Hi.
I am a rising senior and I’m unsure of where I want to apply. I’m from Florida and I have good stats, I just don’t know which schools I would be able to get into. I want to go out of state, preferably up north (Boston maybe). Also, I have looked at a few schools in North Carolina as well as Dartmouth, but I know that one would be a big reach. I already know I will be applying to UF and FSU. Any other recommendations?
Stats:
Class Rank: 39/902 - top 5%
SAT: 1480 but I’m taking it again so hopefully in the 1500 range
GPA: 3.84 unweighted and 5.23 weighted
Over 100 service hours. I have worked a total of two jobs throughout my high school career, one I am currently still employed at. I started a club that helps students at our school find jobs, and I am in National honor society. I am also in a couple clubs, one where we went on a mission trip to Puerto Rico. I have a pretty strong essay as well and participated in other extracurriculars here and there. I also take dual enrollment classes at the local college and will have a total of 15 AP credits at the end of my senior year. In florida, we also have this thing called an AICE Diploma and AICE classes, which are weighted higher than honors classes. I have my diploma and have taken 9 of those classes too.
Also, I tutored students throughout high school in SAT and other subjects when they needed.
Financial considerations do matter, but my counselor told me to find a list first, then worry about that. I don’t think I would qualify for financial aid, and I don’t want to go into more than 30k debt at the end of 4 years. I was hoping on using scholarships to help a little as well. Again, a lot of this is very loose - sorry.
The reason that I ask about budget is partly that you have very good public universities in Florida, and partly that there are a huge number of universities for you to consider if you were okay with paying somewhat more than $300,000 over four years. You could probably get merit aid at some universities up here (UVM and U.Maine come to mind) that might get the price quite a bit lower than that.
I agree that you are best off avoiding debt. I have one daughter who graduated a couple of years ago with no debt, and is currently very glad that she has no debt – it has opened up opportunities that would otherwise not pay well enough but that are great stepping stones for her.
What you want in a university is also very important. Again, there are a huge number of schools to choose from given your very good stats.
I suggest building a list taking cost into account from the start. The list of prestigious colleges you might end up with following your counselor’s advice aren’t likely to work out for you. They don’t give much if any merit aid, they don’t need to pay students to want to attend instead of some other college. So the time spent on researching them will have been wasted.
You ought to sit down with your parents and figure out what they can realistically afford to pay. Add in some earnings from you working and the $7K/yr you are willing to take in loans and that is your budget. Then you need to find colleges that cost that amount after any merit awards if available.
With your parents, run the net price calculator on the web site of each college you are considering to see if it is likely to be affordable.
If it is not affordable based on need-based financial aid or scholarships that are assured for the stats that you have (i.e. not competitive), then move the college into the “reach” category because competitive scholarships are probably reaches. (Some colleges offer no merit scholarships, so they would be “out of reach” if they are not affordable on need-based financial aid.)
How would you feel if you found a school that is perfect. You love everything about it. You apply and are accepted. You ask your parents to send in the deposit. You’re all set. Their reply is “we can’t afford to send you there”. I don’t think that would go well.
If you won’t get financial aid and you need a scholarship to attend, it’s a reach school no matter what.
Some schools list merit on their website and/or in the NPC. Enter your financial info, GPA, and test scores and it lists scholarships and COA. These schools are great if you’re merit shopping. WVU has a chart. I’m sure some of the other schools from Alabama, Arizona, etc have similar. Search the school’s website or use Google.
Other schools offer merit but it’s competitive and holistic. You might get nothing, something or a full-ride (rare) but there’s no set formula. Any school like this is a reach unless you’re full-pay. For S20 these were most of his schools after applying to 2-3 safeties. It was wide mix of results from deferral to two very nice offers from private schools.
Other schools only give FA based on need like the Ivies. No merit. If you need merit to attend don’t bother with these.
You and your parents should also fill-out FAFSA to get your EFC to get an exact idea of what you might be expected to pay. If you’re not sure about a school just ask the CC community.
You’re lucky to live in Florida. Great schools that are very cheap. I saw UF moved up in the rankings. Being able to graduate debt free would be awesome, especially if you’re considering poly sci or law school. Good luck.
I know that ivy schools don’t give merit aid. I also plan on filling out FAFSA when it is released on 10/1. I’ve been running Net Price Calculators for a few schools as well.
I know that UF/FSU/UCF are all great schools, and I am applying to all of them. I just wanted to add a couple more colleges to my list as I am also interested in going out of state. It’s just a matter of finding those schools in my price range as well as deciding which are best for me.
What have your parents (or whoever it is who is helping you pay for your education) told you that your budget is? If you can give us that figure, we might have better ideas for you.
You have your safeties in state (certainly you’ll be admitted to at least one and likely all three). From there I would build two lists based on your interests (fit). One of them would be OOS schools you would likely receive merit aid to lower overall cost. You can google schools that give merit aid to start looking. And once that’s done, no harm in going scholarship hunting at a higher tier with the understanding that scholarships are very competitive and that you can’t attend without . I would probably limit that list to five schools.
Has your counselor ever bought a car or a house? Do you think they visited luxury car dealerships or asked their real estate agent to show them expensive houses with zero thought about their budget? That’s not how people do business.
If you’re happy to attend college in FL then take your counselor’s advice and ignore costs. If you’d like affordable options you should ask your parents what your budget is.