Hello CC members,
My daughter is Junior now and her interest seems to me in Biology/medicine/research.
Can you suggest good colleges to pursue her education in that field.
Thanks
What can you pay for college? Do you qualify for financial aid? What are your student’s grades and course rigor like?
I will begin by suggesting your instate schools.
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I dont think I qualify for financial, Grades are pretty good, course rigor is good too, although I dont have the specifics
we prefer NJ,NY,CT,PA,NY,MD, maybe Boston area too.
Like @twogirls asked:
What’s your budget and home state?
Home state is NJ, Budget I dont know, I think my child can get scholarships based on her academics
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This is a very open-ended question. For some (especially a lot of people on this website), “good” might mean the top of the top, as in JHU, WashU, or Duke. For others, it means competitive publics like Rutgers. For others, it could be something entirely different. You’re not gonna get much useful feedback if you don’t provide more context. I’d suggest creating a full Match Me thread with all your child’s stats and extracurriculars and such if you feel comfortable and want the best feedback possible.
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For medical school two things really matter a lot: GPA and MCAT score. Also state of residence (for state schools). Everything else is secondary.
So staying out of debt and graduating with a high of GPA as possible is ideal. Med school adcoms don’t give you a break for attending a hard school, or doing a more difficult major. A 4.0 from state U is better than 3.0 from MIT. Big state universities can be hard to get good letters.
TCNJ is a great school, sends lot of students to medical school.
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Merit scholarships are not that easy to get. My kids (#5 and #10 in their classes, high ACT scores, 1 B freshman year, mostly honors/AP) received merit to go to OOS publics, but it still was around $35,000 - $40,000 a year. They received $0 from Rutgers. The northeast has some of the highest tuition unfortunately.
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MCAT test come later on after undergraduate right, ?, but to get there which colleges we should try to major in biology or related subjects ( and I dont know what other major should we consider other than biology) . I never thought TCNJ was great compared to Rutgers and the likes.
It’s crucial to determine this. In fact, it should be the starting point of your college search.
I agree with the suggestion to target in state public schools in NJ. They’ll be the most cost effective, if your daughter potentially has med school in her future.
Out of state public schools in the areas you’ve mentioned are going to be expensive and merit aid is hard to come by. And the name brand private schools (like the Ivys) don’t provide merit scholarships at all.
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Thanks for the feedback
JHU can be an option if she can get in, but as a dad I am more looking for Rutgers like schools that can fit my budget
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If they are considering becoming an MD, many many places in the country provide good premed education and have premed advisors to help. Premed is not a major typically—just a list of requirements for med school entry and to prepare for the MCAt(entry test taken junior or senior yr in college).
To keep MD possibility greatest, the student should attend a college that has the above plus a place where that student is likely to be in the top25% academically compared to the other students. This can be hard to figure out and people will disagree with me but I recommend using scores as a good starting point to see where they naturally fall.
For example: kid scores 96th%ile on psat and then SAT (1440 ish). Aim for a college that in the CDS from 2019/20(pre test optional) had the 75th%ile around there, setting your kid up to have a good chance to be in the top25%. Now not all are premeds, and potential to study hard in stem classes and do well is not directly linked to SAT, but its a start. If your kid tends to out-perform their SAT score and is very studious and disciplined, then picking a college with the pre-TO 50th %ile would also work well.
So for a >99th%ile kid in all aspects plus a disciplined studier then they can likely thrive in any college and end up in the top 25%.
This all assumes cost doesnt matter! Other posters will comment on that.
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She might get in, but can you afford to pay $86k per year (expect 3-4% increases each year)?
Do you want to pay $360k+ for undergrad when there’s $400-500k additional cost of med school?
I’m asking since you haven’t determined your budget. If you have and are comfortable with the cost, then it’s certainly fine to include JHU on your list.
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Probably the cheapest school where you can get the best grades.
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You can be any major with premed as long as you take the required courses. Rutgers and TCNJ are fine options. The SUNY schools will price match Rutgers.
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Agree with what you are saying. Some schools also grade harder than others or have too many pre-med students. For OP, schools like MIT, Cal Tech, U Chicago, and Hopkins don’t fit that criteria.
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Fortunately all NJ public universities send graduates to med school every year so any she likes can get her there. Rowan has 2 medical schools and is building a vet school so their sciences should be solid. Run the net price calculator for every school you’re considering if you don’t like the price of a meets needs only school like JHU then those should come off the list and redirect to good merit potential schools like UofDE or Drew. Perhaps visit some different sizes/types to see what your child likes. Med prerequisites can be taken at nearly any university.
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You might want to consider Pitt for three reasons
- the give merit to OOS students which helps with the cost
- they have excellent research opportunities especially in medical/clinical areas
- they have a guaranteed admit program for med school. Guaranteed Admission Program | Office of Admissions & Financial Aid
Other schools have similar dual degree BS/MD programs. Seton Hall comes to mind and they are affiliated with Hackensack Meridian which is a top NJ area hospital.
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