn’t for me. I will definitely look into Honors Programs and Scholarships that Alabama and Auburn have. Thanks again for the help!</p>

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<p>Well, there are plenty of big scholarships for your high stats:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-17.html#post15743177[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-17.html#post15743177&lt;/a&gt;
(Some of them are University of Alabama campuses.)</p>

<p>There are also competitive big scholarships at places like Georgia Tech, NCSU, UNC-CH, and Duke.</p>

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<p>*I am a junior in high school in Alabama and am looking forward to a near by path of opportunities to come my way.
My parents have a PACT plan which pays for full tuition in-state and the AL VA which also pays for full tuition in-state (both undergraduate and in-state only). Also, the post 9/11 GI Bill will pay for 4 years entirely(or at least mostly, parents can easily cover anything left over; can be used in or out of state; undergraduate or graduate)</p>

<p>I have a 32 on the ACT, 4.3 GPA adjusted, 4.0 unadjusted. Will graduate with 11 Pre-AP classes and 5 AP classes(all A’s). I am in NHS, Crimson Society(school representative organization) and have played soccer for two years, being captain one year. I am a (soon-to-be) Eagle Scout. I have also been to various prestigious camps such as US Naval Academy STEM program and plan to attend more such camps this summer.*</p>

<p>As Erin’sDad mentioned, my younger son is a Bama undergrad and had a very successful med school app season. :slight_smile: He’s had an awesome time at Bama for undergrad, academic opps, research opps but also social opps. He’s been able to attend 2 of the 3 nat’l championships that Bama won while he was there (he’ll never forget those times.)</p>

<p>Unless scholarships change, Bama would give you free tuition, that means that your PACT and some other scholarship monies can go towards R&B. (What consists of the AL VA?)</p>

<p>Then you could use your Yellow Ribbon for med school. (how awesome is that!)</p>

<p>What is your likely major? </p>

<p>Do try to visit Bama…I think you’ll be very impressed by all the new STEM facilities.</p>

<p>If you do visit, first set up the campus tour online…try for an early morning time! Don’t bother with the “info session”, you’ll get that info here pretty much on the Alabama forum on College Confidential which is VERY active.*</p>

<p>[University</a> of Alabama - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/]University”>University of Alabama - College Confidential Forums)</p>

<p>In the email include:</p>

<p>Student’s name and contact info</p>

<p>Date and time of the Campus tour that you’ve reserved.</p>

<p>GPA and test scores (include NMSF status if likely. How’d you do on the PSAT??)</p>

<p>Likely majors*</p>

<p>Career interests (including med, etc)</p>

<p>Anything particular that you want to see. *If you have an interest in seeing the new Science and Engineering Complex, let them know.</p>

<p>Honors Recruitment
Allison Verhine
Coordinator
269 Nott Hall
205-348-5534
<a href=“mailto:allison.verhine@ua.edu”>allison.verhine@ua.edu</a></p>

<p>Susan Alley
Assistant Coordinator
270 Nott Hall
205-348-5599
<a href=“mailto:susan.alley@ua.edu”>susan.alley@ua.edu</a></p>

<p>Allison and her assistant will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with faculty related to major, honors college faculty, touring honors dorms, etc.</p>

<p>Sometimes mail goes to their SPAM folders, so call them if you haven’t heard back within a few business days. These ladies do an excellent job and work very hard</p>

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<p>Also, disagree with those who say where you attend college does not matter for med school. In other posts, a member of Hopkins admissions committee has made it very clear Hopkins and its brethren consider school attended strongly in the calculus. Does not mean you can get into med school with a 3.0 from an Ivy but does mean a 3.6 from a top school will put you in better stead than from an average one (also will give you better research and volunteer opportunities, which med schools strongly consider).</p>

<p>I do not agree with that and neither does the real LizzyM. While attending a Podunk U might cause an issue or taking classes at a CC might be an issue, there might only be a SMALL nudge for a grad from a Top 10 school. Anything below is seen as the same, unless as mentioned. </p>

<p>To say that undergrad is “strongly considered” is just not true. </p>

<p>also will give you better research and volunteer opportunities, which med schools strongly consider).</p>

<p>This isn’t true either. To assume that students attending other research univ don’t have access to excellent research opp and volunteer opps is just silly.</p>

<p>As someone who has spent a good amount of time on SDN this last 2 years, I have looked at the detailed profiles provided. Those from ivies have not have more successes than those from flagships, mid-tier privates, or other good schools. And, many of those students do not have better stats (which is surprising since many were the cream of the crop HS grads). Yesterday I was shocked to see the profile of a top 10 grad with a 3.8 science and cum GPA but only had a 29 MCAT.</p>

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<p>Those from ivies have not have more successes than those from flagships, mid-tier privates, or other good schools</p>

<p>Yikes…should be:</p>

<p>Those from ivies have not had more successes than those from flagships, mid-tier privates, or other good schools.</p>

<p>The point is that attending an ivy isn’t a free pass to med school. Also, while an ACT 32 is quite good (congrats!), it’s not strong for an ivy or similar school.</p>

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<p>act32… heads up… supreme court ruled today!.. pact will now only pay 2010 rate tuitions. so regardless of what the tuition cost is… they will pay 2010 only. it appears you have other options but you cant rely on pact to cover all tuition now.</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>Doesn’t surprise me.</p>

<p>Thankfully, this student has lots of funding sources…Yellow Ribbon, AL VA, PACT, and possible merit scholarship if he attends schools that award them.</p>

<p>AL VA benefit</p>

<p>Entitlement: Dependent children are awarded five standard academic years or part-time equivalent at any Alabama state-supported institution of higher learning or a prescribed course of study at any Alabama state-supported technical school without payment of any tuition, required textbooks or instructional fees for eligible dependents initially enrolling in school on or after Fall 2009.* Children who enrolled in school prior to Fall 2009 receive four academic years of scholarship benefits.</p>

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<p>University of Pittsburgh - honor students receive scholarships
Case Western Reserve - big scholarships</p>