Need help trying to find schools for pre-med in PA!

College Search & Selection
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Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student
    Domestic
  • State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities)
    PA
  • Type of high school (current college for transfers): Public
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): South Korean male
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):
    Dad went to Drexel for Masters if that helps
    Intended Major(s)
    Not sure, but planning on pre-med route.
    GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.58
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 3.96
  • College GPA (for transfers):
  • Class Rank: N/A
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1430 Superscore (670 R&W 760 M)

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
AP Euro (5), Lang, Comp Sci Principles, Calculus AB, US History. Senior year: AP Comparative Government, AP Psychology, Statistics

Awards
President Volunteer Service Award. Gold past 2 years
Jazz Ensemble Solo Performance Award
(AP Scholar/NHS)

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Volunteered for local hospital at snack bar and Physical Therapy department for 3 years
Swim instructor/lifeguard for 3 years
President of club that volunteered at political rallies/events in Philly, help run Leadership and veteran card writing programs
Interned at Jaisohn Medical Center over summer
Varsity swim team for 3 years
Volunteered at church as a Korean School Teacher Assistant and Summer Program Assistant for 2 years
President of church Youth Group
Played piano for church praise team / accompanied choir ensembles, Jazz Band, and some musicals for school

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
Big drawback is how GPA got hit hard Junior year. Mom’s parents in South Korea struggled with COVID for a few months before passing away early this year. Pretty tough on mental trying to navigate school with taking care of me and my sister’s schedules when my parents flew over.

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)
Trying to keep it under 30k

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)
Safety?
Temple
West Chester

Target?
Penn State
Pitt

Reach? Not sure
Lehigh
Syracuse

Really hoping to get some merit aid at state schools. Not sure because of the GPA. It would be very much appreciated if anyone knew of PA schools that could fit. Would gladly consider nearby in other states on the Northeast as well. No hard preference on class size, weather.

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I think you are on the right path if you’re looking to stay in state for sure, with the exception of Syracuse obviously. Pitt is hard to beat in all things medical field honestly and price. What about adding Drexel? I think you could look beyond PA for pre med if you’re open to it?

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Juniata?

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I considered Drexel but found/heard tuition is pretty crazy. Unless I would get really generous aid, it would be difficult, right? I’m still planning to apply though.

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Thank you! Will look into here.

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Haven’t looked into much outside PA, but would gladly consider it!

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Look into Elizabethtown, Juniata, Washington & Jefferson, LaSalle, York College of PA, and Muhlenberg to see if any appeal to you. McDaniel in MD is worth considering too. They may or may not come in within your price range, but they’re worth applying to in order to see what you get if they appeal to you.

Definitely keep West Chester on your list.

Penn St and Pitt are worth applications, but I’m not sure they’ll end up affordable. Penn St is not good with aid and Pitt generally likes to see higher stats for good aid.

Is +/- 30K your EFC or what you are hoping for with merit aid?

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What is your EFC? Run the NPC for schools.

Merit from PSU or Pitt is unlikely. Need higher stats. Syracuse is also a reach.

You might get something from Temple plus Honors college.

WVU is close and it would probably be affordable. They have a hospital on-campus. Underrated for health programs IMHO.

St. Joe’s? W&J has a good rep for sending students to med school.

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Thank you! Will look into these. Will also consider that for Penn and Pitt when applying. My parents ran the EFC calculator and got IM: 36k and FM: 26k.

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Just ran the EFC calculator and got IM: 36k and FM: 26k. Thank you for the advice and suggestions, I will gladly look into them.

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Temple and WCU are likely to be within budget.

Penn State: see if one of these majors appeals to you and apply to Schreyer
https://agsci.psu.edu/academics/undergraduate/majors/immunology-and-infectious-dise

https://agsci.psu.edu/academics/undergraduate/majors/pharmacology-and-toxicologyase

https://hhd.psu.edu/bbh/undergraduate/major-biobehavioral-health

Pitt: program open to most majors, you apply as an upperclass undergrad

Seconding Muhlenberg, Juniata, Elizabethtown, Ursinus. Run the NPC on Dickinson (they meet need).

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Yes, Dickinson should have been on my list too. It’s possible Franklin & Marshall would be affordable due to their need based aid. Run an NPC to see.

(I don’t recall any students from my school having gone to Ursinus to know their thoughts/experiences, so I’m “useless” on that one.)

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I was thinking Lafayette and Lehigh might be possible with OP’s EFC. St. Joe’s and W&J as well.

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Adding Franklin & Marshall seems like a good idea.

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Thank you so much! Definitely looking into Dickinson, has got my interest.

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Will check out these 2. Thanks so much!

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Haven’t considered Lafayette, will do with the rest. Thanks for the help!

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Thanks for the suggestion!