<p>Hi:</p>
<p>We are a proud parent of a promising student. She is in her junior year and we live in Central Florida (Orlando). She has got a perferct 4.0 GPA thus far. She has received 'A' in all AP classes. She has taken her SAT and her scores are like 670 V, 740 M, 710 R. She has taken 2 SAT II tests and have scored 740 and 720 in them (Chem and Biology). She has completed lots of EC on her resume. She has participated in several club, science competitions, piano competition,s vasity tennis team, performed science research at various universities, won science fair awards etc., She has 200 hours of volunteer work in the hospital. She has written a stellar college essays. Ultimately, she wants to pursue medical degree. We have the following options:</p>
<p>a) Apply for accelerated medical programs in Univ. South Florida or U of Miami locally.</p>
<p>b) Apply for out-of-state accelerated medical programs </p>
<p>c) Apply for one of the lower tier IVY schools like Cornell, Columbia or UPenn for pre-med program and then apply for local medical schools later.</p>
<p>In addition, we are looking for merit scholarships as well. I and my wife make more than 150K per year. Would this preculde us from getting need based scholarship everywhere we apply? Then we ned to pursue merit scholarships. Can any one advise from the above three options (in-state accelerated, out-of-state accelerated, IVY school) and tell us what are our realistic chances of getting a merit scholarship from one of the options?</p>
<p>Also, please advise from school perspective other than scholarship issues.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. I would love to hear any Florida parent who is in my similar position. Thanks much </p>
<p>Sincerely</p>
<p>Ray</p>
<p>All:</p>
<p>Is it possible for some of the accelerated med schools give credits to AP Classes so that they can reduce the financial and coursework onus? Thanks</p>
<p>First, welcome to CC. If you are interested in merit scholarships you can remove the Ivys from consideration - they are all need based (and with your income you won't get much there). For most schools $150K in income will knock you out of any need based aid. </p>
<p>As far as APs, credit is given on a school by school basis. You'll have to check each one (different scores in the test may give credit or not). I would definitely look in-state first because most large unis will try to keep talented students in state first.</p>
<p>Don't discount the top schools (HYP etc) even with an income of $150k you can still get terrific aid. For example I believe that Harvard caps the EFC at 10% of income up to $180K. Your D looks to me to have a shot at these schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>My wife is talking about quitting her job during my daughter's senior year. This will serve 2 purposes. One to be with her before she goes to college since she is our only child. Also, it will reduce the income bracket to 85K. Would this be a smart idea? Any takers? Thanks again for a great response.</p>
<p>Sincerely</p>
<p>Ray</p>
<p>With the economy now in a slump it is best to hold on to what ever jobs to have, while you still have them.</p>
<p>No it is not a smart idea as even making $85k you will still be over the low-middle income thresholds at the schools that you are mentioning. Also keep in mind even if your wife quits her job during senior year (2009), her 2009 income is still going to be used to assess how much FA, your daughter will receive when she begins college in sept 2010.</p>
<p>The ivies also look at more than just your income when assessing you for FA. They also look at your assets (money in the bank, investments, some schools count home equity). Personally, I do not think it would be a good idea to quit your job for the chance of getting increased FA, because sometimes (often) these things do not go as planned.</p>
<p>Does any one know of any websites where can I can obtain credible source for merit scholarships? Does fastweb work good? Thanks</p>
<p>I agree 100% on that. My company offer 53 scholarships based on PSAT scores and my wife offers 25 similar scholarships. If she is lucky to get them, they are valued at 3K each. </p>
<p>The irony of the matter is, me and my wife have combined education loan of $140K still. It really hurts us to see that our daugher will be in debt before we pay it off.</p>
<p>Check out the financial aid section of CC. Search for "merit" as well as the stickies at the top. Also Merit</a> Scholarships - Merit Awards - College and University Admissions - Merit Aid - Merit Aid - Search</p>
<p>Question for you....you are in Florida. Doesn't your child qualify for quite a scholarship in Florida (Bright Futures) ? If you are trying to save money, why not avail yourself of this and save money for medical school (which is typically not free)?</p>