Valedictorian with only slightly above average scores.. what schools should I consider?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello! I’m new to this, so bear with me.

Class rank: 1/550

UW GPA: 3.97 (I expect this to be close to a 3.99-4.0 by end of fall semester)

W GPA: 6.71 (this will be 8.00-8.16 by end of fall semester)

Course load: APs and dual enrollments- I will have my associates degree when I graduate HS

Old SAT: 2020 (740 M, 600 R, 680 W)
2120 (770 M, 630 R, 720 W)

New SAT: 1390 (720 M, 670 R)

ACT: 31 (33 E, 32 M, 28 R, 32 S)

AP: 9 total. I have gotten 4s on my first 3 AP exams (human geo, world, bio). I expect at least a 3 (apush) and a 5 (calc ab), and an unknown (physics 1) this summer. Next year I will take calc bc, physics c, and computer science.

ECs (years involved): club competitive cheerleading (fr-jr)
mu alpha theta/math club (so-sr)- president, VP, calc team captain, or secretary (sr)
science national honor society (jr-sr)
metta/meditation club (fr)
nhs (so-sr)- special projects coordinator/founder and head of peer tutoring division (sr)
sign language club (sr)- founder and pres (sr)

Volunteering: local hospital/children’s hospital in the summer (so-sr)
concession stand for school football games (jr-sr)
misc events run by culinary department (so-sr)
nursing home (jr)
dog rescue (fr-sr)

Work: tutoring (fr-sr)
babysitting (fr-sr)

I think my resume looks decent, but I really think my SAT should be closer to 2200-2300 and my ACT should be 33-35. To be fair, when I took the ACT, I was extremely ill. (I actually missed the 2 weeks of school leading up to it. I was going to stay home, but I didn’t want to waste my mom’s money.) I’m retaking the ACT in the fall. I will not retake the SAT because I don’t like the new essay component. (If the schools I’m applying to won’t require the essay, I will consider retaking the SAT.)

(As you can see, my reading scores hold me back in all my tests. I am taking an outside of school course this summer to help with comprehension, but I’ve just never been good with it.)

Basically, on the college hunt, I’m looking for a school that offer me some amount of money. I plan to pay for college COMPLETELY through merit scholarships (because I want to go on to medical school, and we all know that’s EXPENSIVE). I also want to go to a college where I am academically challenged. I understand there can be a huge drop off between honors and regular colleges (South Carolina has a great honors college and an average regular college, for example), so I am open to these types of schools.

I don’t want to limit myself to only schools that will offer me large sums of money, but I don’t know how much I can rack up in private scholarships. I want to work as a pediatric surgeon in Nigeria when I grow up, and I’m using that in almost all my scholarship apps. I think the Peace Corps may pay back some med school loans if I go through them (?) I’ve also heard going into the armed forces after med school can alleviate all loans, so that’s an option I will consider if I go to an undergraduate school where I have to pay the majority.

MY LIST, AS OF NOW: (I live in FL)
UNC Chapel Hill
NC State
Wake Forest
Duke
NYU
U Chi
Kentucky
NYU
USF
Harvard (the dream school)
Notre Dame
Alabama
UVA Charlottesville
Villanova
Ohio State
UCLA
Stanford

I’m sorry my list is all over the place. I don’t know where I want to go, where I’m qualified, where they will offer me money (obviously not the Ivies), where I would have a good experience, where I could stand the weather, and where would be a good launch pad for my medical education.

This is all so rough. Thanks for any insight you may have.

2

If you have an associate’s degree by the time you graduate, you may be considered a transfer student, not a freshman. Just something to keep in mind.

3

I’ve already looked into this, and I will be considered a freshman, all the way from UK up to Harvard. Thanks though!

4

These schools can be good for pre-med: “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs.”

Some will offer merit scholarships, others excellent need-based aid.

5

Are you a US citizen? Are you eligible for need based aid?

You should run the net price calculators on each college website to see what you would be expected to pay. Also, many of your schools don’t give merit aid, or it is very competitive and requires high test scores. It is pretty much impossible to finance a pricey education with outside scholarships, too – the best merit money comes from colleges themselves.

NYU, NC State, and UCLA will be unaffordable – you should drop them now.

6

If you intend to pay for undergrad completely with merit aid you will need to look lower down the rankings. Many of the schools you list don’t give merit aid at all, and it is very hard to win private scholarships that will pay your way through expensive private universities.

Do any of these schools look appealing?
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

Is there any chance you would qualify for need-based aid?

7

I am a US citizen.

8

@anxiousenior1 As long as the AA degree is earned while in high school, the student is considered an incoming freshman for admission purposes…not a transfer.

@kb13579 Your test scores are NOT slightly above average scores. Your scores are in the 95th+ percentile. If you think that is slightly above average, what do you think average is? :wink:

How much will your parents pay for college each year?


[QUOTE=""]
but I don't know how much I can rack up in private scholarships.

[/QUOTE]

Don’t expect to rack up much…you might get a small amount for only freshman year since most private scholarships are only for freshman year…and are for small amounts.


[QUOTE=""]
I want to work as a pediatric surgeon in Nigeria when I grow up, and I'm using that in almost all my scholarship apps.

[/QUOTE]

While that’s admirable goal, it’s not going to yield a bunch of money. You’re 17/18 years old. The scholarship committees know that there’s only a small chance that you’ll even become a doctor, much less a surgeon, and even less likely one who can afford to be a surgeon in Nigeria.

Often young people have these noble goals of what they’re going to do with their medical degrees. However, most graduate with large debt and therefore have to work very hard and earn lots of money to pay those loans back.


[QUOTE=""]
I think the Peace Corps may pay back some med school loans if I go through them (?)

[/QUOTE]

I’ve never heard of that in regards to large med school loans. @thumper1 What is the loan forgiveness for those who go into the Peace Corp? Do you know? Would huge medical school loans be forgiven? Seems doubtful unless the commitment was a very long time.

I’ve only heard of Perkins Loans being forgiven in regards to the Peace Corp…and med school loans are not Perkins Loans.

<<<<
I’ve also heard going into the armed forces after med school can alleviate all loans, so that’s an option I will consider if I go to an undergraduate school where I have to pay the majority.
<<<

Yes, that can sometimes work out if you’re willing to do a specialty that they want/need. And that would mean that you would not be able to be a pediatric surgeon in Nigeria because the military would have you practicing medicine where it wants/needs you to be.

9

Specifically, your scores would be above average to much above average for all but five of the sixteen schools on your tentative list.

10

Is USF = University of South Florida? Why not other Florida Public Universities? FAU Wilkes Honors College (outstanding research opportunities and free tuition minimum with your Stats), UF, FSU, UCF should be considered. What about University of Miami?..excellent “premed program” with the possibility of Full Tuition Scholarship through Hammond Scholarship (if URM).

11

I don’t know how much need-based aid I quality for. My dad makes six figures, but I live in a different state with my mom, so I don’t know how that all works out. Do I compute household income with only my mom’s income, both parents’ incomes, or my mom’s income plus child support? This is all so confusing to me.

12

The term “non-custodial parent” relates to this. Policies may vary across colleges.

13

Colleges stating Yes under Non-custodial Profile here will consider you father’s income:
https://profileonline.collegeboard.org/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv

OOS public colleges may not but also may not give you much/any aid since you don’t pay taxes there. Run the Net Price Calculators on each school’s web site to get an idea of what you’ll have to pay.

14

Look on this thread for schools with great scholarships:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest

15

Ivies are out for being offered money unless you are poor.

Would you consider a 7 year med program? I’m sure there are quite a few who would be interested in you.

I’m not sure about the military along with medical school, if you are targeting pediatrics. Maybe a program targeting low income communities after med school would be better, to have many kids in need as patients.

16

@Jamrock411 I do not want to stay in state. I have USF listed because, from past friends who have graduated, I’m certain they will offer me a full ride. They have a good premed program as well. FSU doesn’t have a good one. UF does, but I’m a big sports person, and I cannot be a gator. [-X

17

@Jamrock411 also, UM is private, so if I stay in state, I wouldn’t even be able to get the Bright Futures scholarship that we have here. The Miami area is not really somewhere I would like to be, either. Between the awful weather, the party scene, and the threat of hurricanes (irrationally, especially for a native FL, but I digress), it’s not somewhere I would like to be.

18

@rhandco I will consider that. My three main passions are Nigeria, Haiti, and inner cities in the USA (Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia, etc.) My calculus teacher told me his undergrad roommate went on to fund his MD through the navy, so I was going to keep that in mind. I’ve heard med schools steer you in certain directions, so although I have detailed plans, they’re by all means not set in stone. (Except attending med school. :wink: )

19

@mom2collegekids Due to major family drama in the recent months, I have not been able to talk with my dad about what he will be able to contribute. He’s been under a ton of stress, and I don’t want to bother him until it clears up around July. My mom, on the other hand, cannot contribute anything. However, I used only her information for net price calculator on Harvard’s site, and they estimated I’d only need to cover $6-$7k/year. (Apparently Harvard will consider my dad’s information as well, so this will definitely shoot up :(.) I’m going to look into some schools on @“Erin’s Dad” 's list. Ultimately, if I will need the need-based aid, it will probably only come from these schools.

20

Bright Futures can indeed be used at UM.