<p>I'm a high school senior applying to colleges for undergrad. I'm certain that I want to go to medical school afterwards.
Schools on my list:
UChicago (already applied EA)
U Maryland CP (already applied priority deadline)
Duke (RD)
Rice (RD)</p>
<p>Soo... as you can see I don't really have many in mind. A lot of my friends have already applied to as many as 20 schools.</p>
<p>The thing is, I would LOVE to go to UChicago, Duke, or Rice, because they're all outstanding research universities. However, they're among some of the most expensive schools...
My parents together make nearly 200k/year, and they do have a large amount of money saved up in the bank right now... but 1) our house, bought in 2007, was 700k, so they'll be paying a lot of money in mortgage for the rest of their lives, and 2) the money they've saved up in the bank is for their retirement, and I don't want to take too much away.
So really, even though I might be considered financially well off, I don't have much money to pay for 4 years at a school like UChicago, Duke, or Rice, and then another 4 years of medical school.</p>
<p>What are some schools that can prepare me very well for medical school (i.e. strong biomed department, research university) that won't cost too much?</p>
<p>I realize that UMCP is a great state school, but it's my last resort. I really don't want to go there.</p>
<p>My parents together make nearly 200k/year, and they do have a large amount of money saved up in the bank right now… but 1) our house, bought in 2007, was 700k, so they’ll be paying a lot of money in mortgage for the rest of their lives, and 2) the money they’ve saved up in the bank is for their retirement, and I don’t want to take too much away.</p>
<p>You’re not going to qualify for need-based aid, so you better find out from your parents how much they’ll spend each year.</p>
<p>Since you don’t want to go to UM-CP, then you better quickly find some financial safeties that you like because if your parents won’t pay for UChi, Rice, etc, then those won’t be affordable. </p>
<p>BTW…many school’s scholarship deadlines are approaching.</p>
<p>What are your test scores and GPA?</p>
<p>Any good school is fine for pre-med students.</p>
<p>Wait and see what kind of financial aid/merit aid offers you receive, and consider applying for all possible scholarships. As a potential pre-med, your grades and test scores are already likely very good, and you may get more awards than you think. </p>
<p>It is wise to plan for a long educational haul with a lot of expenses if you are considering medical school. At about 50K a year, over 8 years = about 400 thousand dollars for private undergrad (room, board, travel books, maybe even a gap or post-bac year added to that) and medical school. Average debt for medical graduates is over 100K.</p>
<p>It’s not that I don’t like UMCP itself… but it’s very close to where my parents live (a little too close) and a lot of the people I know will be going there, and I just want to go somewhere completely new and have a fresh start.</p>
<p>Do you have any suggestions as to specific schools that I might want to look into?</p>
<p>Have your parents told you what they can contribute? Remember also that medical school is expensive; you may want to ask your parents whether they will contribute the remainder to medical school if you choose a below-budget undergraduate school.</p>
<p>UMCP lists $23,094 in-state. There are a few schools that are cheaper (even for out-of-state) like Wyoming and South Dakota State.</p>
<p>Of the schools which attract “good” students but have relatively low list prices, you may want to look at this list:</p>
<p>Do you have any suggestions as to specific schools that I might want to look into?</p>
<p>Right now it’s mid November. It’s too late just to be “looking into schools” without needed info since NOW is the time to be submitting apps if MERIT scholarships are needed. </p>
<p>Ask your parents how much they’ll spend each year. You NEED this info. If their position is that they’ll only pay the equivalent of UM-CP (or even less!), then you need to QUICKLY get a list of schools that will be affordable to you. If your parents cannot pay $55k+ per year, then Duke, Rice, and UChi will NOT work out since those schools will expect your parents to pay full freight. </p>
<p>If you don’t want to go to UM-CP, and since you WILL NOT qualify for any need-based aid, then you need to QUICKLY apply to schools that will give you good-sized merit for your stats. </p>
<p>Right now, the schools that give good-sized merit have approaching deadlines…many schools’ scholarship deadlines are Dec 1. </p>
<p>If your parents won’t pay the $55k per year for OTHER schools, and you don’t want to go to UM-CP, then you’d best quickly get some apps in to schools that will give you large scholarships for your stats. Otherwise, it will be UM-CP for you.</p>
<p>What is your GPA and test scores (include SAT breakdown)?</p>
<p>I agree that we need to know your test scores and GPA to offer much in advice - and I agree that you need to be acting quickly.</p>
<p>Two I can think of to apply to right now would be Pittsburgh and Case Western. This assumes your stats are good enough to qualify for merit aid at these places.</p>
<p>If your scores are very good you might also qualify for merit aid at U Rochester.</p>
<p>There are smaller schools where you could get decent merit aid, but they aren’t research Us.</p>
<p>No matter where you choose, try to stay in the top 25% stats-wise since you’re going pre-med. Those stats won’t ensure you do well as they don’t measure work ethic, but, in general, they do mean you’ve got a decent foundation to be able to do well in pre-med.</p>
<p>Although we may not have the entire story, it sounds like your family is rather house-poor. By conservative lending criteria, you could afford perhaps a $500K house (at 20% down + a loan of 2.5X annual income). Instead you bought a $700K house. The difference represents the cost of the expensive, private school education you think you want. Colleges will not provide need-based aid to cover that difference. </p>
<p>So unless your family downsizes (which I don’t recommend you suggest), then schools like Rice, Duke or Chicago may be completely unaffordable. Pay attention to m2ck’s advice. Move out quickly to apply to schools with guaranteed large merit aid for your stats, or to other less expensive schools. UMCP is not your only good public option in MD. Check out UMBC or St. Mary’s College of MD (your state’s public “honors college”).</p>
<p>Many, many schools can prepare you for med school. You do not need to attend an expensive, highly selective research university to get in. You do need good grades and MCAT scores. You won’t be prepared at all if you cannot afford the high costs to complete med school.</p>
<p>Do search here on pre-med or medical school to get lots of advice on picking the right undergrad school. The bottom line is that any reputable school can prepare you sufficiently for the MCAT - so the goal is to emerge with as little debt as possible. There are very few ways to get through medical school without paying the $160-$300k that 4 years of tuition and living expenses cost (and then you have years of low paid residency!) </p>
<p>I would also suggest that you take a look at some LACs in the ‘match category’, which tend to have smaller classes and a more cooperative environment. Weeder classes at larger schools can be brutal to pre-meds. And you’ll get to know your profs well - which is important for that committee letter from your school to the med schools.</p>
<p>Your instate med school (in Baltimore) is highly regarded and half the cost of most privates, so that’s good news - just make sure you preserve your in-state residency: register to vote in MD, keep you car registered in MD, pay in-state taxes (or at least file a return even if you don’t earn much), etc…You don’t want to end up ‘homeless’ from a resident-status point of view (because going to school out of state does not make you a resident of that state.)</p>
<p>Why not UM-BC? or, still in-state, not too horrible, and likely to be far enough from home, Salisbury?</p>
<p>Talk the money situation over with your parents. If you go somewhere less expensive for your undergrad, will they be able to help pay for med school?</p>
<p>If your goal is medical school, you should go to the lowest-cost college that offers the required pre-med courses. If you have the financial means and want to go to a more prestigious place, by all means do so, but understand that you will not be enhancing your medical school prospects by doing so.</p>
<p>a. Should graduate with a bachelor’s degree, preferably with at least some BCPM courses taken at a four year school (medical schools supposedly dislike taking all of one’s BCPM courses at community colleges, even though the specified pre-med BCPM courses are generally all available at community colleges).</p>
<p>b. Consider availability of pre-med extracurriculars and related research opportunities.</p>
<p>c. Consider grade inflation relative to student competitiveness.</p>
<p>Agree with everyone telling you to reconsider UMCP for pre-med. It is probably the best low cost option available to you. Assuming you have strong grades/SATs, another option may be to apply to other large state schools like Ohio State. OSU in particular will often give good students in-state tuition rates via Buckeye scholarships.</p>
<p>^^ Indeed, as more and more OOS students taking advantage of “National Buckeye Scholarship,” student body as a whole continues to diversity at tOSU.</p>
<p>Scholarships</p>
<p>[Scholarships[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Geographic diversity (autumn 2012)
Ohio State enrolls students from every state and territory. States with the highest enrollment:</p>
<p>500+: Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, New York, Michigan
300 – 499: New Jersey, Texas, Maryland, Virginia
100 – 299: Florida, Indiana, Georgia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Kentucky, Connecticut, Minnesota, Tennessee, Washington, Missouri, Utah, Arizona
50 – 99: Colorado, West Virginia, South Carolina</p>
<p>Out-of-state students up at Ohio State 11/9/2012</p>
<p>Agree with everyone telling you to reconsider UMCP for pre-med</p>
<p>Yes, but only if the parents will agree to pay the $23k+ per year to go there. At this point, we don’t know how much his over-extended family will pay. Over the years, I’ve known many families like this that are nervous about committing to $80k for college when their own financial obligations are taking most/all of their take home income.</p>
<p>But, since the OP feels strongly against attending the “local flagship” because it’s too close to home, then he should consider where his stats would have a similar price.</p>
<p>Also, we don’t know if the parents would expect him to commute to UM…and will only pay THAT much. If so, that will impact the size of scholarships that he’d need elsewhere.</p>
<p>*Now my superscore is 770 math, 730 writing, 670 reading. It’s not too big of an improvement, but it’s still better. Does this improve my chances a bit?</p>
<p>I think I have a chance at UChicago (hopefully) because I think they’ll like my essays… but I think my SAT score is still too low for Duke, and Rice too.</p>
<p>Should I take it again in December? I don’t have time to study/take practice tests though, so the only way my score will go up is by chance. But I think scoring 20 points higher one section is doable, and I think a 2200 looks a LOT better than 2180 even though its 20 points.*</p>
<p>Your scores aren’t high enough for merit at Duke, Rice or UChi, so you will be expected to pay all costs.</p>
<p>If your math + CR is at least a 1400, and you have at least a 3.5 GPA, then Alabama would give you free tuition if you apply before Dec 1…remaining costs would be less than $15k per year (even less if non-honors housing is selected).</p>
<p>^ Holy Cross costs ~$56K/year. HC will not provide n-b aid to a family with nearly $200K/year income living in a $700K house. HC does provide a few merit scholarships (to 6 freshmen in 2011-12, averaging $30,190 each, so if you got the average award you’d still be paying significantly more than UMCP rates).</p>