I have another year before I decide which college I am going to but I’m kind of torn between what I should do. I live in NJ but I always wanted to go to an oos college but there all so expensive. Penn State is one of my favorite school but they are way to exspensive and very stingy about giving money. I do not want to go too an in state school but it looks like I have no choice. My family can’t really help out with paying, and we’re not going to get much aid either. Community college isn’t really and option considering I want go to mes school after ubdergrad. Should I go to Rutgers 2 years then transfer where I want to save money? Or should I just stick it out at Rutgers or Stockton and focus on getting into Med school? I have no idea what to do o goes O really don’t want to go to and in state school. Are there any cheap oos school? Any advice would be helpful. Thanks. *sorry for the bad grammar typed it up on my phone.
You can start at a community college and still end up in Med School.
If your family can’t help you pay for your education, and you won’t qualify for much need-based aid, then you need to look at places that will give you a lot of merit-based aid for your stats. Start your research with this thread in the Financial Aid Forum: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest
Thanks
Nothing wrong with Rutgers as far as this Texan is concerned. If you think undergrad is expensive, don’t forget med school will be too. Look at schools med school acceptance rates and MCAT scores versus their cost. That is what is going to count.
That is why I am trying to come out of undergrad with as little amount of debt as I can. Would it be smart or even worth it to transfer to a school like UCLA after two year?
No.
Are your grades good enough for PSU’s honors college? They give nice scholarships that could maybe defray the cost a bit.
Stick it out at Rutgers and Stockton. They’re great schools and can help you go where you need to go. Especially if you want to go on to grad school, the cheap undergrad is the best route
Why can’t your family help you out? Is it because they don’t make a lot of money, or because they have other financial obligations that get in the way of helping you?
Going to Rutgers or Stockton and trying to transfer is probably a bad idea. Transfers typically get poor financial aid.
For you, I would recommend either:
A) Go to Rutgers or Stockton. They are both good schools. If your family really can’t pay anything though, and you don’t qualify for aid, even these schools might be financially out of reach unless perhaps you commute. If you can’t afford these, community college is still an option, and Happymomof1 is right, you can most definitely go to med school from a community college. I personally think that would make for a pretty good story - from community college to becoming a doctor - certainly no one would ever doubt your work ethic. 
B) Try to find an OOS college where you can get a full ride, or pretty close to it. There’s a list of colleges on the Financial Aid forum that offer automatic full rides/full tuition to students who have a certain GPA and SAT or ACT score. Take a look, maybe you can find one where your stats put you in range for merit aid. If not, there’s always option A.
Thanks everyone for the advice. I am in a middleclass family and my family’s income is ~ $115,000 for a family of 5 and I really don’t know how much FA we get with that. My parents will help out as much as they can but I don’t think it will be much. Maybe I will get more FA then I think.
Med schools only care about GPA, MCAT, essays, and LORs. They don’t care if you went to Harvard or community college.
Each college and university has a Net Price Calculator on its website. After your parents file their taxes next month, ask them to run the NPC for Rutgers, Stockton, and any other place you are interested in. This will give you a good idea of what each might cost.
Thanks, I didn’t think med schools were okay with community college. I will seriously consider that but I’m shifting towards the stockton/rutgers idea.
Strictly speaking med schools frown on any “core” classes taken at community college. Telling OP otherwise would be lying. CC-> med school can be done, but when you consider almost all freshmen give up even at a 4-year college, and your odds are better from a 4-year college than from a CC, starting from a CC to go to med school is like playing the lottery to win… although it isn’t completely undoable, it’s relatively unheard of.
Family of 5 with 115K income should get decent financial aid. It’ll depend on how much the college you apply to wants you (or if you meet criteria for full tuition scholarships anywhere).
What are your stats - SAT/ACT score, GPA, AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes?
I know someone who did nearly all his premed courses at community college. He had no problem going to a nice med school and has done quite well.
Don’t know why you would want to pay a lot more for Penn State when a perfectly good school is available for less at Rutgers.
Some medical schools frown on taking BCPM courses at CCs, but taking some advanced BCPM courses after transfer to a 4-year school may show that you can handle what medical schools assume to be higher standards there. If your major is in one of the BCPM subjects, that happens automatically; if not, there should be some post-transfer schedule space to includes a few of those advanced BCPM courses. (BCPM = biology, chemistry, physics, math)
What are your stats?
[QUOTE=""]
Should I go to Rutgers 2 years then transfer where I want to save money?
[/QUOTE]
No, because your best chances for merit or aid is as an incoming frosh.
With your family’s income you’d get NO AID from any UC or from Penn State or a number of other schools.
However, if you want to keep costs down or go OOS, then you need to look at schools that will give you large merit for your stats.
You need to ask your parents how much they WILL pay. With their high income, they will have a high EFC…so likely need based aid wouldn’t be enough if they can’t pay much.
If you want to go to med school, you should avoid CC’s if you can.
What is your GPA?
What are your Sat and ACT scores? (take both). What was your PSAT?
[QUOTE=""]
Freshman year I did not do good at all. My final GPA was 3.3 in all academic classes. I ended up finishing English with a C+ which my first ever C.
[/QUOTE]
I am a Sophomore now and first marking period I got A’s and B’s and once C in honors geometry. The second marking period is ending very soon and I have never done so bad before. I have straight C’s across the board and I have never been so upset. I know I am capable of a lot more, I have just gotten so lazy.
Next year I plan to take all honors classes and AP but what I want to know if i still can go to a decent college?
Penn state is my all time favorite school and I would love to go there. So that is the school I am basically asking about.
Other options i would consider:
Rutgers NB
Umass amherst
U of Pitt
Are my chances at Penn State ruined or any college at this point? If not what do I have to do to get accepted?
Btw I only have two honors classes this year, History and Geometry. And sorry for any typos.
<<<
[QUOTE=""]
I have another year before I decide which college I am going to
[/QUOTE]
? Are you a sophomore or junior? If you’re a sophomore, then you have 2 years to decide.
Since you say that your parents can’t pay much, you need to move your focus from unaffordable schools to schools that will be affordable…based on merit awards and what you/your family can contribute.
Ask your parents how much they’ll spend each year on college… $5K? 10k? 20k? what. At a school like PSU, you’d be full pay all 4 years, so going to a CC first will not magically help pay for years 3 and 4 at PSU, unless your parents will pay nearly all the costs…which are over $45 per year.
What about Penn State is more appealing than Rutgers?
They’re both huge schools. They’re both party schools. They’re both similarly ranked (a few spots don’t really make a difference). They’re both in small towns, with Rutgers being like two hours or less away from NYC.
They’re both well-known state flagships. Maybe you just haven’t researched Rutgers enough. Being from NJ, I suspect the reason you don’t want to go to your state’s schools is that many of your classmates are probably going as well. But you can totally avoid them since Rutgers is really big, and going to another state flagship where many people are from the area and know each other isn’t really going to be much different either.
With any C’s, you won’t get into Penn State anyway - they want 3.4 or more. Forget about it.
Focus on in-state public colleges. If you really want to go OOS, look at colleges such as Moravian, Lycoming, Arcadia, Washington College (Maryland), etc.