Hi! I’m in the process of selecting schools to apply to. I need some suggestions for safety schools to apply to, here’s my stats. I don’t really have a preference of location/size. If anyone can suggest target/reach schools also that’d be great!
I’m from VA and can pay around $40-50k/year. I’m also gonna take up a part-time job so that number is flexible.
4.45 Weighted GPA; ~3.8-3.9 UW (my school doesn’t give me UW)
Will take SAT in March - Scoring ~1470s in practice, will retake in May/June
Want to go into premed and if gpa/sat is high enough apply bs/md/do
12 APs by end of senior year
Main EC’s: internship at FDA, board member of npo (extensive outreach of 55k+), sci oly president, shadowing, mat president, piano
Main Awards: PVSA, sci oly awards, piano rcm awards
Sorry! Probably should’ve written that down. I’m from VA and can pay around $40-50k/year. I’m also gonna take up a part-time job so that number is flexible.
Thanks! I have those on my list, but at the rate of increasing competition in my area I’m thinking VT is probably a target for me. UVA has become super competitive nowadays so I’ve put that as a high reach, but might make it a low reach! Thanks for the help
I think VT is still more towards match/safety zone and UVA is towards reach/match …
I think you’re pretty good there … but sure it won’t hurt to add a couple more safeties
(think JMU) …
But you, Virginia people … and Michigan people … have it easy I think … unlike us NYS ppl
As long as you apply by Ohio State’s early action (non-binding) deadline (usually that’s Nov. 1) admissions are fairly predictable.
Keep an eye on those early deadlines for oos publics, not meeting them can mean no merit and unpredictable admission results. Big competitive merit often requires supplemental essays which also have early deadlines.
Ohio State is in the capital city of Columbus and the state house is a short bus ride down High St. from campus. Besides honors and scholars programs there is also the John Glenn Civic Leadership living learning community which helps connect students to the community. Traditionally it’s been housed in one of the better dorms on North Campus. John Glenn Civic Leadership Community : Learning Communities : Housing and Residence Education
Merit and/or other scholars programs like honors colleges at big flagships are great to help fill out the honors and awards section of your CV as you get started looking for co-ops or research opportunities. Good Luck!
I also would look at school’s that have some type of pre-med honors or guaranteed admission like Pitt’s GAP for medical school.
Your in-state options are very good but how well do they prepare pre-med students? Are there clinical or research opportunities on-campus for undergrads?
Med schools don’t typically care where you went for undergrad. GPA and MCAT scores matter most. Sometimes being a big fish in a small pond has advantages. They’re also very expensive so minimizing undergrad costs is wise.
As said earlier Virginia Tech is a good safety/match and UVA a good target reach. Does location matter to you? I don’t want to start listing off schools and have them be nowhere you want to live. Considering neighboring states - UPitt and Penn State are options, as well as UMD, Ohio State, and if you are looking for a little more north - Purdue, UW Madison, UMN, Michigan State would all probably accept you-(unless applying to UW or Purdue as a CS major - that would be a tossup for anyone). If okay going a little south - UNC Chapel Hill would be a good equal match up for UVA, with UGA & NCSU being a little easier.
VA has some excellent state schools (VT alum myself), so I’d suggest sticking with one you like and saving your money for med school. If you want more of a safety/match than VT, what about JMU or GM?
Of suggestions made from others, I’d axe Penn St and Pitt. They are both great schools, but Penn St gives very little aid anyway and Pitt requires higher stats for aid.
With your stats you could look at some smaller private schools and possibly get good aid if that’s your preference. You’d have to run some NPCs. I’m in PA and some popular smaller schools for pre-meds include Juniata and Washington & Jefferson.
Agreed. For someone in state it’s often a school I recommend for pre-meds, but for merit aid higher stats are needed. For OOS it would max their price range at best and with med school looming, there are better financial options out there.
VCU would be a good safety/match school since it’s in-state and good options for premed (ECs, BS/MD program). If you can bring your test scores higher, there maybe a full-tuition to full ride possibilities at VCU.
You are going to have so many opportunities! If are considering options a little farther from home, Baylor has a 3 year, straight to med school program and I think you would get a lot of merit money. Trinity University in San Antonio (around 2,500 undergrad students) is also very generous and prides itself on having lots of research opportunities for undergrads.
You may want to take a look at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. They have a great track record of getting students into medical school. They have an affiliation with St. Jude’s which provides great research opportunities for undergrads. You would most likely get some merit scholarship there as well.
