What should I do?

Applying to College
1

Hi everyone! I’m new to this website and looking for advice about where to go to college. I’m a current senior and I’m pretty stressed out about making my college decision, so I’m reaching out to online strangers for advice lmao. I would really appreciate any advice.

First: financial aid is not an issue for my family. That being said, I do plan on attending medical school, so I am taking merit aid into consideration. I filed my FAFSA but have not been given any need-based aid at any school, and I don’t think I will get too much of it.

NYU: deferred
My dream school, my top choice, recently deferred me :(( I think after sending them my grades this semester (upward trend continues) I have a good shot at least at getting into LSP. The thing is, I don’t think (not getting a clear answer) I will receive a decision until April 1st. Should I wait that long to make a decision? Won’t I get last choice for housing at another school if I don’t get in?

University of Michigan: don’t know yet but probably deferred as well
Same idea as above^ except idk if they’ll make me wait until April

University of Pittsburgh: accepted
I fell in love with the city and campus, and it’s the perfect distance from home (4ish hours.) But, they’re not offering me any merit-based aid, and I can’t start in the honors college, but I guess I can still take honors classes and try to transfer in.

University of Alabama: accepted with 19K a year scholarship. Plus I plan to apply for additional scholarships (honors college ones, dead sibling one). I also got into the honors college and I have an interview in a few weeks for the Blount Scholars Program (possibly more scholarships!) I’ll be touring the campus that day. But it’s far from home (plane ride and hour drive) and I’m much more of a city girl than a country girl, and I’m worried about the party/Greek life intensity. My sensitive skin also doesn’t like humidity (which shouldn’t be too bad in the winter, right?)

Penn State: accepted
No merit aid, waiting to hear if accepted to honors college and millennium scholars program (scholarship potentially there.) I honestly know nothing about the school, I only applied to have a backup for Pitt, but their science program looks pretty nice. I’m planning to go to an admitted student day there in March, but that brings up the whole other point of do I want to wait that long to make up my mind?

Anyway, that’s where I’m at right now. I’d really appreciate anyone’s help right now— I’m so stressed and with the holidays and seeing my extended family everyone keeps asking me where I’m going to go and I don’t know what to do

2

You have lots of time between now and May. Visit the campuses and get a feel for them. You don’t have to wait for the official admitted students day, go whenever it suits your schedule. There can be advantages to visits when the place isn’t crawling with other admitees, and when no one is making a huge effort to capture your attention. You can get a better sense of what regular life os like there. Try to like Alabama. The money you would save there would really come in handy when it is time for Med School.

Meanwhile, the answer for your family is, “Well I have been accepted to X places, some with honors and big scholarships, and I am still waiting to hear yes or no from Y places. I do have until May 1 to decide, so I’ll let you all know then. Please pass the mashed potatoes.”

3

@happymomof1 so it won’t be a disadvantage to wait until May?

4

You need to check the housing information for each place carefully. If you have a clear first-choice-right-now that has housing issues, then pay the housing deposit there. Later on, if you change your mind about where you’d like to study, you can cancel that. Depending on the institution, you might lose your deposit, but that is it. So ask about whether deposits get returned or not.

It looks like you really like Pitt. How important is it to you to be in the honors college, rather than simply taking honors classes? Contact them directly, and ask what you need to do to enter the honors college later on. Depending on your final grades at the end of this year, is there any possibility of starting out in the honors college?

5

You are misunderstanding the Honors College at Pitt, which is not surprising because it seems to be quite different that other Honors Colleges. Some people are eligible to take Honors courses automatically as first semester freshman based on their incoming stats. Other people can take them in later semesters if they get a high enough GPA or can take them by getting special permission. The GPA is the only requirement. You are either eligible to take courses or not. You don’t apply to be in the Honors college, and you don’t transfer in - it is automatic. FWIW, my D became eligible after her first semester but still hasn’t taken any honors courses because there aren’t that many and they just haven’t fit what she was planning to take at the time. It always puzzles me when people make a big deal about the Pitt Honors College.

I can see where not getting any merit aid could make a difference, but I don’t think you should let not getting in the Honors College affect your decision.

6

@me29034 okay, thank you for clearing that up for me!