I’m a rising senior and I plan on majoring in biology in college (not sure if I want to major in anything more specific, but that’s a possibility). My GPA is a 3.75 and my ACT is a 32, which I will probably retake this summer since I didn’t study for it the first time. The colleges that are already on my list are:
Pennsylvania State
University of Michgan
Miami University
Johns Hopkins University
Cornell
Cornell is on there largely because my mom wants me to apply to an ivy league college (kinda just to see what happens) and it’s the only one I think I would be happy at. Are there any more colleges anyone would recommend me looking at? Things that are important to me include:
Good Bio Program (Obviously)
Good Band Program (Preferably with a fairly large marching band)
Suburban/Small City
Tuition isn’t a super huge problem, but that some of the colleges are $50,000 plus makes me a little hivey.
I also live in the Great Lakes area and would prefer to stay somewhat close - at the least in a more northern region since I hate hot weather.
Michigan and Cornell are going to be reaches for you, especially if you aren’t in state (and even if you are). JHU as well. Also, JHU is not laid back. What state are you in? Have you run net price calculators on these schools with your parents?
What do you plan to do with your bio degree? A bio undergrad degree alone isn’t very marketable. It can be really competitive with a lot of pre-med students gunning for good grades, too. If you are thinking med school, it is expensive — you should consider cheaper undergrad alternatives to save money for it.
Consider your state flagship — most Midwest state flagships have a good marching band and perfectly respectable bio programs. If you are in Michigan, look at Michigan State.
I plan on getting a master’s degree in bio (or something more specific, depending on where I go). I mainly interested in molecular/genetics and maybe zoology. Don’t plan on going to med school, as for a career I’m mainly thinking research, which would most likely be pharmaceutical/agricultural/something along those lines. The interest in zoology is because I love animals and have always wanted to work at a zoo lol but it’s unlikely I’ll pursue it. My state flagship is Ohio State, and I’m not interested (their marching band, while amazing, has a history of issues with sexual assault, and it’s in too large of a city to make up for that)
You can only borrow $5,500 freshman year. Any loans beyond that require an adult co-signer. A bio student, even with a masters, isn’t going to be well positioned to pay back large loans. OSU’s band issues have gotten a lot of publicity — my guess is that they are watching carefully, and you wouldn’t have problems.
“My parents are paying for everything but tuition,”
Tuition can be a huge expense. If you are going to major in anything that is likely to require graduate school (or medical or law or veterinary or any other school after a bachelor’s degree) then you need to try to avoid debt for undergrad.
To me your list looks like some high reaches, and some schools that are not any better than OSU, but are likely to cost more.
My parents will co-sign for loans, I have the responsibility of paying them back. Again, I only wanted some college suggestions. I’m well aware that JHU and Cornell are reaches (I’m not even really considering Cornell as an option), and I’m asking on here because I’m looking for some matches. I’m also not here to be persuaded out of majoring in bio lol. The $50,000 tuition colleges are a possibility with my savings, even before any possible merit aid, so I’m not freaking out over tons of undergrad debt, but I would like to minimize it.
Just because your parents will cosign for loans, doesn’t make them a good idea. I am not particularly worried about them being a huge problem during your first year of university. Loans are much more likely to be a problem for you ten years down the road.
You should at least run the NPC on any schools that you are considering.
Out of state at Wisconsin is a match with a 32, could go either way, a likely deferral and then possible acceptance in March. A few more points on the ACT score would obviously help.
Small city, great academics, great band, great spirit, laid back campus feel, though plenty of hard working, motivated kids. Tuition is around $36k, not many merit opportunities for out of state students though.
As a safety you could consider Ohio University. It has a good biology program and a terrific band. It definitely will have a more laid back atmosphere than MIami. You could also consider their Honors Tutorial College which if you were accepted would give you a lot of flexibility in your biology program. It is very selective. You would also likely get merit aid.
Your masters won’t be funded (they rarely are). So you will have to pay for that, too. We are trying to tell you that your plans are not well thought out. If you stay on your current plan, you will end up with a large amount of debt and a major with low employment chances. There is a huge glut of bio majors in this country. It would be irresponsible to keep naming OOS or private colleges with high tuition.
I presume you are not eligible for need based aid based on your first post, but you should probably confirm that.
What about University of Alabama or Arizona State? Don’t meet your location criteria, but might have merit scholarships that bring your cost down. Iowa State is one you might look into as well.
So if not bio (even with a graduate degree) is a bad idea, what is a good idea? I don’t want to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer. If I love biology, what should I major in that IS employable?
You mentioned that you want to do research. You could work at a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company with a degree in biology. However, for most research, it would be better for you to learn molecular biology, rather than zoology.
If you go this route, with a bachelor’s degree, your most likely job would be a lab technician. If you don’t want to do research, then a bachelor’s degree in biology could still help with other jobs in industry, such as business development or sales.
If I decided to focus in zoology, I wouldn’t as plan on doing research, if that makes sense? I would probably want to go into conservation or something else that is more related to zoology. I don’t plan on only getting a bachelor’s degree in biology, I want to at least get a master’s because I know a bachelor’s in bio (and most sciences) is pretty useless.
CU-Boulder is a great band school - Boulder hits your suburban/small city benchmark - and you’d probably (edit: maybe - maybe not, seeing that the 3.75 is weighted) get the standard OOS merit package that would bring the overall cost down to mid-40’s. (Still, your in-state options may offer just as much for a lot less money, depending on which state.)