Hi CC. I’m a sophomore undergrad at a local, unknown (unranked) 4 year school in Illinois. I got the highest scholarship (which also puts me into my school’s honors program) offered at my institution, and I’m pretty much paying as much (or less than) as the room and board at a lot of schools (in-state public schools’ tuitions are more expensive than my school’s w/ my scholarship!). And I’m a commuter with reliable transportation, so I don’t have to worry about staying on school and food (though it’s an annoying 40 minute drive one-way everyday).
I’m a bit frustrated with my school because I can’t seem to find opportunities to do amazing things, and all that I can do at this point is try to make my own opportunities happen. The problem with this is that I can only make opportunities happen to the extent that others would allow me. I want to research, so I’ve tried talking to faculty about that, and have not been given an opportunity so far. Also, the school’s environment has been fairly disappointing. I feel like I am one of the very few that puts an effort in my education and seeks opportunities to have a well-rounded education, be active in my school, and have intrinsic motivation to get things done.
I’m a Biology and Spanish double major, and I aspire to become a physician scientist, or at the very least a physician (being at this school is keeping my hopes low for the former career, but I’m not so concerned about the latter).
I’m interested in applying to some top-tier LACs in the midwest and the east in the hopes that I can remain in a small-school environment as I am in right now, meet like-minded students, have more opportunities to research or participate in activities that can satisfy my intellectual curiosity, and they appear to be financially-friendly (it’s been hard for me to find “affordable schools” and I’m not even sure if some of the schools I list are affordable, but a quick glance on their websites say otherwise).
Here are some of the schools I’m interested in (not a final list), and I’m looking to apply for Fall 2017:
Colby College
Oberlin College
Carleton College
Davidson College
University of Rochester (I’m interested because of research)
Lehigh University
Denison University
Middlebury College
Swarthmore College
Grinnell College
University of Richmond
My Stats from High School are:
~3.8 UW/4.58 Weighted (scale out of 5)
top 5% in competitive public school (class size of ~750)
13 AP classes (+ 2 AP-level math classes that didn’t have AP exams)
32 ACT
College Stats are:
4.0 overall GPA w/ 32 credits taken at unknown, “easy” University so far
29 AP credits transferred in
Honors Program (<20 students admitted each year)
I honestly can’t afford more than 20,000 w/ loans and student work study (which is a bit high of an estimate that also includes room and board, ~10-15k is more reasonable w/ loans, scholarships, grants, and work study), which is why I decided to select my current school. But my school has a very low med-school admit rate, I’m not getting many opportunities to succeed, and I haven’t really been happy with my college experience so far. But it will be affordable for 4 years, I have a higher chance of getting a 4.0, I will get to stay at home, and I won’t have to worry about transitioning to a new school (meaning I can build on my relationships w/ professors, opportunities I already have now, and have a chance to become an outstanding student at my school)
Being accepted as a transfer student is definitely not a guarantee, given my ACT composite isn’t that strong for these schools, and my coursework rigor will not appear very highly. However, I would like to make the move if the schools that accept me are willing to help me out financially. So my main question is, do i have a reasonable shot at any of these schools? And of all the schools I mentioned, which would be financially friendly (if accepted) to the point where my overall costs can be less than 20k (with room and board)? I am a pre-med student, and I am worried about credit transferring (including AP credit transferring), so I might have to take some schools off my list (i.e. Grinnell College), but I want to know what you guys think. I am a full time student, commuter, and involved in activities, not to mention I can’t afford to do interviews and apply to several schools (pay application fee, CSS profile, travel to other schools, etc.), so I want to have a short list of good, financially-friendly target schools as a transfer applicant. Also, can you guys recommend any other good, financially-friendly institutions in the Midwest/East that I may have a shot of getting into if I missed any?
Thanks!