3 medically related programs (no high hopes there but would like to try)
7 schools that we call matches (Dickinson, Gettysburg, Rhodes, Muhlenberg, Hobart and William Smith, UMD and George Washington) - most likely will be accepted to all. How much money she will get is a big question. We do not need money from UMD. If she will not be accepted to 3 medically related programs, one of schools from match list probably will be the one selected to attend.
7 schools are reaches (Richmond, Washington and Lee, Case Western, Rochester, Lafayette, Bucknell and Furman) - no high hopes there too. Probably will be accepted to some of them. Money again is a big question.
4 safeties (Ursinus, Juniata, St. Maryâs MD, Miami of Ohio.)
She is applying test optional to all but 3 medical programs.
All safeties (except St. Maryâs) have free applications, no CSS, and not much work. We initially had one safety and people on this board were telling that this is not enoughâŠSo we added to the list. I think DD wants to have some choice in the end anyway. But for older daughter we kept only one true safety, so what you say makes sense to me.
I would say about Bing - it means many of the things you like. It will be closer to society than Miami.
You can get aid at Bing - but do you like other safeties or UMD more?
If youâre confident on UMD, etc. then you can remove a lot from your list. But if you want to see a wide range of aid, then 20/21 is fine. My daughter did 21. You have to be up on the essays quickly. And you have to find one school thatâs off CommonâŠdo one school that doesnât require recommendationsâŠdo that on the schoolâs app
So - are you willing to share the test scores? The reason I ask is - if you are applying to medical programs - theyâre going to have to be strong to have a chance. So if thatâs the case, why wouldnât they be helpful at many of the schools you are applying to?
Bing was initially added because of combination of some reasons. Miami was added purely for aid (DD already submitted applications to all safeties but Juniata because of EA deadlines). Frankly none of the schools that are safety are really DDâs choice. They are added as practical choices. UMD just visited and it will not be good choice for premed. Quote from yesterdayâs open house â25% of all freshmen declare pre-med.â DD agreed that UMD is not good choice for premed. Too big, too competitive. Yes she can do it there, but she would prefer much smaller school.
So tell me about the tests. When you say medical programs, are you talking the BS/MD ?
If you are submitting scores to these three programs, why not everywhere? Those scores have to be good to get into those programs.
I think and itâs too late now - but you arenât necessarily applying to the right schools for the right reasons.
Pre Med will be tough anywhere because itâs the classes and I think they misheard that 25% are pre-med. That just doesnât make senseâŠBut pre-med is advising and classes - so many will not be pre-med.
But if sheâs going to make it to medical school, itâs going to be tough no matter where she goes - thatâs why most never sniff medical school.
The truth is - thereâs probably many schools on her list, even those she doesnât think can work, where she can have a great experience. Itâs attitude and effort. Now, at the beginning many struggle and she might.
Hopefully youâll get an offer that works for you at a school that sheâll enjoy. Iâm just afraid that going in with a Iâm not going to like it attitude is going to sink her experience.
I will share info about medical programs DD will apply later (if there would be something to share.)
Programs that she applies do not require too high scores. Since scores are above average but not top of the line, and her GPA, extra curricular and recommendations are top of the line - we go test optional. If she will not get in, no problem.
We did not misheard. We were yesterday at pre-med open house at UMD (as part of general open house). UMD is a big school and in metro DC every other student is super achiever (and in DDâs HS too.) That is quite toxic environment. I get that it would be in medical school, but I would prefer DD to have more ânormalâ undergraduate experience.
Yes 25% want to be premed. Then some leave quickly. Other leave after couple of semesters. It is interesting that UMD writes recommendations to all student no matter of GPA at the end. But GPA that is necessary to be competitive is at least 3.6.
DD knows it would be tough. But she wants to have some social life while she is undergrad. It is very important to her. So she chooses smaller schools exactly for that reason. Students at smaller schools are less stressed, get more help. They still work hard and are very busy.
Actually DD is very open minded person that adapts great. She actually feels environment and people very well. She also knows how to balance her life well not to be burned down. She is extremely mature for her age. It was her opinion yesterday that UMD was not best fit for premed, but would work for her for not premed. Frankly only really very bad fit can sink her experience, but she will make sure not to pick such school. We will definitely go to all schools on her short list prior to enrolling.
For example, at Juniata last year only 44% of attendees submitted. For SAT, between 1170 and 1330. If ACT, between 26 and 31.
If you have a competitive score, youâd want to submit it - because it could potentially impact merit.
So you should do that search for each school. Google Common Data Set and the school name and in section C7, you can see if scores are important and C9 you can see the 25/75 range.
Thatâs year old data - but you might find current data on each schoolâs admissions page.
To chase merit, you need to dig deep. To simply say Iâm going TO - itâs your right- but you might be, in some cases missing opportunities. You donât want to leave money on the table!! Chasing merit isnât as easy as picking the right school - but also optimizing your profile at each school.
In the case of Juniata, at least on their NPC, they ask for a test score. There is not an option (on the NPC) for TO - and the difference in scholarship from high to low test was $27K to $31K - so not a ton but still meaningful $$. A 25 or more on the ACT, gets the $31K which was the max, even if you listed a 30+.
You might ask them - if you are TO, are the scholarships as lucrative because it does not even offer a calculation on the net price calculator.
You need to go through this exercise for each and every school.
Well Juniata rep when saw DD said she will get maximum merit without SAT automatically with her package. Same with Ursinus. I believe St. Maryâs will give her their max merit like 6k anyway (she is way above average student there.) Match schools are exactly her level. Dickinson does not care about SAT. Frankly I will have enough headache with sending CSS and FAFSA(some want one no matter what), so I do not want to bother with SAT scores on top. I am not sure I have enough time to dig each Common Data set now. With half of students if not more applying test optional unless you have very top scores, there is no point to provide it.
Binghamton gives merit aid to OOS students because they are trying to increase their presence. Almost all of the OOS students I know received some level of merit. I have not met any instate students who received merit (and I know a lot of very strong instate students).
I would not drop Binghamton because of money, because she might get some. I would drop it if she doesnât like it for another reason.
Binghamton is often a safety for top NYS students (and some actually attend, and are premed).
No need for coalition app. St.Maryâs (and likely some other schools on the list) has their own private app in addition to accepting the common app. First-Year Students
This will be the case at more schools than just UMD
Bsmd programs might state that the ârequiredâ test score is something relatively low, but admitted students have high scores. Admission rates for these programs are in the single digits. Hereâs VCUâs bsmd info (assuming thatâs on the list as you mentioned it earlier). Note vcu says minimum test scores are 1330/29, but you can see from the data below that no admitted student had scores close to those.
Applications were received from 735 high school seniors for the Fall 2022 entering freshman class. Eighty students were selected for an interview. In mid-March, 30 students received an acceptance letter. The average unweighted GPA for accepted candidates was a 3.91, and their SAT scores ranged from 1460 to 1590 (critical reading and math), with an average of 1530. ACT composite scores ranged from 32 to 36 with an average of 34. In addition, accepted candidates had accumulated an average of 490 hours of healthcare-related experience.
Beyond the test score situation, does your D have healthcare related ECs? Lastly, bsmd programs are unlikely to meet your price point/financial goals of needing half tuition.
This very well could be the case at a LOT of colleges. The classes your daughter will be taking will be filled with folks with a premed intention freshman year.
Then they are not safety schools for your daughter. A true safety is one that the student would be happy to attend, as well as being affordable and have a very very likely acceptance.
It was a top contender for dd25, offered enough merit to get it down to under in state Rutgers, I think down to $27,000 a year all in? She had a 3.9 and 33 ACT, and out of 20 applications was the second least expensive (Saint Joeâs was around $22,000, the rest were all $35,000+ for OOS).
OP I have been reading this post for awhile and I still do not have a good grasp of your daughter. It seems she is going test optional? I know she took classes through a CC (?) that allows her to automatically attend UMD? What other classes has she taken?
I know sheâs a very good student, but I am having difficulty figuring this all out.
Actually at the college D2 attended (and it was one of the colleges suggested to you), almost 40% of the entering freshmen were pre-meds. (Per the collegeâs own survey of entering first year students.) So having 25% of freshmen stating theyâre premed is going to be pretty common at lot of colleges. Freshmen really have no idea what career they want other than the common ones theyâve heard about: law, medicine, computer science, business.
Students who arenât serious about pre-med winnow out pretty quickly, and mostly because they find other fields that hold more interest for them and NOT because they canât hack the science classes.