Smaller school with merit aid for Jewish girl B+/A- premed [really 3.95 unweighted HS GPA]

College Search & Selection
1841

Hiram offers good merit aid and has a partnership with Neomed.

It’s very small:

PARTNERSHIP WITH NEOMED

Hiram College offers aspiring physicians a seamless undergraduate-to-medical school transition in partnership with Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) in Rootstown, Ohio. The Baccalaureate to M.D. Pathway Program is a non-accelerated combined degree program designed for future primary care physicians.

Hiram College students may apply for the B.A. to M.D. program during their sophomore year, and successful applicants will gain direct admittance into medical school, provided they continue to meet program requirements throughout their undergraduate years. Five seats at NEOMED’s College of Medicine will be available to Hiram College students annually. Students must major or minor in biomedical humanities at Hiram in order to be accepted into the program. Learn more about the admission requirements.

from Pre-Medical Studies – Hiram College

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1842

Capital University is in Bexley, OH just up the road from the Columbus Jewish Center https://columbusjcc.org and its students can participate in OSU’s Hillel and marching band.

Good merit aid possibilities, safe neighborhood with lively family friendly walkable off campus restaurants and amenities.

Columbus also has Nationwide Children’s Research Center and REU summer opportunities at OSU.

capital.edu

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1843

oops, guess I was late to the party.

Congratulations on acceptances she is happy with!

1844

We all can’t wait to see the end. It was total madness. We approached it from the wrong side. :face_with_open_eyes_and_hand_over_mouth:

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1845

She can’t apply to another school. It is too late and we are not interested. Enough is enough.

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1846

@momsearcheng now that you visited Rhodes, what were your daughter’s thoughts?

Hopefully it was a good visit one way or another - ie whether it’s now a strong contender or officially out.

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1847

She has a couple of acceptances to partner schools with LECOM, and she has other acceptances that are also very good.

I don’t think there is a wrong choice here. It will come down to student choice.

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1848

We have a very big problem. Daughter loves Rhodes but it will take 0 credits out of 31 CC she has. That was never articulated up to today. They could not make up their mind. Now they say since credits are on school diploma they would not take them. If they were not, they would take them. So it is total BS. Rhodes does take AP. LECOM does take CC if school accepts them, but does not take AP. So we have 3 bad options. Rhodes with 0 credits and extra lost year and wasted money (taking SAME chemistry 4th time, DD says that she can teach it at this point :slight_smile: , and she cannot test out of it, LECOM wants it on college transcript), Juniata that takes everything but no social circle (inactive Hillel and all about athletics), or great Gettysburg with no LECOM, or Nova that does not make sence at this point. Daughter feels trapped with 16 acceptances. Feel that we need some expert to help to solve this mess. We are absolutely lost with 2 weeks to go. Every extra acceptance just creates extra mess and stress.

1849

Dang - more than Gettysburg?

Can that be negotiated - I mean the classes were the same. Can the HS counselor help with that - in explanation to them. And I see they are on the LECOM list - so maybe can be made an option with further discussion?

Well - Nova is an option. Unless you’re both absolutely eliminating.

Gettysburg is an option - and it just means she’ll apply to medical school - if that’s even the desire at that point.

She has wonderful acceptances and more than three - so it might require some flexibility but I’m not sure trapped is the right word.

But yes, it’s crunch time. Maybe your guidance counselor can help navigate Rhodes/LECOM and explain the path your daughter took and why. As you noted, the class was the class - it’s just how and where it was listed. They clearly want your daughter so hopefully with reason and help, they can be flexible.

If she has to take chem again, it should be an easy A - and that will help with all med schools in case that she decides she’d rather go to say - a flagship instead of LECOM.

She may have such a wonderful experience academically and otherwise in college that her med school plans change for more competitive schools…no one can know the future.

It’s good you got a sense…

What might be good for you now is take the med school part out of it - and then decide, which is best. And if she’s got 6 or 7, you can start doing head to heads - and probably get down to two or three. She still has to enjoy her time on campus - so in that sense, it’s good you see Juniata may not be the best choice.

I remember she loved Gettysburg - and they gave you a wonderful offer. And she likes Rhodes - that does have LECOM but might require some repeat of courses. Having to go to four years of college, especially with your tuition assistance, isn’t a bad thing. My son started with 33 or 36 credits and still had four years (due to the course sequencing).

How were you with the surrounding area and the Jewish life at Rhodes - which is shared with U of Memphis I believe.

I know it’s overwhelming - but in the end, she has great choices and that’s a heck of a lot better than no choices!!!

Keep the faith - it’s going to end fine.

Thanks for the update.

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1850

In term of best fit and he heart she loves both Rhodes and Gettysburg. You cannot take medical school out. Without medical school Gettysburg is the winner because she can major in psychology (her interest), be close to home, and would have great Jewish life, and be one of top students on campus with great treatment by college since she is one of top scholars there. She can graduate in 3 years but she will have to study on her own for MCAT and apply to medical school. That would require a gap year or two, extra money and she may end up in more expensive medical program.
At Rhodes she has to major in neuroscience (LECOM mandates physical science major and it is closest to psychology), she needs to retake all classes , will graduate in 4 years and will be 14 hours away from home driving with really bad or very expensive flight options. But she will not need to take MCAT and apply to med school. Plus LECOM DO is reputable but one of the cheapest DOs. She would not go to Rhodes without LECOM. She would pick Gettysburg. But it is like comparing apples and oranges. Both are round and both are fruits, and both are good for your health after that they are different :rofl:

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1851

I see.

Any chance your counselor can help with Rhodes?

So it sounds like you are down to two and that is good.

I suppose - the four years thing is an extra year of school - but I assume with your tuition assistance plus merit at least it’s affordable.

I’m glad my kids will both be in four years - gives them a chance to experience college.

Memphis is pricey to get to but it’ll just be holidays and you never know when someone is driving and can drop her (say in Nashville) which will have more flights.

I wish you luck as you head down the stretch.

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1852

It is crappy crap with Rhodes. Officially they would not even look at transcript until after May 1st. So they want deposit first. Unofficially director of admission, premed advisor and Bio teacher said that they will not take any credits from community College :roll_eyes: because they are top private school (but website does not state it and even admission counselor had no idea…) Rhodes staff is a bit full of themselves. They believe that they are so good and we just have to be happy to get a spot…And we are on the other side not because we are so happy with Rhodes but because it is the only option with LECOM but Juniata for DD…

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1853

So the tradeoff is Gettysburg but studying for MCAT.

I know you don’t believe so - but it is possible that at some point, your daughter goes in another direction from med school - and then Gettysburg would be great.

I’ll say this from reading all the messages - it seems to me - Gettysburg is everything and then some that your daughter wants in a college - with the exception of the LECOM. You all were really excited after your visit there!!

So with Rhodes you had no concerns with Jewish life or the surrounding area?

Rhodes is a fine school - but so are most that you applied to!!

It will all work out - life is a long journey and she’ll end up in the right place.

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1854

Many schools like Rhodes don’t accept Dual enrollment credit, here’s what their website says (although I agree their direct communication seems to be lacking).

Courses taken on a college campus prior to matriculation by accepted students, including those which are taken in conjunction with a dual enrollment program at the secondary school level, will be accepted for credit only if such coursework does not satisfy high school graduation requirements or requirements for admission to Rhodes. Such courses must be taken on a college campus, not in a high school even if taught by collegiate faculty.

@wayoutwestmom can you help OP sort thru the choices starting around post 1827?

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1855

Another idea is the NECAC list of schools that are still accepting applications. I took a quick look and botrh Allegheny and Baldwin Wallace are on both lists (LECOM affiliates). It might be worth a a call to these schools to find out if they will accept her DE credits.

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1856

So it is down to Gettysburg with studying for the mcat and applying to med school, or Rhodes where she has to retake all of her dual enrollment classes because they will not accept them? With Rhodes, she is in a program where she can be a direct admit to a DO school (but she has to retake a bunch of classes). Is that correct?

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1857

No this can’t be negotiated. The colleges set their own policies.

Actually if medical school is definite…Rhodes plus LECOM is probably the best bargain of all. Between your employer benefit and merit aid for Rhodes, and the low cost of LECOM, there isn’t wasted money. LECOM tuition this year was $38,000 and that is half of what Nova tuition for the medical school part is.

For a future pediatrician (if she stays the course in that) , Rhodes is an outstanding choice given its proximity to childrens hospitals.

My opinion, the breadth of the courses offered at Rhodes will be deeper than that offered in her CC courses already taken. @WayOutWestMom

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1858

The LECOM option seems really tempting, even is she had to repeat a couple classes at Rhodes. My daughter is taking the MCAT in a couple weeks. To me, taking the MCAT is probably the “easiest” part of this whole journey. She has been prepping since January, and she seems pretty confident about it.

The application process, however, is anxiety producing! She was lucky to do her Personal Statement in her Junior writing class requirement this spring. Thank goodness that’s done. However, the secondary application— that’s where the dread is coming from. I have been perusing medical school secondary application essays found on medical school admissions consulting websites. Some essays, like UCSD, are longer than the Personal Statement. And then trying to craft a gazillion Why X medical school will require a lot of time making each essay not seem boiler plate.

So I think Rhodes- a college she really likes (whether she ultimately decides or not to continue with medical school) is a wonderful option, and with a lot less stress with regards to medical school admissions! I’d look at the “long game,” and to me, Rhodes seems perfect!

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1859

I don’t see any negatives here, unless I am missing something.

Gettysburg is a great school and your D can apply to med school if she still wants to be a pediatrician.

Rhodes is a great school and will provide a direct path to DO school. Maybe my opinion differs from yours, but retaking the CC classes is not a bad thing. Wouldn’t she still move on with the degree within the expected time frame?

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1860

Both options are great. I would not consider graduating in less than 4 years to be a plus- unless it’s truly an affordability issue I would want to have all 4 years in college, it’s such a special time and goes fast already. I also would not care about repeating classes, college is a tough adjustment and there’s nothing wrong with having a class be a little easier :slight_smile:

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