Midwest girl here, junior in high school.
My top 4 schools at this point are
University of Iowa
University of Wisconsin
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
I have visitied university of iowa and wisconsin and loved them both. I have not applied anywhere yet because I’m only a junior. If I get into all the schools listed above, what are the pros and cons that would help me decide between the schools??
A bit more background:
I live in Iowa, so I’d be paying in state tuiton for U of I
29 ACT, retaking this winter (aiming for a 31)
4.0 GPA, very involved
willing/able to pay about 100k total for school before loans/scholarships
I’m not looking for my chances but helping me select/narrow down between these fairly similar collges.
I am interested in pre med/ science based major and research opportunities and school spirit/sports are important to me!
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Midwest girl here, junior in high school.
My top 4 schools at this point are
University of Iowa
University of Wisconsin
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
I have visitied university of iowa and wisconsin and loved them both. I have not applied anywhere yet because I’m only a junior. If I get into all the schools listed above, what are the pros and cons that would help me decide between the schools??
A bit more background:
I live in Iowa, so I’d be paying in state tuiton for U of I
29 ACT, retaking this winter (aiming for a 31)
4.0 GPA, very involved
willing/able to pay about 100k total for school before loans/scholarships
I’m not looking for my chances but helping me select/narrow down between these fairly similar collges.
n pre med/ science based major and r
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Are your parents saying that they’ll pay the $25k per year? Or are you guessing that?
You’re only a junior, so your chances of ending up with an ACT 32 seem good. How are you prepping? Are you also going to take the SAT? You might do better on that.
If you’re very serious about premed…
Cost wise and premed-wise, I would take UMich off your list. You don’t want undergrad debt as a premed if it can be avoided.
Going to your own flagship has advantages, lower cost, maybe some merit, and the med school Carver, is excellent.
I don’t think you’d get Wisc’s or Minn’s costs down to Iowa’s instate costs. Neither are generous with merit.
If your goal is to get costs close to instate Iowa, then include some schools where merit would get you there.
Are you interested in any privates with good-sized merit awards? Any schools like Marquette? Creighton? Loyola Chicago? DePauw?
My parents and grandparents have nearly 100k total saved for my college, so yes about 25k per year. I’m not as interested in small colleges, I am attracted to college towns with lots of school spirit and bigger research facilities. Does anyone know of other schools similar to Iowa that might be more generous with scholarships?
What about schools like Purdue or University of Indiana?
Neither Purdue nor indiana will have costs close to $25k with merit. During the years you’d be attending, the COAs will be in the $50k range, but their merit awards just aren’t that much anymore. Your net costs would probably be in the $40k range.
OOS big 10 schools are not likely going to get you the net cost you need.
Target some schools that for sure will give you large merit for your stats and will give you a net cost of below $25k per year. Will your parents use only your college fund to pay for college or will they also contribute out of current income?
Keep in mind that college costs rise each year, so a merit school that might have a $27k net cost now, might have a $37k net cost by the time you’re a college senior.
Once you’ve added some schools that you will know will be affordable given your circumstances, then feel free to add in some “financial reach” schools and see what happens…but don’t fall too in love with them…
Are you taking the PSAT in October? Have you studied for that? If not, do so
Take a look at the [MSEP universities](http://msep.mhec.org/). Kansas and Kansas State are great options with estimated MSEP tuitions of $13,685 and $12,615, respectively. Nebraska is another large school with tons of school spirit and a MSEP tuition of ~$10,000.
Note that large schools tend to have a LOT of premed so they need to “weed” severely. If you’re top 10% it’s not a problem, but the advantage of smaller schools is that the weeding is less stringent to non existent.
(Weeding = curving in such a way that most students enrolled in premed pre-reqs don’t get a grade sufficient for med school.)
MSEP is a good idea -Kansas and Nebraska would be interesting if you can get into the Honors College.
For this reason, I’d visit a few smaller colleges with good research activity. I second Creighton (although it’ll be tough for premed too), St Olaf (if you can get a 32 it can be good for merit and it meets need + excellent for premed, summer opportunities at the Mayo Clinic), Grinnell (reach, not bign on sports, but topnotch science and research opportunities).
What’s your EFC and can your parents pay it? Are the 25K/year going to be on top of monthly contribution off their regular income?
Apply to Iowa and Iowa State’s Honors Colleges.
UMN CBS and UWisconsin will not get you enough merit if any - expect them to be about 40K.
UMich is out of reach with a 30, if you get a 32 and have strong rigor, you have a shot but it remains a reach OOS
$100K will cover 2 years at Michigan if you get in (your scores are on the low side). MN is cheaper OOS than a lot of schools, but they are starting to raise OOS tuition.
I think Minnesota is actually fairly generous with merit. Nebraska is even more generous.
Ohio State gives merit to OOS students.