Looking for affordable college in MA

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey, I'm a senior trying to find a college that is affordable with a strong science program.
I am going structure my courses around the Pre-Med requirements, as I hope to pursue a career in medicine...so I think I'm going to major in molecular biology or biochem. </p>

<p>Could you guys give me some information on which schools I should apply too, and which I'll have a chance to get into? I cannot afford a very expensive school (ex. BC, BU), nothing more than about $35,000 including room/board. Also, I've heard Umass Amherst is the all-around better Umass, with a stronger science department as compared to Dartmouth. Is this true?</p>

<p>Here's my info:
GPA Unweighted: 3.6
Class Rank 9/155
SAT: 1920 superscored (600 CR, 620 math, 700 writing (11 on essay))
SAT II: Taking Bio M, US Hist, English Lit in October </p>

<p>AP Exams: Eng Lang 4; US Hist 3
Taking Calc AB, Eng Lit, Spanish Lit in May '10</p>

<p>Senior Courses:
AP Calculus (double period)
AP English Lit
Anatomy & Physiology Honors
Spanish 5 Honors (AP exam is optional)
Financing
Psychology </p>

<p>Honors/Awards:
National Honor Society (2 years)
-will complete around 90 total hours of community service (43 last year)
Third Place in school science fair
John & Abigail Adams Scholarship (all advanced on MCAS)
Published two poems in Positive Teens Magazine (national)
Published poetry in school arts magazine</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Grocery Store: December 2006-present
Began as cashier, promoted into the grocery department to order the shipments (I know that's not really important but o well)
Average 16-22 hours a week</p>

<p>Extracurricular:
MMA (mixed martial arts) training since December 2005
-4 days a week (involves wrestling, jiu-jitsu, judo)
-will be competing in a local MMA fight in November
Boxing/Kickboxing (since December 2005)
-4 to 5 days a week
Weight Lifting (since January 2007)
-3 days a week
Volunteer for organizations such as the Walk for Hospice (helps fill NHS requirements as well)</p>

<p>Thanks for any info</p>

2

<p>Try UMAss Amherst Honor College. Don’t believe it can compare to Dartmouth.</p>

3

<p>UMass Amherst is Massachusetts’ state flagship. And, indeed, the Honors Program is a great option.</p>

<p>Consider spending more time on SAT preparation until you raise your score and become very competitive for the program (not that your scores aren’t already competitive).</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the quick replies. Yeah, I need to raise my combined SAT from 1220 to 1300 atleast to be considered for the Commonwealth college, and raise my GPA too.</p>

<p>My parents and I were having an argument about U Amherst vs. U Dartmouth, so that’s why I was checking my comparison </p>

<p>Does anyone have suggestions for semi-affordable private schools</p>

5

<p>I assume you’re comparing UMass-Amherst to UMass-Dartmouth, not to Dartmouth College.</p>

6

<p>Amherst is definitely the all-around better UMass, and from what you’ve said it sounds like it may be the best all-around option for you, regardless of whether or not you can get into Commonwealth College. Of course if you’re thinking of private options also, there wouldn’t be a particular need to stay in Massachusetts, right (??). If you don’t get financial aid there are still some smaller Roman Catholic-affiliated schools that might get you by at just under $35000 a year (but not by much). Siena College near Albany, just a little west of the Mass/NY line, is one example that emphasizes its pre-med program and there are probably several others in Mass and neighboring states. However I don’t know that the educational quality would be better than UMass, these schools would only provide a different campus environment. Speaking of which, if you’d just like to explore alternatives, you might want to look at someplace like SUNY Binghamton or SUNY Geneseo. These are very strong NY State publics that would probably only run you about $25 or $26K a year out-of-state; in fact all New York public colleges and universities are bargains for out-of-staters. You would probably need to get your SATs up a little bit though to improve your chances of getting into either of those two.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the info guys. Yeah, I was talking about Umass Dartmouth, not the ivy. </p>

<p>weldon- So you would say Umass Amherst is comparibly academically to some private schools? People around here generally look at state schools as “easy” to get into, which gives them a worse rep, but I was reading the UMA stats and the average gpa/sat scores are reasonably high.<br>
I haven’t really thought about out-of-state, but I’m going to read about some of those schools you mentioned and will probably end up retaking the SAT’s anyways. Thanks</p>

8

<p>IF you get into UMass-Amherst’s Commonwealth College (the honors college), that is comparable to going to a private school but if you don’t, then the school is just average</p>

9

<p>While most private colleges are around $50K, Clark University in Worcester is a very solid school that is a LITTLE cheaper (about $40K). If you are a strong student, they may offer decent merit aid as well.</p>

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<p>soad- here’s the way to look at it in MY VIEW. There are definitely a significant few private schools that offer potential advantages over a flagship: small classes, individual attention, probably higher academic performance standards and a more capable student body, which comes from higher admissions selectivity. Think ivies, plus other highly-selective schools which unfortunately tend to be expensive. Other than smaller classes, however, I don’t think these advantages over a flagship necessarily apply to the more typical, “run-of-the-mill” private schools. In fact, quite the contrary. Think of it: a middle-of-the-road small private school tends to attract a fairly homogeneous, middle-of-the-road group of students. The selectivity of these schools may still be a bit higher than the flagship (or maybe not) - but WHO CARES? At your flagship you will find a greater range of abilities among your peers, including a significant number with very high-end capabilities and ambitions, similar to a top private. If you are a serious student, you will not be alone, you’ll be able to find like-minded peers. You’ll also get a much better range and variety of class options (possibly even graduate-level courses in your upper years), intriguing subject offerings that you may not have even considered taking before, and in many instances better undergraduate research opportunities. In short, the greatness of a flagship is that you can make of the experience basically anything you want, both academically and socially. As you have also discovered for yourself, those who characterize a place like UMass Amherst as “easy” to get into are actually in error, at least relative to the more run-of-the-mill privates I’ve mentioned, and as you’ve noted the student body statistics back this up.</p>

11

<p>Do you have to stay in Mass? There might be some privates in other nearby states that will give you some merit $$ to make them affordable</p>

12

<p>Tnx for the replies everyone</p>

<p>mom2–I decided I’m only going to look at schools in MA. I want to be able to get home in a reasonable amount of time incase of an emergency or something. </p>

<p>weldon–Yeah, your view makes a lot of sense…I agree. If I’m able to get into Commonwealth, that’d be great…but if not there’s still gonna be other serious students too. As you mentioned, I want college to be both an educational & social experience, so I think U Amherst would definitly be the best state-school.</p>

<p>MADad–I think I’ve heard good things of Clark before. I’ll research about them, especially if they give merit aid.</p>

<p>thanks guys</p>

13

<p>UMASS is far from being “just average”. Kids in Massachusetts are clamoring to get into the school and it’s only going to get tougher. Pierre, we’re getting a good idea what a Clemson education is like because you seem to have lots of time on your hands with nothing better to do than opine about schools you don’t go to. What a joke. Say, what does Clemson have up its sleeve this year in terms of fudging its rankings?</p>

14

<p>^^^^^^^^^</p>

<p>I second that about UMASS Amherst …it’s one of those middle level state flagships on the rise . . . and the Commonwealth college is “wicked hahd” to get into at matriculation . . . I think you can get into the honors college after your first year, too (too tired to goggle it right now, so it’s on you) . . . and there is access to the other schools in that area through the 5 College Consortium . . nice area to go to school!!!</p>

<p>A bit of a lesser place is URI, which is legally in another state but still close.</p>

<p>Kei</p>

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<p>lol @ DaddyWarbucks</p>

16

<p>^ it’s good that you didn’t take DaddyWarBucks seriously. it appears that he attacks users occasionally, especially if they don’t think UMass is given the respect he thinks it deserves.</p>