Dear CC,
My college application record has been dismal to say the least. I have been rejected by all ivy leagues, and ivy equivalent privates, with the exception of a few wait list offers from Berkeley, Hopkins and Wash St. Louis. However, two gems that I have earned are UVA with Echols scholars, and UCLA.
I am currently a Maryland resident, with my family agreeing to move to VA if I choose to go to UVA (3 years in state). I am interested in Pre-med, bio related fields.
I will provide more info if necessary.
Bump please??
Also have the possibility of going to UMD CP for CP scholars.
C’mon nothing!?
My specific interest is BioInformatics, but that’s more of a grad school thing, so Bio+CompSci is ideal. UVa should make double majoring easier, but how the programs compare in terms of quality is important to me.
god what a coincidence…I am deciding between UVa and UCLA as well!!! any comments?
Nope, going to ask in the college specific threads now. BTW which are you leaning towards?
UVA Echols Scholars in a heartbeat. Great program, great scholarship, great university. No hesitation there.
And this is NOT dismal, it’s in fact exceptional results - Echols Scholars are truly the top students at an Ivy-equivalent university, so you’re being particularly distinguished here : CONGRATULATIONS!!
I don’t see how this is a difficult decision.
Echols unless there are some major reasons against UVa.
The Echols program does not come with a merit aid component. It does have some nice perks, particularly priority registration and the waiver of gen ed requirements.
UMD is at least as strong in biology as UVA and is stronger in CS. The CP Scholars program is great, and some of its communities (e.g. Science/Technology/Society) sound right up your alley. It’s certainly a terrific in-state option…and I would not dismiss it out of hand.
You’ll need a graduate degree if you stick with your interests, and any of these three universities can get you there easily.
I agree with warblersrule. UMCP might not be as prestigious as UVA, but then again UVA is not known to be particularly strong in STEM education. Are costs important to you? If so, what are the $$$ differences?
Echols scholars do get access to some scholarships and scholarship/fellowship guidance though, plus UVA meets need vs. UCLA (typically 55K).
I originally didn’t see where OP was mentioning UMD Honors (post 1 I now see, not a reply but a post-scriptum by OP) and thus answered with regards to Echols scholars vs. UCLA.
(but, yes, in case it wasn’t clear, there’s no full-tuition scholarship offered, so how much would UMD CP cost you vs. UVA Echols? What are your parents saying?)
The biology, premed environment at UCLA is intensely competitive. You’d need to be ready for that from day 1. Not to mention the cost with out of state tuition.
In terms of cost, I’ll have to pay OOS for UVa for the first year. My parents are willing to move to VA if I attend, so it would be in state from soph year forward. Strangely neither UVa or UMDCP have given me financial aid info yet.
Finally, I’ve been accepted to UMD Scholars, which is slightly different from their “honors”, while I got full “Echols” and “Science Honors” from UVA.
Are you sure moving to VA will automatically make you instate if you already started OOS at UVA?
Not automatically, but the code of Virginia makes it seem like it shouldn’t be too hard. As long as I can prove that I’ve lived in VA for 12 months. But I may be reading it wrong, and I’d like to have you guys’ opinions.