Please help me find Matches for D23

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Looking for Match schools for D23

US citizen/OH/Public HS/F/W
Biological science with a goal to attend vet school

Unweighted HS GPA: 4.12
Weighted HS GPA: 4.26
Class Rank: 24/195
ACT/SAT Scores: taking in April but anticipating 28-31?

Coursework
By the time of graduation: 6 AP classes, 5 years of Spanish, All honors Math, including Calculus, 9 Science credits, and an additional 2 Independent Study Science credits.

Extracurriculars
4 years of Key Club, Earth Club
2 years Vice President of HS Sports Booster Organization
2 years NHS/running for President for senior year
3 year APL volunteer
**Has volunteered for 5 years with our local Zoo teen program where she directly handles (small) animals and interacts with the public. Recently was the leader of a conservation project that will be implemented by the Zoo.

Essays/LORs/Other
Essays are in progress. LORs will be strong (have seen 2 from teachers for a summer program she applied for).

Cost Constraints / Budget
-With a goal to attend vet school, would like to keep cost down for undergrad. The hope is to attend OSU vet school, so she does not want to go there for undergrad.

-Wants to go OOS.
-Would like at least 5,000 undergrad students but not enormous.
-A nature lover who would like to be near a city (but not in) but also near hiking, etc.
-Looking for a supportive environment where she can thrive, receive a top notch education and still enjoy social activities. She is a very driven, hard worker and we’d like to see her somewhere that wants her to be there.
-Would prefer no Greek life (or very limited participation).

Schools

  • Safety
  • Likely
  • Match
  • Reach - BC - Visited and she loves it; her grandfather is a BC grad. Concerned about costs. Can anyone suggest a similar environment?
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Your D sounds great! What is the UW GPA on a 4.0 scale? What subjects are her AP classes in? Is she taking AP Calculus?

Does Ohio have reciprocal tuition agreements with other states?

Edit: what is the budget?

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Agree that we need your budget. Keeping costs down becomes challenging when trying to balance out of state options. D20’s BFF is at Michigan State studying animal science, also with an eye on vet school. Talks with her revolved around identifying what types of animals she wanted to work with in the future since not all programs were created equal.

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AP classes are: US History, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Spanish. Also independently taking the Environmental Science AP test because it’s not offered at her school.

Budget: We’ve explained to her that we can pay x amount of dollars toward education. If she spends less for undergrad, any remaining can go to vet/grad school. Would like to be less than $35k per year.

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What is her unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale?

My D22 looked at applying to BC for many of the reasons you mentioned but she also wanted sports/school spirit. She also was very drawn to Jesuit values of service. (Decided not to apply) Take a look at Catholic universities since they tend to be bigger and in urban areas. The issue there will be money. Pick out a few that sound interesting and run their NPC. Some will give you an idea what merit would be given with certain GPA/test scores. University of San Diego does this (but they have Greek system).

Another strategy is to make a “likely” school into a top contender through Honors Colleges and big scholarships. For instance, my D22 is a finalist for the full-tuition Stamps scholarship at University of Oregon. The scholarship is prestigious and has many benefits, but takes a lot of effort and is very competitive. We limited her number of applications to allow her time to pursue these types of options.

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Unweighted GPA is 4.12 according to her transcript.

Thanks for the ideas regarding the Honors Colleges/scholarships. We will explore those possibilities.

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She seems a very strong candidate for any school. It’s the budget that may be the issue (does 35k include room and board?) so I wonder if anyone has thoughts on best opportunities for merit scholarships. Also wonder if she can get any credit for her AP courses and if she could save a year to defray expenses.

I think I would focus on places where she can get continued animal experience. Land grant universities with agricultural programs might be good. I too would like a place without an over abundance of Greek life but that seems harder to find-especially in a more rural campus.

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4.0 is straight A’s so I don’t know why hers is higher. To get enough merit from OOS have her aim for a 33+ AP score or the SAT equivalent.

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@cliffordstower - Take a look at Fairfield and Fordham as a Match, and St Joe’s (Philly) & Scranton as a safety. All East Coast Jesuit schools with a similar experience. Good shot at Merit at each one.

Villanova while not Jesuit is very similar to BC (lots of school Spirit). Great Campus, close to city… but costs will be similar.

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Must be related to the weight of the classes? She has some heavy hitters.

FYI BC is great but very expensive, about 75k with room and board and I do not know what opportunities are available for continued animal experience, my guess is not many given its location.

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If your D likes BC she may want to look at some less selective Jesuit colleges where she may receive merit aid - many are the size she is looking for. Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities--Jesuit Colleges and Universities

Also what about Miami Ohio as an in-state option?

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Right, but unweighted is just that, no added point for rigor, since different high schools have their own weighting system that differ greatly, so 4.0 is considered the highest unweighted.

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It might not check off all the boxes but the University of New Hampshire may be a school to consider. Based on GPA your daughter could qualify for both good merit and the Honors program. Through their College of Life Science and Agriculture, they have well-regarded programs in Animal Science and Biomedical Science with a Vet specific track. Great for the outdoors, cold and not really near or in a big city though.

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All of the best veterinary schools I am aware of are at land-grant colleges and universities. I expect they have strong undergraduate pre-vet options, too.

So you might start with the land grant list, pick the ones in desired locations and run the net price calculators on their websites to see which meet your budget:

Then you can research the ones that are matches for Greek life, etc.

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She should get some nice merit at UVM. Great college town.

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Might have her consider (and note they do look at demonstrated interest) William and Mary. As a public institution the price tag even for OOS is fair and it’s a small institution for a public college. Not an easy school to get into but her stats are great.

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Agree that UNH is a decent choice, but FYI there are about 19 fraternities/sororities and about 17% of the campus is involved with Greek life.

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Below are colleges with majors in Animal Sciences, Zoology, or Veterinary Sciences that are residential campuses. As far as admissions, I think that your daughter is likely to get into all of them except for Cornell, which is unlikely for all applicants. How I sorted them, therefore, was more based on sticker prices and my (fallible) sense of how likely the merit aid would be to get into your desired price range. If you dig into the scholarships section of the various universities, it is very possible that an institution I classified as “possible” has an automatic scholarship that would make it fit in the extremely likely category; I just don’t know one way or the other if it does.

Extremely likely (90+ % chance for admittance & affordability)

• SUNY Oswego (6900 students; in close proximity to marshes, lake, and multiple wildlife management areas); $34k sticker
• University of Wyoming (9k students; in close proximity to state parks and wildlife refuges); $30k sticker
• University of Wisconsin – River Falls (5400 students; in close proximity to a couple of state parks, a wildlife waterfowl area, a wildlife fishery area, and mountain biking trails); $21k sticker
• Montana State (14k students; in close proximity to multiple mountain trails and other hiking options); $35k sticker
• South Dakota State University (9k students; near some lakes); $20k sticker
• University of Idaho (6800 students ; 45m to a national forest and an arboretum/botanical garden is in town ); $34k sticker
• University of Wisconsin – Platteville (6800 students; within close proximity of 2 state parks); $15k sticker

Likely (60-85% chance of admittance & affordability)

• Penn State Erie, The Behrend College (3500 students; Allegheny National Forest & State Parks would be easy day trip); $38k sticker
• University of Maine (9k students; in very close proximity to a wildlife refuge, a conservation area, and multiple recreational trails); $42k sticker, but I believe that Maine has an offer for meritorious students to pay their flagship tuition’s rate. If OH is in the qualifying region, then this would move it up to Extremely Likely.

Possible (25-55% chance of admittance & affordability)

• University of New Hampshire (less than 12k students and appears to have woods abutting the campus, and other forests in very close proximity); $46k sticker
• University of Vermont (about 11k students, with forests, state parks, and wildlife management areas nearby); $54k sticker
• University of Rhode Island (14k students; in close proximity to swamps, skiing, beaches, and wildlife management areas); $45k sticker

Unlikely (less than 25% chance of admittance & affordability)

• Cornell (run their NFC to see if you would qualify for any financial aid…sometimes there can be pleasant surprises)

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Thanks. I did realize that UNH has a fair size Greek presence. That is one of the reasons why I qualified the recommendation by saying it didn’t check off all the boxes.

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Have you considered Texas A&M University? It has an amazing ag college (and vet school) and is a land grant university. It is in a smaller college town, great traditions and student orgs (over 1000!). It has a huge student population (I think the largest in the nation), but it does NOT feel that way. Greek life is available but most students are NOT Greek. Not sure about costs/scholarships but I do know Texas A&M does give out a lot of departmental scholarships.

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