I am concerned about my ability to participate in meaningful extra curriculars, and am afraid of how that will affect my application. In the event that I do well on the SAT next fall, presumptuously above 1500’s, I maintain my 3.9 unweighted (4.4 weighted) gpa, still get mostly a’s with one or two b’s, have good letter of recommendations, keep up the volunteering, and continue to do my summer internships, do you think I could still get in two any of the aforementioned schools?
You might want to take a look at what percentage of oos admits each school takes. For instance, North Carolina must, according to state law, have NC students making up at least 82% of their incoming class. That means it’s WAY harder to get into as an oos student. Generally state public schools tend to show more preference for in-state students over oos. You might find at some private schools that actually a slight preference is shown for kids from states where they don’t get a lot of applicants.
Some of these schools are private so there is really no difference coming from out of state. I think you would be competitive at many of these schools.
Are you a rising senior? If so, did you take the PSAT last fall?
Do IU or Purdue appeal to you? Those are both very good schools. What majors are you interested in?
You are going to have to get a budget from your parents, and then run the net price calculators on each school’s site to get a cost estimate. The NPCs may not be accurate if your parents are divorced, own a business, or have real estate beyond a primary home.
Most scholarships come from schools themselves as opposed to scholarships from outside organizations.
If med school is in your future (guessing from your user name) you should minimize your undergrad costs and debt.
Then you have plenty of time, don’t stress about your college list yet. Continue to get good grades, study for the ACT or SAT, and do volunteer work where you can.
Your username checks out that you are a prospective pre-med student and looking to go to med school in the future. My first take is to go to Purdue or IU. These are some of the best schools and at a decent price, you get a good education. You will be in less debt and ready to tackle med school. Med school is expensive
Have you talked to your parents about how much your family is willing and able to pay? Now is the time to get these numbers on the table. Then do sit with a parent and run the Net Price Calculators that are on the websites of each of the schools to get a good idea what these schools will be expecting your family to pay.
It looks like you have done some research, as you did pick a group of schools that do offer merit awards. Though, yes, it is possible for you to get merit money, it is difficult. Look at the data for each schools as to what % , how many get scholarships , and how much on average, per year. Also peruse the Financial Aid sections, college specific threads for these schools on this forum. There is a n excellent thread where a Dad and his daughter were chasing merit money this year for a top 1% student and the outcomes.
So, yes, it’s possible to get accepted at these schools, and you are certainly in the running for acceptance. You also have chances of getting merit money from them. However, the chances are slim for sizeable awards at any of them and very small for anything at some of them. UNC? JHU? Just getting accepted are challenges.
If these are the schools that interest you the most, absolutely go for them and their awards. However, start looking at schools in the price ranges that are affordable to your family. You may not care to go to an instate public university , but if medical school is in your plans, that may be the best way to go. It l’s getting more and more difficult to pay off sizeable loans for Med school, it seems to me, especially when one has sizeable undergraduate loans on top of them.
Med school are not going to much care about where you go to college and you have some tough premed schools on your list. A “B” at Hopkins does not an “A” at IUPUI make and that directional state school has provided top of the line medical opportunities for students at that campus. Fine hospitals right there on campus. I’m quite familiar with that school.
Do remember that it’s easy to just list those schools with great name recognition for ones list. The true work in college apps come in finding schools less well known, more certain to accept you, that are affordable and/or are great admissions deals. THAT takes a lot of work and too often, with students of your caliber, some attitude and outlook adjustment. You’ve made a great start in finding selective schools that have merit money. Now look for the more hidden obscure ones that can give you an excellent premed education and a boost towards Med school admissions that have higher likelihoods of giving you merit money.
Case Western Reserve University is a private school and does not take what state you are form into account. You may see that there are many people from Ohio that go there, but that is because it is close to them and they are more familiar with it.