@mamaedefamilia, OP doesn’t have a $5500 grant,; it’s a loan. OP said she’s had no luck finding a job, so she can’t count on earning $3k over the summer, and earning $3k over the year won’t pay the tuition in August. The family’s net cost is over $22k/year. If OP takes the federal student loan, her parents still need to come up with at least ~$17k/year.
Recommend u focus on applying to schools that are TEST OPTIONAL:
http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional
But keep in mind that there are no test optional med schools.
Note that many test optional schools are not test optional for scholarships.
@austinmshauri My bad, I knew it was a loan, I used the wrong word by mistake.
It’s not quite March, I think a job is still possible, especially during the summer if the OP keeps trying.
@mamaedefamilia Yes, for sure I will keep trying!!!
Have you been able to talk to your parents ?
OP, you sound like a very accomplished young woman who has worked hard making her community a better place, and has thought about her future. I hope that you will really think about what these posters, who have far more insight and experience than you, have said. You have been given wonderful advice about not taking on significant debt. No one who is considering post-baccalaureate professional school (Med school, dental, vet, etc) should be taking on undergraduate debt. There is too much debt associated with med school itself. I know from experience. Also, the majors that most pre-med students study (bio and chemistry) do not immediately translate into high paying jobs upon graduation, if the student does not get into med school. Especially since many students opt for a BA rather than a BS, as it’s easier to fit in all of the med school prerequisites that way.
And the path to being a practicing physician is filled with tests (MCAT, Board exams, etc) so anyone who is not a good test taker should really think about that.
There are other health care professions to consider. Nursing has many opportunities associated with it–especially Advanced Practice Nursing. The beauty of that is that a student can graduate from nursing school and get a job, paying back undergrad debt while getting necessary experience to go on to the more advanced practice degree. In my area the AP nurses are practicing in a pretty autonomous way. At least that’s the way it looks to a non-nurse.
It’s likely too late to apply to programs for the coming year, but as others have said, you can work for a year, save money and try the ACT/SAT again. It’s better to do that, than find yourself in a school that you cannot afford.
why didn’t you apply to full financial aid schools?
There are a ton of schools that had free applications and great pre med programs.
Occidental, Wooster College, Kenyon.
The only issue is your act, a 19 is very very low for good schools.
Like people here have said, med schools don’t care about your holistic application, they care about mcat, gpa, and strong ec’s.
Please study hard for it and put in more effort in becoming a good test taker, tests are the only things that matter.
Med school applicants are a 3.5 gpa and 28 mcat, on AVERAGE. 35% of students get into med school.
Understand that before you set your path on it, if you are confident in being able to make it then awesome.
Goodluck.
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why didn’t you apply to full financial aid schools?
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This is not a low income student. This is a student with a high EFC and it appears that her parents won’t pay or the student doesnt want them to pay. A full aid school would not be any help here.
@mom2collegekids I understand. She has an efc of 29k, I had an efc of 27k I went to school for 22k since the college determined that is what I should get in scholarships and grants.
I also applied to internal scholarships to no avail. It is not a ton cheaper, but 20k over 4 years is very welcome.
There are schools that would be cheaper for her IF she could get in and IF she wanted to go. She probably couldn’t get in and doesn’t want to go. She wants to go to ASU. She wants to be in Barrett Honors. Her question was why isn’t she getting scholarships and the answer is that 1) scholarships are very hard to get and 2) her test score are too low for her to be competitive for most scholarships.
And answer number 3- the kind of scholarships that OP IS qualified for are things like $250 from the local community chest for a first Gen student, and $125 from the local Red Cross chapter for a student interested in a medical career, and $50 from the Realtors Citizenship fund for a kid who “gives back” to her community.
Add those up- and you’ve got less than $500 for Freshman year AND they are not renewable- next year another Freshman gets the dough.
@appalachymom “here are other health care professions to consider. Nursing has many opportunities associated with it–especially Advanced Practice Nursing. The beauty of that is that a student can graduate from nursing school and get a job, paying back undergrad debt while getting necessary experience to go on to the more advanced practice degree. In my area the AP nurses are practicing in a pretty autonomous way. At least that’s the way it looks to a non-nurse.”
There are two major tests standing in the way here: The NCLEX and then if she becomes an NP she must take a certification test from either the ANCC or the AANP. Admittedly these are not MCAT or step tests but they are pretty challenging.
The good news for the OP is these are knowledge based tests that one can really truly prep for vs. SAT/ACT. I never did spectacularly well on either of those tests and yet graduated with a near 4.0 and aced all of my certification exams and have a great career with many, many choices.
@ToBeHonestt >>> @mom2collegekids I understand. She has an efc of 29k, I had an efc of 27k I went to school for 22k since the college determined that is what I should get in scholarships and grants.
I also applied to internal scholarships to no avail. It is not a ton cheaper, but 20k over 4 years is very welcome.
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?? Are you saying that you went to a full-need-based school with an EFC of $27k, but all your mom had to pay was $5k per year??? Are you saying that all the aid you got was need-based??? or was some merit? or talent?
EDIT: Misread the quote. Stuck comment.
Please don’t let these comments discourage you. Everyone is trying to be helpful, but only you can decide if you have the passion, drive and ability to do well in your future educational pursuits. You may end up having to take loans, but watch them carefully. My youngest daughter was not a particularly strong high school student. She had to take out loans because as a single parent with only a secretarial job, I couldn’t help her. She did exceedingly well in her undergraduate program, which led to an opening for her to work on her master’s. She finished second in her program. She then received a paid fellowship for her doctorate program, which she will be completing this year. Yes, she has about $70,000 in debt. What would the alternative have been? She loves her field of study and has a good life. It will take a long time to pay off her loans, but I am positive that it was worth every penny. Good luck in whatever path you choose.
I hate to be a spoiler here…but what university that guarantees to meet full need for all would accept a student with a 19 ACT score?
Additional comment to my post:
My daughter wasn’t eligible for need scholarships because her dad had substantial income, although he had moved on to a new family and was not willing to contribute. He did, however, co-sign for her unsubsidized student loans. She was also accepted to an honors community, but could live off-campus. It was much cheaper to rent a room in someone’s house and cook for herself (she also is a vegetarian) than to pay the school room and board. She skipped owning a car and rides a bicycle everywhere local or takes public transportation for substantial distance traveling. On the rare occasion, she will rent a ZipCar for vacation travel. Perhaps your parents would be willing to co-sign on loans for you. If you are up to the extra work, you will find the honors program stimulating. You will find that the more stimulating your environment, the easier it will be to work hard.
@mom2collegekids I got a 21k scholarship right off the bat, the school allowed it to be deducted from the self help and loan part of the expense which was 5k. Some colleges do this, some don’t. Look for the schools that give scholarship and allow it to deduct from selfhelp and loans before grants.
I believe kenyon does this as well.
^^^
Then your earlier posts don’t fit this situation You recommended schools that "meet need,"and you mentioned having a high EFC but having a low net cost… but your good situation was not because of a “meet need” school…it was because of a large merit scholarship. This student has very low test scores…won’t be getting large merit scholarships.