<p>Hi everyone, </p>
<p>I'm looking for colleges that would hopefully offer me a decent amount of merit aid. I'm looking at smaller schools, mostly LACs, that have a strong STEM program. I want to major in biology and follow a pre-med track.</p>
<p>Stats:
ACT- composite - 32 english - 33 math - 29 science - 35 reading - 30 writing - 8
GPA: 3.95 unweighted (school does't weight or rank)
AP Courses - Junior year - English Lang, U.S. History, Environmental Science Senior year- Biology, English Lit, French, and Calculus AB
Course rigor - fairly difficult; school doesn't allow freshmen or sophomores to take AP courses
Maryland Resident</p>
<p>ECs:
JV Tennis - 9,10,11 (co-captain 11) will play 12
USTA Junior Tennis Team - 11 (intermediate)
Volunteering with adults with disabilities - 10, 11, 12
Environmental Research Internship - 10 (research and publish paper in groups)
Internship with Internal Specialist - 12
Ring Dance Decorating Committee - 11 (probably won't list)
Golf Club - 9 (probably won't list)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>UA their application is live now.</p>
<p>Look at the pinned threads at the top of this forum.</p>
<p>Look at schools where your scores are above the schools’ 75th percentile. </p>
<p>How much aid do you need? I could see you getting $15K, maybe $20K at some schools (Lawrence, possibly Dickinson, etc.) But when the school price is around $60K, that still leaves you with $45K to pay. A school like Gustavus Adolphus (MN) and others at that level could give you some, and they are less expensive to start with.</p>
<p>Have you looked at St. Mary’s College of Maryland? We visited with D2, thought it had an LAC-like feel (almost a summer camp feel, too, with the sailboats and river). D was thinking about a bio major and sat in on a bio class, which she liked a lot. If you are pre-med you want to keep your costs down as much as possible, and in-state tuition at SMCM will help with that. My D ended up not applying (we are OOS), but we both thought it was a nice school. They had a hiccup in admissions a year or two ago – let their long term admissions person go and brought in someone who apparently didn’t have a good understanding of their market, and missed badly on their yield estimates. I think that person is gone and they are recovering from that, though. Give them a look if you haven’t yet.</p>
<p>@intparent SMCM is actually one of my top choices at the moment. Thanks! I’ve already visited the campus and absolutely loved it!</p>
<p>Remember, for medical school what matters most is your undergraduate gpa (especially in science) and your MCAT score – not the name of the college you attended. </p>
<p>How much do you need? Would you qualify for any need-based aid?
How much is your family able to pay / year? </p>
<p>Nonetheless, UA offers very substantial scholarships for high test-scorers. You’d qualify for full tuition</p>