Chance (another) Nervous CS Major! [FL, 3.97 UW GPA, 1590 SAT, $10k budget]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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They really just need one student every 4 years from one of the less populated states.

But the point about institutional priorities driving the class composition at highly rejectives is exactly right.

Note that “institutional priorities” is not really an issue many colleges, as most colleges still accept most applicants. In your case, finding an affordable option is the bigger issue.

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I think a lot of colleges below that level of selectivity will see enrolling a bilingual/bicultural male with high stats an institutional priority :slight_smile: (actually, even at that level: Vassar, Davidson, Wesleyan, or Dartmouth definitely would consider it an institutional priority).

Being from Florida, for the Midwestern colleges, is between a hook and a boost - there are lots of top students from Florida but not many want to attend college in the Midwest :slight_smile: and it would definitely result in preferential packaging (ie., they would estimate your financial aid in such a way that they make you a better offer than you’d suspect), even if it may not match your actual need.

@sparkling_water :
Institutional priorities balance the various admission pools at the (“highly rejective” as Mwfan1921 said) college

  • Donors and people the college finds important to “cultivate”: they donate millions or they’re heads of state or a big deal internationally and will expand the college’s influence, research, stability, or fame. Like, if you’re Bill Gates’ kid, you’re not in the same pool as everyone else.
  • Legacies: their parents are active in supporting the college, donating (a lot), spending time interviewing, etc. Colleges define how much this matters. (It doesn’t matter at all at MIT, for instance, but may triple your odds at Harvard). Some colleges are talking about phasing this out but they’ve been talking about it for… decades?
  • Faculty brats: relative to their skills, faculty are often paid less than they could outside academia BUT they have this benefit of offering an “in” to their children (if qualified). (Some jobs offer free food, unlimited paid vacation, and pingpong tables, faculty have this 4-year benefit for their kid and only if the kid meets the admission thresholds. Talk about putting pressure on the kid.) There aren’t a lot of them but it’s a huge boost.
  • Athletes: must be recruited and supported by the coach - for the Ivy League you will only get need-based aid if you qualify and you must also qualify academically. Still, a HUGE boost for admissions.
  • Less represented at the college: can be an ethnic group, a region of the country or a State, coming from an urban or rural area (v. suburban or attending private school) - the idea is that if you’re a national university, the university has to be representative of the nation as a whole.
    Some colleges also try to improve socio-economic diversity because the % of very wealthy families/1percenters is a problem for a good education and, again, to represent the nation as a whole. So they’ll mix and match and sift through all the qualified applicants to ensure the best representation they can. Note that NO college class has ever been reworked because it had too few lower income kids, whereas the opposite has been known to be true. However, at some universities that offer tremendous financial aid, being low income is used not only as a positive but also as a bonus - recognizing it’s difficult to achieve a lot when you have very little.
    (At need aware colleges, the fact you’re lower income can be counted against you, whereas the fact you’re upper middle class will be counted as a plus.)
  • Gender: if the school has a gender imbalance once all the unqualified applicants have been cut the finalists will reflect a more balanced ideal class make up. MIT, Olin, WPI on the one hand, and Vassar or top LACs on the other hand, work hard for this.
  • Top-notch musicians/actors/leaders of various stripes depending on the year will also be “in demand” (ie., orchestra is about to lose its talented violing chair and 2 oboe players, too bad you play the trumpet or lucky you the oboe player) These you can’t guess ahead of time though it can be useful to reach out to the relevant faculty member.

Once all these groups have had their spots, the “unhooked” applicants share the rest.

Fortunately for you, you’re not “unhooked”. We just don’t know how big your “hook” will be.

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There is a lot to love about CMU, especially its CompSci program. The school is very well resourced, as evidenced by the construction on campus and new equipment in the science and engineering buildings. The university is top 20 in disparate fields like engineering, musical theater and business, and has some innovative programs that marry disciplines from different colleges. It is also in a nice neighborhood in Da Burgh. I second DadBod’s recommendation to see the campus, if you have not already.

The bad news is that 1. CMU is stingy with aid (ie they don’t give merit awards, and they are miserly with need based aid), 2. the school has a reputation for being a bit of a grind and not particularly student friendly, and 3. it is particularly hard to get into for CompSci.

DadBod is right that CMU is a “fit” school. My son was accepted there for MechE, but he opted to attend another school that was a better fit, and he chose wisely.

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This isn’t the case. Carnegie Mellon does give merit scholarships, including the Carnegie Scholarship which is “awarded to academically and artistically talented middle income students who qualified for little to no need-based financial aid.”

They also offer other scholarships which are based on both need and merit.

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From that same page:

Beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year, the Presidential and Carnegie Scholarship Programs will no longer be awarded to incoming students.

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Ah! I misread.

I do think by moving away from merit they have re-focused on financial aid and become less stingy. My best friend’s daughter received a financial aid package this year that was better than her EFC. It’s anecdotal, of course, but most schools that eliminate merit are more generous with need-based aid.

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I think you should look harder at some Florida schools like Embry Riddle of Florida tech. On the ocean so the heat is not that bad most of the school year. Use all that Florida money. They have internship programs where you could work out of Florida for several semesters if you want.

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Maybe I’ve missed something, but with this candidate’s incredible profile, he looks like a lock for UF and the full Bright Futures.

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I agree. I can recently think of two co-workers whose kids were offered more generous FA from CMU than they were expecting. Historically, this hasn’t been the norm. Surprisingly they both went elsewhere.

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He’d get Benacquisto which is more than BF as it’s a full ride at public schools, but he seems to want to leave FL and go to a smaller school. Embry Riddle participates in the Banacquisto (as does UMiami) and would give him about $22k, and let him stack other merit scholarships. Fl Tech would allow him to use BF, about $7k, and stack other merit. Yes, it is a ‘build your own’ financial aid package. Florida is beastly hot in the summer, but it isn’t that bad during the school year, especially on the coast. Gee, many people head to Daytona for their vacations and spring break so someone likes it.

I think he should apply to the Fab 4 of Florida (UF, USF, FSU, UCF) and go to any one for free, but if he wants a smaller school, these are two possibilities that will come in at less than some of the others on his list (maybe free). He might also get some local scholarships and most of those can only be used in Florida (local civic groups, art/talent scholarships from local businesses like photo studios, things from the high school). Florida Tech also awards one full scholarship to a FL high school student (but just one full scholarship,other partial ones).

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Some updates in terms of ECs and academics:

  • I found a few internships over the summer (a few of which are far from me so the might be a no-go) so I am definitely hoping to have a research internship by around mid June
  • One of my Bs was changed to an A (professor had graded incorrectly)
  • I was elected president of the gaming club at my school, as well as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper
  • I ended up self studying Calc 1/AB (I’m around derivatives, started this weekend) and my counselor approved me to take BC next year.

Cheers!

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This is a good list, but the OOS public schools aren’t going to give you financial aid. That’s setup for state residents. It never hurts to apply for a scholarship. If you get one, that’s definitely a game changer. Private schools are a mixed bag. Some offer more financial aid than others, and the criteria is ridiculously subjective and varies widely from school to school. Univ of FL is a great target because Florida tuition is among the lowest in the country.

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I get free tuition at UF because of Bright Futures

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Hello, could I get some recommendations for good / affordable safety schools? I used to have three (Virginia Tech, Fordham, FIU) but I moved VTech up to a target.

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So other can correct me but Va Tech is a reach.

The reason isn’t admissions - which you’ll be a safety. But I see no way to get to $18K - I don’t see national merit or hispanic or anything that gets you there. So it’s a waste of an app.

Fordham has full tuition for national merit but can you live there for $18K?

FIU - yes, a winner - any Florida school will be for you.

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Ah. That’s true. I’m yet to rule out schools based on EFC (I was trying to get a good list and then start trimming) but I’m realizing now that it’s probably a lot of work.

Fordham I have no idea. I thought NMSC covered housing, but I never looked into it. I’m guessing NY is really expensive…

As for Florida schools, would you say UCF is a safety? What are some affordable OOS safeties?

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Have you researched the various NMSF schools? What are your thoughts about those?

ETA: With a $10k budget, that needs to be your #1 consideration when coming up with your list. That is the reality and once you identify the safeties and targets for admissions/affordability/fit, then you can move on to identifying reach schools. I do think your excellent profile makes you a competitive candidate for named scholarships, but I don’t recommend spending much time on that at this point until you’ve identified the safeties/targets. :grinning:

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I’ve been looking into this website: 27 Full-Ride College Scholarships for National Merit Finalists • College Guidepost (U of Tulsa specifically, which has been recommended to me often) but I’m having trouble narrowing it down based on my CS / Northeast preference.

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Every Florida school is a safety for you - yes, UF too.

I thought we went over this earlier.

On a pure merit basis, to hit $18K, it’s going to be Alabama, UAH and there might be more. Clearly the Florida publics. You can look up a scholarship estimator for a MS State or Mizzou and compare vs. the total cost.

If you are NMF, Alabama is free tuition and housing for four years + $3500 a year. For being hispanic, I think free tuition and one year housing.

There are many others - from Tulsa (full ride), Fordham, Maine, UTD and more - that will get you in for under EFC.

If you can afford only $18K, there’s no point in adding schools like Va Tech - it’s a time waste and xthey just need to be gone. UVA and UNC are the only two publics to meet demonstrated need - but how much of that would be loans, I don’t know.

But aggressive merit schools are gonna be the Bama/UAH types, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Mizzou, Nebraska and more.

But you can check the meets need schools like you did MIT.

What does Miami tell you? Or if you want an LAC - a Grinnell or W&L? Or a BU or NYU or you name it?

You said MIT showed $18K. Each school is different - where do the others come?

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This year the cost left after the NMF scholarship at Fordham is ~$22K. However, I believe @fiftyfifty1 said there is another, full-ride scholarship Fordham offers? From this website it looks like the Cunniffe. Like all these full ride scholarships, it is probably quite a longshot, but it does exist.

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