Chances for a bland white midwesterner

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello all, I know how tedious these chance threads get, but I also know the inability of most posters here to avoid telling me just how little of a chance I have of getting into Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Well, I'm only applying to four schools, (none of which are Ivies) and I can only pay $20,000 a year tops, including tuition, fees and room and board. I am a white boy from Ohio.</p>

<p>The goods:</p>

<p>Class Rank: 27/402 in what is probably considered an uncompetitive public high school
GPA: 3.6ish unweighted, 3.947 weighted
only one AP: US history, 4
will be taking several APs this year (Calc. BC, English, and Government)</p>

<p>ACT (taken last fall, without writing unfortunately)
English: 35
Reading: 33
Math: 31
Science: 28
Composite: 32
I am taking the ACT with writing on Dec. 9th</p>

<p>SAT (taken this fall)
Critical Reading: 740
Math: 730
Writing: 760
Composite: 2230</p>

<p>National Merit Semifinalist (I've heard that most become finalists)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:
Varsity swim team (9-11) Maybe I should have finished out my senior year...
National Honor Society (10-12) but I might get kicked out for lack of attendance
Church Youth Group (9-12) very heavily involved, my strongest EC
Crew team (just started this fall)
I am very weak in extracurriculars, because I have spent most of my free teenage hours doing tricks on my rollerblades, something I regret now both physically and mentally.</p>

<p>I can generally write decent essays, but my teacher recommendations may be less than stellar and my guidance counselor is incompetent and likely to undermine each of my applications either by leaving something out or making subject-verb agreement errors in her recommendations.</p>

<p>I am applying to:
Ohio State University
University of Pittsburgh
University of Michigan
Lehigh University</p>

<p>Once again, I can only manage $20,000 a year in total costs, so keep that in mind if you feel like replying.
Thanks for any feedback, and let me know if I am forgetting anything important in my stats (I feel like I am).</p>

2

<p>Why are 2 or your 4 schools OOS publics if money is an issue?</p>

3

<p>apply for harvard... They give out financial aid</p>

4

<p>Well, OSU is the only school in Ohio that I would really want to go to, and I've heard that state schools give more merit money (in general) than do private schools. Lehigh is my big reach, Michigan almost as much reach, and Pittsburgh somewhat less. I want to know my chances of acceptance first, and scholarships/aid as more of a bonus. I know my test scores are above average, but admission is so competitive now that I have no good feel for realistic expectations.</p>

5

<p>The problem is state schools save most of their money for in state students. So you'll end up paying near private school prices for OOS publics (at least for UMIch, I don't know about Pitt). Not really worth it to me.</p>

6

<p>Hmm thanks for the info suze. OSU isn't a bad school by any means, but I know that employers look at Umich in a totally different light than OSU. I got something in the mail from OSU saying I can probably get a full ride there. Same with Cincinnati, and many other in-state schools. I wish there were some happy medium of slightly better schools that give some scholarship money. It seems like for me it's either full ride or nothing.</p>

7

<p>Let's see... solid grades, really good SATs, reasonable expectations ... you should be fine. Have you considered any of the auto-scholarship schools for NMFs? </p>

<p>I think you are underestimating your chances. You look (to me) like a decent fit for all your target schools. Aren't there any good smaller private schools in your area? With your stats you would be a good fit for any number of private schools -- with merit scholarships.</p>

8

<p>Have you applied to these schools yet? OSU's app. deadline for scholarship is Dec. 1st. As for Pitt, you can get in there. You need to apply by Jan 15th for scholarship consideration. They are on rolling admissions so the sooner you apply the better. You need at least a 1350 on SAT and be in the top 5% of your class for scholarship consideration. My D just got a full tuition scholarship from Pitt and she is from Ohio. I don't know much about your other 2 colleges. Hope this helps.</p>

9

<p>^^You can tell from stowmom's post that you'd be competitive for merit money from Pitt.</p>

<p>If you're considering Lehigh, you might also look at some small universities or larger LACs. Many of the LACs in the bracket that you can be admitted to without breaking a sweat meet 100% of calculated financial need; and as you move just slightly down the selectivity index there are some really fine schools that offer merit money on top of that. Places like the Bucknell, College of Wooster, Allegheny, Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Denison look like they're near you geographically and might be worth a last minute look.</p>

10

<p>Have you considered Case Western (in your home state) ? You will probably get a scholarship there to get your costs under or around 20K.</p>

<p>You will get into UM but not likely to get merity aid - they value GPAs higher than ACTs/SATs.</p>

11

<p>lehigh isn't a huge reach for you... reach more!</p>

12

<p>My money problem is a little unusual. My parents told me up front that they are willing to pay $16,000 a year for my education, and I figure I can cover around $4000 myself on top of that. My parents are middle class, somewhere between $80K and $100K a year. The thing is, they refuse to take out any loans to pay for my education, and usually schools that meet 100% of need do so through loans, not grants. I could just take out a bunch of loans myself, but I would find it hard to go to Michigan and take out 10s of thousands in loans and be in long-term debt when I could be going to OSU for free. And in response to Marathonman, I plan on studying engineering at least initially, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if I transferred to anything from journalism to medicine. I have no clue what I want to do. Thats why I don't want to go to most LACs. And I'm not too big on Case Western.</p>

13

<p>I guess I'm wondering what you might major in. Also, why is getting accepted more important than being able to pay for it? What good does it do to get in but not be able to afford it?</p>

<p>I hate to be a wet blanket, but I do not think Michigan will give you any merit money (and it is very expensive OOS) and I think Pittsburgh is not a sure thing either. Lehigh may throw you some, but not enough to get you down to anywhere near $20,000.</p>

<p>If you are truly fishing for merit money, you need to do a LOT more applications than 4. (Especially when three of them are not known for wonderful money.) </p>

<p>From Marathonman's list you might try Denison or Wooster, but I wouldn't bother with Dickinson, Bucknell, Muhlenberg, or Allegheny. They just don't give out enough money to make a difference for you. However, NONE have engineering. Case is a good suggestion.</p>

<p>You might get money at Purdue, for sure at Ohio University, Ill. Inst. Tech., Ohio Norhtern, or other engineering schools. How about Georgia Tech, which is reasonably priced even without merit money. </p>

<p>If you spend $15 you can subscribe to the US News premium service online and see a lot financial aid info (including how much merit money schools give out) on there. Enter a school name and click on Tuition and Financial Aid.</p>

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<p>Also check out the threads on the parent's board on merit money or PM Curmudgeon who is the guru of merit scholarships. Your stats should qualify you at many schools.</p>