Hi, I’ll be a high school senior next year and am starting to try to narrow down on my college search. I mostly have high averages, none of my stats are super great, but here they are.
GPA: 3.85 (unweighted)
SAT: First time I took it I got a 1330 (660 in math, 670 in English), I haven’t got the scores from the second time yet
ACT: 28, I don’t know what happened here, I might try to take it again in the fall
EC: I’ve been on my school’s mock trial team for three years, we’ve gone to state competitions and have traveled out of state. I’ve also been in my school’s musical and fall play for two years. I played JV tennis for two years, and I’m in NHS.
So far the colleges I’ve visited have been University of Washington, Gonzaga, Washington State, Oregon State, and University of Oregon.
I live in Washington and would like to go out of state. Cost isn’t that big of a problem, but I would like to find a place that will give me scholarships.
Do you guys have any suggestions for colleges I could apply to with my stats and get in?
The University of Washington is about as good as nearly any public university west of the Mississippi. You’d pay more than double for a somewhat more prestigious state university such as UCLA or Berkeley. The out of state universities that would give you big enough scholarships to compete with UW, on price, probably wouldn’t be as strong academically (http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/). Although your stats are strong enough for many private schools, if you don’t qualify for need-based aid, again you’d pay more than double for academic quality that may not be significantly better. So, think hard about how important the out-of-state experience is to you.
If you decide that out-of-state really is what you want, then try to clarify what you’re looking for.
Urban/suburban/rural? Big or small? Western states only, or are you willing to travel pretty far? What about your budget limits? Is even $65K/year not that big of a problem?
I’m looking for a more urban or suburban campus, which is why I didn’t really like Washington State. I’m willing to travel, and my budget max is around 30000 a year
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I live in Washington and would like to go out of state. Cost isn’t that big of a problem, but I would like to find a place that will give me scholarships.
Max budget is $30k per year
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If that is your max budget, then cost is an issue. Is that what your parents have said that they’ll pay?
You will need to retest to get the best chances at scholarships.
What is your major and career goal?
Is that 1330 from the new SAT?
What kind of schools interest you? What do you like: Big, small, city, rural, rah rah, quiet, cold weather, warm weather, Greek Life, etc
@mom2collegekids the 30000 a year is an ideal price. We are willing to go higher than that for tuition. I want to major in business. The 1330 is on the new SAT, I’ve already retested once in June, and haven’t gotten my scores back. I’m looking for a college in a medium to large sized city. Weather isn’t much of a problem, due to the fact we have such varying weather in Washington.
Santa Clara University in California has a great business program. If you bump up your standardized test scores, I’d say you have a very good shot at getting in. I know they give merit aid (they offered me $8,000, but it barely dented my tuition so I declined) but I’d see if you could get more scholarships seeing as SCU is a private Jesuit school. If you were to go there, it would give you a great opportunity to get exposure to large Silicon Valley based companies.
If you are going to have even a shot at most private schools, you need to find ones with very high merit scholarships. Unfortunately your current stats, while they will most likely get you something at some schools that are good matches for you academically, it probably won’t be enough to get the total cost down to $30,000 or so. If somehow you got that SAT, which is a good score, up to the 1400+ range, your chances improve considerably. You don’t mention the rigor of your schedule so far, meaning how many AP courses you have taken and are taking. Certainly UW, while not OOS, meets your criterion for an urban school, and it is excellent.
Tulane and U Miami are worth a shot since they give substantial merit aid, and I know there are others like them that could come within your range. I know a few other schools that might be interesting for you except they are rural.