<p>Hi, I'm going to be a senior this year in high school. My parents are very overprotective of me and are not letting me go to any colleges out of the state of New Jersey. Their top choice for me is Rutgers University. Can you guys recommend any other good colleges with good reputations in the state? People keep talking about The College of New Jersey, but I'm not sure if it's a good school because I've never heard about it up until this year. I'm not sure about what I want to major in...I'm considering psychology and education. Is it really tough to have double majors? And how many colleges should I apply to (how many reaches, matches, and safeties would be good?) I'm going to be a senior next month and still have NO IDEA what other schools to apply to besides Rutgers. :(</p>
<p>SAT score: 1920
GPA: 3.75
Top 10%
National Honor Society member
Honor roll student every year of high school so far, on average took about 2 honors classes per year. Not taking trig next year (which I heard might be frowned upon...) but I am taking English honors and computer programming, the rest are electives. I haven't had tons of extracurriculars and I'm taking it easy next year with real simple classes because of a health problem, so I'm not sure how this will affect how the colleges view me.</p>
<p>How are my SAT scores and GPA compared to the average student? When everyone at my school got their scores back in May, I thought my score was pretty good compared to everyone else, but I just registered here and have been looking through the forum and everyone seems to have a 2000+ SAT score! Everyone here also seems to have a 4.0 GPA, too. So are my scores good enough for Rutgers to be a match/safety? I don't plan to take the SATs again. I was also considering Princeton, but I just don't think my scores are good enough. </p>
<p>Also, I've been begging to dorm, but my mother said that if I want to dorm, I'll have to pay for it myself. <em>important</em>!!!---What is the average cost of living in a dorm per year? Do a lot of college kids pay for dorming themselves? I really don't know anything about that.</p>
<p>I also don't know anything about financial aid. My family can afford to pay for my college tuition, but if I want to dorm, I need money. Does this count as financial aid? What kind of scholarships can I get?</p>
<p>When do I start applying? </p>
<p>I have so many questions about college, I feel lost. :(</p>
<p>You need to talk to your parents and tell them that that rule is rediculous. College is your time to grow up. If you want to go to California, they need to step down and let you. Make sure they know this, and if they don't listen, tell your college counselor or someone else who can talk some sense into them. You are severely limiting yourself by staying in NJ. </p>
<p>Normally Suze comes around crush people's dreams, but since she isn't here yet, I better do it. :) At the risk of sounding hypocritical, you would have to be absolutely mind-blowing in all other areas to get into Princeton with that SAT score. Basically, with a score under 2000, you're a very unlikely admit without a serious hook. I normally don't limit anyone's chances based on SAT score, but yours is just obviously too low. I'm not saying its impossible and I urge you to apply, just be realistic.</p>
<p>Why don't you want to take the SATs again? If you could pull them up you might increase your range of match schools.</p>
<p>Also, their only-in-NJ restriction is pretty silly since wherever you live in the state, there will be places in other states that are actually closer than places elsewhere in NJ. Have you discussed this with them?</p>
<p>Hi GreenDay, it is. :) I've always liked that book.</p>
<p>Semiserious, I know what you mean, but it's not going to be possible to get my mother to change her minds. She is angry at the thought of me even dorming AT RUTGERS. I am begging her to even let me dorm, and we get into a fight every time I mention it. At this rate, as long as I'm accepted there, I am 100% going.</p>
<p>I don't mind. Honestly, Princeton is hardly my dream school. I know that sounds weird-doesn't everyone dream of going to Ivies? :) I don't care one way or the other...the added pressure of being at an Ivy League school even lowers my opinion of applying there. But my father went to any Ivy League school, and he wants me to try. </p>
<p>Eclipse, my parents don't discuss college things with me much. Which is why I have no idea about anything college-related. They basically just said, apply to Rutgers. That's that. But I want to apply to others...if I get into a school better than Rutgers, I'm hoping I can convince them. I still have a few months to try.</p>
<p>Thanks for your quick replies and opinions, everyone. :)</p>
<p>TCNJ is actually a really good school, much better than Rutgers in my opinion.
Average SAT: M 580-690, V 570-660
This data is a few years old, so i'm sure the scores have shot up since then. I've never been there, but i've heard it's pretty. You won't feel too out of place there because many students go home on the weekends... maybe you could get your parents to compromise by promising you'll be home every weekend?</p>
<p>Drew University is also beautiful and a good school.</p>
<p>Have you tried to get your parents to even let you into Pennsylvania? You could apply to Lafayette... it's right across the NJ/PA border. Seriously... it's like 5 minutes from NJ. Lehigh is another school that's right next to it.</p>
<p>TCNJ is also great for education, a former teacher's college I believe?</p>
<p>I would second the idea of peeking slightly outside NJ. Find a college the furthest from your home but still in NJ and then see if you can draw a circle around your home with that radius. Maybe it will nick a bit of NY or PA for you.</p>
<p>The only other college I can think of in NJ is Drew.</p>
<p>PS My D's dorm costs are about 5,000 for the year for the dorm and about 3,500 for the food, roughly. Probably this varies a bit with the school. In subsequent years you can be a Residential Advisor and generally you'd get a free room.</p>
<p>Room and board information is listed with tuition on each college's website - check around as it will vary. As for financial assistance, colleges will look at your family's Expected Family Contribution (EFC) against their cost of attendance (COA) - tuition, room, board, fees - and calculate financial aid from that comparison. Be warned, though, that applying for financial aid (through filing the FAFSA and the CSS Profile) will REQUIRE your parent's involvement.</p>
<p>I second SBmom's comments about TCNJ. Good stats, growing reputations, very pretty campus, very "college feel". Why don't you and your parents visit and attend the info session? I know some people who went there. It started out at the bottom of their list, but went to the top after the visit.</p>
<p>Lafayette also sounds like a good choice. It's a tad smaller than TCNJ, but if you told your parents it's in NJ, they probably wouldn't know the difference, since it sits right on the border !</p>
<p>hey stargirlx, don't worry... i'm in almost the exact same position u're in.</p>
<p>my mom doesn't WANT me going out of California (she doesnt even really want me to leave LA!!!) & my dad is also pressuring me to apply to an ivy league (he's a princeton alum) ... but at the same time ( not wanting to anger my mom) encourages me to apply to the "ivies" of CA ( UC berkeley, stanford, etc)</p>
<p>oh yah.. & my mom also said that if i did leave home for college, i'm gonna have to do it all by myself ( financially !) </p>
<p>but i've had my eye on duke university for a really long time.... and even tho she yells at me everytime i metion it.... i kno that she knos that i kno waht i want & will work hard to get it (a trait i got from her). even though we dont talk about it soo much, she does mention to our family & stuff that duke is my first choice & that i'll b alot closer to my family on the east.</p>
<p>so.. i guess what i'm saying is that you should just let ur parents ( mom in particular i'm guessing) that this is what you REALLY want and that u deserve a chance to be accepted to out of state schools</p>
<p>Star, break out before it's too late. You parents are not allowed to tell an adult what to do. Take a loan for the dorm if you need to, but once you stand up to them and tell them you're an adult and deserve to be treated like one, they'll probably back down. Even if you have to stay in NJ, do whatever it takes to get away from home.</p>
<p>No dreams to crush semiserious, she's realistic. Really, I'm only a dream crusher where the unrealistic are concerned.</p>
<p>stargirlx, I'm really quite serious: if you want to get out NJ (I'm not sure you really care, but if you do), FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT. Your parents NEED to back down. At this rate, they won't let you date, marry, get a job, get a house, or ever grow up! It's sick that they need to hang onto your youth so long, and you need to get out before they get even more involved. I'm seeing Everybody Loves Raymond in my mind's eye right now, with your mom coming over to check up on your every day. :)</p>
<p>In case that doesn't work out, I used the collegeboard.com college matchmaker to find colleges that were within 20 miles of Rugters in Camden (I don't know where you live, but apparently it's close), and it returned 37 colleges! Here are some highlights:</p>
<p>Arcadia University
Bryn Mawr College
Chestnut Hill College
Drexel University
Haverford College
La Salle University
Pierce College
Penn State Abington
Swarthmore College
Temple University
University of Pennsylvania
Villanova University</p>
<p>If Camden isn't the closest campus to you, you can repeat the search with the others. :) Hope this helped.</p>
<p>The College of New Jersey is a great school. I consider it one of the "public liberal arts colleges." I would definitely visit if I were you to see how you like it.</p>
<p>That said, it sounds to me that your parents' hesitancy to allow you to go out of state has less to do with being overprotective than with their doubts about whether they can afford college at all. If that's the case, private schools in NJ like Drew aren't going to make any more sense to them than schools out of state. </p>
<p>If you want your parents to treat you like an adult, you need to approach this in a very grown up manner. No whining about how "unfair" they are, no shouting, nor arguing.</p>
<p>The fact is, you NEED their cooperation if you are going to apply for financial aid. You will not even be eligible for a student loan if they are not on your side. Financial aid is dependent on your parent's assets and income unless you can prove that you are legally and financially independent of them.</p>
<p>So, here's what I recommend. Do your research. Go to the website of Rutgers and The College of New Jersey for starters and find out how much living in the dorm really costs each year. Then, pick one or two out of state schools and do the same. Next, get smart about the financial aid process. Read the financial aid thread here. Click on my name to your left, then "visit Carolyn's home page" I have many free resources explaining the financial aid and college application process there. I'd also suggest you sit down with your guidance counselor as soon as school starts and discuss various options.</p>
<p>Now, once you have all of this information on hand, sit down with your parents and very calmly explain all of the costs, including tuition and room and board for three or four options, including the state schools. Then explain to them that you have researched funding for college and give them the information you have turned up from all of the resources you've found. Finally, ask them if they would accompany you to go on some college tours, including at least Rugters and some other NJ public schools. Explain that you need their help to do this and value their feedback and ideas. Then, call the admissions offices and set up the tours. </p>
<p>I suspect you may find your parents to be a bit more open to various options if you approach them this way. I can't guarantee they will agree to pay for a private school because I don't know their financial situation. But I expect that you will go a long way towards convincing them you are mature enough to go off to college if you approach them this way.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone so much for your replies. I am hoping to go visit TCNJ, Drew, Rutgers, and more to get a feel for what I really want. I've never heard of anything in this house other than 'Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers', so I'm looking forward to seeing what else is out there and what the other colleges are like. I forgot to mention that my 20-year old sister goes to Rutgers right now, and she commutes. She's different from me in the way that I want to be independent and she doesn't care one way or the other. She likes everyone doing everything for her. Our parents practically picked her major for her because she didn't know what to do. So since she has no problem going to Rutgers and commuting, living at home and having my mother baby her and cook her every meal, this adds to my parents' frustration with my resistance.</p>
<p>I'm also trying to find my first job (yes, FIRST-my parents never let me work either...) so I can be prepared to make my own money if a miracle happens and I am allowed to dorm.</p>
<p>I will also be scheduling a nice long appointment with my guidance counselor this year when school starts to talk to her about everything I've mentioned, so thanks Carolyn for that suggestion.</p>
<p>When do seniors in high school start applying? I may need some time to schedule tours and visit campuses.</p>
<p>Thanks again for everyone's suggestions and replies. :)</p>
<p>If any of the schools that you like have rolling or Early Action admission, you will be applying in the fall (earlier = better for rolling.) Regular admission apps are due in Dec-Feb in most cases.</p>
<p>You will get a good feel for the schools by visiting when students are on campus. Try doing this in September if you can find some clear time.</p>
<p>How do you find out when an application for a college is due? And this is probably a stupid question, but where do you get the applications for each college you want to apply to?</p>
<p>Applicants are taken at any time of the year, so you don't need to stress over deadlines. Doesn't mean you can just a course mid-semester, mind you, but you can apply. ;)</p>