Hi! I’m a rising senior and I’m looking for a decent list of OOS schools to apply this fall. Not really interested in going to in-state school (will apply as safety school). I would like to pursue a premed track and deciding between either a bio or microbio major. I currently reside in Hawaii. Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
Parents are really vague on how much they will contribute but I’m estimating around $20-30k. (I apologize for not having a better answer but my parents have been uncooperative when I tried to run the NPCs on some schools. Income is around 90-100k though so I don’t think we’ll get a lot of financial aid.)
School criteria:
Lots of merit aid
Lots of research/hospital volunteer opportunities
Suburban/Urban. As long as it’s somewhere where there are a lot of things to do off campus.
Around small/medium size but large is ok too
East/West preferred but north is ok too (don’t really want to go south)
Not interested in party schools
Don’t really mind religion
Preferably liberal but not too important factor
Stats:
Female (Asian/Pacific Islander)
GPA: 3.8 UW, 4.0 W
ACT: 29 C (plan to retake in Oct.) New SAT: 1310 (plan to retake in Oct.)
AP scores: Chem. 2 (the teacher was horrendous), Lang. & Comp 5, Psych 5
Plan to take AP Bio, APUSH, and AP Lit.
Not qualified for NMF
No legacy
Extracurriculars:
4 yrs. Speech & Debate (Publicity Officer for soph. & junior yrs. Captain for senior year)
2 yrs. Varsity Softball
2 yrs. HOSA
2 yrs. Key Club
1 yr. Ignition (basically a program where selected junior & seniors become mentors to freshmen)
1 yr. NHS
Awards:
Degree of Excellence in National Speech & Debate Association
Couple awards in state speech league
Volunteer hours aren’t amazing but I volunteered at a community library and am currently volunteering at a family library program at a government housing place.
Other:
I have a sibling that is currently attending college.
Parents who are “vague” and “uncooperative” shouldn’t be counted on to cover much, if any. Run the Net Price Calculator on your state school website and a couple of the other colleges you’re interested in then take them the results and ask if they’ll pay that. Keep
running NPCs until you get an idea what their comfort zone is.
For pre-med school suggestions, you may want to consider suitable schools from “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs.”
For your setting preferences, you can consult these Newsweek articles: “The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Schools” and “The 25 Most Desirable Urban Schools.”
When you say “OOS”, do you mean public/state schools? Because that acronym is usually only used for public schools, because private schools generally don’t make a distinction (say, in how much they cost) based on which state you’re from. Public schools have different in-state and out-of-state costs, so the term is useful. Further, it’s hard to get aid (need-based or merit) at most public schools if you’re OOS, so unless you’re willing and able to be full-pay, they’re not generally recommended. So you might clarify what you mean by that.
Also, it is possible to get a fair amount of need-based financial aid even with a family income of $100K. It’s generally the better schools that have better need-based aid, though, and your current test scores are a little low for them.
For merit aid, you want to look at schools where you’re in the top quarter or half of their student profile.
@csdad2
Thank you for informing me about the oos term usage. Will take note of it from now on.
What I meant was just “out-of-state”, I’m looking for both public and private.
Thank you all for the helpful answers and advice, they definitely cleared up some confusions I’ve had so far about colleges and stuff.
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Parents are really vague on how much they will contribute but I’m estimating around $20-30k. (I apologize for not having a better answer but my parents have been uncooperative when I tried to run the NPCs on some schools. Income is around 90-100k though so I don’t think we’ll get a lot of financial aid.)
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You may be seriously mistaken. When parents are vague and uncooperative concerning paying for college and running NPCs, then it’s usually wrong to estimate that they will pay anything close to $20k-30k per year.
And if their income is truly 90-100k in Hawaii, then it’s very doubtful that they could even contribute that much anyway…even if they wanted.
And it’s very doubtful that they could pay that much if they’re also paying for your sibling’s college costs.
Do this…say something like: Mom and dad, if I get into Tulane and it costs $65k per year to go there, would you pay half of that cost?
HOw much are your parents paying for your sibling’s college costs???
Did your sibling apply for financial aid? If so, what is their FAFSA EFC?
Do your parents own a business or take business deductions?
If you want a lot of merit, then you’re going to either need higher scores (ACT 32+) or attend a lesser known school.
Good call @bouders. WUE is often overlooked. Students in the Western States (or some of the state participants, who don’t see themselves as living Western states) have a fertile resource with WUE.
@mom2collegekids
After confronting my parents about it and following your advice, you were right. My parents said that they can only pay about 10k per year.
My sister attends community college and she got a full ride scholarship, for the first year only, so my parents didn’t have to pay anything. (She also got offered a $5,500 federal direct unsubsidized loan but she declined.) However, starting from next year, my parents have to start paying for her tuition but it’s likely that they won’t have to pay much because she got grants and scholarships.
Yes, my sister did apply for financial aid of 2016-2017 and her EFC was 009493.
No, my parents do not own a business or take business deductions.
Just to recap: You’re in HI, want to go OOS for pre-med, have a 29 ACT and 1310 (new) SAT, a 3.8 (UW GPA), an EFC of $9493 (for sibling with one in college/parental income of ~$100k), and your parents will pay $10k/year.
You need to raise your ACT score so you can qualify for a full tuition award. Check the threads pinned to the top of the financial aid forum for colleges that offer automatic merit aid for stats to see what’s available.
Agree with @austinmshauri . I understand the desire to move to the mainland - but - as a backup in case full tuition awards or financial aid from a private school don’t work out, get to love University of Hawaii.
You won’t receive enough aid from an OOS public school to be able to pay, unless it offers full ride awards. Private OOS schools may offer you enough aid but this is never guaranteed.
I am moving to Hawaii next week. I have a son who wants to go to law school, so I’ve been looking at the tuition rates at University of Hawaii. They are a bargain compared to many places, even Canadian schools. Medical school costs a lot. If you are tempted to take out big loans to go to a school on the mainland, you should resist that temptation because you will need a heckuva lot of loans to go to med school, even if that med school is at UH.
Certainly apply to schools which will give you a lot of merit aid and apply for financial aid at private schools. But keep in mind that if UH becomes the only way you can afford to go to a 4 year school, you can always move to the mainland after undergrad or med school.