Everything is getting more competitive as time goes by. The funny thing is, some of the perceived advantages of the medical profession are questionable today, given the high cost of malpractice insurance, managed care, and the changing landscape of health care in general. And who knows what Congress will do in the future?
For those interested, a friend of mine from college wrote the following “rant” on his blog a while back about why not to go to medical school. He also wrote a book entitled “Should I Go to Medical School?: An Irreverent Guide to the Pros and Cons of a Career in Medicine”. Humorous, but some of his points are legitimate. If you lack the passion and commitment, it’s definitely not for you. Now this MD and Harvard College, UCSD Med, and Cambridge U. graduate writes advice books on dating and does the lecture circuit. 
http://blogs.harvard.edu/abinazir/2005/05/23/why-you-should-not-go-to-medical-school-a-gleefully-biased-rant/comment-page-3/
If you think about it, her acceptances would represent a robust application list for most kids:
Carleton
Haverford
Oberlin
Bryn Mawr
Scripps
Whitman
Multiple UCs
Cal Poly
You now have to decide if fit is more important than finances… because you have some of the UCs and Cal Poly sitting there at $20k or less (and Cal Poly at very little cost…), while the LACs are all likely coming in at $40k+ per year. That’s a big gap.
All the schools on her acceptance list are very good – there’s no issue there. You just have to make the hard choice so many do.
Usually, when we are comparing two like schools – like paying $55k at Michigan OOS vs. paying $25k at UCLA in-state – we advise people, unless the OOS school offers something the in-state school doesn’t, to go with the much cheaper option. But in this case, it’s cozy LACs vs. big public universities: apples and oranges.
In case anyone is interested in the final verdict: sometimes, dreams do come true.
After an appeal and some corrections to the CSS Profile that never reached Carleton automatically (since they were on the first wave of recipients), Carleton brought the cost down to almost the same as the merit scholarship schools. After visiting her top three UCs and her top three privates (including a second visit to Carleton three days before decision day), we collectively decided that Carleton was a no-brainer.
Repeat visits make my D nervous; Haverford and a few other colleges didn’t quite feel the same the second time as they did the first. She went back to Carleton with a lot of doubts. Coming straight from Bryn Mawr (second place), she couldn’t imagine Carleton being better. No red carpet was rolled out for her; it was just an ordinary day, right before the mid-term break. Well, if she thought Carleton was the best fit at the beginning, now she KNOWS it is the best fit (and skeptical mom finally agrees, after seeing it for herself and meeting the people there).
BTW, Bryn Mawr would have been her destination had Carleton’s Student Financial Services not come through with the revised offer. If you have any questions about any of these schools, UCs or SLACs, feel free to PM me. And if you are a Carl or Carl Parent, please introduce yourself! I already got two introductions.
Most importantly, hoodie order has been shipped.
Congratulations! What happy news!!!
Congratulations! My younger daughter graduated from Carleton, as did two of my coworkers, and I think it’s a great school.
I just PMed you. I’m a Carleton grad, our daughter is a freshman there. You are welcomed aboard!
Great school. Glad things worked out financially to make it happen.
Oh my goodness. What an unexpected turn of events. Our son is headed to Carleton this summer for an academic program. We had a similar experience regarding financial aid. It was determined in two steps (they were up front about this, they invited a second communication if the first award would not allow our student to attend). So exciting for your daughter!
@mominco - Thank you! Great to hear about your son! They seem to be responsive to these appeals and do the best they can.
Yes. I should say summer apps do not go through regular admissions, of course. And the website states that aid for summer programs is both need and merit based, while the undergrad aid is need-based.
But I do think that asking them to go over the aid package can turn up ways that their own formula can take some other aspects into consideration in order to re evaluate. I know that we had that experience at a need-based school though their review process. It means having helpful people in the office who are willing to take another look.