I’m a senior (female) from RI and I’m trying to decide which of the above schools I should attend next year. The college application/admission process has been super screwed up for me. I applied ED at Northeastern, my dream school, and was accepted. In late December my parents began to worry about whether or not it would work out financially. I received financial aid but no merit aid (my transcript has a couple rough patches, but my ECs, SATs, eassat and recs were strong enough that I got in. Northeastern decides merit aid based solely on GPA, however). Ultimately, my parents pulled me from the ED agreement in early January. By this point, the deadlines for my other top schools had passed and the only ones I had submitted applications for were my other safeties (Emmanuel, URI, UNH, UMass Amherst, UMass Dartmouth) So now, these are my options. I’m a dedicated student who has gotten only 4s and 5s on AP Exams, my combined SAT was 2310, I’ve competed in the National Science Olympiad competition every year of high school, I am a presidential scholar nominee, and I have over 600 hours of volunteer service – as you can imagine, none of these schools feel like a great fit for me. I don’t think I will be challenged enough or have access to the opportunities I am looking for. I am going to major in Biology and focus on pre-Med. I am planning to go to medical school as soon as I’ve finished my undergrad degree.
I’m wondering if anyone has experience with any of these schools and can offer some insight as to which might be my best option. The only one I have not been accepted into yet is UMass Amherst but given my application, I am not worried. The only question is how much merit aid they will give me and if I will get into their honors program. All of the other schools have given me merit aid (Emmanuel-$17,000/yr, URI-$5000/yr, UMass Dartmouth-$6500/yr, UNH-$6000/yr). I also got into the Honors Program at both Emmanuel and URI. Right now, I am leaning towards Emmanuel or UMass Amherst. I really need to leave RI and have an experience that is fully my own (many family members have/are attending URI), so URI is my least favorite option. The only reason I would consider it is the junior year med program they have with Brown, which I think I could get into. I love Boston (large part of why Northeastern was a great fit for me) so I love the location of Emmanuel. The boy/girl ratio at Emmanuel doesn’t look good, from what I’ve heard, and I worry that the academics won’t be challenging enough. I haven’t toured UMass Amherst yet, but I know many people who go there and I worry about alcohol use. I’d rather not go to UNH if I can avoid it bc I want an urban campus and it’s also a little further from home than I’d like to go. I’ve basically ruled out UMass Dartmouth bc I’ve heard UMass Amherst is a better school and the two are financially comparable.
Money is a big part of the decision - hence the reason my parents went back on Northeastern. I want to minimize the amount of money I have to borrow, but I don’t want to completely sacrifice my college experience. I’ve submitted FAFSA, but I don’t know how much need-based aid I’ll get from any of these schools yet. If it helps for comparison, Northeastern was going to give me $18,000 a year in need-based aid. I know with Med school on the horizon I should be careful about how much undergrad debt I end up with, but I also don’t want to risk not getting into a med or MD/PhD program bc of the school I went to.
So I know that was really long, but I guess I’m just wondering what people’s thoughts are and if anyone has any info to offer about any of these schools (specifically Emmanuel and UMass Amherst, and the honors programs at both) I’d super grateful!
