Which Colleges Should I Apply to?

College Search & Selection
1

I am planning to apply to 12 colleges overall, and am having a hard time narrowing down my options. I live in Northern NJ and would like to say close to home( preferably 3-4 hours max unless the college has an amazing program which makes up for the difference) My current list is: Rutgers NB, TCNJ, NYU, Princeton, Columbia, UPenn, Johns Hopkins, Montclair State University, and Boston University.
I am debating options like Lehigh, Northeastern, Georgetown, Villanova, Carnegie Mellon, UConn, and Binghamton. My stats are:

Rank: #7 out of 800+ students (Top 1%)
GPA: 4.38
Test Scores
SAT: 1390 (680 math, 710 ERW), 1420(710,710)
ACT: 34(Reading 36, English 34, Math 33, and Science 31)
Subject Tests:Math 1-600, Lit-640, Bio E-690

Extracurriculars:
Book Club(President as a Junior & Senior) (Committee Chair as sophomore)
Keystone(President as Junior) (VP as Senior) (Qualified for National Conference)
HOSA(3rd in state qualifying for nationals in 10th grade,4th in state in 11th)

Student Council
NHS&WLHS
Christian Student Association
Leaders Emerging Among Peers
Gifted & Talented (President as Senior)
Performed in Asian Pacific Heritage Assembly
ERASE(End Racism and Sexism Everywhere)

Community Service: Volunteered at assisted living facility (80+ hours), Volunteer at Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp (300+ hours),Worked with Girl Rising organization (raised $1,500 during my sophomore year)

Certifications:
First Aid
CNA(Nursing Assisting-completed 40+ clinical hours at a nursing home)

Intended Major: Biology (possibly minor or double major in Public Health)
Planning to go on to medical school to become a Psychiatrist or Pediatrician
OR earn a MPH/MBA dual degree and work for a government health agency

2

“Planning to go on to medical school”

You should try not to spend all of your college $$ on undergrad. Save as much as you can for medical school.

Do you know what your budget is for the full 8 years of university (4 undergrad plus 4 med school) that is needed to get an MD?

You have some very good in-state options which are on your list, and which look pretty safe to me given your very good stats.

3

I can’t really give you an exact budget my fam makes around $90k a year I believe, but I also have a younger brother who has to get through college and relatives abroad that need financial support. Our mortgage payments take a good chunk of the income, so it’s not like we have expendable money. I would like to graduate with less than $100k or $200k at most in debt, but that sounds nearly impossible given the current situation unless I choose colleges far below my possible range.

4

Go ask your parents how much they plan to pay out of their own pockets each year for your college. Are any of the schools on your current list within a reasonable commute, and if so, would your parents cover the cost of you living at home while you attend?

The maximum you can borrow yourself will be about $28k. You’ll need either parent loans or a creditworthy cosigner for anything in excess of that.

You have good enough stats that if your parents are unable to contribute anything, you’ll still have options, but those options might not be as close to home as you’d prefer.

5

“I would like to graduate with less than $100k or $200k at most in debt”

You should try to keep your debt for undergraduate down to the Federal loan limits which comes to about $28,000 total for four years. If you can borrow less that this, then borrow less than this. Do not borrow $100,000 for a bachelor’s degree.

“unless I choose colleges far below my possible range”

Your in-state public universities are very good. Can you get into a university that is higher ranked than Rutgers? Possibly. If you want to attend medical school, is there any need to go to a university which is higher ranked than Rutgers? No, definitely not.

If you want to keep open the possibility of medical school, then you need to attend a pretty good university, but anything in the top 200 would be fine. You need to avoid drowning in debt. You need to attend a university where you can get a lot of A’s, and where you can be in the top 1/2 or preferably the top 1/4 or 1/10th of the class.

You should run the NPCs on the schools that you intend to apply to.

If you do attend Rutgers or TCNJ, and if you take pre-med classes, then the classes are going to be very academically demanding. Either school is going to be a lot harder than high school, and a lot harder than you are expecting.

6

Rankings are the worst way to choose a college. First, they’re not reliable. Second, you end up with a list of acceptances to schools you can’t afford. If you have to co-sign private loans to pay for your school, then you can’t afford it, period. If you want to go to medical school, you need to keep the debt down, because you’re going to be taking out a lot of debt in medical school. Medical schools are concerned with your individual grades and MCAT scores, not your undergraduate brand name. I would recommend going for a scholarship. This would put you one step ahead of your peers when you do go to medical school.

7

Hello, I completely understand where many who are replying are coming from specifically if I plan to go on to medical school. HOWEVER, I am also strongly debating between pursuing an MPH/MBA dual degree program. So, I do not want to leave any schools out because of financial reasons. I really hope to get into the Honors College at Rutgers NB and would be extremely happy to go there! I am not underestimating my in-state public universities, but if I am adding any colleges to my list, I would want them to be “better” than my in-state options in order to justify the extra distance/money I would be spending. Thanks a lot for your help!

8

Would love if anyone could give new suggestions for 3 more potential schools on my list or help me pick between ones I am debating. Btw, I am Indian and would love schools with a good South Asian population. A good bio program and options for a minor/double major in Public Health would be amazing!

Penn State
My problems with it: University Park is crazy big(47 k students) and all other campuses are <4k
University Park is a good 3.5 hours away and I’m not sure if Penn State is even significantly better than rutgers??
University Park and Abington
Asian 6%

Georgetown University (17%)
Definitely another reach school !!!
4.5 hours away :confused: but a good location
Supposed to be a really good pre-med program
BS in Global Health , MBA/MPP, and other interesting programs
9.5 % Asian

Carnegie Mellon (24%)
Predominantly engineering/STEM school :frowning:
I’m stronger in ELA subjects than math/non-life sciences
I’m not sure if this is the right “fit” for me
Does it have a strong bio? 39 for bio on USNews, 32 on niche
5.5 hours awayyy :frowning:
30% Asian (Like the diversity)

Northeastern University (28%)
Has public health programs! PharmD/MPH, Global Health Minor,
13% Asian

University of Rochester (34%)
Idk if I particularly like how isolated this location is :[
11% Asian (but 21% international)
MPH/MBA

Lehigh University
8% Asian

U Pittsburgh
Tons of mph programs!

Brown(Not sure if it’s worth it to add another Ivy to this list with my stats :{ )

George Washington University

Tufts
MPH/MD

9

Have you considered applying to small liberal arts colleges? Many of them have excellent Biology departments and could be strong paths to your career goals.

Some which I think might be good choices for you and which are within your geographic parameters include:
Bryn Mawr [if you are female–I am guessing you might be because of the mention of “Girl Rising”]
Haverford
Franklin & Marshall
Dickinson
McDaniel
Juniata

There is intentionally a range of selectivity in this list. You already have four schools on your list that are reach schools for everyone, namely Princeton, Columbia, UPenn, and Johns Hopkins. That 1/3rd of your planned 12 schools…and I do think you stand a chance at those schools! But realistically, some of these schools only accept 10% of applicants. It’s important to have some good more obtainable choices in the mix…particularly if you may need to compare financial aid packages. I think you would potentially get some serious merit money at a schools like McDaniel College and Juniata College, which are CTLC (Colleges That Change Lives) schools.

10

TCNJ is really the obvious choice.