When CC-posters talk about living on campus, they often also include living near campus in a shared apartment as being “on campus” – that is, someplace close enough to go to and rest between classes, and close enough that it’s not a problem to stay up till midnight for a late-night study session.
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What is TO?
I just looked at Pitt. They are allowing TO for the next couple of years, but then the student has to take the MCAT prior to transitioning to the medical school, where otherwise they wouldn’t have to. But they do say it is for advising purposes only.
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Got it Test Optional. Yes most schools allow Test Optional. She will get to SAT in Spring. So she will see where to go TO and where not.
Test Optional (ie, not submitting SAT or ACT scores).
Does your daughter have the stats to get into ILS?
(If she attends UMD-CP that’s who she’ll be competing with for med school and generally with students from the various special programs. If she’s not in one it would disadvantage her, not for the algorithm but for the recommendations, the experiences, etc.)
Furman’s reputation for science is less good than UMD-BC’s, the difference being that Furman has a “wealthy Southern gentleman” patina whereas UMD-BC has an “upstart/upwardly mobile/STEM-y” reputation.
Pitt’s merit aid is often linked to high test scores so when she takes the test you’ll know whether you can consider it.
See whether she does better on the SAT or the ACT, btw. They’re different and some students do better on one or the other.
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I’m glad she will have that option.
In my experience, it really, really helps to take multiple OFFICIAL timed practice SAT tests at home before taking the SAT for real. And then really review and “work” the questions you missed so that you learn from your mistakes. You can buy a book of released, official SAT tests on Amazon for about $20 or you can download them as pdfs. It also helps with getting faster at the SAT, which is also important.
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This depends what program will consider. I do not know what STATS they are looking for. She will have almost every class either AP or College Level (except some social studies like History that would be Honors). She will have Hospital Internship for 2 years and volunteering, plus high GPA (current is 3.97 unweighted and 4.74 weighted). But that does not mean anything. Colleges and Honors program pick and choose what they want.
Older daughter was accepted to UMD with Presidential Scholarship, but useless University Honors that she was not even remotely interested… That put the last nail into idea to attend UMD…
Has Washington & Jefferson College been mentioned on this thread yet? I’m not sure how “strong” their Hillel is as I have next to no experience with Jewish groups, but I googled and they have one. If the finances worked out (definitely not a given), it’s a small school with a good pre-med track record. Being near Pitt, if Pitt isn’t too far away, W&J shouldn’t be either.
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Any chance she’s taken any AP tests to have scores for them? A student doesn’t have to take the class to take the test (BTDT), but you still need to locate a testing school ahead of time. A few 5s backing up her GPA could be very useful I would think. Be sure to self study at home for these using guides. Not all courses match what AP has or emphasizes.
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There was an excellent 60Minutes piece on UMBC a few years ago, about the STEM program and how the president of the college was building up the school. I bet the school has it somewhere on the website. Many a high school junior would NEVER, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, go to X school (UMBC in this case) until they visit and talk to some professors about certain programs, and get a good scholarship offer. A friend’s science minded daughter went to a top school but for medical reasons couldn’t stay and ended up at a state university she could commute to (by bus/rail as she doesn’t drive). LOVED it, loved the small classes for her major (often only 10 in a class at a school of 25k students), loved that she could live at home and the cost of her transportation was included in student fees. Never considered the school while in hs even though she took DE classes there.
If OP is willing to pay for College Park, then it’s a done deal. She’s chosen to compromise on size of the school for prestige, and that’s a valid choice.
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Given Covid mess, we are not interested in AP. If school are not ok with CL =CC and most schools take CC, then we will pass. She will have by HS graduation CL 1 Chem, 1 Physics, 1 Bio, Calc1 and Psych, and 1 English with some other general electives. Some schools may not like it, but again given Covid only CC is much better than online AP in HS. Believe me it was total mess.
What is it about the honors program that your older D found useless? There are small classes and research opportunities in DC, among a host of other things. Scholars sounds like something your younger daughter would enjoy as well- smaller classes etc.
I am concerned about your D applying to a bunch of financial reaches. She runs the risk of getting accepted to some/many, but at a cost that will make the school prohibitive. It won’t be fun getting into a bunch of great schools that cost too much money. Is your daughter prepared for this possibility?
I would keep UMBC on the list… just because. Your D may change between now and May, and it might be nice to have that option. It sounds like a great school where she has the potential to do very well.
I would hate to think that the only choices are spending $75,000 versus commuting to UMD.
UMD is a great school and I hope she can somehow live on campus and enjoy the experience. Given how social you say she is, I would think living on campus would be important. I am not referring to parties…I am talking about impromptu study groups, hanging out with a friend etc.
Do BS/MD programs accept students without scores - in the event she is TO? The point behind AP tests was to have a high score to back up the gpa so that there is some type of context.
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I loved the comment up-thread about doctors needing to feel comfortable taking tests. My neighbor- a physician who just turned 60- spent the summer studying for her boards. Yes, her boards. She has been working at a large (well known) academic medical center for over 25 years, has supervised and mentored fellows and residents, has senior administrative status at her hospital- and the accreditation and licensing requirements for her institution meant that she needed to take the boards in one of her sub-specialties. It was grim-- not the content, which of course as an experienced MD was stuff she works with daily- but having to get back into the grind of test-taking which is a muscle that atrophies(or so she said) if you aren’t regularly taking tests!!!
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I think it depends, my college freshman took 4 AP classes last year (CS, macro, bc calc and one other) and got 4’s and 5’s on the exams, 100% virtual.
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Based on OP’s requirements it definitely won’t work anyway, but Tulane is smaller than UMBC with roughly 8,000 undergraduates (roughly 11,000 at UMBC).
Tulane will be way too expensive, and it won’t be any “easier” academically than UMD (parent is concerned that the D will have difficulty maintaining a high gpa at UMD).
I am having a hard time figuring out what the family is comfortable paying, unless I am missing something. They are reluctant to pay for room and board at UMD- which means they will pay the tuition of about $15,000 (more or less) per year, but at the same time the OP seems to indicate that they will pay more for a “good” premed school….? This confuses me, and maybe I am not understanding.
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W&J is a nice option for premed. I still think OP should look at Chatham in Pittsburgh. Pretty campus next to Pitt and CMU. Also next to Squirrel Hill.
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I wasn’t meaning switching to the classes. I was meaning just taking the tests in May to get the scores. My medical guy did that for 2 APs. He self studied the content and took the tests. On his transcript it didn’t say AP classes. It had class title/grade with “AP Score = 5” after it.
That said, I expect you’re correct that undergrad places aren’t going to care if it’s CC or AP for admittance, though some colleges will give credit for AP and not CC. My guy’s was one of them. UMD should give credit for both as will many other schools.
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The OP mentioned earlier that this student has taken honors, AP, and CC classes. I assume the AP classes were taken last year (10th grade) and possibly the year before (9th grade).
Did she take the AP test?