Starting to panic! Please help finalize D18’s college list.

Parents Forum
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Thank you, all of you, for the thoughtful suggestions! You have given me some great options and we will be looking into many of them, asap. I feel pretty hopeful about many of these new ideas.

@compmom, I agree with you completely that she can major in anything and go to med school. But I think we’d prefer to try to avoid a post-baccalaureate year, if she already feels she wants med school. I know of some students who didn’t choose to pursue med school until the point where a post-bac year was inevitable, but it would be nice to not “plan” on it. And I know, and think she knows, that there’s not a high probability she’ll end up in med school, so she’s open to considering other medical fields. I’m trying to help her keep her options open, without discouraging her from what she says she wants right now. It’s a balancing act, for sure. And we may revisit the CTCL list for more ideas, as you suggested. She’s got Ursinus on her list and toured Juniata, but ruled it out due to the very remote location. There are many good ones on that list. Davidson is lovely but a reach and she’s not likely to receive merit, unfortunately.

@dragon90, lots of good schools, but as @mommdc said, they are quite large. I wouldn’t rule them out entirely based on that and she may apply to Alabama. The USC Honors program you mentioned also has potential. I believe tuition is reduced to in-state levels with many of the scholarships and a quick glance tells me she qualifies for some of them. The size still worries me some, but I do need options.

@VAOptimist, thanks for the Roanoke mention. We’re looking at that, too. It had not been on my radar at all, nor hers.

@LuckyCharms913, those sound good, but if her GPA is a concern, her rank won’t help her. She attends a super competitive high school and her rank reflects it. I think she’s in the top third, maybe, out of a class of around 600.

@Veryapparent, I loved Richmond, she liked it a lot. She ultimately decided not to apply and I’m not even sure why, but now that we need to expand her list, I’ll suggest she reconsider.

@MYOS1634, thanks for joining the conversation. You’ve already been a help to us and these are more good suggestions. I didn’t realize UNC Asheville was considered more academic than UNCW. I do know it’s considered a LAC, so that’s a plus. We will be in that area this weekend and will plan to at least drive through for a first impression. Toured Muhlenberg and she ruled it out. Nothing wrong, she just felt the focus was on performing arts, that it was too regional and nothing really stood out. She liked Lafayette, which we saw the same day, if that helps give you a sense of her taste (I’m not sure I can characterize it, myself). Will look into Susquehanna and some of the others you mentioned and run the NPC’s, to start. You were the person who first told me about the early deadline for App State’s Honors program and I’m disappointed she didn’t pursue it. She’s feeling rather overwhelmed right now. Must be contagious. :wink:

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Fellow NC mom. If you want more alternatives she needs to submit more applications this weekend. Even schools where she is a sure thing for acceptance have deadlines for honors college and merit.
Please look at Queens. My Dd has merit that brings it very close to UNC system instate cost. Elon is nice too but I think merit options are tougher. Queens is small. Small classes, small school just seems to lower stress and distractions. If she applies to Queens ask around until you find an alumni. They can submit her name online and she gets a $1000 per year for 4 years alumni referral scholarship.

My DS is having a good experience at App but he is in honors. I think App and UNCW are similar in that they are masters level universities with more emphasis on teaching and under grads. DS has had many opportunities that wouldn’t have come his way at the flagship.
DD at State is enjoying the energy but her classes are huge. Easy to get lost. She would benefit from more advising than she’s getting. Dd at Queens has had 3 individual advising sessions with advisor plus small group discussions already.

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My son toured Dickinson and liked it, but the NPC came back higher for us than some others. He also like Juniata which would fall more in range, but the remoteness didn’t resonate with him. He has applied to Wooster. They have an early read that we heard comes back close for many. It may be something to look into? Denison is another possibility that gives strong merit. Not sure of deadlines. Good luck!

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You’ve gotten some good suggestions here. While Pitt is larger than you’d like, they do have some full-tuition scholarships that your S/D might qualify for. Great hospitals/medical internship opportunities there as well. The catch: you must apply by Dec. 15 to be considered for the top scholarships.

University of Richmond, closer to the size you’d like, also has the Richmond Scholars full-rides. My D loved that school when we visited 4 years ago, but was unfortunately WL. The catch again: you must apply by Dec. 1. Both schools might be worth applying for as, should your S/D earn one of the full-rides, the option fits your budget (especially with med school possibly on the horizon).

Tulane is another one where she can apply for the full-ride scholarships such as the Paul Tulane scholarship. I believe there’s separate essay/applications involved. Check deadlines. My S was offered one, but went elsewhere (something I still sometimes wistfully regret). A friend’s son is attending medical school there now and likes it. Again, all of these are very, very long shots - but possibly worth an application.

We loved Dickinson, too, and it made my daughter’s final 3. Ultimately, she wanted someplace larger. She got one of the nice merit scholarships, but we were also able to go back and negotiate a little more need-based aid. You might also look at Hobart & William Smith in upstate NY. Nice small liberal arts school on Lake Geneva in the Finger Lakes. They have nice merit scholarships. We know of several kids who have gone on to med school after graduating as well.

Good luck & keep us posted.

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@4Gulls
Why recommend colleges where the student doesn’t have a shot at the scholarship needed to make it affordable? Did you even look at the OP?

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I’ll add some Ohio LACs in the “if you liked Dickinson then…” mold - Denison, College of Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg. All give merit of varying amounts. IMO the first two are the stronger but the second two could give MORE merit.

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I “stepped away” for a few days (actually, no internet where I was for the holiday weekend, which added to the sense of pressure). I appreciate everyone adding more thoughts.

@multiplemom, it’s really helpful to have your perspective with the 3 NC schools. I have a son at State and know exactly what you mean about the classes. He’s a “make things happen” kind of guy, so he’s been very successful there, but my D is different and the larger school size concerns me. What also concerns me is more personal…she decided, at the last minute, not to do the Honors application at App State. She was feeling overwhelmed with schoolwork as the deadline approached, so she decided not to pursue it. I know she didn’t “love” the school, but she did like it a lot. As you might imagine, her unwillingness to work hard at the Honors application was a bit of a disappointment. Queens has potential, but she’s only got a couple of days left to apply for the scholarships, so we’ll see. If it isn’t too involved, she may do it.

@jcmom716, D felt the same as your son about Juniata. I’ll do some quick research on the others you mentioned, but do think we’re likely coming up against deadlines for merit.

@4Gulls, we’ll take a look at Pitt. At least she has a couple of weeks to pursue it. Thanks for providing the deadline to apply. Richmond is a great school that started out high on her list, but she ended up deciding not to apply. I think she/we felt she wasn’t likely to receive merit aid there, given her stats. Very interesting that you were able to negotiate a little more need-based aid at Dickinson. Good to know. I still imagine it’s a financial reach for us, but that’s helpful, just in case. We’ll look into the others you mentioned, and quickly. With so little time left, she likely won’t add more than one or two schools, in time to be considered for the merit aid.

@OHMomof2, now why didn’t I think of that as a thread title? “If you liked Dickinson, then you’ll like _____ and they give great merit aid!” I’ll take a look at the schools you mentioned, too. Time is pressing for merit deadlines, so I’ll make this a priority to do the research, while D works on her other applications. Thanks for your input.

I will definitely report back when she gets more applications in. I really do appreciate everyone’s help.

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@xyxyxx I think your daughter has competitive stats for UR for sure. I hope receive merit aid isn’t the reason hold her back from applying. Even if she doesn’t receive merit aid, Richmond has fantastic financial aid. UR is also a great school for pre-med and I knew a lot of people who were accepted to medical school. It might be worth applying because you never know what might happen with regard to merit/financial aid!

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@RichmondSpider94 thanks for the encouragement. We really liked the school a lot. I will certainly suggest that she reconsider applying in the next couple of days. I do think she needs to let the schools be the ones to decide whether she will receive aid. Now it’s a matter of how much time she has to complete any applications.

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I am going to suggest something that is anathema normally: if she has homework worth 2% of her grade and can’t do an honors college/scholarship application because of it, give her formal authorization to skip the homework and focus on the honors college and scholarship application. Ultimately some of these small exercises don’t matter, not in comparison to what the difference in experience with and without honors college would mean, both during her 4 years and… afterwards depending on scholarships awarded or missed.
(Obviously she shouldn’t ditch preparing for a big exam, but high school classes can be filled with tiny micro-managed homework assignement, outligning a chapter or writing out the reasoning behind each math problem… that bring very little to education and are just busy work that provide a safety net for some learners.)

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@MYOS1634 your comment is unbelievably timely and I completely agree. She just told me a half hour ago that she wasn’t going to get an essay done tonight because of homework. I started to have that exact conversation with her, then decided to think about how to express it before I speak with her (I think the stress of all this is causing her to sometimes not listen with an open mind). Thanks for the support. I’m off to give it a shot.

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@4Gulls —full tuition at Pitt for a 3.4 UW GPA? That will not happen.

Pitt’s merit is definitely crazy this year so of course she should apply, but in all the years past, an UW GPA of <3.8 pretty much excluded you from any sort of merit award at Pitt.

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Two points: First, keep in mind that many very large universities have worked hard to create smaller communities within the larger student body. For example, honors programs abound and they can serve this purpose. Also, some large universities offer freshman seminars which permit students to develop personal relationships with faculty members that can be very helpful well beyond freshman year.

Second - this may sound radical, if your senior is facing imminent college application deadlines but has too much school work…this is a superb time for a personal day! Seriously! Take a day off or two. Get those applications done, edited and submitted. This is an extremely important investment. Of course, it may not be the perfect model for future big deadlines, but it could really help with the stress too.

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I don’t know much about this college but I do know they offer good merit for your Ds stats. McDaniel College in MD.

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@xyxyxx

with a 34 ACT and 4.0+ W GPA, she will get guaranteed acceptance + full tuition scholarship + free campus housing at Alabama-Huntsville. it’s about 8500 students so not too big. easy application, no essay, and within 2 weeks she will have at least one 100% affordable fallback option.

https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships

you can keep shopping around but $30 is a small price to pay for a safety net that falls well under your budget.

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Schools like Dickinson . . … . is Centre College, in KY, within appropriate driving distance? Those test scores could get nice merit award, though not sure how that would play out with financial aid award. Like a number of midwest/southern LACs, Centre’s tuition and room and board are a little lower than east coast peers, so that can help with affordability. Wooster and Earlham might be other possibilities, Earlham is just across the Ohio border, so if Ohio schools are on the list, Earlham is not that much further. Wooster does not have prominent greek life, and at over 2000 students, has good school spirit with a bagpipe marching band! Earlham is smaller, around 1100, is Quaker so no history of greek life, Richmond, IN is not much to look at, but there are some student oriented coffee shops etc. a few blocks from campus. Denison overlaps a lot with Dickinson, while a 3.4ish uw may not get a lot of merit, those test scores could help.

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I know someone who got a great merit scholarship from Hendrix college and he is premed and doing great with his grades. The first semester he took 20 credits. Also it is a small school and he was able to volunteer and get research.

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It would seem to me that someone interested in medicine and with a $20,000 cap on tuition needs to be hunting scholarships at large research universities with honors programs. So, the one’s that come to mind are:

Alabama
South Carolina
Mississippi State
Arizona State
Arizona
New Mexico
Texas Tech
Iowa State (should probably be higher on the list)
Oklahoma

These universities have information about their scholarship programs online.

Being married to a doctor, attending a research institution is preferred so you have the opportunity to work in a research field prior to medical school. Obviously, a pre-med student will be taking certain course. Many opt for biology or chemistry. So, public universities are good because their hard science programs and generally well-funded.

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Research happens at liberal arts colleges and small colleges too.