<p>Hello CC,
I'm a senior right now and I am quickly trying to decide on all of the colleges I want/should apply to. Right now, I am already applying to University of Washington, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UC San Diego (I'm from Washington state).
My stats look like this:
GPA (unweighted): 3.98
Sat: 1880 (590 Math/620 Reading/670 Writing)
Extra Curricular: 200+ hours Volunteering at a nursing home, National Honor Society, 3 years of tennis, Volunteering at a soup kitchen for about 30 hours, two years of club soccer, and band president for a year.
Curriculum: Honors and one AP from 9th to 10th, Dual Enrollment for the rest.</p>
<p>With these in mind, where else should I be looking to apply? I want to major in biology (Pre-med).</p>
<p>You know you will be paying a lot for UCs, right? Have your parents agreed to that? What about some of the other state colleges in WA like Western Washington or WSU? Whitman for a Private U? </p>
<p>@ErinsDad
Yes I know I will be paying loads to go out of state. I will have to pull out lots of student loans to do so and I am not really looking forward to that. However, state schools in Washington like Western and WSU are not very good schools. I feel that I would be letting myself down by going to one of those schools when I have worked extremely hard in high school to get great grades and a higher than average SAT score. I know that may sound arrogant, but I have worked my butt off for this, and I really do not want to be restricted just because of money…</p>
<p>It sounds like finaid will be a big issue for you, so U Wash should be your focus. Berkeley and UCLA are a long shot. UCSB makes more sense, although I’m not sure why you’d want to spend the extra money over the comparable U Wash. Other State U’s would be sensible to add for safeties/matches, despite what your gut or your pride tells you. </p>
<p>financing college 101: YOU cannot pay for college since you can only borrow $5500 your first year and 27K for four years. schools will expect you and your family to pay an amount (the Expected Family Contribution) determined by your family’s income and assets. In order to determine what that amount is, you must go to the financial aid page of any school in which you’re interested, click on the net price calculator (npc), and provide the info they request. The npc will provide you with an EFC and that will pretty accurately tell you what you’ll have to pay the first year and perhaps each year thereafter unless there’s a change in your family’s assets, income, or ability to pay. Do this for each college.</p>
<p>If you parents will pay nothing, and your EFC is higher than about 10K, you might not find it possible to attend a 4yr all four years. UCs will charge an OOS student, regardless of your family’s income and assets, about 50K per year. Fortunately, UW is a terrific school.</p>
<p>Depending on your circumstances, you may get enough financial aid from these schools to make them more affordable than OOS public universities. </p>
<p>Finance 102, virtually everyone is restricted by money. And the idea in a pre-med environment is to keep the undergrad costs as low as possible because med school is VERY expensive. </p>
<p>Every one is restricted by money. I have heard what you are saying from many students about their in state colleges. They feel that they have worked too hard to attend the same college that someone they know didn’t work as hard for. A college out of state may look more desirable but they come at a price to OOS students.</p>
<p>You have worked hard and done well, but effort is never a waste. You may end up in the same college as someone who didn’t work as hard, but you may be better prepared. Most students find college to be more demanding than high school. Some of your in state colleges may have honors programs that you might be eligible for. Through these, there may be research opportunities, smaller classes and other ways to enhance your education. </p>
<p>That would be stupid if you are pre-med. For pre-med you need a very strong GPA, a good MCAT score, and some kind of medical experience (volunteer or paid, during the year or summer). Even if you could borrow enough (which you actually can’t), it would be a dumb thing to do.</p>
<p>If you want to go out of state, your option is to increase your SAT scores and apply to private colleges - Pitzer and Occidental would be a stretch, but you may have a shot at LMU-LA and Chapman, and may get merit aid at Whittier. Outside of California, beside the excellent colleges listed in #5, would you be willing to go to the South, Midwest, or Northeast?</p>
<p>My daughter has taken 14 AP classes and has near perfecr SAT and ACT scores and she applied to Washington State, so she has worked a lot harder than you and does not consider that college beneath her. It’s a Carnegie very high research university and it has a nice honors program. Since you plan to go to medical school, you should pit yourself against students you can excel against, not against the toughest competition, so you can get those A’s. What other posters mean about you not being able to take out big loans for UC colleges is that it is yourr parents who would have to take out the loans in their name, and they would be the ones to go into debt. Think long term and consider what is affordable, not what you feel entitled to.</p>
<p>@mommyrocks I do not appreciate you saying your daughter has worked harder than me. You do not know my circumstances. That being said, I am a full time college student as I am a running start student and therefore do not feel like your daughter is any better than me. But thanks. </p>
<p>You’ve both worked hard. The general idea of the post is to not feel that Washington State is inadequate for you because there are accomplished students there too. </p>
<p>It’s actually a good idea to not consider a more affordable college less adequate. Many students make the choice to attend the best value college, and there are excellent students at just about every college in the US. It’s a part of life to consider finances in just about every decision to purchase something, College can cost on par with items like homes and cars, so select carefully.</p>