Please help me create a college shortlist

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Good Morning!</p>

<p>As the title suggests, I would really like some suggestions from people for schools I should add to my list. Here is the criteria I have been using to find schools so far, and I'd appreciate it if these criteria were met in your suggestions:</p>

<p>I am looking for a school that :
1) has a strong pre-medical advising department
2) offers majors in neuroscience/neurobiology (or human biology/physiology)
3) is located preferably on the East Coast of the U.S.
4) is a public school (could be private as long as it offers merit aid- stats below)
5) is located in a city/urban setting where I can get easy access to hospitals for volunteering/job shadowing, research experience, EMS, etc.</p>

<p>So far, my list of schools includes:</p>

<p>Boston University
Brandeis
Drexel
Emory
GWU
UMD: College Park
Northeastern U
U of Pittsburgh
U of Rochester
SUNY Stony Brook</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>Male in a very competitive public school in MA.</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA- 3.75/4.00 UW and 4.06/5.00 W
-7 honors courses and 4 AP courses over the high school career
-APs (Chem 5- 11th grade, Calc, Bio, and Euro to be taken 12th)</p>

<p>SAT Reasoning- Math 740. Critical Reading 750. Writing 760 (12 Essay)- Composite in single sitting= 2250.
SAT Subject Exams- Biology (720) Chemistry (760) Math 2 (780)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Over 500+ Hours of hospital volunteering (I started at the end of 8th grade)
Job shadowing done in summer of 10th grade- Shadowed cardiologist and surgeon for approx. 50 hours.
Student Representative on the district school committee (10th, 11th, and 12th grade)
School Ambassador 11th Grade, and leader of the program 12th grade
School newspaper writer 11th Grade, and section editor and copy editor 12th grade
National Honor Society member- Inducted 11th grade and continued 12th grade
Mock Trial Group- 11th and 12th grade
Harvard Model Congress- 11th grade (no other grade is allowed from our school)
Spend the summer between 11th and 12th grade taking 2 college courses- Did really well in both</p>

<p>Awards:
National Competition POETRY OUT LOUD 2ND RUNNER UP-11th Grade
President's Award Winner- 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade- Over 600+ hours spent in volunteering
George Washington University award for Civic Engagement, Service, and Independent and Creative thought</p>

<p>Passions and Interests:
1) Politics, debating, and current events
2) Healthcare, service, and medicine.</p>

<p>Recommendations: will be great- the teachers know me very well and were enthusiastic about writing me recommendations.</p>

<p>I'd appreciate any help!</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>How much will your family be able to afford?</p>

3

<p>Hi Erin’s Dad,</p>

<p>Thank you for responding. My parents are not putting a limit, but I would prefer something no more than 40k a year.</p>

4

<p>Even though they are private, I would highly recommend checking out St. Olaf and Rhodes. Both have strong pre-med programs and offer great financial aid, both merit and need-based. Both are fits for your stats. Rhodes is closely tied to St. Jude’s Children’s research hospital and St. Olaf has strong ties with Mayo Clinic.</p>

5

<p>I would recommend you send out an application to UPenn, it seems to fit your description apart from being a public school but almost half of your list is private any. Penn is obviously a reach but worth a shot if you do not mind paying for an additional application.</p>

6

<p>Sit your parents down and get a number from them. They will whine and fuss and say that you shouldn’t be thinking about this just yet, but be strong, and get them to commit to a specific maximum figure that they will contribute each year for four years. Then, ask them if they will be able to pay that for a fifth year if you change majors and/or schools and/or something else happens. Talk with them about student loans for you (you can borrow $5,500 freshman year, $6,500 sophomore year, $7,500 junior year, and $7,500 senior year through the federal/stafford loan program). Find out how much money your parents expect you to make each summer/school year to put toward your expenses. Add these sources up to find your total baseline figure. You need at least one place that costs no more than that, where you are dead certain of admission, and that you would be happy to attend. Everything else on your list is gravy.</p>

7

<p>cbug,
Thank you for those recommendations- I can’t look at St. Olaf because it is so far away, but I am definitely interested in Rhodes, and I have requested information from them. I appreciate the help! Do you know any more schools like Rhodes?</p>

<p>invader71,
Yeah, I agree- UPenn is definitely a reach, and I think that is fine and I will consider applying after investigating their program a bit more…but I am also looking for safety/match schools that follow the criteria above…do you have any recommendations?</p>

<p>happymomof1,
Thank you SO much for that piece of advice- Truth is, I have been doing exactly that for a while now. I will keep asking them to give a specific maximum figure, but until I get that, I will be looking for schools that have high merit aid prospects for me.</p>

<p>Thank you all so much!
And to anyone else who might have advice/school recommendations, please feel free to pitch in!</p>

8

<p>What’s your instate flagship? If there’s an honors college there, you might qualify. Also check your state colleges.</p>

9

<p>Guitarher0o7,</p>

<p>It really is good that you are paying attention to this. When you do get your parents sat down in front of a computer screen to run the Net Price Calculators (NPC) at the various college/university websites, I recommend that you be prepared with their preferred adult beverages and a big box of Puffs Plus (truly the softest ones on the market). Even parents who believe themselves to be ready often find their numbers to be utterly shocking.</p>

10

<p>Wordworker, my state flagship is UMass-Amherst. I’ve been looking into it and the three other UMass schools (Lowell, Dartmouth, and Boston), but it seems to me that UMass-Amherst provides the best science programs. </p>

<p>However, the problem is that it is so rural and far from Boston that I feel I will not be able to take full advantage of all of the internships that Boston has to offer (on my tour, I found out that to get to Boston requires $40-ish dollars on a Peter Pan bus!). I’ve been going back and forth over whether or not to add UMass-Amherst, so I contact their pre-medical office, and I sense that there just are not many opportunities at that school.</p>

<p>Happymomof1,
Thank you for all of your help! Do you have any specific colleges you can recommend in the meantime?</p>