Need help finding colleges

DC is a junior. 95 unweighted GPA, Rigorous classes at a college prep high school. Wants pre-med. Consistently scoring 30 on ACT practice tests. Will not qualify for any aid. We are in state for SUNY. Need college in the Northeast within 3 hours drive of NYC. COA $30,000.00 or less.BS/MD programs would be great.

BS/MD program admission is very competitive even at less competitive undergraduate schools. UMass Amherst may give some merit aid but no BS/MD program.

SUNY’s are very strong schools. Why shy away from those?
My dd graduated from UB with a degree in engineering, but she was originally lured by their links to MD program.
(we’re from California).
A practice 30 on ACT may not get your child to stay in a premed program. You need options just in case. This is why the SUNY schools would be great.
Oh and dd has been promoted several times, in CA, with her SUNY degree.

I should add. We visited Binghamton,Stonybrook and St. John’s already.

The SUNYs are definitely on our radar. I agree they have a lot to offer.

Good merit and strong science at these schools: Wheaton (MA), Muhlenberg, Susquehanna, Scranton, Ursinus, Gettysburg, Siena, Juniata

If willing to go further than 3 hours, add St. Lawrence, URochester, Allegheny, Washington & Jefferson, UMaine (tuition match)

Admissions to BS/MD programs are more competitive than admissions to elite colleges.

You are very fortunate to have the SUNY system as your instate option. Lots of excellent choices. And they come in under you price point of $30,000 a year.

Wait and see what her actual ACT score is…and have her take the SAT as well. Some kids just do better on one test than the other.

Every pre-Med prospective student should have a Plan B and a Plan C…because most wont end up applying to Med school at all…and of those who do, only 40% will be accepted to even one Med school.

So…while she is looking at colleges…have her think about her alternate plans.

BS/MD programs will be highly, highly competitive. I agree with the advice given so far.

It’s going to be difficult to get enough merit to get the cost down to $30,000…with a 30 (ish) ACT score and within a 3 hour drive of NYC. You can look at URI ( merit?), TCNJ ( I know OOS students who received merit) and the U of Vermont ( not sure about merit). Western Connecticut State University is now offering instate tuition to students from NY and NJ.

I don’t think you will find many schools meeting your criteria that beat SUNY. Binghamton is a bit of a reach with that ACT score…particularly for premed. Has he tried the SAT? Have you looked at Buffalo?

We have strongly suggested nursing as an alternative but it was dismissed. We are hoping that DC can get into Binghampton. We all would be happy with that as it meets all of our criteria.

There are a LOT of cool health care careers that most HS kids have never heard of. Epidemiology, biostatistics, health policy, health economics (someone has to figure out the impact of all those baby boomers reaching age 65, right?). And nursing itself- kids hear the word and think of someone emptying bedpans in a hospital. I have a friend who is an RN who manages clinical trials for a drug company, focused on terminal cancer patients. There are Physician Assistants who operate highly autonomously (depends on the state and the regulations) and provide a high degree of primary care- just like a doctor. Nutrition and food policy-- it’s not just the person in the school cafeteria who figures out calorie counts on the donuts- there are nutritionists advising Federal agencies on complicated agricultural issues that impact public health, there are nutritionists and food scientists at all the big food and ingredient companies developing and interpreting studies on sugar and diabetes, salt and hypertension, caffeine and pregnancy, etc.

I would ask your kid to do some research into health care professions which are NOT MD… as an exploration. Kid ends up in med school? Fabulous. But always helpful to have a more robust understanding of the job market before you head down a path, and as Thumper noted, there are more pre-meds who DON’T end up as physicians than ones who do.

BS/MD program – https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/csom/bs-md-program

Even cheaper than that (as in “free”) the Sophie Davis program – https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/csom/bs-md-program-description

Here’s another one (also used to be free and maybe still is) – http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/academics/honors-academy/programs/ba-md.php

Do you really think Binghamton would be a stretch with that ACT score ? I am hoping DC can bring that up to a 32 but I know that sometimes the practice test can be spot on.

OP- does your HS have Naviance? If so, your son can look at the historical stats (last few years) and see who gets in and who doesn’t from your HS. In some cases it’s a nice motivator to get cracking reading those review books! Or- he could be in the safe zone (but check with the guidance counselor on how to interpret the numbers).

Yes. I have been in Naviance and it appears that DC would get in with that score.

Nursing is NOT an alternative to being a physician. The two are very different. Physician here (40th reunion coming up- how times have changed for women).

As above, premed students need alternative plans. Be sure your D chooses schools based on majors/career paths other than medicine that interest her. Do not choose the school based on gaming the odds for getting into medical school. Pick the college that is a good academic and social fit (it looks like finances give her many choices). She can consider BS/A plus MD programs but most students will do the college degree then medical school so don’t fixate on that. Going to an elite school is not necessary for getting accepted into medical school, doing well in college is.

Elite schools can backfire for med school from what I’ve read on this forum and what I’ve observed. For med school you need grades plus MCAT. If you’re at Yale or Princeton for undergrad, you’ll be in a group of students at or above your level – it’s the nature of the schools and the students they attract. If you attend a school like, say, Earlham (has a cadaver class btw), which does a great job training premed and would give you merit aid, not only would you be high in your class and have the attention you may need to get As, but also you’d be from Indiana and that state provides fewer med-school students, compared with, say, California or the states along the Eastern Seaboard.

Agree that the SUNY schools would be a good bet. I’d also look at New Paltz and Albany (if you are willing to go outside of your geographic area I’d add Buffalo as well).

For BS/MD maybe look into Sophie Davis program at CUNY. Also I believe that Siena College and Union College have BS/MD programs with SUNY Albany Med School.

In terms of private schools we found Siena and Marist to have lower than typical pricing and good merit aid so those may be options.

Thanks so much for all the great advice and suggestions. DC expressed an interest in working in the emergency room. That is why the suggestion of RN, NP and PA not that I think anyone of these careers are like being an MD.

I’m not trying to dampen D’s ambitions, but if D is thinking emergency room MD, D is looking at 4 years of college (assuming not BS/MD), 4 years of med school, 3-4 years in emergency med residency. She will say adios to her 20s before she can start a career as an ER MD. Is she good with that? (I don’t need an answer, something she needs to consider).

@holychild

One of our best friends is an ER APRN…and prior to that did ER only nursing.

I think your daughter and you need to do some additional reading about jobs in emergency rooms, as well as other medically related careers.

@WayOutWestMom any suggestions for this poster?