Hello everyone. I am 12th grader(senior) now and am about to apply to colleges.
I have not found safety colleges yet… By safety colleges, I mean the schools that would not only accept me in, but also give me scholarships. My stats are not good nor bad. I will give you rough numbers:
gpa:3.74
sat:1450(superscre)
toefl(international):109
one ap 5
I want to go to small schools so that I may have active interaction with professors. Also, I want the school to be located in rural area not city. Thank you for reading this thread.
My dream colleges: Colgate, Wesleyan Uni, Emory, Carleton college
Match: St. Olaf, Wheaton(IL), Clark Uni, Lawrence Uni., St. John’s college, Pepperdine
Are you an International applicant since you have the TOEFL listed? If so, a safety school for International applicants are usually within their home country since scholarships either need or merit based are not guaranteed.
How much can you and your family contribute to your education for the next 4 years?
How much can your parents contribute per year? Schools aren’t safeties unless you’re sure to get in and your parents can afford to pay whatever costs remain after all guaranteed grants have been applied. If you qualify for a guaranteed full tuition grant and your parents can pay for room and board, that would be a financial safety for you.
Generally speaking, look at Sections C9-C11 of the Common Data Set for each school that you are interested in; these numbers – which are for matriculated students – should give some rough estimates about your chances for admission (and also whether you are competitive with likely merit money recipients).
Look at Albion College in Albion, Michigan; it is a liberal arts school that is generous with financial aid. Some of the other liberal arts schools in Michigan might also be affordable for you: Alma College, Adrian College, Olivet College, etc. Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee might be a good school for you to consider. Also, I second @tsbna44’s suggestion of Southern Illinois at Carbondale; here is a link to financial information for international students: https://cie.siu.edu/internationalstudents/prospective-students/undergraduate/scholarships.php.
For financial safeties, you need a low sticker price and/or guaranteed stats-based merit.
Since you like LAC’s in rural Minnesota, U of Minnesota Morris is an obvious choice. Non-resident sticker price is under $28K/year, so a relatively small merit scholarship would get you within budget. It’s a very good school with fewer than 1400 students, offering a similar experience to much more expensive private LAC’s.
For guaranteed affordability, apply to Truman State U. in Missouri. This is another public LAC with high-quality academics - larger than MN-Morris, but still only 4400 students. Your stats would qualify you for an automatic $8K/year merit scholarship. The non-resident sticker price is under $27K/year, so your cost would be under $19K/year. Again, it offers what you’re looking for - a small-ish, rural, undergraduate-focused school… and it’s guaranteed to come in under budget.
The reality is that to get a private LAC to offer you enough merit, you’re going to have to go way below your level of qualifications and apply to schools that are less selective than MN-Morris or Truman State. Certainly, apply to the kind of schools you have listed… but you can’t count on an offer you can afford, even if you get in. You’re absolutely correct that you need affordable safeties!
New College of Florida is a public university LAC you might consider. They have merit aid even for international that might make them an option and not in an urban/city setting: https://www.ncf.edu/
UMN Morris and Truman State are your best bet. They’re small, rural, and academically excellent.
Start your UMN Morris app immediately and add the merit scholarship application - I think it was due either yesterday or will be Sunday. Even without that scholarship you should be within budget.
Get those two done well and immediately.
Cornell Iowa, Gustavus Adolphus, Knox, Beloit, Augustana, Concordia Moorhead may work (although Concordia is in a city).
Seconding Albion or Alma, Southern illinois, but I’d pick UMN Morris before these two.
Are you a boy or a girl? Because Agnes Scott, (to a lesser extent Hollins if you’re academic, Sweet Briar if you like practical applications and horses) may work if you’re a girl. Asc is in a suburb, Hollins and Sweet Briar are very rural.
Are you religious? What faith tradition? Because Wheaton IL (unlike Wheaton MA) is deeply religious with strict behavior and faith requirements; Pepperdine has religious requirements, too (though not as strict as Wheaton, IL, Pepperdine takes faith seriously with mandatory chapel and a code of conduct.)