Help!

grizzly818

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Hello!
Here are some things about myself:
Grade:Highschool Junior
Cumulative gpa: 4.8
Clubs: JOI (treasurer), Organization of Latin American Students, Key Club, Future Medical Professionals (treasurer), California Scholarshup Federation, International Outreach (treasurer)
AP classes taken:
AP Bio (passed, 3)
AP World History (passed, 4)
Classes taking this year:
AP Calc, AP Physics, AP US History, AP Spanish, AP English Language (will hopefully pass them b/c the teachers are great)
SAT: I've only taken the PSAT, but I got a 1230 the first time and 1420 the second time on the new scale
Sports: Soccer, Softball (all 3 years so far)
Volunteer hours: LOTS
Class rank: Valedictorian of my class so far
Interested major: Biochemisty
Interested medical field: Pediatrics
Financial status: BROKE

Alright so my question today mostly has to do with that last category above^. I do not come from a wealthy family. Only my dad works, and I do not want to put any financial burden on my parents whatsoever. I live in Southern California, and the UC schools here are great, so I'll hopefully get in and take advantage of the in-state tuition.
I'm mostly looking into UCLA, UCI, and UCSD.
What chance do I have to get a significant (maybe full ride???) scholarship to these schools or any UC school? I plan to work during school and apply for financial aid, but getting a full ride would be amazing. I'm not good enough at sports to get in with that, so I have to rely solely on my academics. Are academic full rides even possible for these schools? Any information would help. Thank you!

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Don't discount the idea of private schools, and if you fall into any minority category then especially smaller ones where they may have scholarships especially for minorities, lower SES, first generation college student or anything else that might apply to you. I don't fall into any of those categories but my academic and extracurricular profile looked a lot like yours. I found that private schools offered me a lot more scholarship and I ended up with a full ride even including a budget for books and a free computer- which I never would have got at a state school (on the east coast). So think outside the box. I think a lot of people overlook the lesser-well known but still decent private schools as soon as they see the tuition but tbh none of my friends at my undergrad paid full tuition. Everyone had some sort of scholarship.
 
Don't discount the idea of private schools, and if you fall into any minority category then especially smaller ones where they may have scholarships especially for minorities, lower SES, first generation college student or anything else that might apply to you. I don't fall into any of those categories but my academic and extracurricular profile looked a lot like yours. I found that private schools offered me a lot more scholarship and I ended up with a full ride even including a budget for books and a free computer- which I never would have got at a state school (on the east coast). So think outside the box. I think a lot of people overlook the lesser-well known but still decent private schools as soon as they see the tuition but tbh none of my friends at my undergrad paid full tuition. Everyone had some sort of scholarship.
I've honestly never considered private schools, both in state and out, solely because of the tuition, but it's interesting that you say they might give me better scholarships. I've never heard of that before. I am Mexican and my parents were immigrants who never went to school, but I have older siblings who have already gone to universities and graduated. This along with my grades should help if I'm applying to a private school right? Thank you for the reply! I think I'll look into USC now that I know this.
 
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I got an academic scholarship from an elite private school, and your grades and stats are probably better than mine were. My nephew goes to one of the most expensive fancy liberal arts schools and got a true full ride. The money he saved allowed him to afford to do a semester abroad, and take crazy trips. He’s taken vacations i want to take!


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Il Destriero
 
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I got an academic scholarship from an elite private school, and your grades and stats are probably better than mine were. My nephew goes to one of the most expensive fancy liberal arts schools and got a true full ride. The money he saved allowed him to afford to do a semester abroad, and take crazy trips. He’s taken vacations i want to take!


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Il Destriero
Do you think private schools have a better reputation/ are more likely to get me into a good med school? Is the difficulty more or less the same?
 
I've honestly never considered private schools, both in state and out, solely because of the tuition, but it's interesting that you say they might give me better scholarships. I've never heard of that before. I am Mexican and my parents were immigrants who never went to school, but I have older siblings who have already gone to universities and graduated. This along with my grades should help if I'm applying to a private school right? Thank you for the reply! I think I'll look into USC now that I know this.
Yes I DEFINITELY think these things would help you and looking to keep costs low is a smart route to take - for the purposes of attending med school you should get out of undergrad with as absolutely little debt as possible because you will accrue debt in med school. I can't speak directly to the reputation of the private schools when it comes to med schools since I did not go the med school route- but I do have several good friends who got into good med schools and have great jobs in their specialties of choice now, and my private school was tiny and not well-known outside of my small state. My friends did well on the MCAT and had interesting clinical experiences during the summers which I think mattered for them.
 
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