Adding a few more Saftey/Target schools?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hi! I'm a senior, trying to finalize my college list. I'm afraid my list is a bit imbalanced, and am looking to add 1-2 more safety or target schools. I live in Ohio, and have only visited Ohio State, but have tried to research as much as I can online.</p>

<p>Want- No more than 6 hrs away from home, Strong Academic Atmosphere (but not overly competitive), Medium-ish, diversity, and good Engineering program </p>

<p>Also- family income is 65k, will need good financial aid and some merit aid</p>

<p>My stats-
Weighted GPA: 4.41
Rank: 4/450 or top 1%
Unweighted: 3.96
SAT: 2200
ACT: 33
Scored 5 on 6 APs, and 4 on 1.</p>

<p>Here is my list currently:
Ohio State University- Columbus (EA)
Case Western University (EA)
Northwestern University (RD)
University of Notre Dame- (RD)
University of Pennsylvania(RD)</p>

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<p>What about Miami? Or any of the other OH public Us? </p>

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<p>“No more than 6 hrs away from home”</p>

<p>How important is this requirement? You’d be missing out on some great engineering programs, with potential scholarships and/or good financial aid for your income level.</p>

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<p>@Erin’s Dad- I am considering Miami, as I qualify their full tuition merit scholarship. However, a few “cons” are the lack of diversity, and according to their net price calc- I would have to pay 25 k (if no merit scholarship).</p>

<p>@Liliana330- If the school fits me in most to all other aspects, I would definitely consider it. </p>

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<p>@Sugoi15 Have you considered USC (California) as a possible match? The Viterbi School of Engineering’s pretty strong. Your income level would get you a LOT of financial aid (enough to cover at least all tuition in grants), if there’s no large assets involved. Run the net price calc: <a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/npc/”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/npc/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You could also apply by the Dec. 1st deadline to be considered for scholarships. These are uber competitive to get but def. worth a shot with your stats. <a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/docs/uscScholarships1516.pdf”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/docs/uscScholarships1516.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>U of Michigan has some excellent Engineering programs.</p>

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<p>University of Pittsburgh would probably give you merit money. They have rolling admissions so you would have to apply soon. </p>

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<p>You will get into Ohio State and Case with merit. You don’t need more safeties. </p>

<p>You need FinAid and have great stats. </p>

<p>You should consider
Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Johns Hopkins
Lehigh
Rochester</p>

<p>I think there are some UMichigan scholarships for Ohioans. I was talking to someone at work waiting to pay for lunch who’s son has one of these. We thought it was funny because of the rivalry</p>

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<p>WashU? Purdue?Syracuse?</p>

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<p>Lafayette College has good need based and merit aid. Also offers engineering</p>

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<p>RIT would be a safety and Syracuse and RPI a match. Many for the SUNYs provide what you want and won’t cost you an arm and a leg. UIUC and Purdue are excellent, as is Penn State, but run the net price calculators. In fact, don’t apply anywhere without running the npcs and talking to your parents about what they will contribute each year.</p>

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<p>It sounds like your family can’t much. Can they pay anything? If so, how much.</p>

<p>Your list needs to include meets-full-need schools, as well as ones that give HUGE, HUGE merit for safeties. </p>

<p>Run the NPC on Umich’s website. Also look at Iowa State. </p>

<p>Also, look at Mississippi State…may get a lot more than just tuition as an eng’g major. A few years ago, I know that they were giving R&B along with tuition for those stats and being an engineering major. don’t know if they still are.</p>

<p>The issue for safeties is this. If your family can’t pay much/anything, then just getting a full tuition scholarship will likely leave you short. A student loan won’t cover the rest. </p>

<p>Where you live isn’t great for finding huge merit, which is what you need for safeties. Safety schools are usually lousy with need based aid, so you have to look for huge merit.</p>

<p>Anyone know what the EFC would likely be with that income? I think it’s beyond Pell unless there will be more than one in college. </p>

<p>Also…do you have a non-custodial parent? If so, that could be another wrinkle. </p>

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<p>^ “Anyone know what the EFC would likely be with that income? I think it’s beyond Pell unless there will be more than one in college.” </p>

<p>I got a Pell with a similar income (it was a couple of thousands higher but w/a family of 5); it was like 700 dollars though, so not much. EFC should be around $7k</p>

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<p>Thanks for all of the suggestions! I have looked into all of the schools that everyone has recommended, and have narrowed it down to JMU, WashU, Rochester and Purdue. While JMU and WashU are definitely not safeties, their 100% need based component is appealing. However I may qualify for merit for rochester and purdue, and they are less selective. Hard to choose which to apply to b/c I feel like I could be happy at any of these schools!</p>

<p>I have run a couple of Net Price calcs. For schools that give out 100% need met, I am getting a range of $5,000-8,000 per year. For schools that dont offer 100%, I’m getting $10,000-15,000. </p>

<p>However, when I used the EFC calculator on CollegeBoard I got an EFC of FM- $2800 and IM- $4200. So I’m a bit confused as to which estimate is more accurate. Anyone have any input on this?</p>

<p>Just a few more clarifications. My family income for 2013 was $69,000. We are a family of 6, with my older brother in college currently (junior). And I have two younger sisters that will follow right after me (junior and sophomore), if that changes anything.</p>

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<p>Wash U has a terribel record when it comes to low income kids. </p>

<p>Only about 6 percent of the freshman class in recent years at Wash. U.,have received Pell grants. Either lower income kids aren’t applying, aren’t qualifying, or just aren’t being chosen.</p>

<p>We took it off our list.</p>

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<p>Net price for specific schools:
@mom2collegekids Umich: $13k, Iowa state: $15,396
Rochester - $16268
Purdue- Darn, I think I mixed up Purdue’s net price w/ a diff school— but ran it today and got $42,000.
JMU-$10,555</p>

<p>So Purdue is off the list. </p>

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<p>I take it by JMU you mean JHU, OP?</p>

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<p><<<</p>

<h1>^ “Anyone know what the EFC would likely be with that income? I think it’s beyond Pell unless there will be more than one in college.”</h1>

<p>I got a Pell with a similar income (it was a couple of thousands higher but w/a family of 5); it was like 700 dollars though, so not much. EFC should be around $7k</p>

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<p>@Lilliana330‌ </p>

<p>EFC’s that are beyond about 5800 do not get any Pell. If you got a Pell Grant for about $700, then your EFC was about $5000. Was there one in college or two?</p>

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<p>The younger siblings won’t matter right now, except for family size. Your older brother will count as 2 for one year, and then your sisters will count as 2 and 3 in college for future years. When brother graduates, your family size may decrease by one person. </p>

<p>how much Pell Grant are you showing? If your EFC is about $3500 with 2 in college, then you would get a grant of $2280</p>

<p>Are you saying that James Madison is estimating that your net-cost would be $10,500? Is that with a full tuition scholarship and a Pell Grant? Also, is that what ISU is showing (merit plus Pell)?? </p>

<p>Can you copy/paste the results.? Were there any loans in those FA pkgs?? </p>

<p>I know that Alabama would give you full tuition plus 2500 per year, plus whatever Pell Grant the other NPCs indicate.</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids Ahh just remembered. Our initial/regular EFC was about $7k, but my college did some adjusments on my FAFSA (didn’t question it, assumed it’s ok since the institution did it) to lower my FAFSA EFC; I’m assuming they only did it to save some $ themselves, since they meet need…They didn’t lower what they were charging me/the institutional EFC though. :expressionless: Only 1 in college btw</p>

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<p>If you are looking at Rochester in upper state NY, then look at Rensselaer Polytech Institute in Troy, NY. They have terrific engineering programs. My friend’s son, with similar stats as yours, received substantial merit aid from them. Their family income is twice your family income with only a younger sibling thus they did not qualify for FA. But at RPI, you may qualify for both merit & FA.</p>