I have a weighted GPA of 4.3 and am interested in premed. I’m interested in UF Gainesville, Boston university, UNC Chapel Hill, and Clemson. I already know that I am not entitled to any financial aid so I’m depending on scholarships. I’m OOS for all schools listed. Also, I should be receiving an AP Capstone diploma (idk if that will be any benefit). I’m only in my junior year so I have not taken any SATs or ACTs but scored a 1300 on the PSAT without any preparation or knowledge of the math. I’m in several clubs and a small business owner. Will scholarships be attainable for me?? Help!
You have no financial aid-- why are you looking OOS?
What state are you in? What can you afford?
How big of a scholarship do you need? What will your family pay? What state are you from? Are you open to schools other than those you’ve listed, such as Alabama (among others), which has guaranteed scholarships for stats?
I’m in NY. My parents are hoping for scholarships but if I got into a dream school like BU they’d make it work.
Have you looked at SUNY, specifically Stony Brook and Binghamton?
I’m open to other schools. Just want strong premed program.
I know that schools like UF give OOS students instate tutition. That would be ideal but not sure how common that is.
You have to know how much your parents will pay. You might be able to make OOS schools work if you can qualify for full tuition grants from colleges and your parents can cover $12-15k for room and board. The SUNYs are a great option too.
“and am interested in premed.”
For medical school, you need a high college/university GPA, good MCAT scores, and it would be highly desirable to avoid debt and leave some college money still in the bank. You need to budget for 8 years of university where the last 4 years are the most important.
With this in mind, I strongly agree with @bjkmom: Look at your very good in-state public schools. You will find very good premed programs, and your high school GPA suggests that you should be able to pull off a strong university GPA there and have a good chance at a top medical school. I don’t know the SUNY system well enough to suggest which one would be best. If you can find very good private or OOS options that cost the same as your public in-state choices then fine, but I don’t see any point in spending more money to go to BU or elsewhere outside of your in-state public options until you go to medical school.
Just want to know how common are OOS grants.
Public universities are not usually generous with scholarship money for OOS students.
You can complete the requirements for med school at any SUNY for a nominal price compared the schools you listed.
@WayOutWestMom could you explain to this student about “pre med” majors…and what it takes to get accepted to medical school?
I know that pre med is technically not a major but there are schools that have programs to get you on track for med school.
Financial aid at state schools is generally limited to lower income and almost always in-state residents. Many privates do not meet full need and even then full need as defined by school may not be what parents think they can afford. You need a budget by your parents and need to run Net Price Calculators. Have you done that for Boston University?
If you want to go to Med School, you need to think long haul. Every dime your parents pay for undergrad is a dime they don’t have to pay for grad school. Parent speaking here. My daughter took a great opportunity at a private that we can afford but pushes us over a near full ride at a state school. No regrets but grad school is on her with this route. We had an adult conversation about it so everyone is in agreement.
You must have that conversation with your parents and you need an SAT/ACT before anyone can give you advice on scholarships. You need a 32 minimum to get full tuition at most state schools. Not sure on SAT equivelent.
You need a 32 minimum to get full tuition at most state schools<<<<<<<<<<
I don't think most state schools give full tuition at this kind of number at all. There are very few schools that guarantee automatic free tuition, and certainly NOT to OOS.
Med school admissions place very little emphasis on the name of the school you attend for undergraduate. Lots of emphasis is placed on your GPA/sGPA, MCAT, ECs and LORs.
None of the schools you list are going to give any sort of boost for med school admissions. At least one of them is know for its brutal culling of pre-meds.
Why are you picking OOS public schools that will offer little aid to OOS students and private colleges that do not guarantee to meet need? That just doesn’t make sense. You want to minimize your undergrad debt as much as possible. Med school is expensive and there is precious little FA except for loans, loans and more loans (all unsubsidized, btw).
You need to pick a school where you can go for as little debt as possible if med school is in your future. 12+ years is a very long time to drag around education debt before you’re able to start paying if off. (Interest can easily triple your debt by the time you’re making a doctor’s salary.)
I can totally understand the desire to get away from your home state and see new places, but if you want a waiver for OOS tuition costs, you’re going to have look lower in the rankings–Alabama, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma.
SUNY schools cost $20-22k, and the cost is less than half that if you can commute. How much can your parents pay per year without having to borrow?
Boston schools do not give great aid. People in Boston would love to go to NYU and people in NY want Boston. That greener grass.
Boston University costs almost $70,000 a year. If your parents can “make that work” then why wouldn’t you let them make one of the SUNY colleges work for less than half the price? On one hand, you sound like you would like to save money…and on the other…it sounds like you would spend spend spend.
Look…BU is a great school. One of my kids is a BU grad. He got a music performance scholarship based on his music audition. That helped.
I would suggest you run the net price calculator for Boston University. I believe it does ask for stats so merit aid is included in the net cost estimate.
However, if your parents are self employed, or own real estate other than your primary residence…the net price calculator won’t be accurate. Oh…and if they are divorced it won’t be accurate either.
At this point…any advice you get will be guessing because you do NOT have a SAT or ACT score. How about if you come back here with your question once you have those standardized test scores in hand.
One more thing…you will be starting college in fall 2019, right? The net price calculators are about to be reset for students starting in 2018…so really…this is an estimate big time. And you will need to use tax return info from 2017 to get accurate info…and those taxes are not yet completed!
@futuredoctor123 Are you aware that UNC-CH is limited to taking no more than 18% of OOO freshman students? The odds of getting a merit scholarship, as an OOO student, won’t be in your favor.
BU is a private school so it doesn’t matter to if a student is IS or OOS. They do list the merit scholarships they have available on their website.
You said you are a junior and that you scored 1300 on the PSAT. Was that your score as a sophomore? If you are taking it as a junior this coming October and do really well, you can be in contention for a national merit scholarship which can be a very generous merit scholarship for you at some schools.
Good luck on your search!