<p>It feels like once you send one child to college, the next child follows right behind!
My D is currently finishing the first semester of her junior year which appears to be the optimal time to form a college list! She and my son tirelessly discuss college admissions for hours (yes, even at the dinner table!) and I love the ambition but her college list has since hit the teens. She is very bright with a 3.87 unweight GPA and 4.2 with weight. Her scores sound fine to me but are apparently 'low' with a 26 on the ACT and she is retaking it in February. She also intends to be a psychology pre-med major if that helps.</p>
<p>Her college list consists of:
Stanford (top choice reach), University of Georgia (our choice and her safety), NYU, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC (California one), Ohio State, U Michigan (2nd choice-her high match/low reach), UNC Chapel Hill, Rice, Texas A&M and a few others.</p>
<p>We are trying to have her apply to more in-state universities since we are GA residents and she only intends to apply to UGA but she refuses. Likewise, we have also told her that we do not intend to pay such expensive out-of-state tuition costs without hefty aid from the school or outside scholarships. </p>
<p>I think my question is, based on your own experiences or advice, what is a reasonable college list? Your response doesn't have to pertain to my daughter but can be about college lists as a whole. </p>
<p>@RussianMom I agree. My son was reading the early admission statistics and I was a bit surprised at the overwhelming majority of 4.0 GPA and 30+ ACT scores! That’s good for UGA, hope it’s good for us too!</p>
<p>Not sure why NYU is on the list . . . ? To be in NYC? Or is there some other reason. I would look deeply at the costs of NYU and whether you have any thoughts about individualized education or attention. NYU is a great school, don’t get me wrong, but it’s kind of like a Big State School with a private school prices. I have doubts about what aid it gives. If she wants to be in NYC and she has those stats, she should be looking at Barnard. She also may want to look at Columbia’s Fu engineering school. There may be a major there that appeals to her. (Columbia has four undergrad colleges, Fu, the College (which is what most people think of), Barnard, and General Studies.) In addition, NYC has a really amazing college system, CUNY. She may or may not qualify for the Macauley Honors college–they pay you to attend school. If she’s premed, she should look at the Sophie Davis program and the program at Brooklyn College, both of which are nearly free. She may or may not have to be a resident of NYC. I’m not sure. If she wants to work with a specific researcher or program at NYU, then it may be worth the cost. Also don’t forget Fordham, if she loves NYC.</p>
<p>I would <em>not</em> count on UGA as a safety…her ACT is low for them…she’s a junior now though, right? She should also try the SAT (some kids do better on it) and really really work to pull up those scores…regardless of GPA, nearly all of those schools will need a 30 or above to be competitive (without a hook like athletics or legacy). </p>
<p>When I was her age I was dying to live in NYC so I kind of get the appeal of NYU, but not really. Unlike all the other schools on the list it has no campus. It’s also notorious for being stingy with aid, though there are always a handful of students who get a better package there than anywhere else, so you never know. In any event with those ACT scores she’d be in the bottom 25% so merit aid is unlikely unless there’s a big jump in scores.</p>
<p>I think she needs more safety schools she’d be happy with. If she doesn’t like the other Georgia public schools what else might she look at? Maybe she’d consider some LACs that are test optional (if her scores stay relatively low compared to her GPA) or just a little less selective?</p>
<p>If it were my kid- I’d try to get her to articulate what it is she likes about Stanford and then work to get some schools similar to it on her radar. That’s step one.</p>
<p>Then- you are doing her no favors by being coy about the financial reality. Work through your tax returns, investment statements, etc. and come up with the number that you are prepared to pay out of current income, savings and loans, and tell her that’s the number. In state, out of state- that’s irrelevant. What matters is what you can afford. She needs to find schools where she’s got a strong likelihood of getting merit aid and/or where the online calculators show numbers for your EFC that you can actually afford. </p>
<p>Third- I think a reality check with your HS naviance might be in order. Not sure you’ve got the whole match/reach thing down accurately. It’s fine to take a look at schools where she’s got a shot if her scores go up-- but you also have to have part of the list comprised of schools where she’s likely to get in even if they don’t.</p>
<p>She sounds great. don’t let her get caught up in loving Stanford without also loving a nice array of schools which are likely to admit her and which you can afford.</p>
<p>Get the Princeton Review book and take a look at the list of colleges that have good pre-med programs, then look at the average test scores and GPA of admitted students. We used that to help narrow our search and it was helpful. It will also give you an idea of what scores your D needs to have to have a shot at her top schools. We live in PA and know there are good pre-med programs at Pitt, Penn State, Temple, and Drexel. UAB also has a good one. </p>
<p>My dad got his undergrad and MD from UGA though, so I am kinda partial to it. ;-)</p>
<p>Many of the schools on her list would be a TOTAL waste of application money…</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>We are trying to have her apply to more in-state universities since we are GA residents and she only intends to apply to UGA but she refuses. Likewise, we have also told her that we do not intend to pay such expensive out-of-state tuition costs without hefty aid from the school or outside scholarships.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Stanford…no way, take it off
NYU…way too expensive
UCLA, UCB, not likely and WILL be too expensive (EFC + $23k + full loans)
USC…USC is a score whore so will not accept her…scores would have to be ACT 32+ for a good chance
Rice…scores need to be a lot higher
UNC…no way would she get in unless she has some unusual hook. </p>
<p>Sadly, you have to pull the Parent Flag and limit her reaches to just a couple that you’re willing to throw away application, CSS Profile and score money.</p>
<p>I’m sorry to be blunt but the the truth is…If your D really wants to be premed, then the LAST place she should be applying to are:</p>
<p>Any Calif schools…way too many premeds, total waste for OOS premeds, and she will VERY likely get weeded out.
Any reach school…again…too many premeds…all of the premeds will be MUCH stronger than she is…and she will very likely get weeded.</p>
<p>You need to explain to your D that the premed students at the school on her list will be mostly ACT 30+ students, at least the ones who actually make it to med school. </p>
<p>I would ask your son to “tone it down” because his advice isn’t probably compatible with a premed’s needs, especially one with modest test scores.</p>
<p>Your D’s best chances for making it to med school are going to be a mid-tier or third tier school…look at some schools like Univ of Charleston, Birmingham Southern, Loyola Maryland, and some instate publics. </p>
<p>I am hesitant to even recommend higher level test optional schools (like Wake Forest) because, again, her premed classmates may be stronger than she is and she’d get weeded out. </p>
<p>She has a strong GPA, is it possible that her high school has grade inflation? </p>
<p>Has she taken or will she take: AP Calculus? AP Bio, AP Chem? j</p>
<p>How strong is she in math and science?</p>
<p>How much will you pay each year?</p>
<p>When is she taking the SAT??? She may do better on that. </p>
<p>What is your son’s FAFSA EFC?</p>
<p>UAB has very good premed, but it heavily weeds. My son is a med student at UAB, but he went to Alabama for undergrad. </p>
<p>lastly…there is little/no reason for a premed to go OOS if it gives NO benefit for med school admissions. Schools like UNC SOM heavily favor instate students, unless they are MD/PhD and I don’t think your D would be a MD/PhD student. Those tend to be those super-stats students who got near perfect scores as high school kids and super high MCAT scores. </p>
<p><<<
We are trying to have her apply to more in-state universities since we are GA residents and she only intends to apply to UGA but she refuses.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>There is something that parents here on CC recommend and it’s called Parent Picks. Parents pick out a couple of schools that the child has to apply to. You could include a couple of other GA publics as your Parent Picks and insist that she apply.</p>
<p>I think UGA is a safety, but just in case it’s not, have a GA backup!</p>
<p>A school to consider is University of South Alabama. It has a med school, and its med school will accept OOS students who attend Alabama undergrads…particularly girls since the SOM is male-heavy…they want more girls.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>If I were to guess, she thinks that these prestigious schools will help her get into med school. They won’t…especially the UCs. </p>
<p>Med schools don’t care where you go to undergrad unless maybe its some really podunk school that somehow has lousy science courses. Most schools are good enough for premed…it’s not hard to have adequate premed prereqs.</p>
<p>I do not understand the OP’s or DD’s thinking…they’ve been down this road with the older brother last spring who wasn’t admitted to UGA and he had a 1900 SAT…so why would they now think UGA is a safety for DD??</p>
<p>This is a post from last spring about the son.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>My family and I are from Georgia and my son (or S as I’ve seen denoted) is a senior in high school. All year he has been planning and pining for University of Georgia (UGA) and we were met this March with a waitlist decision. None of our family was happy with the decision but we have been trying to encourage him to move on with plan B.
Unfortunately, as you all may know, teenagers are stubborn and he refuses to let go of his slim chance at UGA.
He has already been accepted to Kennesaw State University and Georgia State University with Georgia State being his plan B.</p>
<p>We took a tour of GSU and we are really trying to get him excited about attending but every day is just more moping about UGA. At this point I think I would have rather had him denied so he wouldn’t be going through this but we are still holding out that chance at his top choice.</p>
<p>I feel I have told him all I can tell him and we just need to wait for the waitlist decisions mid May. It’d be great to get a second opinion, although I think I’m right </p>
<br>
<br>
<p>and then this follow-up…</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I do think the lessons-learned from son’s experience would be valuable here… I think that he missed the app deadline for Georgia College State Univ ( a public LAC in GA)?? If so, please don’t let that happen to your DD…that sounds perfect for a premed student with less-than-top-test scores.</p>
<p>If there are financial restrictions, and it sounds like there are, that’s a place to start. The online calculators are usually pretty accurate. If she’s being given the option of refusing to add more affordable in-state options, as the parent, and I’m assuming primary financial supporter, I would refuse to finance applications to schools that are out of financial reach.</p>
<p>Very good advice…let the NPC’s do the first weeding. And then weed further the schools that either won’t like accept or would be too difficult for an OOS premed student to succeed (any Calif schools)</p>
<p>@Dustyfeathers Thank you so much for the larger variety of schools for us to look at! She has definitely made it clear she wants to be in NY, but also enjoyed their college visit to her high school.</p>
<p>@SouthernHope Her SAT was much worse at 1600/2400. She’s reasoning she is an ACT person. </p>
<p>@mathmom Yep, unless she receives an amazing amount of aid, I told her not to get too comfy with NYU (or U Mich, or any other school out of state).</p>
<p>@blossom Unfortunately, her high school does not use Naviance which is definitely a bummer. I know it would help so many kids. Apparently Stanford has exactly the pre-med program she is looking for. Of course, she is also in love with California as evident by her list. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Thank you for your lengthy response! I would say her high school is fairly competitive. She is currently taking 6 APs and will end HS with 11 (hopefully). She’s a strong math and science student, with consistent A’s in both. My husband and I aren’t willing to spend much more than UGA tuition would cost, unfortunately (so about 5-10k). We have loans through our credit union but any more than that we would have to put on the brakes. </p>
<p>@JoBenny I agree and will startchecking those out! I only know of one instance where she checked Stanford’s online calculator and it came out to be $5,000. Not sure what mistype happened there! </p>
<p>Thank you all for the responses! Hopefully she can raise her ACT up to be competitive but you all have given some amazing suggestions! </p>
<p>So… I think you have not made the financial realities of this clear to your D. YOU should run the net price calculators and show her the results. Give her a firm number that you can contribute, and stick to it. Also, she needs a reality check on med school and the costs. She needs the following things for med school:
High GPA
Strong MCAT scores
Some kind of medical experience (volunteer or paid position, summers are fine)
Minimal debt out of undergrad – med school is expensive, and she will likely take out large loans. She needs to be realistic and not take out any more loans than she has to for undergrad.</p>
<p>Then… get her to make a list of maybe 8 schools. 2 safeties, 4 matches, 2 reaches. Make sure the safeties are school she is almost certain to get into with her stats, would be happy to attend, and are affordable. Start with the safeties, not with a long list of dreamy reaches like she has now. Be ruthless about classifying schools. If her scores are not above the 50% mark for a school, don’t consider it a match.</p>