Where should I apply?

College Search & Selection
1

Stats:

AP Tests: 3 - Chemistry; 4 - English, European History, Biology; 5 - US History
ACT: 31 first time, 32 second time
SAT: took in June, results not back yet
SAT Subject Tests: 670 - US History; 680 - Chemistry; 790 - Math II
GPA: 4.2, ranked first in class of about 300

Main Extracurricular Activities:

Competitive dance at a studio through Junior Year
Second Place at State Science Olympiad, Regional Awards
Third Place at State FCCLA
All-State Music since Freshman year, other honor bands and orchestras as well
Volunteering with rescue dogs, service dogs, Church classes, elderly book outreach – hundreds of hours overall
National Honor Society
Junior Classical League – Latin awards Freshmen and Junior year on National Latin Exam
Speech/ Debate Freshmen Year
Philanthropy and Youth, 4 years, leader Junior and Senior Year, on Leadership Team for entire organization Senior year
**May not put all in application

About me:

Live in Fargo, ND
Upper middle class Caucasian female

THE LIST

Reach Schools (and any Ivy Leagues or top ten colleges I should add?)

Notre Dame
Northwestern
Georgetown
Stanford (Maybe?)
University of Chicago

“Middle” Schools

University of Minnesota
University of Wisconsin
St. Olaf

Safety Schools

Concordia
North Dakota State University
Carroll College

I would like to get out of undergrad without much debt, as I would like to go to graduate school or medical school. However, I am likely to get little financial aid because of my parents financial status. Although I will likely not qualify for financial aid, my parents cannot afford to pay tuition that is $50,000 a year or more. I want to go to a good school, but I don’t want to end up in a ridiculous amount of debt. Is this a good list? Should I adjust it? Are the reach schools even a possibility, or should I just not apply? If I know I likely cannot go because of the financial situation, should I not apply at all?

I am really undecided and, as an upcoming senior, am trying to make decisions fast. Any advice would help. Thanks!

2

Have you run the net price calculators on your list? On each college website, they give you an idea of what you might pay – if they look unaffordable then, I would not apply. Especially your reaches, which offer no or little merit aid. UWisconsin does not seem like a good choice, you would pay out of state tuition there. Ohio State gives some merit to out of state students, it might be a better middle choice than UWisconsin.

Regarding Ivies and top 10, your scores are on the lowish side – but being from North Dakota won’t hurt. I think you have enough reaches.

How about Lawrence in Wisconsin? A little cheaper to start with and can give pretty good merit.

3

Definitely run the NPCs on each school’s web site. You may not be able to afford Carroll or Concordia which means they are not true safeties. Here are some schools with excellent merit aid which may be options:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

4

What’s your intended major

5

If you are seriously thinking of med school afterward, have you looked at some of the recent pre-med threads on here. Threads like this one?

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1903864-best-premed-colleges.html#latest

Looking at your ACT and AP test scores, I’d be wary recommending the tippy top schools. Sure, you might make it in, esp with ND adding some nice geographic diversity for the schools, but your competition is going to be fierce for getting a high GPA. That could kill your med school dreams TBH. It’s not a definite, but I’d be wary.

The fact that you need merit aid is another vote against them. Many don’t offer it.

Run the search engine on here and click the box for “likely to get significant merit aid” (or something like that - it’s been awhile since I’ve used the search engine) and see what schools come up. Read the thread above and don’t worry too much about name. Look for affordability (running Net Price Calculators) and make sure your stats tend to be in the top 10 - 25% of incoming students.

You could also put an affordable (to your parents) amount on here, your intended major or general field of study, and preferences for college type (big/small, city/rural, etc) and likely get some good options.

Juniata is a not-as-well known, but terrific little school for pre-med around here and your stats should do well. But it’s a smaller LAC and in a rural area, so might not be your cup of tea.

Temple might be an option in Philly, but it’s really urban and not everyone cares for it for that reason.

You need to let us know what you prefer.

6

Please look at Creighton. You have a shot at admission to their Honors Program, and should receive Merit aid as well.

They are terrific in Pre-med, with their own Medical School in adjacent buildings. Tons of opportunities for research, etc. Plus, you have preferential admission into their Medical School if you attend their undergraduate.

Really nice people there.

Good luck!

7

Tulane, CWRU, and URochester might all offer enough merit to be affordable. However, you’re in their middle 50 ranges, so the med school worthy GPA is still a risk.

8

@Creekland
@ColdinMinny
@tigerman333
@intparent
@“Erin’s Dad”

I am planning to major in English and making sure I fulfill all of the pre-med requisites, as I have heard that it is not essential to major in a science. I have considered going to graduate school for English and becoming an English professor, but that is a hard career path to find work in. If this seems impractical, then I would go to Med School and go on to become a psychiatrist.

I would prefer rural for a college setting, but I am afraid that the LACs I might be able to afford will limit me as they do not always have as high of a standard of education. I toured St. Olaf and fell in love with it, but I’m tentative to spend so much on an education where there is no “name brand” involved. I know that is not all that matters, but it is a factor. Realisticaly, I have been looking most seriously at U of M. I am hoping I could get into their English Honors program and get some scholarships. I don’t love that it’s in the cities or the environment in general, but it seems like a logical choice. I will definitely take a look at all of the colleges you all mentioned.

I have run the financial aid calculators. The result is usually no aid, as my parents income exceeds what It would need to be. That being said, they have money saved, but not enough for an expensive tuition.

Thanks for the help!

9

St. Olaf has a wonderful reputation, especially placing students into excellent medical schools. Believe me, you are hardly selling yourself short attending Olaf. It will be plenty challenging.

Their top scholarship is $25K. Would that work financially?

10

@ColdinMinny I have a few outside scholarships lined up, so I am hoping I can bring it closer within range. It could work, though. I’m definitely hopeful!

11

@annamatisse are those scholarships you’ve gotten for one year or all four years?

How much will your parents pay.

@ColdinMinny Undergrads don’t place students into med schools.

12

“St. Olaf has a wonderful reputation, especially placing students into excellent medical schools.”

75% placement for St. Olaf med school applicants!

13

@mom2collegekids There is one main scholarship for $5,000 that is for all four years, so that will help a lot! It is not guaranteed, but I have a very good shot at it.

14

From St. Olaf’s website


[QUOTE=""]
St. Olaf consistently prepares its students for successful application to medical school. In the past five application cycles, 68 percent of St. Olaf juniors and seniors who applied to medical school gained admission. Nationally, 46 percent of all applicants are admitted.

[/QUOTE]

That said, such stats are meaningless to any high school student. Virtually every undergrad has 3-4 times as many premeds during freshman year than what actually ends up applying.

So what is a high school senior supposed to do with any reported stat? What does it tell him about his own chances? Nothing. He’s not a college junior or senior with med-school worthy stats.

I remember at my older son’s high school graduation a student declaring that he was going to X university (small private) because they had a 90% acceptance rate to med schools. He mistakenly thought that all premeds at that school had a 90% chance. Not a chance. The school probably has 200-300 freshman premeds. By the time junior year is finished, there are probably 50-75 remaining who’ll apply to med school.

That stat means nothing to 150+ that got weeded out.

15

My nephew was well prepared for medical school and is debt free from doing his undergrad at NDSU. He was accepted into all three of the schools where he applied and he is currently doing cancer research this summer in New York.

16

It doesn’t matter much, but that 68% is, as it says, juniors and seniors; the 75% is graduates (also from the web site).

Such statistics tell college applicants something about the strengths and culture of a school, in this case that St. Olaf is better than average at producing successful medical school applicants.

17

I know 2 students who were premed at St. Olaf from D1’s HS class. One just graduated from med school. The other is a barista. It isn’t a reflection on St. Olaf – it CAN do a great job of preparing you for med school IF you are a very dedicated student to start with. Or you can get a bio degree with lower grades and be less employable… But those outcomes can happen at any of the schools on the OP’s list. It sounds like St. Olaf isn’t really affordable, though. If you want a LAC, as I suggested above, look at Lawrence. It is less expensive than St. Olaf, but still a solid LAC that can prepare you for med school if you want the LAC experience.

18

Not really. Some schools have bars which students have to jump in order to get a favorable recommendation for application to med school. Other schools will support anyone who wants to try. Usually those with higher acceptance rates are those that have high bars (must have high GPA and X MCAT score or we won’t support you). They know those students are very likely to get accepted no matter where they apply from. However, kids with lower GPAs and MCAT scores also sometimes get accepted. If you were a student in that category, your odds are better with the school that will support you rather than the school that tells you, “tough luck.” The lower level acceptance rate school is the better choice in this case.

Here’s a Facts Table for Applicants/Acceptances by MCAT (old score) and GPA:

https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/factstablea23.pdf

If you had a score of 26 and a GPA of 3.6, some schools won’t support your application. The odds of getting in are just 26.5%. They don’t want their overall odds getting hit. But a school that will still support your application will give you a 26.5% chance of getting in somewhere. 1 in 4 will make it.

Same with any other “lower than ideal” stats.

I don’t know if St Olaf has a bar or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

I do know that St Olaf has a good reputation, so am not dissing the school overall. I don’t know anyone personally who has gone to the school.

19

When I asked Admissions at Olaf 18 months ago, they told me they do not “screen” Med School applicants.

FWIW.

20

I would also add that Olaf has a very strong connection to Mayo’s Medical School. Only 45 minutes away, and they do very well placing applicants into that program, as well as the U of M.