<p>pitt, I’m not trying to talk you into attending a small college instead of a large university; however, you don’t seem to understand the meaning of the term liberal arts. The liberal arts in a general sense encompasses science and math, as well as humanities, language and social sciences. Unless you choose a professional program like engineering, nursing or architecture, you are likely to get a liberal arts degree.</p>
<p>Small colleges that focus on undergraduate education are called liberal arts colleges or LACs, but large universities are also “liberal arts” colleges.</p>
<p>There are only a few universities that have core curriculums, meaning everyone takes the same group of classes. Many have distribution requirements. Even those with open curiculums may have required courses, like English and a foreign language. You need to check the fine print.</p>
<p>Full ride scholarships and/or merit aid is not easy to come by. If I were you I’d loosen up my restrictions and cast a wider net. I’d look at Emory and Grinnell.</p>
<p>Interestingly, art practice, performing art, and music are usually considered liberal arts, even though they are obviously pre-professional (training to be artists, performers, or musicians).</p>
<p>The most prestigious research universities that offer significant merit aid (Chicago, Duke, JHU, Vanderbilt, WUSTL) all have an undergraduate “liberal arts philosophy” (Chicago’s is even more purist than most LACs’). Besides, getting a full merit scholarship to any of these schools would be very unlikely (especially without even higher test scores and a fairly broad range of interests). Selective LACs outside the Northeast do often grant merit aid, but usually not full rides, and anyway he has ruled them out.</p>
<p>However, a prestigious alma mater isn’t necessary for med school admission. The OP’s best bet probably is a somewhat less selective university that is aggressively recruiting high-stats students (maybe Alabama, Pitt, or Case Western). If none of these come through with sufficient aid, a cost-effective alternative would be to commute from home to a directional state university. Tuition & fees to these schools can still exceed $10K/year, but he should qualify for enough merit aid to make the balance (if any) affordable. So pick one or two of these as safeties, a few like Alabama/Pitt/CW as targets, then maybe a couple more selective schools that offer merit aid (and have no/minimal distribution requirements) as long shots. Wake Forest offers merit aid, is rather prestigious but not crap-shoot selective, and has an “open curriculum” program. However, average merit aid is only around $15K.</p>
<p>Thanks for clearing up the definition of liberal arts colleges… I obviously didn’t have the right idea. Unfortunately, like it was said before, very few give significant merit aid, and that’s what I’m after. I’ll definitely be applying to some of the above suggestions with good merit aid. Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>Pitt, most of the more selective colleges on the Eastcoast do not offer merit aid. This is more a function of selectivity than size. When you move down a tier in selectivity you are not necessarily moving down a tier in academic quality (or graduate school admissions). </p>
<p>Often schools that are less selective and that entice high achieving students with merit money are academically solid but are located in less universally appealing place, like the Midwest, South or in a rural area. The outcome is very difficult to predict so you should apply widely.</p>
<p>Just a thought: How do you know that won’t be eligible for need based aid? Ask your parents to use an on line calculator just to be sure. You may be surprised.</p>
<p>I’m looking at an EFC of about $40,000. My parents and I have already had the serious financial discussion, and they have told me that they can pay a maximum of $25,000 per year. I would rather that they save that money for medical school, which is why I’m looking for significant merit aid.</p>
<p>With an EFC of $40,000 but actual family contribution of $25,000, your realistic options are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Schools with a list price $25,000* or less (in-state public universities, or very low cost schools like University of Minnesota Morris, Truman State, University of North Dakota, South Dakota State, etc.).</li>
<li>Schools with generous merit scholarships that you may qualify for (University of Alabama Tuscaloosa and Birmingham and the like).</li>
<li>Possibly schools with exceptionally generous need-based aid (but there are very few of these schools, which are generally extremely selective and cannot be counted on as safeties).</li>
<li>Community college for two years to save money to allow for a larger budget for the last two years.</li>
</ul>
<p>*Plus whatever small amounts of student loans you may be willing to take, and/or anticipated summer or school year job earnings, though consider the possibility of not getting such a job. But medical school is expensive, so avoiding or minimizing undergraduate debt is important.</p>