<p>It's time to start making the college list and planning visits! As of right now my list is a little top-heavy. Currently I aspire to become a doctor. So far I'm thinking about applying to:</p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
Brown (and PLME)
Rice (and 8-year med)
Williams
Swarthmore
Middlebury
Rutgers (in-state, safety, wouldnt mind going there i guess...)</p>
<p>I have a 2330 SAT (1590 CR+M) and a 96 UW GPA from a magnet-type school, so I have a shot at the top schools. But I need some matches/safeties. Merit aid would be very nice-with med school looming, minimizing debt is a big factor.</p>
<p>This will give you low match/safties that have merit. Some of them have significant merit and could be more of a financial safety then Rutgers.</p>
<p>LACs in PA that are considered good for pre-med:</p>
<p>Dickinson
Ursinus
Muhelenberg
Drexel (not a LAC, but nice merit and has direct accept. program for Med School)</p>
<p>Out of region LAC that comes immediately to mind is Rhodes in Memphis TN - they have full rides on a limited basis (3). They also offer other scholarships which would bring the price down to or under the cost of Rutgers.</p>
<p>Non-LACs with straight number driven scholarships:
U of Alabama and U of So Carolina have straight numbers driven merit for a student with your scores. You may want to look at their honors programs. Alabama has the most generous merit with the easiest apps that I have ever heard of.</p>
<p>Please give us more specifics about the region of the country, size of school, etc. that you want.</p>
<p>I, too, wonder if you’ll be a NMSF, since you’ve scored so high with SAT? What is your PSAT score? Have you found out, yet? </p>
<p>*Merit aid would be very nice-with med school looming, minimizing debt is a big factor.
*</p>
<p>Med schools can cost about $250k (in 2009-2010 dollars). So, if you’ll have to borrow for that, you won’t want to borrow for undergrad - otherwise you’ll run out of borrowing power AND have unaffordable debt - even on a doctor’s income.</p>
<p>*Non-LACs with straight number driven scholarships:
U of Alabama and U of So Carolina have straight numbers driven merit for a student with your scores. You may want to look at their honors programs. Alabama has the most generous merit with the easiest apps that I have ever heard of.
*</p>
<p>Very true…Bama’s apps are easy, and if you have the stats, the awards are given if applied on time. Bama also does a great job with pre-med students. It has a brand new Science and Engineering complex that is a huge multi-building complex. When phase III and IV are complete, it will be one of the largest science complexes in the nation. </p>
<p>My son is pre-med there and got a fab scholarship, so no undergrad loans needed. We have no fear that he’ll get into most if not all of his med school choices when that time comes (His friend graduated last May and is now at Yale med school, and my son’s grades are higher , and we expect he’ll do well on the MCAT). It was very important to us that our son not accumulate any debt as an undergrad. We’ll help him with med school, but he’ll still have to borrow some.</p>
<p>Yes, I will be at least NMSF- I got a 234 on the PSAT. (I guess its pretty accurate!)</p>
<p>I prefer smaller rather than larger schools, and northeast/midatlantic to south/midwest/west. I also like schools where frats aren’t the be-all and end-all in the school’s social life. However, that wouldn’t stop me from going to a school if otherwise it was a good fit.</p>
<p>I have some friends that go to a few of those LAC’s and seem to like them. And Alabama seems to be really pushing hard for top students. I’ll take a look, thanks!</p>
<p>For matches and safeties go to the financial aid forum and look at Keilexandra’s thread about NMF scholarships. There is a very good, broad set of schools that will offer good scholarships for NMFs.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad is right about looking at matches and safeties for some really strong National Merit scholarships. These schools are great to have as financial safeties, if needed.</p>