<p>I'm a Junior in Texas and I'm very frustrated with how my college search is going! I've been looking since my Sophomore and Ive no luck. I would rather go to an out of state school.
The perfect school would be in a great location for outdoors people while not being far from a city, medium-sized student body (12000- ish students), while still having the activities of a larger school and good academics, also!
Im not totally sure of what I want as a career but I would not 'work,' but rather do what I love everyday and I MUST have travel in my life. Scenic locations rather than city-travel. </p>
<p>HELP WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED! Thanks.</p>
<p>P.S. Im a top student in my school and would prefer an academically acceptable school.
THANKS AGAIN!</p>
<p>How much money have your parents told you that they are ready, willing, and able to pay each year? Will they pay for an extra semester or extra year if your program requires more time? What have they said to you about working during the summers and school year, and what do they think about student loans. Notice a theme here? The simple fact is that until you know about the money, you can’t begin this process.</p>
<p>To jump-start the discussion, run the college-matching search engines for your major, GPA, and test scores. Pick two or three names off that list, and pick one Texas public U. Then sit your parents down and run the Net Price Calculator at each institution’s website. When you know what the different places expect your family to pay, your family will be able to define some parameters for affordability. If nothing is affordable, point your parents to the Fin Aid Forum and send them there for good advice.</p>
<p>I would be relying a lot on scholarships and financial aid! My parents would only be able to pay minimum, if that. I have a list of in-state schools that would be fine but I just need ideas of that ‘perfect school’ that I cant seem to find. Just to keep my options open!</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply!</p>
<p>There are no perfect schools. You need to get that out of your mind. A good match is a school that will challenge you and not leave you in debt. What are your stats?</p>
<p>College Board, Princeton Review, and this site all have college finders where you put in your information - financial, grades, majors, test scores, locations, and they create a list of colleges to start with.</p>
<p>But DON’T fall into the trap of saying “I don’t care about debt, I wanna go to ___”. There’s a lot of stuff all of us want, but don’t get because it’s a financially poor decision.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>