<p>I have a list of six schools (two upper, two middle, and two lower in terms of my stats) that fit my criteria very comfortably. However, like many students, I'm looking for the best financial aid package possible on top of my long list of qualities. This is even more true as a low income student. With this in mind, I want to apply to more schools than that core six for safety reasons. I want to like where I go but also graduate with only a reasonable amount of debt ($25,000 or less after four years, but of course, $15,000 or less is ideal - just keep in mind that all work study and student contributions will be loans).</p>
<ol>
<li> Must be urban or within the public transportation radius of a city</li>
<li> Must have good financial aid, especially for low-income students</li>
<li> Must not be particularly Greek or exclusive group oriented</li>
</ol>
<p>Above, I listed my controverisal but true opinions of those schools. That's because I WANT you to disagree! Reading about these schools with "no" colored glasses has influenced my view of them. Tell me what's good about them, and what's good about other schools that aren't on my list.</p>
<p>By cold I mean the weather, which is only an issue because Tufts doesn’t have as much to offer as the rest of the schools. Like I said, I included my stupid but true reasons for turning down those schools. And you know, I actually do like UChicago but I’m not entirely sure I’m the kind of student they’re looking for. I’m pretty conventional. As for Brown, I’ll take a closer look. Someone did turn me onto it at one point.</p>
<p>I don’t think Stanford is in a city or has public transportation. I would also consider Macalester in St Paul MN (meets full need, though it is cold there).</p>
<p>Minnesota has very reasonable out of state tuition. I don’t know about financial aid. Washington might be worth a look too. Both are outstanding universities in attractive big cities. </p>
<p>And if you really want to look outside the box, consider McGill, Toronto and UBC.</p>
<p>Wustl is great in terms of environment, food, and dorms. St Louis is an awesome city and not much of a greek environment. You can also save about 12 grand a year being an RA there (free R&B). Don’t know anything about the rest of the schools really.</p>
<p>You need to add U Southern Calif to your list. It meets all 3 criteria.
Financial aid is among the best in the US.
If you are a NMF, and are accepted, you automatically receive a 1/2 tuition scholarship from USC for 4 years, in addition to $1000/ year from NMF. If you submit your application prior to the Dec 1 deadline, you would be considered for additional scholarships as well. You can receive financial aid in addition to the scholarships as well.
USC is one on the most ethnically diverse universities in the US.
USC is ranked #23 by USNews[ fyi]
It is no longer a college for students who value partying and having fun before learning. Those days are long gone, but you can have fun as well as get a great education at USC</p>
<p>Not sure why you’re calling Northwestern frat-ty. About 1/3 the campus is Greek. If you want to go Greek, great; if you don’t, what’s the big deal? Greeks and non-Greeks certainly socialize together. It’s not some big Great Divide where you have to be Greek or bust.</p>
<p>I second Macalester, Brown, and UChicago (but only if you have fun writing the essay). Also consider Swarthmore/Bryn Mawr/Haverford, all on a train line into Philly. Swat and HC offer no-loans packages (so you could use the low-interest loans toward your contribution); Bryn Mawr is known to be generous.</p>
<p>In my limited anecdotal experience, some people who like Yale also like Swarthmore. Other people who like Swat also like Reed and UChicago. (Not, generally, the same people in both groups.)</p>
<p>From [Project</a> on Student Debt: Home](<a href=“http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org%5DProject”>http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org), here is a list of schools with no-loans/capped-loans policies. I’ve culled it to urban areas, but you’ll have to decide yourself if low-income students are welcomed.</p>
<p>Brown - no loans; in Providence; open curriculum
Chicago - no loans; in Chicago, obviously; core curriculum
Columbia - no loans; in NYC; core curriculum
Emory - no loans; in Atlanta
Harvard - no loans; in Boston
Haverford - no loans; outside Philly
Northwestern - no loans; outside Chicago; strong Greek presence
Reed - not listed, but Pres. pledged in 2009 to cap loans at 16k over 4 years; outside Portland; relatively strict curriculum
Penn - no loans; in Philly
Rice - no loans; in Houston
Swarthmore - no loans; outside Philly; relatively loose curriculum
Tufts - no loans; kind of outside Boston
Vanderbilt - no loans; does Nashville count as urban?; strong Greek presence
Vassar - no loans; in Poughkeepsie, NY, and on train line to NYC; open curriculum
Wellesley - no loans; outside Boston
Yale - no loans; in New Haven, CT</p>
<p>33% Greek is about 15% more than I’d like to see, preferably less. I really, really don’t like the Greek atmosphere. So far, I really like the USC suggestion and I’m looking into a couple of others.</p>
<p>pm me if you have any questions about USC. And what are your very specific criteria?
full disclosure- son is a Sr at USC- on a full tuition scholarship. Was accepted at 14/15 first tier colleges, including 2 Ivy’s, and 4 from your list, so ask away.</p>
<p>@Erin’s Dad: Stanford is just outside of San Francisco, and it’s about 500 feet from Stanford’s campus to the CalTrain station (CalTrain is public transportation, that links in with BART in San Fran/Oakland/Berkeley). I’ve driven into San Fran from San Jose, and it’s pretty much suburbia the whole way (Stanford is in Palo Alto, between San Jose and San Fran).</p>
<p>If NU’s Greek atmosphere is too much for you, you DEFINITELY will not like USC.</p>
<p>What people are trying to tell you is that some places have heavily Greek atmospheres and others don’t. The % of students who are Greek doesn’t necessarily reflect that. There are schools where a good portion are Greek but Greeks don’t dominate social life and there is no great divide. There are schools where a smaller portion are Greek but Greeks dominate social life, there is much competition and elitism, etc. You cannot paint all campuses with Greek life the same way.</p>
<p>I’d actually be wary about University of Chicago. I’ve heard from a few current students that, while the students there are very intelligent, they aren’t very worldly. From what I’ve heard, race/social class relations aren’t very good. May not be a problem for you; just read more into it.</p>