<p>that's what i wish i could say, but i just can't seem to come up with a good list of colleges! please help!</p>
<p>what i want:
-a strong and hopefully varied (lots of options, not just basic bio and chem)science program (maybe even neuro?)
-interested in med school, and not from lots of money (60k combined parents income, we don't own a home) so looking for good fin aid
-at least somewhat small, lots of personal attention from profs (what's keeping me away from in-state UF, even though i
could have 100% bright futures)
-not outrageously cut-throat, maybe a little grade inflation (i.e. not amherst etc.)
-lots of outdoor activities, or at least some sports involvement, good facilities
-not totally in the middle of nowhere, but doesn't have to be IN a big city as long as there are things to do w/o a car
-not a HUGE drug/alcohol focus, though i know it WILL be present
-not sure about the weather, even though i'm from FL i'd put up with a lot for a good education :]</p>
<p>stats
female
fl resident
4.67w
4.0uw
i'll have 5+ ap once i graduate, taking the most ap and dual enrolled classes my school offers, no less than a 3 on the 3 i've taken so far, mostly 4s
sat:
750 cr 780 math 750 writing</p>
<p>ecs:
4 year varsity tennis and captain sr year
4 year varsity swim, captain sr year
nhs-3 years
beta-3 years
anchor-4 years
key-4 years
fca-4 years
very involved in youth group-mission trips
student government rep.
part time lifeguarding two summers
100+ hours tutoring
200+ hours volunteering for hospice</p>
<p>list of semi-interest?
pomona
colorado college
stanford (a girl can dream)</p>
<p>i had more, but the more i think the less and less i like! please help!</p>
<p>Brown University
Davidson College
Duke University
Emory University
Pomona College
Rice University
Vanderbilt University
Washington University
Wesleyan University</p>
<p>While we'd all like to find it, please remember that NO school is perfect. Keeping that in mind makes the search much easier and more fruitful. Every school will have trade-offs, and you decide which trade-offs you are willing to live with. Then you can find multiple schools where you will be happy and successful, which makes the acceptance season much less stressful.</p>
<p>Given your parents' income, make sure that you also look in-state. Transportation and clothing for a change of seasons would cost you lots of money even with generous scholarships. Realize that if you're far from home, your parents may not be able to drive you to college or attend parents' weekends and other events that you'd want them to attend. You also may have a hard time attending the mandatory summer orientation program that many colleges have. </p>
<p>New College
Rhodes College
Rollins College
FSU's Honor's College. FSU also has very nice peer counseling and other things for students planning on medical school. Nice scholarship house, too.
Eckard College</p>
<p>i know what you meanm northstarmom, but i feel like i'm with limited options in-state.</p>
<p>rollins and eckerd are out of the question, for money reasons and others.
and fsu is just so crowded i can't really see myself there. it has become "the place where people go when UF rejects them" around here.
i had also considered stetson, but i don't think it'll give me the resources to get into med school when i could aim higher.
new college i think i counted out before, but i'm not sure why, so i'll keep it in mind.</p>
<p>**edit: actually, after looking around a bit at fsu's website, even if i need to get off-campus housing (not sure if on-campus is gaurenteed for honors?) their honors program does sound nice. and if i could get into the honors part of the college of medicine (just a thought) that would be a cool option. thanks for re-opening my mind to fsu!</p>
<p>If you apply early to FSU (essential to gain acceptance to the Honors Medical Scholars Program at the FSU CoM - see: <a href="http://med.fsu.edu%5B/url%5D">http://med.fsu.edu</a> ) you can easily get into the newly renovated Landis Hall - the Honors dorm. Wikipedia has a good shot of Landis in the FSU article. </p>
<p>Not sure when you're applying, but if you do apply to FSU do it in August, as soon as the Fall semester opens. This gives you the acceptance decision by Nov 1 and an low housing priority number (determines where you are in the housing line).</p>
<p>Also, once FSU sees your academic credentials you may receive some very nice university scholarship offers. While FSU does not pay for National Merit kids they do take that that money and give all well-qualified students support. The money is first-come, first-served, though...another reason to apply early.</p>
<p>financial aid is going to be important to you, so have your parents fill out one of the FAFSA calculators online and see what their expected contribution will be, and if they can pay that amount. You should concentrate on schools that meet all or almost-all financial need, since many do not. Even among schools that meet all need, packages may vary from heavily loans to heavily grants & work-study. There are several books about financial aid, as well as info on the web. I strongly recommend you spend a few hours to become an informed applicant since this is so important in your situation, and careful planning can result in literally tens of thousands of dollars of cost difference.</p>
<p>You've gotten some good suggestions of places to look, but I think it would be worth spending a few more hours yourself with a comprehensive book of US colleges. From the capsule description you will be able to quickly come up with ones that fit the criteria you have so far. Then you'll want to narrow those down by looking into them a bit more, and coming up with a list of reach, match, and safety. For you the MOST important choice you make, IMHO, is a financial safety; a school you know you'll be able to afford and that you'd be happy to attend.</p>
<p>People are going to recommend honors colleges and these can be a valuable option. However be sure to research the schools to see just what is offered at the honors college and if it is what you want. The name itself is usually a misnomer; it is NOT a separate college, something many HS kids do not understand. A lot of the brochures seem to imply that you'll spend 4 years taking all small classes under the auspices of the honors college, just that this "college" happens to be on the campus of big U. In fact what is typically provided by honors programs and colleges is more focused advising, early registration (a benefit worth its weight in gold!), guaranteed housing, and smaller classes the 1st 2 years of general education; for upper-division classes you'll take most or all in the regular U. Sometimes a regular class is turned into "honors" by attending the regular class 3x/week and once a week attending a special discussion section reserved for the honors students. </p>
<p>What honors colleges actually provide is something to keep in mind since you wrote you wanted a college that's somewhat small with lots of personal attention from profs, and many honors colleges may not match this exactly. The FSU Honors program is an example of the add-on approach many honors programs provide since their FAQ says
[quote] Do you take all of your classes as Honors classes?
Of the 120 credits required for graduation, only 24 need to be Honors credits. Since ours is a program of Honors in General Education, most of the Honors credits are taken during your first two years. An “ideal” program would be to take four Honors classes your freshman year, two your sophomore year, and one each your junior and senior years.
<p>Rollins should not be out of the question for money. Judging from your grades/EC's/etc. you should be able to get at least 75% of all expenses paid for, if not a full ride. That would put it at the same cost as UF (taking into account room/board, blahblahblah). It is a small school with plenty of personal attention and research opportunities. You could likely play sports there too if you are interested and are good enough. It fits your description almost perfectly, but I'm just not sure about how super strong their science program is.</p>
<p>You should figure out your EFC (expected family contribution) using an online EFC calculator. That will be how much your family will have to pay. It is possible to take out loans (e.g. Parent PLUS loans) to cover the EFC, and a future physician should be able to pay them back easily. My point is, don't be dissuaded from a top school because of financial factors. The best schools give the most grant money (gift aid).</p>
<p>Many of the schools named above are below your range. You should be looking at the most elite schools: Ivies, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, and the like.</p>
<p>You won't know your financial aid offer until you are accepted. You should apply to the 10-12 schools that appeal you most and include maybe 2 financial safeties. </p>
<p>The U of Rochester might be a good safety for you. U of R is a small university with an excellent pre-med advising system and good opportunities for research and volunteering at an adjacent hospital. They have a med school and some undergrads are guaranteed admission to it. (Can't recall the name of the program.) They are strong in Bio, Chem, and Neoroscience.</p>
<p>By requiring a smallish school, your are eliminating some excellent options for your interests. How large are you willing to accept?</p>
<p>As others said, give New College a good look. It's one of my D's top choices and she really liked it when we visited (the only negative is the location). We were very impressed with the faculty and the academic engagement of the students.</p>
<p>My D didn't like the big state schools and we just got back from Rollins (not a good fit for her, but they have excellent merit scholarships). But don't count out your dream schools either, you won't know unless you apply and see if you get enough in scholarships to make them affordable.</p>
<p>I feel that many of the aforementioned choices are something to consider. That being said, you're stats are very impressive, and I do not believe any college is out of reach for you. If I were you, I'd apply to at least one very selective school with a good reputation (You had mentioned Stanford - definitely apply there!)</p>
<p>Personally, if you can stand the weather, I'd say Cornell is very strong in the sciences. But that's probably personal preference speaking.</p>
<p>Loans can be reduced or eliminated through outside scholarships. As a female interested in the sciences, quite a few organizations would throw money at you. Start an account on <a href="http://www.fastweb.com%5B/url%5D">www.fastweb.com</a> if you haven't already. College Board also has a scholarship search engine. </p>
<p>You have a ton of options without even leaving the South. Wake Forest, Sewanee, Rhodes, Furman, and Hendrix are just a few that come to mind. Further away, consider Whitman, Grinnell, Centre, Rochester, Lawrence U, Trinity (TX), and Case Western. These are fairly generous with merit aid, and you'd have a good shot.</p>
<p>I particularly recommend Goucher. It offers a quiet setting just outside Baltimore, a strong record in the sciences, and good merit aid. Davidson just went loan-free and offers fantastic programs in the sciences. Drinking is a bit more prevalent than at some LACs, though.</p>
<p>if you want to come up north. Of course consider Johns Hopkins. Also, consider the University of Rochester. Good in bioscience. Definitely under-rated.</p>