**Intended Major(s)-
undecided, interested in anthropology, biology and Spanish
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.95
Weighted HS GPA- 4.4
Class Rank: 40/600 (approx)
ACT Score: 34 (first attempt) -is it worth it/helpful to try again?
Coursework
will have completed 9 AP classes by the end of high school, including seminar/research/calculus/Spanish/APES/APUSH/ Lang/Lit/Bio (most AP scores are 4 so far, many are not know yet)
-all other classes are honors
Awards
-Top PSAT score in her high school (not sure if she will be a merit semi finalist or not)
Extracurriculars
-National Honor Society, three years of stage crew (some set design), part time employment all through high school, ESL teacher for adults in community, Hispanic Honor Society
Cost Constraints / Budget
-Have $36K/year saved
-Will likely not qualify for need based aid (high assets)
-hoping to minimize debt
-chasing merit (where possible)
Schools
-Will not apply early decision anywhere
-Will reply early action wherever possible
-UNC Chapel Hill
-Richmond
-Elon
-William & Mary
-American
Desired geographical location: within 6 hours driving distance, no Deep South, preferably liberal-leaning
*Despite interest in Chapel Hill, DD sees herself at a small to midsized school with a nice campus and one that takes care of students (not just a number)
Is she considering other UNC publics? Asheville is smaller and liberal leaning. In-state so should meet budget.
HWC? Agnes Scott fits the description and has cross- registration with Emory, GTech, etc. in the Atlanta consortium. Her stats will get high merit. AS is very diverse and in a nice, quirky area just east of Atlanta.
She should get in to Elon with merit. $7500 on acceptance with the opportunity to interview for additional Fellows scholarships. My son and I really liked Elon, but WM ended up being his final choice. Apply to UNC early action for sure. You are from a competitive county. We are a William and Mary family from NC, and I feel that she has a very good chance there. But WM does not give merit except to their very top applicants. Should have a good chance at Richmond as well. I’m not familiar with American admissions. Maybe look at Wake. We liked that as well. Happy to answer any William and Mary questions!
She has very nice stats. A lot is going to depend for her on whether the Supreme Court bans affirmative action before the next application cycle - a definite possibility. But I think that she definitely has a chance at Chapel Hill, and at all the places on your list, also Davidson.
Should she take the ACT again? It depends on what her individual scores were. If her science score was very low, I would say yes, because that is the easiest score to improve with some prep, which would consist of simply taking and correcting old science sections. If there was a particularly low outlier score, some targeted prep and tutoring might help. If her scores were uniform (33-35 across the board), then I don’t think that she’s going to improve much, without a lot of prep time, maybe some tutoring. And even then, she might get the same scores. A 34 is really quite good, good enough to not keep her out of any school.
If you can kick in 36K/yr, she can also borrow another approx 6K/yr over the 4 yrs, plus she can kick in summer earnings of about 8K/yr. So without going to high interest borrowing, she can consider as much as 50K/yr. If she is national merit, she might get massive merit money at places like Alabama, Oklahoma, Arizona. It’s farther than you want, but maybe U Md? If she applies EA by Nov1, she might get some merit money. If you have high assets, and are sure you won’t qualify for fin aid, I’m not sure that any of the T50 private schools are a good idea, but some OOS publics might give you enough merit to bring your cost down close to your in-state schools.
I would say she has a shot at all but given your criteria, there’s little reason to apply to Elon, W&M, Richmond and AU. They are ok to apply as a could make $36k but frankly it’s unlikely even if admitted. So you need assured schools.
Given 6 hrs and liberal leaning and an interest in Spanish - I’d look at College of Charleston. Mid size. Liberal. Large Spanish dept - the other majors are everywhere - and she’d be a possibility for the Charleston Fellows program. It’s not a cheap city but my daughter’s scholarship is more than tuition so you could be under $36k . While it’s a public and yes your a # - my daughter, given the various programs she’s in, has multiple advisors.
Given your money needs, it seems otherwise you need to add more in state publics (like app, unca or Uncw) or expand geographies or perceived political leanings to hit a target. Btw - I think kids at most schools need to find the politics. They do not find them. Most are apolitical in other words. My kid saw or heard not a scintilla of political anything at his Deep South school. I’m sure it was there but it never found him.
Ps - I’m sure Richmond is fine but given its demographic and large b school, I’d suspect liberal it is not. Most I read on line shows moderate with a conservative bias but you might talk to kids. Anyway a full pay family at $36k is highly unlikely regardless.
We would consider other state schools in North Carolina. I’m not sure how to determine the quality and otherwise good fit of the schools besides Chapel Hill. I don’t think we want NC State, just didn’t like the vibe and the lack of on campus housing. Thank you so much for your input!
We just visited Elon and really liked it! We’re hoping that she would get more than one of their merit based opportunities. That would bring us close to where we need to be… So it’s definitely a strong option.
We haven’t visited William and Mary yet, but I would like to. It seems like it would be a good fit for us in many ways, except financially. There’s still a possibility that we can get the grandparents to chip in a little, so I’m not completely striking it off the list. I can’t recall the cost of attendance there, but I don’t think it’s as high as some of the schools in the 70 to 90 K range…?…
Thank you very much for all of your input. Much appreciated. Yes, it will be interesting to see how affirmative action plays out. I agree about the top 50 schools, much tougher to get merit, right? We visited Maryland and she didn’t really care for it. We may have to get creative with the finances, and if something feels like a perfect fit, we would be willing to borrow a little or even back the grandparents for a little… But that may not be necessary. I wonder with the ACT score of 34, if we need to worry as much as we might about what she gets on the SAT, she’s taking it in June.
Thank you so much for your response! I’ll definitely give some thought to what you said about political leanings. College of Charleston sounds intriguing, I have glanced at it it once or twice, but will take a closer look. Regarding the in-state schools, NC State seems like a solid one, but we didn’t like the campus and the lack of housing. Not sure how to determine a good fit for the other UNC schools. We are near UNC Charlotte, and their proximity makes it unappealing, plus it also seems like a computer school.
William and Mary cost of attendance is about $63,000 for tuition, housing, food, fees. Less than several privates we were considering. It is a beautiful campus, just the right size for mine. Nice town as well.
One more. It’s south but within 6 hrs and you could get there. Good rep. City is moderate - UT Chattanooga. vs a Charleston which is an urban campus it’s in city but has a defined campus.
Your geographic restriction is a bit restrictive to the search. But this could work.
But you still need that in state admission AND financial safety - that your list has not a single one short of Chapel Hill which is not an admission safety.
We’re going to take a deep dive into the other UNC schools and we will add one to our list, I appreciate that advice. I will look at the school in Chattanooga, thank you. It’s tough because my daughter says she wants to be close enough to get home easily, but of course, that could change. But I feel like there are enough schools that are at least close to a 6 hr drive that we can have decent options while sticking to that criterion.
If you said large or didn’t throw in liberal, then you could have a U of SC. Maybe even a UGA with merit . UTK. Even Auburn or a bit past a Bama. North will be harder.
Mid size will be tough I believe but you can try a Salisbury. But your student is above that level. I say tough because of the cost you want to hit. But UNCW is a great school - for example.
Getting home - Charlotte is a major airport so she can get home from many schools. Arizona State Barrett could work. But six hrs becomes a flight.
Some Midwest schools could work.
But $36k on a full pay will still require merit.
The Fellows at Charleston would give lots of attention but it has to be won (interview weekend that your student would likely be included for).