Safety Schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a rising senior finalizing my college list.
So far, it's:</p>

<p>Brown
Columbia
Dartmouth
UPenn
Princeton
Johns Hopkins
Georgetown
William & Mary
Duke
UNC-CH
Vanderbilt</p>

<p>I have:
5.1 weighted/3.9 unweighted GPA
2270 SAT
9 AP's, avg score 4
Debate team president/PF captain
Founder and coach of middle school debate team
Founder and president of League of Young Activists
Varsity track
Girl scout for 12 years with bronze, silver, gold awards
City youth board
HOBY Leadership ambassador and staff
NHS
Tons of school volunteer hours
Liason to school board of trustees
Multiple state and national science awards
Acceptance to NC Governor's School for science
Possible internship at a state research center</p>

<p>I need an appropriate safety school with a neuroscience major and pre-med program, that preferably has good merit scholarship opportunities, since I don't qualify for financial aid but would prefer to graduate med school with minimal debt.
Schools within 5 or so hours of Raleigh, NC would be best but I'm open to any.
Thanks for your suggestions!</p>

<p>Megan</p>

2

<p>Sounds like U Alabama to me.</p>

3

<p>Tulane might be an option – you can apply early and hear back by Dec. with no commitment to go which is nice.</p>

4

<p>If you don’t expect to qualify for financial aid, is your family prepared to pay $50,000-$60,000 per year for the schools on your list?</p>

<p>There are schools that will give you substantial guaranteed merit aid for your stats, and many others where you would have a good chance at competitive merit aid awards.</p>

5

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Or look among your in-state publics.</p>

6

<p>Would you consider the midwestern LACs? Macalester, Grinnell and Oberlin all offer merit-based aid and have strong sciences and solid pre-med prep. Grinnell offers a neuroscience concentration. Oberlin has a neuroscience major. Not sure about Macalester.
Other three, Grinnell has an open curriculum, like Brown. Macalester is urban, like several of the other schools on your list. </p>

<p>If you haven’t already, you might want to do a search here for the other pre-med threads. Lots of good insights and advice. Among them is that medical schools care very little about prestige, and a lot about GPA and MCAT scores. Think hard before choosing a school where you could potentially face serious ‘weeder classes.’</p>

7

<p>UAB and Howard have nice merit scholarships</p>

8

<p>How much merit aid do you need? How much is your family able and willing to pay? Most of the schools on your list offer little or no merit aid. Vanderbilt may be the only one where you’d have a realistic shot at more than a few thousand dollars per year. ([Common</a> Data Set H](<a href=“http://virg.vanderbilt.edu/virgweb/CDSH.aspx?year=2011]Common”>http://virg.vanderbilt.edu/virgweb/CDSH.aspx?year=2011) , see section H2A)</p>

<p>At the midwestern LACs, like the ones M’s Mom mentions, the average merit awards typically are around $10K-$15K. That would leave net costs of around $35K-$45K/year. Can you afford that much? Med school is even more expensive than college (with little or no financial aid available).</p>

<p>If you’re open to LACs, check out Centre College (Danville, KY). It is a rather highly regarded LAC, but is less expensive (and less selective) than Oberlin, Macalester, or Grinnell. It also is closer to your home in NC. Total COA ~= $44K. An average merit award could bring your net cost to < $30K (and you might be competitive for an above-average award).
[Behavioral</a> Neuroscience](<a href=“http://www.centre.edu/majors/behavioral_neuroscience.html]Behavioral”>http://www.centre.edu/majors/behavioral_neuroscience.html)
[Centre</a> College - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/colleges/centre-college/]Centre”>http://www.forbes.com/colleges/centre-college/)
[Centre</a> News: Centre prepares pre-med students to excel in medical careers](<a href=“http://www.centre.edu/news/2010/premed.html]Centre”>http://www.centre.edu/news/2010/premed.html)</p>

<p>Another small school to consider is New College of Florida.
([New</a> College of Florida - Neurobiology Major - New College of Florida](<a href=“http://www.ncf.edu/neurobiology]New”>http://www.ncf.edu/neurobiology)). Total COA for OOS students ~= $39K.</p>

<p>You do not need to attend an Ivy League college for a good shot at med school admissions. GPA and MCAT scores seem to be by far the most important factors, regardless of where you go to college.</p>

9

<p>to add to the alabama suggestion…look at UAB in birmingham…has a neuroscience program… also if nmf full ride (at 15 credits per year, housing, fees and stipend) Tier 1 research university…7 hospitals surrounding the campus… Incredible sci/tech honors program with emphasis on research from freshman year (as early as first semester) Home of top medical school. Good premed advising.
[University</a> of Alabama at Birmingham - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Alabama_at_Birmingham]University”>University of Alabama at Birmingham - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>[Neuroscience</a> Undergraduate Program](<a href=“CAS - Undergraduate Neuroscience Program | UAB”>http://www.unp.uab.edu/)</p>

<p>[UAB</a> - Welcome](<a href=“Error 404 | Not Found”>http://www.uab.edu/sthonors/)</p>

<p><a href=“Error 404 | Not Found”>Error 404 | Not Found;

<p>if not nmf… your stats would give you blazer elite which is 15K merit per year against total cost of 22-25K (that is based on 12 credits) so have to factor in additional credit hours at rate of 600 per credit hour. so would still be about 10+K per year out of pocket</p>

10

<p>(don’t know why those odd asterisks are showing up…ignore them)</p>

<p>that preferably has good merit scholarship opportunities, since I don’t qualify for financial aid but would prefer to graduate med school with minimal debt.</p>

<p>What are your parents telling you? **</p>

<p>Will they pay $50k-60k for the schools on your current list? * if not, then I would pick a couple just to see, and apply to more schools that will give you large merit scholarships.</p>

<p>As Erin’s Dad mentioned, U Alabama would give you a big scholarship. <em>For your stats you would get free tuition (up to 20 credits per semester!)</em></p>

<p>Bama has a brand new mega-sized Science & Engineering Complex…beautiful, state of the art, amazing. * many research opps.</p>

<p>Bama also has very good Pre-med advising and does write Committee Letters for med school admission (not many publics do this). *
[The</a> University of Alabama Health Professions Advising Website](<a href=“http://premed.ua.edu/]The”>http://premed.ua.edu/)</p>

<p>The campus is GORGEOUS, the academics are strong, and the people are friendly. * This fall’s frosh class is 60% OOS, last fall’s class was 50% OOS, so the school draws students from all over the country. *</p>

<p>You would also qualify for Bama’s amazing Honors College. *The course selection is vast, and the class sizes are limited to 15 students each.</p>

<p>Here’s a video of the College of Arts and Sciences. *It gives you an view of the school, and does show the first phase of the new science complex (Shelby Hall). *There are 4 phases of the new Complex…3 phases are complete…the 4th phase completes in about 10 months. *</p>

<p>[The</a> University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences “This is How College is Meant to Be” - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>

<p>The Bama forum on College Confidential is very popular. *You should visit it and get more info:
[University</a> of Alabama - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/]University”>University of Alabama - College Confidential Forums)</p>

11

<p>How about UMBC ? I’m applying there, You’ll get a lot of merit aid .</p>

12

<p>wow thanks everyone!</p>

<p>If my family couldn’t afford the universities on my list, I wouldn’t apply; but obviously that’s a ton of money that can be saved if I’m able to get a lot of merit aid somewhere less prestigious.
An Ivy education is really tempting, but not sure if it’s $250,000 more tempting than a good school that’ll pay something to have me there.</p>

<p>Ideally for a safety school though, I’d like to find somewhere with high enough standards that I won’t be a huge fish in a small pond. Otherwise, I can’t see myself willingly going there.</p>

13

<p>UMiami (FL) has a program/scholarship called Foote Fellow that allows you to graduate in 2 years and you would be a competitive candidate for it</p>

<p>I don’t know if they stack additional merit aid onto it though</p>

14

<p>An option to consider might be USC (U of Southern California). With an 18% acceptance rate and holistic admission philosophy it is not a safe school for anyone. But, they do offer generous merit aid (trustee scholar award/full tuition) to about 175 of the 2650 accepted students and notify students of acceptance of admission and the award before the uniform college acceptance deadline. There is also a two year honors program ([Thematic</a> Option > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences](<a href=“http://dornsife.usc.edu/thematic-option/]Thematic”>http://dornsife.usc.edu/thematic-option/)) which is quite well put together and exempts you from required core course. Admission is competitive as well.</p>

<p>The advantage to you is the opportunity to possibly secure a full merit tuition offer (there is also 1/2 and 1/4 merit awards) from a top 10 desired university by both parents and students (Princeton Review) and still keep your options open for other offers.</p>

<p>My daughter applied to and was accepted to a number of the schools on your list, but was wowed by the vibrancy of students and faculty at USC. Perhaps an option for you to consider.</p>

15

<p>You don’t want to be a ‘huge fish’ in a small pond - but if you are pre-med, it’s a lot worse to be an average fish in a ‘highly selective pond.’ It’s going to be much harder to be at the top of the class at most of the schools on your list - and some have a reputation for aggressive weeding out of freshman premeds. Medical schools care only that you’ve attended a reputable undergrad school - after that, it’s primarily about GPA, MCATs, and your state of residence.</p>

16

<p>*If my family couldn’t afford the universities on my list, I wouldn’t apply; but obviously that’s a ton of money that can be saved if I’m able to get a lot of merit aid somewhere less prestigious. </p>

<p>An Ivy education is really tempting, but not sure if it’s $250,000 more tempting than a good school that’ll pay something to have me there.*</p>

<p>I think people thought that money was an issue when you mentioned graduating with minimal debt. But, maybe you meant that if you got merit for undergrad, then your parents would help pay for med school. ???</p>

<p>*
Ideally for a safety school though, I’d like to find somewhere with high enough standards that I won’t be a huge fish in a small pond. Otherwise, I can’t see myself willingly going there.
*</p>

<p>Not sure if the above was in response to a suggested school. I know that at Bama, your scores wouldn’t be unique at all. With over 600 National Scholars on campus and over 2000 students with the Presidential Scholarships (most in some kind of STEM or pre-med majors), your classmates would be strong students. </p>

<p>That said, I agree with M’s Mom, the problem with being pre-med in a tippy top school is that there are too many super-stats kids fighting for the limited number of As in the pre-med pre-reqs (the weeder classes). </p>

<p>Admission to med school is largely based on GPA, MCAT, LORs, and ECs.</p>