Chance me for Caltech/MIT for physics + help find affordable OOS safeties [MS resident, 4.0 GPA, 1530 SAT, NMSF, need full ride]

Chance Me / Match Me!
, ,
1

Mississippi resident
Public high school
First generation college female

*Intended Major(s)
Physics

4.00 gpa
1530 sat(780 math, 750 verbal)

Notable coursework:
Calculus(high school doesn’t offer Ap calc)
Ap bio(taking senior year)
Chemistry(Ap Chem not offered)
Ap physics 1(got 5 on exam and no higher level Ap physics classes offered)
Ap us(5 on exam)
Ap euro(taking this year)
Ap lang(4 on exam)
Ap lit(taking this year)
French 4(no Ap languages offered)

National merit semi finalist

Extracurriculars
Started stem tutoring program for kids in local middle school
Editor of school newspaper
Student body VP
4 year varsity soccer player and captain
Started program in community that teaches tech literacy to seniors

Household income is 50k and looking for full ride

Schools

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)
    Ole miss and Mississippi state(although I am desperate to leave Mississippi
  • Match
    Colby college
    Hamilton college
    Tulane
    Case western(EA)
    Miami university Ohio
    Wesleyan
    Whitman college
  • Reach
    Caltech(REA)
    MIT
    Harvard
    Dartmouth
    Duke
    Vanderbilt
    Washu
    Emory
    University of Chicago
    Brown university
1 Like
2

Forgot to add white and lives in a decently rural community demographics but not sure that matters

3

*for demographics

4

So - at $50K, bummer you didn’t apply for Questbridge - but that’s past unless you’re a Junior.

So MIT and Cal Tech - you have things going for you but I don’t think your test scores are enough. I’ll leave your reaches alone - maybe they work.

If I was NMSF, I’d look at schools like -

Tulsa - where you’d get a full ride. It’d be a nice one to have in the bank and it’s a smaller school like many you have.

Alabama (if you get NMF) and I realize it’s not much different than MS - but you get 5 years free tuition (grad school), four years housing, and $4K per year in money - sometimes there are tradeoffs and you move after. With NMSF it’s still good but not this good.

Others to look at - UMaine, UT Dallas, FSU, USF, etc. and more. So they’re not like your list (except Tulsa) - but you need safe schools that will make the budget. According to the President of Tulsa who posts on this site, 25% of their class is NM Scholars. And I believe Alabama has more scholars than any school in the country - as you can see, especially if you’re a finalist - you score big.

So - that makes your list safe - meaning - you have absolutely places to go if needed.

Then you can reach for the stars - including MIT and Cal Tech. I’d make sure you check the net price calculators to ensure if you get in you can afford them. And your list, except Whitman, is heavy - and you might look at easier to get into schools - such as RPI (who needs females), Denison, Franklin & Marshall - schools that are a bit easier than your list.

Finally, Arizona has a NMSF and NMF package. It’'d be low 20s all in I believe - but it’s a top rated physics program - and yes it’s a large school but it has an Honors College.

Miami Ohio - they have some full rides - but very very difficult - so it’s one you might cut.

I wish you luck - but I’d take advantage of your NMSF and hopefully NMF status - and line up a financially rewarding safety - which will get you out of state and take the strain off. That way you can apply heavy like you plan to - without having to worry what if I don’t get in? Tulsa is a fine school btw. although I do think Bama (yes, too big) can likely go deeper for Physics and with 5 years of free school and housing + $4K per year if you get NMF, well - it’s pretty awesome.

Either way, hopefully those type schools are just in case…but free is pretty nice!!

Good luck.

Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid (prepscholar.com)

National Merit Scholars – Afford (ua.edu)

3 Likes
5

I wrote this for another OP interested in physics. Some of the suggestions may be relevant to you as well:

5 Likes
6

Thanks for the advice! I agree on questbridge but didn’t know it existed until me I started thinking about applying to college. I’ll definitely add Tulsa! How similar is fsu and utdallas to schools like Alabama and Mississippi? Trying to get away from major Greek life presence and football obsession, but I know there are kids of all niches everywhere. I’m assuming cost would not be issue at privates since I believe all claim to meet full need. How much does ED2 boost chances if I didn’t get into Caltech and wanted to try Chicago, Emory, Vanderbilt, or LAC?

7

In terms of fraternity and sorority participation, you can look up a college’s common data set and see section F1 to find what percentage of students participate.

But note that even a small percentage in fraternities and sororities at a big school can fill up a lot of houses with Greek letters on them, so the scene may look big in absolute numbers, even if it is not a very large portion of the students. Similarly, a small school may have small participation in absolute numbers, but that may be a large portion of the students.

Check the net price calculator on the web site of each college of interest. Promises to “meet need” mean less than they imply, since each college has its own definition of “need”, which can result in widely varying net prices after financial aid.

8

Most of your reaches should be affordable. Here is a quick sampling.

Brown’s highest need students, coming from families with total incomes of less than $60,000 per year and assets less than $100,000, as determined by the Office of Financial Aid, will receive scholarship/grants equal to the amount of standard tuition, fees, room and meals .

UChicago Empower

Beginning with the Class of 2023, the UChicago Empower initiative will increase access to UChicago in a variety of ways. In addition to admissions policy enhancements, UChicago will guarantee free tuition for families with incomes under $125,000* per year (with typical assets). Families earning less than $60,000* per year (with typical assets) will have tuition, fees, and standard room and meals covered by financial aid.

What Does Harvard Cost?

Harvard costs what your family can afford. We make sure of that.

  • If your family’s income is less than $85,000, you’ll pay nothing.

Dartmouth ZERO PARENT CONTRIBUTION FOR FAMILIES WITH INCOME BELOW $65,000

Students from families with total annual income below $65,000 who possess typical assets for this income range, will not have an expected parent contribution toward educational costs. Students will still be expected to contribute toward their own expenses from their summer income, part-time work during the school year, and their own savings. Your award will not include a student loan.

3 Likes
9

Colby and Hamilton may be too selective to label targets, but I still think you should apply. Carleton is also great for physics and in the same category; you may want to give it a look. And I think someone here mentioned Bates has new aid available to first gen students — another one to investigate.

For slightly easier admission (more like Whitman), you might look at St. Olaf and maybe Lewis and Clark.

3 Likes
10

Thanks! A little confused on what is too selective to be a target. I understand schools that have low acceptance rate are generally difficult but would imagine high stat applicants have a different admit rate. I’ll definitely look at Carleton! Was also thinking about Williams and Amherst but feel I have to limit my list lol

11

So even at big football and greek schools, there’s many that do neither. That was my kid at Bama. yes, it’s there - but that’s the tradeoff - but not everyone partakes. Well the tradeoff is the financial part. Yes, FSU is another like this - now reading it, not as lucrative. I put it below.

There are other schools too - I just don’t know them off the top of my head.

As for meets need schools, you should run their net price calculators to see what they say vs. what you think. Google school name + NPC and have your family fill it out as they’ll best know the #s. Don’t use the one called MyIntuition - as it’s a general thing.

Some schools are need aware meaning - if you need too much, they might turn you down.

ED can help a lot at many schools but just know that it’s binding - so understand their NPCs first and 100% make sure you want to attend. You might want to add Rice to your list. If your family makes $50K, you’d have a full ride. Others are like this too. I’m not sure if Cal Techs early plan would make a difference as they note they won’t admit kids they don’t deem qualified no matter what time period they apply. Good luck.

FSU: value of approximately $75,776** distributed across four years. It includes a 100 percent out-of-state tuition waiver, a $16,000 Vires scholarship, and a $2000 NMSC stipend (if college sponsored). This scholarship guarantees admission into FSU’s distinguished University Honors Program once National Merit Finalist standing has been confirmed. In addition, all National Merit Finalists who apply to the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) during the first year, which connects high-achieving students with distinguished research mentors to work as research assistants, will be guaranteed admission to UROP.

12

FSU has a somewhat different vibe from Alabama and Mississippi, I think, but Greek life is still prominent. UTD on the other hand, is quite different. They have fewer than 1000 students in fraternities and sororities, out of more than 20K total undergraduates. They’re also much more racially diverse - less than 30% white. It’s well-respected for STEM and has many academically serious students (not that the other schools don’t), especially in the Honors College. It has been known in the past as more of a commuter school, but it has invested heavily in building a residential community. If you don’t like the focus on Greek life and athletics at some of the other NMF-merit schools, UTD could be a very good one to consider.

Agreed with others that Tulsa is another great one to look at for NMSF/NMF merit, especially if you prefer smaller.

Women’s colleges could also be worth considering. Smith, for example, is very strong in STEM - both engineering and physics - plus you have the resources of the Massachusetts 5-college consortium. For a more blended consortium experience (with most academic and extracurricular experiences co-ed), consider Scripps, in the Claremont Consortium with Pomona and Harvey Mudd (already recommended by Merc81 for physics) and allowing seamless cross-registration with those schools. The five Claremont campuses are immediately adjacent and walkable, with shared athletics and extracurriculars, and students dining and socializing on all of the campuses (give or take Covid restrictions). If you want to keep working on a student newspaper, the consortium also has a shared student newspaper with a really high level of professionalism. (And it has a budget to pay its student staff, so this could be a job for you.) The 5C’s can really be best of both worlds, with the resources and “critical mass” of a mid-sized university, but also the intimacy of smaller LACs.

Many good options - I agree with you that narrowing down may be the toughest part. Run the Net Price Calculators on every school you’re considering - if the results aren’t favorable, that’s your first filter!

6 Likes
13

Here’s the UTD PKG. It looks like just for finalists and hopefully you become one.

The Tulsa one is safe in that it’s a full ride for semi finalists - and with 25% of the kids in the program, lots of smart ones. I was just reading - linked below - they throw in $6k per year too. Wow. I wish I was smart and young :slight_smile:

The beautiful thing is - whichever works for you - just by getting in and having it - then you’re playing with house money.

You take your shots at others knowing what a sweet deal at a great college you have in your back pocket if needed.

https://utulsa.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/nmsf/

https://honors.utdallas.edu/nmsp/package

3 Likes
14

FWIW, Wesleyan’s Apker prizes (two of them in the 20teens) were against perennial power houses like MIT, Princeton, Columbia and Chicago because the Apker committee places Wesleyan University in the university track of its two-track awards system (the other being for LACs.) It’s also known for the generosity of its FA packages.

3 Likes
15

Maybe look at Rice? Gets glowing reviews on CC.

If you visit FSU it might appear that Greek life is huge but I don’t think it’s overwhelming. My son finds plenty to do and he’s not Greek. Beautiful campus with happy kids.

16

IMG_6376
IMG_63761125×2436 543 KB

IMG_6377
IMG_63771125×2436 378 KB

By the numbers at UA…

39,000 Total students
32,000 Undergraduates
12,000 Greek Life (top in USA)
101,000 Seat Football Stadium
7,000 student honors college
1,100 NMF (3% of students)

Versus the majority of schools on your original list (with some exceptions)…

Under 10,000 Undergraduates
Modest if any Greek Life
Division 3 or Ivy sports
Entire student body “Honors” stats
NMF not calculated but significantly higher 3%

UA is a great fit for some, financial alternative for others and both for many. It is not however consistent with the schools you mentioned or the environment and experience you describe yourself as seeking.

2 Likes
17

I concur.

1 Like
18

@MathLover1231 as far as I know, UTDallas doesn’t have Greek Life, and unless football started this year, they don’t have football; they do have other sports, but it is definitely not a heavy sports school.
UTDallas is about as opposite from Ole Miss/Miss State/Alabama as they come.

19

It’s a financial alternative for OP, who needs a full ride and is a NMSF. Maybe not a top choice, but a financial safety.

3 Likes
20

There are schools like Fordham or even Tulsa that are far more consistent with the students fit parameters and offer generous FA. I don’t think students default position should be Bama if they need FA at the expense of everything else.

Aside from price what about Bama seems consistent with what OP was looking for?

Seems like there are a lot of options to be explored when starting point is MIT/Colby/ Brown before arriving at Bama.

6 Likes