<p>I will definitely look into getting an ACT prep book, and thanks for the advice about talking to my teachers. And my parents and I made a whole schedule a few weeks ago for where I’m going to go on tours. I’ve seen a bunch of schools because my sister went through the whole college process and I’ve seen a few for myself as well. It’s soooooo overwhelming</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>It can be overwhelming, but you’re smart not to wait until senior year to begin all of this. Imagine how overwhelmed those kids are. :(</p>
<p>Major in history. Take biology and chemistry 1 and 2 as a frosh, physics and ocem 1 and 2 as a soph and composition and calculus and stats whenever. Take the MCAT, do well, and you could be well on your way to Med School. Very simple. You can definitely major in history, and you are at no disadvantage. Just keep your college GPA high. Undergraduate prestige doesn’t matter, by the way.</p>
<p>Ok thank you thank you for all the advice! And you don’t think I’ll be at a disadvantage if I go to less well known school (like Union/Siena/ Duquesne) for undergrad than at a school like Cornell/College of William andMary or Muhlenberg? If so, thank goodness. And tons of people have probably asked this before, but if I get a higher GPA at a less well known school, is that better than a lower GPA at a more competitive school?</p>
<p>^Yes. </p>
<p>If someone has the exact same stats and etc as you and goes to a Harvard of course he will be in favor. However, undergrad prestige way less important than if you wanted to go to graduate school. The general rule of thumb is to get a good MCAT, GPA, and for prestigious Medical Schools (which could help land a residency of your choice) you should have research under your belt. Make yourself stand out…</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. thank you splonk</p>
<p>Pick a good school that YOU like and will do well at. Keep in mind the whole “campus experience” will contribute to how well you do. Good morale will likely result in better grades. :)</p>
<p>What do you want in a campus besides a good history/pre-med education?</p>
<p>big
small
quiet
rah rah big sports to watch
honors college on campus?
greek systems as an option
single sex
co-ed 50/50 split
rural setting
big city setting
collegetown setting
nice dorms
recreation availability
warm weather
cold/snowy weather</p>
<p>I know that Catholic schools are ok, since you’ve mentioned Duquesne</p>
<p>Are you male or female? there are some single sex schools, too.</p>
<p>I’m a girl, ahah. And because I go to an all girls Catholic school-I’ve definitely ruled out a women’s college, but Catholic would be nice to have. I think for size I’d like around 5,000ish but I like random small colleges (Williams) and random big colleges (Upitt/GW). For me, if the college had a distinct campus (it isn’t just a bunch of random city buildings that require buses to get from a dorm to class), being in a city would be really nice; because then there would be more social activities, like concerts, etc. But at the same time, if a school had a great program for me, and I loved the atmosphere, I wouldn’t rule out a small college town college. Intramurals would be cool to have, because I definitely won’t be playing college level sports. And I’ve realized that I loooooove the idea of going to college in the mid Atlantic area (NC, SC, VA, DC), because I live in the frigidly cold Northeast. So to answer where, I know that I want to go to college somewhere in New England or the Mid Atlantic states. School spirit is important too. Wow, haha, so that whole answer made me seem so completely not sure about what I want in a college at all.</p>
<p>Ahhh…I went to an all-girls Catholic high school, too (but, in Calif). I wanted a co-ed college experience after that. :)</p>
<p>*Wow, haha, so that whole answer made me seem so completely not sure about what I want in a college at all. *</p>
<p>No…I think I have an idea of what you want…</p>
<p>So…maybe…</p>
<p>Loyola Maryland
St Louis U</p>
<p>Tulane</p>
<p>There are also several bigger schools in the mid-Atlantic area (the Southeast) that would fit your needs…like University of South Carolina.</p>
<p>However, since money is an issue (because of siblings’ education needs and high EFC), you’ll need a strategy to target merit money.</p>
<p>Haha, yeah I love my high school so much, but I definitely want a coed college. What do you mean, I need a strategy to target merit money? What should I be doing?</p>
<p>*Haha, yeah I love my high school so much, but I definitely want a coed college. What do you mean, I need a strategy to target merit money? What should I be doing? *</p>
<p>You will always love your high school - believe me. My mom still meets with grads from her all-girls high school, my MIL still meets with grads from her all-girls high school, and I still meet with mine (and many of us keep in touch thru Facebook). The bonds are amazing… :)</p>
<p>Ok…the STRATEGY… :)</p>
<p>Because your parents are physicians, you have a very high EFC. But, since you have siblings’ education issues, your parents have told you that they can pay some of college costs, but not pay $40-55k+ per year for college…right?</p>
<p>So…to bring down the costs of your education and get out of your state (your desire), then you need to specifically target 2 kinds of schools…</p>
<p>1) Schools that will give you assured big merit for your stats. These are schools that you know that you’ll get XXX amount in merit scholarships because of strong SAT/ACT and GPA stats.</p>
<p>2) Schools that have competitive merit scholarships for your stats. These aren’t assured scholarships (which is why you also need to apply to some schools with assured merit). </p>
<p>If you think that your parents can’t contribute more than - say $20k per year - than targeting such schools is really the only way you’ll be able to go out of state. </p>
<p>It would help if you could get a dollar amount or range from your parents as to how much they can pay per year. That will give you an idea of what your limitations will be. :)</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Glad you know now that you can tolerate the “gross” stuff, Sicilian! (Reminds of the time in the ICU when all of the nurses, who regularly dealt with blood, guts, drainage of all types, tubes, etc. were SCREAMING because a cockroach had come into the unit!) Anyway, to be premed, as your parents probably know, you need to take two semesters of calculus, two semesters of inorganic chemistry, two semesters of organic chemistry, two semesters of physics, and at least two semesters of biology; more would help, and possibly two semesters of English. Statistics would be very helpful. You can major in anything you want. Of course, you will have distribution requirements at most colleges and requirements toward your major. All of these premed courses will help prepare you for the MCAT. And, people who go for “post-bac” premed courses need to pay for these, so you might as well take these while you are still paying for college anyway. A bit of advice is to try to take them in the “off” semester if they are offered both semesters; you will avoid every other premed and engineer taking them in a “weedout” semester. (Most students find it helpful to start over with Calculus in college, unless you took BC, you are a genius AND you scored a 5. Everyone in the college Calculus class will have taken it before.)
Ask your guidance counselor whether any interest or aptitude tests are available at your high school, or whether there is a nearby career center where these are offered. For example, I believe there is a program called “Choices”, but there are others as well. It can help to pinpoint your interests and aptitudes.</p>
<p>Have you looked into Holy Cross? Catholic, hour west of Boston, strong reputation for premed and division 1 sports. Very nice campus. Oldest Catholic college in New England.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>I thought of Holy Cross, but was concerned that it might be too expensive. Holy Cross has a Cost of Attendance (COA) of $51,000 per year. Scholarships are very rare there and very competitive.</p>
<p>I think once **Sicilian **knows about how much her parents will contribute, the recommendations can be a better fit. She won’t qualify for any FA since both parents are physicians. She will likely need to apply to merit schools to supplement what her parents can contribute.</p>
<p>On Holy Cross- My mom really wants me to seriously consider it because of their strong medical school relationships, but its only about an hour from home, and I think I’d like to be further than home than that (frankly because I don’t want to come home every chance i get, and I know that if given the opportunity, I would…I want to get the most out of college). But Holy Cross is definitely on the list of schools I am probably going to apply to…does anybody have any other suggestions??</p>
<p>Sicilian…</p>
<p>Does your mom know how much Holy Cross costs? …$51k per year<br>
(I’m only asking because many parents have no idea how expensive many schools have gotten. )</p>
<p>If so, is she ok with that? If so, why were you concerned about cost earlier?</p>
<p>How about Fordham?</p>
<p>Obviously, like with everybody else, the lower the cost the better. She is okay with me going to a great school if its what makes me happy, etc what I love. And I’m concerned about cost because I’m very very aware that I won’t receive anyyyyyy need based aid and it seems like that is mostly all that colleges give out nowadays (except for extremely smart kids to go to colleges that they are probably over qualified for). Fordham is a school that I want to look into- my aunt used to work as an admissions counselor (would that help me in any way get into Fordham?) And I’m not sure if my mom knew how much Holy Cross costs, but I know that I didn’t know it was $51k, dang.</p>
<p>*And I’m concerned about cost because I’m very very aware that I won’t receive anyyyyyy need based aid and it seems like that is mostly all that colleges give out nowadays <a href=“except%20for%20extremely%20smart%20kids%20to%20go%20to%20colleges%20that%20they%20are%20probably%20over%20qualified%20for”>B</a>. ***</p>
<p>That is a wrong assumption. It might be true in some cases, but it’s not true in many cases. Both of my boys have received big merit scholarships, and they are being very challenged academically at their schools.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that national universities have many, many majors. Yes, some of the less academically strong students can be found in some of the “easier majors.” But, in the harder majors/programs (like pre-med, math, engineering, etc), the students are mostly all pretty smart kids. So, a student can get a scholarship from a national university and still be in majors filled with many other smart kids (who also have rec’d scholarships). </p>
<p>Don’t fear schools that will give you a merit scholarship. The classes that you’ll take will have many smart kids in them.</p>
<p>Does that make sense?</p>
<p>I believe Howard Dean was a history major in college before he went to medical school.</p>
<p>I majored in history before going to law school.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about history being a dead-end. Sure, few people make their livings as historians. But it’s an outstanding preparation for all kinds of careers - teaching, journalism, business, and law are all common career paths for people who have studied history. And yes, there are dentists and physicians and veterinarians who majored in history.</p>
<p>The job security in academia is amazing but the prospects are low. PhDs in the humanities (of which history is a part) are increasingly taking more than 5 years, with many spending 6-8 years in pursuit of a PhD. And I think the rates of securing an assistant professor position out of graduate school are something like 1-2 in 5. However, if you do get a position and you get tenure (after 6 years of working your butt off), you have a guaranteed lifelong job unless you do something really untoward (like sleeping with a student).</p>
<p>History isn’t a dead end major, though. What people don’t understand is that liberal arts majors don’t lead directly to jobs and they were never meant to - they’re meant to teach you skills that you can take into the corporate world, to teach you how to learn. I know a history major in medical school, one in law school, and I know a history major who went to work at Goldman Sachs after she graduated. What you do with your major is more up to you; most jobs are what I call “major unspecified”. If you apply to a management consulting firm, for example, they don’t care whether your major was math or history or philosophy - they care about your reasoning skills, writing skills, and analytical skills. There’s no such thing as a “dead end major,” although it’s true that some majors will open you up to more opportunities than others.</p>
<p>When someone else talked about merit aid strategy - they mean you need to be strategic in the types of colleges you apply to, and apply to ones that are likely to give you merit aid. When I was in high school I had a 3.67 GPA (weighted), a 1460 SAT score (on the old m + v test), 4 or 5 strong ECs, and a strong essay and good recommendations. I was an above average student, but not spectacular. What I did (and what I tell other above-average-but-not-spectacular students to do) is apply to schools in which I ranged in the top 10-20% of their applicants and which had generous scholarships to attract those applicants. Think about the top-tier schools; then think about the schools in the next tier that are biting at the bit to be like the top tier schools. Schools like the ones you mentioned - Duquesne, Muhlenberg, etc. They often lure away top students who can get into the big-name universities by offering substantial merit packages. For example, I was into women’s colleges - so my top choices were Agnes Scott College and Spelman College. I was definitely in the top percentage if applicants there, and I was awarded a full tuition scholarship at ASC, and a full scholarship at Spelman (and that’s where I decided to go, turning down Emory, where I got NO aid).</p>
<p>A good approach then is to apply to schools that are reaches for you (so the Cornells of the world) and also apply to schools in which you are in the upper-limits of the applicant pool and which are known for offering good aid. A good place to look are the lower 50 of the top 100 U.S. News & World Report LAC and national university list. Those are still good, solid universities, but you are likely to be at the top of the applicant pool and prime pickings for scholarships.</p>