<p>Wanted to see if anyone had any more suggestions for matches and reach schools for my little brother a senior at a large public high school in North Carolina. He doesn't really care as far as private vs public schools. Wants to major in social sciences or maybe pre-law (history, public policy etc.)</p>
<p>SAT I: Math 740, Verbal 740, Writing 610
1480/1600, 2090/2400
SAT II: English Literature 740, Math I 750, Math II 740
UW: 3.72, W: 4.65
Class Rank 13/605, ~Top 2% of Class, Large Public HS
Junior Marshall, National Honor Society, Co-Founder and President of Young Democrats
Cross Country 10th-12th, Varsity, Captain, State Qualifier
Competitive Club Soccer 9th -12th
IB Diploma Candidate including ~250hrs of Community service
AP scores in Computer Science (1), Studio Art (2), US History (3), Calc AB (3)
SAT II Subject Scores: US History 680, Germ 420</p>
<p>Demographics: White, male, low-income, large family, older siblings graduated (UNC, Duke). Parents have little to no money to contribute maybe 5k a year? He's okay with loans to a certain extent but nothing more than 10-15k a year. EFC is very low maybe around 5k. </p>
<p>Based on these requirements are there any schools you'd recommend? For the value safety, I figured he should apply UNC. We also have Duke(reach), Emory, Davidson. What do you think his chances are of getting in? Anything in between Duke and UNC you'd recommend?</p>
<p>Safeties: Elon, Clemson, College of Charleston (good Honors College), VTech
Others in Virginia: UVA, College of William & Mary</p>
<p>What about Wake Forest? I second Vanderbilt (I talked to their admissions and he said that IB Diploma is looked at highly - although Certificate isn’t looked at as “the highest courses” available at your high school.)</p>
<p>I know IB kids who got into all the schools you listed (I’m from NC, too) and a lot probably had similar stats. A valedictorian from my IB program went to Emory to triple major (that is, dual major and second major - because Emory doesn’t allow triple major) in pre-law majors (history, anthropology?, and a third thing).</p>
<p>I think those are good safeties but I didn’t think he would have a problem instate at UNC. You think so? We thought about Wake, UVa, W&Mary but we weren’t sure the extra cost (compared to UNC’s 7k instate tution) was justified. Unless they give a lot of need aid/merit? Vanderbilt does sound like a good option. Any colleges you recommend outside of the south?</p>
<p>Take a look at Clemson! If you are in the top 10% and have an SAT score of 1370/1600, you may be eligible to receive in-state tuition rates (and you def meet these requirements).</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any questions about Clemson!</p>
<p>Looks like a strong in-state application but keep in mind that if your from a metropolitan county (i.e. one that contains Raleigh, Charlotte etc.) you’ll face more competition for UNC-CH. For a financial safety I’d recommend University of Alabama since you would get the Presidential Scholarship.
“Presidential Scholar
An out-of-state first-time freshman student who meets the December 1st scholarship priority deadline, has a 32-36 ACT or 1400-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive the value of out-of-state tuition for four years.”</p>
<p>He’s in at UNC so no need to consider safeties. I think people in NC don’t often realize how good UNC actually is (academically and socially), consider yourself very lucky to have such a great flagship in-state.</p>
<p>As for schools in between Duke and UNC - Rice, Northwestern, WashU, Cornell, UChicago. Maybe Vanderbilt or Emory (but I’d probably choose UNC-CH over Emory).</p>
<p>Wake doesn’t meet full need (yeah, they say that they do, but they package private loans into their awards). Vandy is no-loan, so that is a definite possibility for low income, but the numbers are just short of what Vandy is seeking (2100+), so a WL is a possible.</p>
<p>Legacy for Carolina is a high probability if he applies early. Duke loves ED applicants, but that is a risk for low income families.</p>
<p>“Chicago, NU, WashU, and Cornell are not an “in-between” for UNC and Duke. They’re reaches right alongside the latter.”</p>
<p>I don’t think Cornell is on Duke’s level and I stand by that but…Selectivity-wise NU Chicago and WUSTL may be near Duke and at reach level but they have much higher acceptance rates. When I applied I remember a number of my friends getting into NWestern and WUSTL and rejected (not waitlisted) at Duke. </p>
<p>I understand the desire to go “away” to college - my NC daughter had this as well - but the reality is that your brother will be very hard pressed to find a school that is the same caliber as UNC, will cost no more than UNC, and that he can get into. I think the only way it might work is to apply and hope for an admit and and a generous aid package at the 100% needs met schools, because his stats will likely not be good enough for merit money at schools regarded better than UNC. But he should probably put a few applications out there to see what happens. My suggestions would be Rice, WUSTL, Vanderbilt, maybe Northwestern. IMO he’s in easily at UNC and what a great safety to have!</p>
<p>Are there any NC state school options for a high performing applicant? In Virginia there is UVA and W&M at the tippy-top, then VTech, JMU and a host of others. What are the NC equivalents or is there such a big drop-off after UNC, that there aren’t any?</p>
<p>That’s absolutely mental. Cornell is not on Duke’s level? As if it were an inferior product? I don’t differentiate between the two in the slightest bit - each has their strengths over the other but to proclaim that they are not even on the same level? An applicant who applies to Duke is the identical applicant who applies to Cornell who applies to Northwestern who applies to UChicago. GPA, SAT, ECs - they’re all virtually identical in every way. When I applied (and was accepted to every single college you just mentioned including the one on “a higher level” mind you), five kids were accepted to Duke, one at NU, and three at UChicago. In fact, 3/5 kids in at Duke were waitlisted and one rejected from NU. My Naviance shows that Duke has the lower GPA/SAT (not a large difference though) compared to the other two schools. And do you know what? My anecdote is about as worthless as yours because you can’t extrapolate based on one anonymous high school. Any difference exists only within the confines of your head.</p>
<p>NCLittlebro - my daughter is in a very similar situation. She is instate for UNC from a large public HS wanting to major in Public Policy/history/international relations? Her stats are a bit higher but her list is</p>
<p>UNC
Duke
Davidson
Georgetown
American
Brown
Stanford
Scripps( all women)
U of Alabama(National Merit)</p>
<p>I really love Davidson for her, has your brother visited? Amazing option, but smaller than their HS’s may or may not be an issue. Good Luck in your search!</p>
<p>My family has been a couple of times. We (older brothers and sisters) all got into Davidson but before the “Davidson Trust” no-loan policy so that might change his decision. My parents having been hoping to send one of us there.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions and we’ll consider it very carefully. I think we have some great options to choose from. </p>
<p>@Highbury: not sure if you checked this out already but look into Barnard College, you daughter would probably be competitive.</p>
<p>By the way, I just wanted to clarify what I read on the other page. We, my family and brother, think UNC-CH is an awesome choice. A lot of our family from NC went there - including me. I don’t think I could have had a better experience and was very successful with later graduate admissions compared with my friends at other private schools (Davidson, Wake, Duke etc.). We are very thankful but we just wanted to consider all his options. I chose to go to UNC over some of those other schools due to a number of reasons but my brother is going to make his own choice.</p>