Oregonian

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I’m currently a senior in Oregon, and I applied to a couple of schools. My parents are pretty well off, but they want me to pay for college myself as much as possible, they’re committed to giving me around 10K a year, which I think is pretty generous considering everything. Anyways, I grew up in Oregon, and attended a high school with only about 200 students -- my graduating class has 65 kids. As a result, we’re pretty bare bones! My parents are both engineers, so they always encouraged me to do well in school and go for mid to high paying jobs like they have. I’d like to attend Medical School one day, probably major in elementary education with a premed concentration (I enjoy teaching, if Med school doesn't work out, teaching would be a great fallback). BUT, my school literally only offers 2 AP courses, both of which I’ve taken. So, my GPA never had the possibility of being a 4.4444 or anything like that. But, I’ve still managed a 4.08 GPA (never gotten below an A). I was hoping I could get some chances for schools, also if I would match with any full ride programs you know of. In particular, I like the full ride program at U of Oregon, but am literally willing to go anywhere in the country to pursue a full ride.</p>

<p>Stats
GPA: 4.08
SAT: 2290 (760 reading, 750 math, 780 writing)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:
Varsity Basketball (all 4 years)
Track & Field
Link Crew (President)
Honor Society (President)
Peer Mediation
Quiz Bowl (Speaker)
Math Club
National Ocean Science Bowl
Electrathon
Grade 2 Sunday School Teacher, Islamic Center
400+ hours volunteered at local hospital
My parents enjoy taking our boat out and I like to row, but unfortunately no rowing associations at my school</p>

<p>Courses
Freshman Year
English 9
Social Studies
Algebra I
Spanish
Advanced Physical Science
P.E.
Personal Finance
Band</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
Job Shadow
English 10
US History
Algebra II
Biology
Spanish II
Band
Comparative Religions
Painting
Basketball</p>

<p>Junior Year
Job Shadow
English 11
AP Psychology
Advanced Geometry
Precalculus
Chemistry
Spanish III
Political Economics
Introduction to Forestry
Ceramics
Band</p>

<p>Senior Year
Senior Project
English 12
Calculus AB
Physics
Spanish IV
Anatomy
Pacific Northwest History
Advanced Art
Team Games
College Cuisine</p>

<p>Colleges I applied to
University of Oregon
Oregon State University
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Upenn
University of Virginia (Legacy, Mom & Dad)
UC Berkeley
Stanford (Scholarship chances? dream school)
Vanderbilt (also dream school)
St. Bonaventure University
Emory</p>

<p>Thanks for any all help, really appreciated.</p>

2

<p>bump!!</p>

3

<p>Especially since you are hoping to go to medical school I think you are very wise to be focusing on the financials of undergraduate school. Most private schools now cost more than $60000/year. If your parents will not contribute more than $10000 and you don’t qualify for any financial aid, you will end up with at least $200000 in loans, which would be insane–even if you didn’t want to go to medical school. Also, it’s my understanding that you yourself will not be able to take out all of those loans, so your parents would need to agree to take them out for you. </p>

<p>Bottom line: if your parents absolutely won’t contribute more than $10000 you should cross off your list any school that doesn’t offer merit aid. That is going to mean saying goodbye to Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Penn and probably some of the others–you’ll have to research. Next, look at the merit-aid winners of the schools you are targeting and assess whether you have a realistic chance. Your stats are great but the competition is incredibly fierce.I noted that you mentioned you teach Sunday school at an Islamic center. If this means you are Muslim I recommend you discuss that in your application because most schools are looking for diversity, so that could help you stand out as a candidate. </p>

<p>I’m sure other knowledgeable CCers will chime in with recommendations of schools offering excellent merit aid. The one that is most frequently mentioned is the University of Alabama. But it’s already mid-December so deadlines may have passed for many programs. All of the schools on your list are great so go to the one that costs you the least.
Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Deadline for Alabama applications to be eligible for the merit scholarships is tomorrow, Dec 15. Better hurry if you want to have that option. App is easy, can be done in less than 30 minutes.</p>