Thank you for taking the time to write this detailed post.
It will be helpful for those of us with younger kids 
.
It is also helpful that instead of COA (which is also dependent on FA and possible discounts from work that some parents have a luxury to have, etc.) you posted merit that your student got.
Looks like your DD has lots of great choices and will end up where it is meant2b .
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All of the above would be serious contenders based on her criteria and they offered significant merit. Wow, talk of an abundance of riches 
. It’s really awesome 
Congratulations to your daughter!!
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I’m still struggling with ‘how not” Nova on that it’s an auto admit to med school.
Looking forward hearing back after OP visits Rhodes.
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Perhaps because the cost of the medical school part at Nova is going to be VERY high. And yes, I understand it’s going to be high just about everywhere…but having options is not bad.
Plus, initially Nova was outside of the traveling radius the parent desired. And doing that for 7-8 years might seem like a lot.
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I get it and it’s OPs kid decision.
It’s just me struggling - a bird in the hand ….
Te easy from Baltimore to Fll. Abd geberalky inexpensive.
Just my logic - you have an assured vs a crazy application process is all.
It does not sound like the decision has been made. Momsearcheng is just sharing their options. Plus she mentioned there is another BSDO program pending…
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I know. And o know they have concerns with the overall quality hence all the LACs.
I’m naturally conservative so I’d be choosing one of the assured.
But everyone is different and ultimately the student will choose the best for them.
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Maybe they will too!
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Yes. Don’t know. I know there was still a visit to Rhodes in early April. Not sure if it’s still the plan. Seems like W&L moved up until it was WL. It’s super beautiful.
Choice is tough - you want options but OP also said too many options was too many.
I get that. Sometimes a rejection or poor offer is helpful. One less to include. I personally like choice but it makes for grueling decisions.
Still lots of great options. The student has delivered for the family no matter what !!
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Glad you came back to share the “victory lap” and I wish your kid luck with their confidential decision.
I am sure she appreciates you giving her space and being so hands off.
Congratulations to her!!
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I just wanted to pay back the community who tried to help. But I was seriously sick from people not knowing me or my child trying to question my judgment or values. I did not appreciate it and I had enough…
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Here is a bit of what went into an original list and what will go into the final decision. Sorry it is a lengthy post, but I think many parents may benefit from it.
We wanted a list of medium to small schools good for premed.
We wanted to avoid big schools because to be competitive for a Med school you need to be among the top of the class. She also prefers smaller classes with individual attention and could not imagine sitting in 200-400 students class. On the other hand, DD did not want to be one of the few smartest kids on campus. (I get it that there are smart kids everywhere including our local Community College that she loves, but I am telling how she saw it at that time.) She wanted to have a fair amount of smart kids around and a big enough social circle of kids with her interests, so we did not consider “lower” but still good schools for merit. Pretty much the target was a LAC school that will provide half-tuition merit roughly ranked between 50th and 100th on USNWR (just for a base of the list, not that we are too much interested in ranking) with some reaches just for fun.
We did not need a full ride due to a potential tuition reimbursement at work. So if your family needs a full ride, you may consider a different list of schools.
I would say too many people wanted to help (I’ve never expected soo much interest in my post) and I listened too much (my fault, I should not doubt my abilities 
). That is why the list became way too big and I got derailed. It was really stupid to apply to so many schools.
If I would be making list again I would remove:
CWRU, Rochester - too competitive for premed and difficult to keep GPA up;
Miami of Ohio - never intended to attend (useless safety);
St. Mary’s (does not even have Hillel) was extra unnecessary in-state safety;
and most likely GW (even though it is around the corner DD did not visit it until recently and pretty much hates it due to its location and lack of campus).
This would cut list to 15. I probably also would remove Bucknell. We never were interested in it and I do not remember why it even was added. More like school #20 to apply…
There were a lot of requirements (see initial post at the very top) for schools to be on this list.
By avoiding the above schools, I would save $300 in application fees and another $50 in CSS profiles. BTW we saved some money through visiting since many schools waived their application fees after a visit. Also, pay attention to free application days (we got it at Cincinnati.)
We initially did not consider BS/MD or BS/DO schools. The intention was a traditional route.
I did not investigate enough about what is included in the application/selection process, the required statistics, or what schools to apply to. If your child is seriously interested in BS/MD or BS/DO you need to make your research way in advance and you need good SAT/ACT in your hands.
Because of COVID mess DD never had a chance to take SAT or ACT until after 11th grade. She was not interested in it at all too since she knew that all schools were TO due to COVID. My old daughter (pre-Covid) was done with SAT by the middle of 11th grade. SAT or ACT is key for BS/MD or BS/DO application. Another thing that we learned is that you need to apply to all these programs as soon as the application process opens. DD got her SAT worthy to be considered by some schools only by the middle of November of 12th grade. It was too late. She got lucky with NSU. She applied to it TO and needed to give SAT score only by the middle of November to be considered for BS/DO.
If you are serious about BS/MD or BS/DO route you need to have at least half of your school list with such schools ( it is not our case.) You also need to understand cost well. Many people get their kids to apply and then discover that they cannot afford both BS and MD (or DO) parts without any scholarships. You do not want to have loans for BS part of your kid education with very expensive medical schools.
Here is how we plan to trim our list.
We will need to decide DO or not DO 
. We postponing that decision until we get results from another BS/DO program.
If not BS/DO the major drivers for us:
- Good merit or good FA.
Merit is guaranteed for all 4 years.
You need to understand that FA is not guaranteed and can change every year. It depends on your salary, your bonuses, the number of students in college in the family, and the school’s financial health… Also, the school wanted you to take loans (part of most FA packets) and the size of the allowed loan increases each year (you can borrow and the school wants you to borrow more for 2nd, and even more for 3rd year of your student in college). On top of it, tuition goes up every year, and the costs of housing and meal plans too. In the current economy, the increase may be higher than in the past. We never intended to take any loans. - Number of DE credits that will be counted for DD. (Please do not tell me it is a bad idea, I am sorry but I know what I am doing. All comments about this will be ignored.)
- How easy to keep a very high GPA at school? (Not lower than A-)
- Does the school have a language that DD is interested in or can she take it at another school and transfer it, or can she avoid foreign language altogether? (Again these are our criteria and I do not need anybody’s opinion.)
- What are core classes (required general education)? Is DD interested in them?
All private schools are different and have totally different requirements. DD is absolutely not interested in anything remotely connected with any religion. (Again this is our choice, and we can do what we want. I do not care what other people think about it.) - How far is a school from home. DD does not want to go too far.
- Condition of dorms. Possibility of avoiding/cutting meal plan. DD is foody and likes to eat/cook what she enjoys.
- Fit - does she enjoys the environment on campus? Can she see potential friends/roommates there (she is contacting and chatting with people on Instagram etc.)
For me, the happiness of my child is a priority. She has to be there for 4 years. It is her choice.
I would never drop my child crying at the “potentially good fit school” for saving money purposes like one mom bragged about on this forum and everyone was giving her thumb up for making such a wonderful decision (her DD was happy at the end, but that is not the point.)
Correction. #9. Does the school write a committee letter to everyone with at least a 3.0 GPA or not? This is critical, since if the school picks and chooses to whom to write a letter your child may have a problem getting one.
Another important addition. #10.
Location and safety. In our case, DD likes horses and lakes but does not want totally be in the country. She is a truly suburban kid. It is a difficult one to balance. It is her call to choose the location and parents’ call to make sure it is safe.
I hope this will be helpful for some people.
Thanks to everyone who helped me and DD on this forum.
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Great to see how collaborative you and your daughter were. Glad she is being left to make the decision independently.
Thanks for sharing.
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Does Nova SE get sports cred?
We’re in March Madness.
Today Nova won the D2 basketball championship.
That’s fun !! I had no idea. Watching UConn / Gonzaga and they mentioned it !!
Take that Juniata or Rhodes etc.
Those are Div 3 schools. Nova is Div 2.
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DD mentioned something about Nova giving their students free tickets for the local football NFL team (Dolphins?) because NSU does not have a college football team…
BTW Juniata has a very strong women’s volleyball team apparently. Since DD is more into volleyball than football or basketball, I guess Juniata wins
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