Class of 22 crunch time. Do we need to tweak this private and oos college list?

California resident, kid will apply to state colleges, but also looking at private and other public in and out of state. GPA 3.94 unweighted, 4.17 weighted (6 APs -10th grade: Bio, European History, 11th grade: US History, English Language, 12th grade: Government, Statistics), SATs mid 1300s, school does nor rank but around top 10-15%. Lots of extracurriculars with leadership in band, social justice, student board, plus lifeguarding job.

She would do best with strong undergrad teaching where she can develop strong relationships with professors. She wants urban or at least within easy reach of city, with places to walk to. Diverse and liberal student population, no religious colleges. She is a minority in several respects and wants to feel she belongs. West Coast preferred. Chasing merit. Will not qualify for financial aid, but we are older parents and can’t afford full price at the cusp of retirement. Tuition, fees, room and board needs to be mid $30,000s tops. Undecided, maybe politics, philosophy, but also loves rocks, so she is also considering geology.

Current list: Occidental College, Whittier College, Willamette University, University of Oregon, Oregon State, University of Puget Sound, Western Washington University, Lakeforest College.

What do you say?

Have you run the NPCs on these schools?

Are the UCs affordable? What CSUs is she applying to?

Seems a stretch that Oregon or OSU would get below $40K OOS. She could qualify for WUE at OSU and WWU as well, but the number of those students are limited.

Have you considered ASU or Arizona? Any other WUE schools?

Have you sorted thru which schools to apply with tests and which test optional?

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Have you checked whether the private and out-of-state colleges are affordable based on list price or assured merit scholarships? If not, then the reach/match/likely/safety must be assessed based on the likelihood of getting a large enough scholarship, not admission.

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These are the current tuition and fees on the websites. You have to assume full costs if you don’t qualify for financial aid.
The States of Washington and Oregon have really strong universities. Coupled with their sports and outdoor activities, they are highly desirably schools, especially to California students.

The WUE fees don’t apply to everyone. Our daughter applied to some of these schools and then, later, we asked about WUE. Given her stats, she would have qualified, but we didn’t know, nor meet the deadlines for WUE. They limit their WUE discount to small numbers because they like the added income from non-residents, so you cannot assume that WUE will lower these fees to fit within your budget.

Merit will be very competitive given her SAT scores. All she can do is put in an application. Make sure to check those NPC numbers.

The CalStates will be within budget. UC’s continue to raise tuition, so your $$ will just cover her UC fees and R/B. She would need to take out a loan for the remainder. $36K+ per year
https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/tuition-financial-aid/tuition-cost-of-attendance/

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Yes, we ran NPCs. Both OSU and WWU came in well within budget with merit. I have scoured the list of WUE institutions but have not found any others that fit the desired profile. Arizona is a definite no go.

UCs are affordable. Cal State list not finalized yet.

No guaranteed or assured merit at any of the colleges on the list, but her stats are competitive for most, the exception being Occidental College, where she is within but not above.

The problem with non-automatic merit scholarships is that there is much less information on how difficult they are to get than for getting admission. To be on the safe side, assume that when there is too little information on the difficulty of getting a non-automatic merit scholarship, assume that it is a reach.

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Consider LMU and Gonzaga for out of state. They are quite generous with merit dollars. I would suggest reconsideration of University of Arizona - a great and diverse university in a nice city - their merit awards are significant and the process is very transparent.

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If she’s a URM she should submit her scores to Oxy, if not, she should consider applying TO.

Has she considered U New Mexico? Fort Lewis in Durango? Lewis and Clark?

All you can do is apply and see where the Financial aid offers end up, the list seems reasonable. What are you considering as her affordable safety(ies)…I assume some CSUs?

I strongly encourage you to get apps in ASAP…meet the EA deadline at all these schools that have it, and for rolling schools like Oregon, get that app in. Good luck!

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Yes, we understand about WUE. She will apply within the deadlines for priority scholarship consideration. Both OSU and WWU have other merit scholarships though which would make them affordable even without WUE.

We will have to wait for admission to see if the private and oos colleges are generous enough.

The mid $30,000s budget includes only tuition, fees, room and board. We understand that there will be other costs, we already put our older child through university. All the UCs are within our budget.

She is an underrepresented minority. The plan is to apply with her scores to all, and apply early action to all but Occidental that only has Early Decision.

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LMU and Gonzaga were on the list at some point, then after researching them and other Jesuit schools, my daughter decided she did not want religious institutions at all. Arizona was discarded from the get go, too hot and dry.

I think you’re in good shape. If geology is an interest I suggest looking into Colorado School of Mines. It has a wonderful geology department. It’s a little geeky but also fun. We went through the application process last year, and with a few exceptions (University of Washington was over 40K for example with merit scholarship) most out of state colleges came down to the cost of a UC for my daughter with merit scholarships. And the scholarships seemed to keep increasing as time went by after acceptance. It seemed like a game at the time. I wish you the best of luck and hope it all works out.

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The mine schools in NM and SD may be less expensive than the one in CO.

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I’m not familiar with the other mine schools so cannot recommend them just based on price. The cost of Colorado School of Mines would have been more or less the same as a UC for my kid so worth an application (I think the application is free) if there is time and inclination on the part of the student.

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CO Mines out of state cost looks to be a lot higher than in state UCs.

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Budget is the most important consideration. You need to be open geographically when you have budget concerns.

The teaching part won’t be there but U of AZ meets the rest of your needs and the Honors College will help reduce it. It’s semi urban, liberal leaning and cheap with a 3.94.

If you can be flexible geographically and improve the SaT Florida State could work as well as College of Charleston.

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OP stated Arizona isn’t an option. Sometimes budget isn’t the sole top priority.

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I am an alum of Occidental College but would cross off the list. Occidental prioritizes diversity but gives very little merit and achieves diversity by giving financial aid to those who have the requisite Income to qualify. I would be shocked if all in cost for your student would be below $70k.

Whittier is a viable option as your student will likely get substantial merit. My HS JR has slightly lower numbers and believe the cost with merit could be in the $30-$35k neighborhood. Laverne might be another So Cal option.

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I understand and I know some are concerned with the state govt. the main point is if merit aid is most important you need to be flexible. How about UNLV or UNM?

If private works with that much merit, it’s great but unlikely to meet desired cost.