Where in Boston Should I Take Him & Are We On the Right Track?

<p>Okay I assisting two close friends with college process, I have the girls squared away but the guy is a seperate issue b/c there are so many options:</p>

<p>I have a New Yorker who:
-says he's looking for pre-med and business (definitely planning on a PhD)
-has a goal of starting his own pharmaceutical companies (at the least own/operate a string of pharmacy)
-As a young black male, he is looking for a school with some diversity
-High preference towards small universities and LACs, but will allow some large options ( note, he is graduating from a rural set boarding school of 120 people)
-Only looking at Northeast and MidAtlantic school
-Wants to get out of The City (NYC)</p>

<p>As for credentials:
-3.8 UW GPA
-SATs unknown but est. to hover around 1800 to 1900
-Big school and minority leader as recommendations will vocally say
-Plays (3) varisty sports and does much community service
-5 leadership positions ranging from (former class president to residential advisor)</p>

<p>Now I'm bringing him up to the Boston area later this month and am not sure which school to take him to (Boston College was my intuition)</p>

<p>I guess my other questions are:</p>

<p>Are we on the right track for his prospective career with pre-med and business? How hard would it be be to major in business while completing all the pre-med requirements such as those "Organic Chemistry" labs?</p>

<p>What is the highest caliber of schools that you think he should look at, knowing that he's only a tad lower statistically than me, and I got into Amherst College.</p>

<p>BC would be good...SATs would be low though for BC. Maybe BU would be more plausible.</p>

<p>Really, but I know they don't just judge on SATs b/c I got into Tufts and Amherst with 1950. And his scores onvert over to 1890.</p>

<p>yeah i think he can get into BC due to his ECs and from what you've said...i'd still say it's a high match.</p>

<p>You got into Tufts and Amherst with a 1950? Then you must have had considerable "other things" to support the application (this is not a negative - some people are brilliant, just don't test too well). Btw, when was this?</p>

<p>Consider Northeastern.....my son got waitlisted at BU with much better stats and loads of ECs...Northeastern has a good business program, great pharmacy school also....check out the Northeastern posts..</p>

<p>Both BU and Northeastern, though, are quite large and overwhelming, not to mention very urban. Not at all for someone who's seeking a LAC-like school.</p>

<p>I think Boston College would be a good place to bring him. If the SATs go up to about a 2000, then he has a very good chance there I would say. The unweighted GPA is excellent and the three varsity sports show commitment.</p>

<p>WorldbandDX, this was last year. Oh wait, that was 1330 + 650 Writing = 1980. I totally forgot about my applications, blurred in the past. But no, I was admitted last fall, Amherst College Class of 2010.</p>

<p>And I tested fairly well with a 1330 considering my high school's average was a 1140. But enough of me...</p>

<p>I think he'll be interested in Boston College, so long as the school is somewhat spacious, then I believe the amass of students will not be that overwhelming.</p>

<p>What other school in the Northeast/MidAtlantic would you suggest? I don't no what schools are strong in hard sciences and combine good business programs.</p>

<p>I wouldn't recommend BC if he's looking for an LAC time atmosphere. There are plenty of great LAC's in Massachussetts, unfortunately most of them don't have strong science programs and none of them have accredited business programs (though some may be good anyway).</p>

<p>Just keep him away from Fenway ;)</p>

<p>
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I wouldn't recommend BC if he's looking for an LAC time atmosphere.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It feels much more LAC like than most of the universities in the area. The high prestige LACs in Massachusetts are all in the western part of the state, far from Boston.</p>

<p>Maybe Brandeis? I don't know about his specific programs, but I think he could get in.</p>

<p>Boston College was my first thought too when you said premed and business...I don't know if they have some sort of program there for premed, but the science departments are very good and they have a nice business school. However, BC is a bit of a reach. As other posters have said, Northeastern (my second thought) has top ranked pharmaceutical and business programs, and I think he could get in with those stats. Boston University is just a really great school. I toured it, and although I don't plan to apply, it has many great options and provides excellent services for its students.</p>

<p>After running a search on schools in MA, there were 2 schools that stood out as possibilities. First, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, as a safety. I don't know much about this school, but it turned up and it seems like he'd get in. The website is <a href="http://www.mcphs.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.mcphs.edu&lt;/a>. Definitely check out the website before going, as I can't say what you will think of its offerings...</p>

<p>And second, a match school of interest: Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Offers premed and other pre-professionals as majors, and has a good business program, giving him options of what he wants to study. His SAT scores fall in the range, and his GPA matches up, so I think he would get in, but it isn't garuanteed, making it a nice match school.</p>

<p>I'm not sure where Worcester is in terms of Massachusetts...as I recall, it's about 20 miles outside of Boston or so? It's a small state, so it can't be THAT far. What I do remember is on the plane ride on my trip to Boston (to look at BU and other schools) I sat next to somebody on the plane who was going to attend Worcester Poly. She was very excited, though I'd never heard of it.</p>

<p>Oddly enough, it is a highly rated and well respected school that people don't talk about that much...it's #53 in the US News and World Report (whatever that's worth), tying with George Washington University. I think it would be a good school with a lot to offer this guy.</p>

<p>Collegeboard lists it as being in a "small city" in a suburban environment, so it won't be too drastic a change. It's a smaller school, at just under 3,000 undergraduate: not too big but also not too small. If you want more info, their website is <a href="http://www.wpi.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.wpi.edu&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>Some other schools that turned up in a search for Northeast and Mid Atlantic states:</p>

<p>-Penn State University Park - even if he's out of state, he'd have a shot at getting in, and it has good sciences and business, plus premed. But it's a big school.
-Syracuse University - great school, great programs, but not very selective. I believe it's a mid-sized school to large size.
-George Washington University and American University are good options if he's considering the DC area. Both are mid-size, but pretty big.</p>

<p>The LAC angle is hard to work off of if he really wants to stick to business and premed...but it does sound like he's up for a larger school. Hope this helps!</p>

<p>Big Thanks confused student. Syracuse, for one, is not too far from his boarding school, so that may be an easy trip. I'm very unsure of howh PennState or GWU, but I'll take all of your suggestioins into consideration.
Thanks for all your suggestions. </p>

<p>And if we ever head to Worcester (not to far awat) do you think Clark is worth looking at?</p>

<p>Are there any other for the New York are Pennsylvania area that you'd recommend? What of these suggestions from the College Office, a flawed one at that though?</p>

<p>Georgetown
University of Richmond
University of Connecticut
Case Western
Ithaca College
Skidmore College
Hampshire College
SUNY Stony Brook & Buffalo</p>

<p>how about wesleyan?</p>

<p>
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I'm not sure where Worcester is in terms of Massachusetts...as I recall, it's about 20 miles outside of Boston or so?

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It's about an hour drive. WPI is a good school for math and science though. It's a pretty solid program.</p>

<p>If you're going to be going near Long Island, I'd definitely recommend Stony Brook.</p>

<p>Look at SUNY Binghamton as well, they have a pretty good business program, though not as strong on the sciences as Stony.</p>

<p>What about Villanova of PA</p>