<p>before i needed help narrowing down my list, so i got rid of all the ones that looked way too unaffordable based on npc calculations. but now i feel my current list is too short: </p>
<p>-barnard (ED)
-scripps
-occidental
-st. louis university
-missouri state
-truman state
-mizzou</p>
<p>barnard has the best financial aid and it's the only school that actually makes me excited/happy at the thought of going there—i love everything about it. the thought of not getting in makes me nauseous, but i know it's a possibility i have to deal with since it's so selective. </p>
<p>i also had schools like boston college, chapel hill, and lehigh, but even though their EFCs were okay, their aid generally includes way too much in loans. i also really, really loved mount holyoke + it had awesome aid, but even though it's in a consortium it seems way too isolated—i can't do a single sex environment. even though they're women's colleges, barnard has columbia and scripps has the claremont consortium. </p>
<p>my GPA is 3.99 right now but it's definitely gonna be higher after this quarter/semester. at my school an A+ is a 4.33 even in regular classes, so i don't think we have unweighted GPAs. if we do, my counselor said not to worry about/include it. my ACT is 30 but i'm retaking next month. </p>
<p>i really think i need one more non-state school. or is the list okay as is? any suggestions??</p>
<p>Go to the Financial Aid forum and look at the Guaranteed Merit Aid threads. There will be some schools that will provide you some good $. See if any of those excite you.</p>
<p>Agree Holy Cross is need-blind-meets 100% demonstrated financial aid. HC(DON’T HAVE to be religious) has nice campus 1 hour from Boston. HC rated 25th in recent US News liberal arts category. HC website very informative.</p>
<p>In that geographic region are the University of Tulsa and Drake, but you might want to look at SEMO as well…You could easily qualify for a full tuition scholarship there as well as at Lindenwood. I know they aren’t big name schools, but I tend to place a lot of value on loan free degrees for a Bachelors degree. There are definitely others on the discussion boards who disagree but as a dad of a soon to be Freshman, I worry about him graduating with all that debt.</p>
<p>Tulsa is absolutely gorgeous as a campus. Drake is small but respected. SEMO offers amazing scholarship money as does Lindenwood which is an interesting school because they are entirely a teaching institution…they dont spend a lot of effort on things like professors who only do research…so the teachers there tend to be focused on being good teachers first and foremost.</p>
<p>almost forgot about this thread! thanks for the replies, everyone. </p>
<p>i looked into bryn mawr, and i like it a lot. it seems kind of isolated, though…but not as much as mt holyoke. i’ll look into it more. i like the sort of “consortium” it has. brandeis just doesn’t appeal to me at all; i was really looked into it a while back. holy cross seems like a rich kid school to me, plus their NPC calculation for me wasn’t looking really good. richmond seems too greek. </p>
<p>drake’s location really put me off. it’s not really diverse, either. i really want to go to a diverse school i’m gonna look more into tulsa, though…it seems nice. its financial aid doesn’t look too good, but i’m starting to like it. even though i really wanted to get out of the midwest, it might be a nice option. </p>
<p>now i’m kind of worried about applying ED to barnard…i really, really love barnard and everything and it would be such an incredible honor to be accepted and attend, and i REALLY want an admissions decision sooner than later because i can’t take this waiting game, but i also really like scripps. not as much as barnard because i really love the northeast, for one, and it’s closer to home, but i don’t know. and i could actually end up loving bryn mawr if i got in. this is so difficult!!! i feel like i should just put everything into barnard so if i’m rejected, i can move on. because i think i’ll probably be rejected…i don’t know</p>
i’m gonna look more into tulsa, though…it seems nice. its financial aid doesn’t look too good, but i’m starting to like it. even though i really wanted to get out of the midwest, it might be a nice option. </p>