I work with MDs. I have family members who are MDs. My nephew is in medical school. It mattered very very little where they attended. Their GPA and their core courses were all that mattered. They are ALL called “Dr.” with the exception of the one still in school lol.
I would use the undergrad time as a time to explore an interesting combination of classes…ESPECIALLY business and medical ethics classes. Any school that offers that plus an opportunity to get involved in a bit of research should fit the bill.
Also–NO DEBT. Did I say no debt? If you have a high stats kid, get the almost free undergrad degree or as close to as little as you need to pay and then help them through medical school as much as you can. The average resident makes what…$40,000 a year? It’s not much. What a fantastic gift to have some of medical school paid for by your parents.
My friend and her husband are still buried under medical school debt. The interest accrues and is brutal. My nephew went to school for free at local State U and will only have medical school loans. He was just published in a major cancer journal for his summer research and is doing fantastic.
@Mom22DDs I think you need to carefully research each LAC. My kids graduate from high school at advanced levels. For my physics loving ds a LAC would have been a horrible option bc it would have totally limited his ability to progress. He would have run out of courses to take.
My Dd has looked at a couple of LACs but it is a different scenario. She has had profs willing to work with her 1-on-1 and create foreign language courses just for her. For them it is exciting to work with a student who can read literature and communicate at her level. Language progression is very different than hard sciences with labs and lectures.
Fwiw, my older 2 sons are both science guys (our oldest is a chemE, youngest physics) and neither ever faced difficulty getting involved in research on their public university campuses. I would ask at the specific universities and see what their UG students face bc it varies from school to school.
Congratulations to all the amazing acceptances on here! I’ve been lurking for a while and living vicariously through all of your incredible kids!
Since my last post, D was accepted EA to Tulane with the Presidential scholarship and she applied for a few full tuition scholarships there. She was also accepted to our state flagship with a generous scholarship. Most excitingly, she was just accepted to her top choice school, Georgetown SFS. The letter finally came in the mail today after stressing me out all week! I was watching through the window while she checked the mail and got to see the shock on her face once she tore open the envelope and realized she was accepted. Definitely a great moment!
Unfortunately, Georgetown doesn’t give financial aid awards until March, so we have to keep chugging along with applications, but I’m just happy that we have affordable options if Georgetown doesn’t work out. I’m so glad to have this group for support through this crazy process, and I’m sure all our kids will land somewhere fantastic!
@Mom22DDs As with everything, it depends. Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, etc have impressive science research outcomes and graduate program matriculation record in science. I think there are significant portion of students in pre-med concentration in all LACs. However, if the student is advanced, wants to take graduate level classes, or seeks specific research area, few LACs will meet the need.
Congrats @BusyNapping, looks like your D has great options!!
Thank you @payn4ward - D is trying to learn more about LACs but has not identified any that might be a fit beyond the couple she already applied to.
DD14 is toying with the idea of medical school although I doubt she’ll end up there. She was almost positive that she would go down the athletic training route until she discovered that being an athlete herself she would not be able to complete the clinical hours the major required. She switched to Biology but at UConn PNB (Physiology Neuro Biology) is considered the premed track. The truth is, as long as you complete the pre-reqs for med school, it really doesn’t matter what your major in. I hope DD figures out what she’s doing soon - she’s a junior and “professional rower” is not a thing, LOL.
Congratulations @BusyNapping on all the options! <:-P <:-P
I had friends visiting so missed many acceptances.
That was a great distraction actually. The weather was great for driving around. They enjoyed snow and a big herd of elks at the Rocky Mountain National Park. We also drove around the town enjoying Christmas lights. Some neighbors had ridiculous amounts of lights and decorations.
Now they left and we got snowed and are freezing in near zero temperatures.
At least the school is out. DS17 managed to pull up two classes in 89% into 90s % but has a C in AP Physics C
Hoping better grades in mid spring term grades coming in mid February.
Congratulations to everyone with good news! <:-P <:-P
HUGs to the families recovering disappointing news! =(( =((
WRT Case Western - oh yeah, forgot about that, DD indeed applied there.
@curiositycat333 - thanks for the tip about Oregon State. DS19 might want choices like that. And UCSC might also be a great choice.
Also, I found it interesting that you thought that Rose Hulman was out of reach, while Cal Poly was possible for CS. For DD, I thought she had an excellent chance at Rose Hulman, and less-than-zero chance at Cal Poly for CS…
@kt1969 D got an email saying her admission status had changed and received a PIN to check her portal. Notification of scholarship was included with acceptance. She applied EA.
@carachel2 - I see the wisdom in your thoughts. I guess in our home, it is the parents trying to reconcile with prestige while DC is clear about fit and finance. For now, we have a reasonable compromise that D would go to my Alma mater if she is admitted there, as she does get merit aid (50% tuition) there based on her NMSF status. Though UA is totally fine with me, the rest are not (yet) and some of them have higher merit offers that D is considering. I guess it’all take me some time to accept that my kid might go to a non-prestige school.
@carachel2
Yes, I was surprised. I think families with verifiable special circumstances should not be deterred from applying to CSS profile schools based on npc. Apparently FA officers have more flexibility than one would expect.
I am not at all certain my D won’t change her mind, so a school with lots of options is a must.
Penn is the school on our list with a rare specialized combo major (Jerome Fisher - business/engineering program) , but D is ok with saving the business part for grad school.
Wesleyan is the only LAC I can think of that awards a significant number of doctoral degrees annually in STEM programs such as biology, chemistry, molecular biology-.biochemistry, physics and math/computer sci. They’re able to attract a lot of outside funding, including huge grants from the NSF and the NIH, and the demand for undergraduate researchers is high.
@mamaedefamilia Thanks for the Wooster info. Guess they are releasing decisions as they make them or something. I know they list 12/31 as their notification date so I shouldn’t be worried about it but am dying to know.
@circuitrider This is a recent re-post, but here is a list of schools that are significant feeders to STEM doctoral programs (does Wesleyan award PhD’s?..I’m honestly not familiar with it). Lots of LACs are high on the list. Reed, Lawrence, Oberlin, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and even Wesleyan.
@kt969 There were actually two people on CC who reported getting happy results from Wooster a while ago, maybe 10 days ago? Not sure how they are releasing results but hope you get yours soon!
@theshadow Cal Poly is a reach for CS for my son. We are in state. (I’m not sure if you are as well) It was the first school he toured and he really liked it. The app was easy and he decided to apply before he decided on a major, I didn’t see a reason for him not to try. Plus Cal Poly’s application process is a bit different. It’s GPA max’s out at 4.2, they count things like rigor & number of advanced classes all which my son max’s out. He has a high SAT score. It’s not likely but perhaps still possible.
UCSC might have been a good thing for you to look at but sadly applications are closed. All Cal-State and UC’s applications close Nov 30th. … But it’s worth looking for if you have another child, or your teen takes a gap year. UC’s (and most Cal States not Cal Poly) calculate their own GPA that doesn’t include freshman year and caps the number of +1 courses. (Except Berkley & UCLA) My son’s GPA was pulled down primary because of a bad second semester freshman year. This means he looks a lot more competitive at California State schools.
But honestly the real reason is my son wouldn’t look at any school east of the rockies and didn’t like any private LAC we toured. So I never really looked at schools like Rose Hulman from our school. One who’s stats aren’t that far off. His grandpa went to CASE back in the day and would have loved it if he had applied. (But it would have also been a reach.)
@curiositycat333 - just to be clear, DD17 is fine. She was accepted to Rose Hulman and is thrilled. If she happens to get into Harvey Mudd, WashU, RPI, or Case, maybe she’ll consider changing her mind. I’m only asking the question hypothetically, maybe I will care for DS19 (who also right now wants to stay local) or it might be helpful for others.
Also, my DD is in a similar situation with freshman grades pulling down her GPA. Unfortunately, Cal Poly, unlike all the other Cal state / UC schools, does include freshman grades in their GPA calculation. (We’re in-state as well.)
@cleoforshort - so wonderful to run into another crew-mom!! DD used to row competitively and was doing well when she got injured badly. if she had continued rowing, she would not have been able to pursue medicine like she’s doing now. She had seniors that were full-ride recruited rowers in top 20 universities that managed to stay pre-med but I think they choose non-science majors to keep their life sane.
@Mom22DDs University of Rochester could be interesting for your DD, especially if she is looking for a smaller LAC. Research is encouraged and a high percentage of the students participate in it. Many students continue to graduate programs including medical school.
@CT1417 Do you happen to know if there a thread for parents similar to '17, but for Cornell?
QOTD: DS has always be been drawn to science, technology, and math and engineering is his preferred path. For DS, it will be interesting to see what he does with this degree, perhaps engineering, or if his experiences spur another areas of interest, heard something about graduate school. So there is an element of wait and see here as well.
