I am from Oregon, but don’t mind being far away.
29 ACT(34 E/32R/27M/24S) Superscored 30
gpa uw is 3.79/ 4.1 weighted
Caucasian Female Senior
National Honors Society, acted in numerous school plays, work experience, editor of school newspaper for Fresh/soph year.
I am a very serious student and have taken 2 AP courses(HS doesn’t offer many AP courses) and mainly honors courses/dual enrollment. I’m from a small town, so preferably would not want to be in a MAJOR metropolitan area like New York/Portland.
Interested in majoring in Biology and plan to do medical research, so having nice updated labs and such is preferred with opportunities to do research/gain experience. Also want somewhere that will not hurt my chances of getting into grad school.
My list so far is St Martens, Carroll college(mt), South Dakota School of Mines, Boise state(safety school), Hendrix, University of Idaho, Trinity(TX), University of Portland.
Really lost right now and not sure of anything. Not really attached to any school yet. Merit aid is really important to me because I would like to keep total cost down to 25,000(less is better)
Please, please, please help. I have spent hours on hours researching but just feel kind of overwhelmed and would like an outside opinion/suggestion.
Look at the links on the left on this page, and use the Supermatch tool to find some schools. Going out of state is expensive unless you can get significant merit aid.
So, you should look at what your family can afford and then pick some urban schools.
For pre-med, this list is not bad for generating ideas: “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs” (available online). Most of these schools have excellent biology departments and facilities. Some offer merit scholarships. Others offer substantial need-based aid if that applies to you.
@“aunt bea” Thanks. I have tried many times the super match features, but they usually show colleges that do not have the greatest bio program and they don’t take in to account whether or not they offer large amounts of merit aid or out of state waivers so it can be hard to tailor it to cost.
If you like Hendrix, take a look at Grinnell, a top LAC. Generous merit aid, state of the art facilities, excellent sciences, and one of those schools that produces a lot of Phds. It’s in a small town about an hour from Des Moines and Iowa City. The school has a huge endowment so they bring a lot of activities to campus and generously fund student activities.
You qualify automatically for WUE rates at University of Montana, and probably would be accepted into their Honors College. Don’t ignore applying to your in-state options. To keep the pre-med option, you will need a college where you can maintain a minimum 3.6 in your science courses.
When my D applied two years ago, we were trying to keep costs under twice our FAFSA expected family contribution. She got some good merit awards from private universities but they were all going to be more expensive than the WUE schools.
Based on Grinnell’s most recent figures, I stand corrected. The middle range ACT for the class of 2019 is 29-33, a slight decrease from that reported in the current USNWR (30-33). However, it should be noted that, for mathematical reasons, superscoring, even if a policy of the admissions commitee, is often not relevant in these types of comparisons. The OP would be a reasonable candidate for admission to Grinnell, but at a 29 ACT, not a likely candidate for a significant merit scholarship. Grinnell is still easy to recommend for their academic programs, facilities and well-funded need based financial aid.
Western Oregon University
Oregon State University
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Ohio University
Macalester College
Wesleyan College
St. Olaf College
Ohio Wesleyan University
Beloit College
You’d get full tuition at University of Alabama & University of Mississippi, full tuition/fees/$500 housing stipend at University of Louisiana - Monroe, & full ride at Tuskegee University & Prairie A&M University.
Matches:
-Texas A&M International University
-University of Mississippi (Great School)
Safeties:
-Bob Jones University
-Lee University
-Life University
-Louisiana Tech University
-Mississippi University for Women
-Pittsburg State University
-Sam Houston State University
-Slippery Rock University
-University of Central Arkansas (You’d automatically get full tuition for your GPA)