Ahhh I got into Grinnell College with a full ride too! I think this is it for today but wow I am absolutely flabbergasted by today.
@HKimPOSSIBLE. Awesome. So this scholarship is related just to W&L correct?
Keep something in mind when making your decisions. It’s nice to be wanted!!! If some schools are giving you the funds, full ride etc then they want you badly. This can translate to an awesome 4 years. Feeling the love is OK especially if you feel they will back up your interests and future plans.
@Knowsstuff Yep! It is a W&L Scholarship.
I definitely understand what you’re talking about. Especially at the Johnson weekend at W&L, it felt like everyone there wanted you to be there - the students and for sure the staff.
Fabulous day for you. Congrats!
I’m so, so happy for you! I needed this huge wave of good news today. Big decisions for you to make!
What a difference a year makes . . . congrats OP!
Congrats!!! You have wonderful options. And with 25 more schools to hear from, you have a very tough decision to make.
I feel like just now you have so many awesome and amazing options on the table that even without hearing from any more schools you are set!!! Congrats HKim!!! I hope you continue to update us all with your journey (and humor). ;0)
Congratulations!!!
Well now you have one more choice: a rural and liberal college, v. A rural and conservative college. You can pretty much decide what the best “fit” for you is and there’s a full ride option available. 
This has become a very happy thread. Admissions train going full speed! Thank you for the little bit of sunlight and keep us posted!
Awesome news! Honestly glad the long UChicago saga is over - they had their chance, and you have amazing schools that want you!! You’ve been really liking Bowdoin, as I recall, so that’s a wonderful option to have. As MYOS said, you now have a nice range of top LAC’s to choose from, with different attributes among them.
What really strikes me is that you still have the question of engineering dangling out there. You’re admitted to engineering at UIUC, yes? This wouldn’t maximize your med school chances as it would make it harder to maintain a super-high GPA… but it would make you highly employable after undergrad so that you wouldn’t have to go straight into med school and the associated debt. You seem like you feel pretty sure about medicine as a path but then again you’re just starting to absorb the reality of the debt-load involved.
If you can make the $ work at UIC, could you also choose an engineering major there? That could be a smart choice, as you wouldn’t have the same GPA-pressure in the GPPA program. Does the guaranteed admission plan require you to go straight through? Or could you defer med school and get a couple years of work experience under your belt after finishing an undergrad engineering degree, and still use the guaranteed-admit?
On the other end of the spectrum, you have a growing number of LAC options, and you seem to find the idea of a small LAC experience appealing. All of the schools you’re considering would give you strong preparation for med school and a great “renaissance person” education, but not the engineering option.
Since everybody is going to be feeling sports-deprived this spring, maybe you can do what a family I know did a few years ago, and set up a “Sweet 16” (or however many there ultimately are) bracket structure for all of the schools you get into. Plan a “playoff” schedule and evaluate your schools head-to-head, eliminating one from each match-up, until you reach a final winner.
(I suppose a betting pool would be against the TOS :neutral: … but I really kind of want to run one - winners split half the proceeds, and the other half goes to furnish your dorm room 
)
I don’t know how to tag Aquapt, but I like the idea of a betting pool mixed with half going to a HKim’s dorm room furnishing and half going to the next “HKim student” you all see on here that has the same unexpected stumbling blocks. It would be great if as a community we could help amazing students like HKim to get college advisor help, help pay for fly-ins/ visits, etc.
Wow, well done H Kim! Full ride to Bowdoin, MAC, Grinnell…you should be the most envied person in the country, haha. Personally, I’d choose…ugh, I can’t. Okay, if you want urban, Mac. If your don’t mind non-urban, Bowdoin. No bad choices.
@JBStillFlying is not a year of difference, is a green card of difference. ?
Congrats Kim, you did an amazing work.
I want to know the other 25 schools. You could stop today and have a fantastic list to pick from.
@“International Dad” for sure that was the diff. Had OP a green card last year this thread would have looked a lot different back then.
Ahh thank you, everyone, for your kindness!
The remainder of the 25 schools are very high reaches! I don’t have a list on hand but a good amount of both universities and LACs - luckily I got into Bowdoin and W&L which were the higher LAC on my list.
I reaallly want to visit Macalester but I think I will actually call their office on Monday to see if they will still fly us into Minnesota.
Errrr. I thought he was joking about 25 more ?. Can’t imagine better choices.
OP - good idea re: calling Mac. Per their website they are still holding some admit visits but cutting out the overnights and class visits. https://www.macalester.edu/about/visit/
U of MN and several other colleges in the area have switched to remote learning. Things are changing daily. So the Admission Office at Mac will be able to give you good advice regarding a visit.
Good luck!
I wouldn’t fly anywhere right now. It is possible that domestic travel restrictions are coming. See if a virtual tour is available. Better safe than sorry.