College Ideas?

<p>I've posted on here before but I'm still confused on what schools I should apply to.
I have two definite schools I will apply to which are the University of Minnesota and Wisconsin-Madison. Madison is more of a safety for me.
3.94 GPA
29 ACT (retaking in June - hoping for 30)
AP/Honors courses
Volunteering, Student Gov, BPA, Deca ( Senior year ), Stock Market Club
NHS
Spanish NHS</p>

<p>I'm looking for a school that isn't too small, undergrad of at least over 10k.
Also, I am Russian (born in America) but Russian was first language.</p>

<h2>Also taking college Spanish next year through the U of M.</h2>

<p>Give me ideas please!</p>

<p>bump, please answer!</p>

<p>Can you offer any more criteria to narrow down the options?</p>

<p>UCONN (CT)
Syracuse (NY) </p>

<p>What is your EFC? What can your family afford?</p>

<p>My family will be willing to pay 25k with room & board (taking in inflation)
This 25k needs to come some way with help of financial aid/scholarships etc. if needed.</p>

<p>If the school is smaller, I’d like it to be in a large city.
I’m interested in private too if they have good scholarships.
I want to major in finance and become an actuary.</p>

<p>I think you have to include Michigan on your list. It outperforms almost any other school in its selectivity range in placing students into finance. Also it will expose you to a much wider range of job options in finance vs. other big ten schools (besides Northwestern), many that pay much more than actuary work. I would absolutely add it to your list, in fact if the pricing works out it in my opinion is the best choice with your stats and goals.</p>

<p>Are you a Minnesota resident? If so, it sounds like the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) is just about ideal for you. It’s big, urban, and affordable. With your grades and scores, admission should be likely (although some state universities have become a little less predictable in recent years).</p>

<p>In-state costs for Minnesota are under your $25K target. Out-of-state cost to attend Michigan is over $45K. I doubt Michigan (or any other selective, out of state pubic university) will cover your need without substantial loans. Wisconsin is about $36K for OOS but it has reciprocity agreements with Minnesota that hold tuition to nearly in-state rates for MN residents (you may need a separate application for this benefit). You can get an admission decision from Wisconsin as early as mid-January. </p>

<p>In your situation, you may want to hold your applications to just these two schools. If you get bad news from Wisconsin by mid-January there would still be time to apply to less selective in-state public universities. Also consider private universities like Northwestern (reach) or Tulane (high match). After aid, they may turn out to be more affordable than an OOS public school like Michigan.</p>

<p>Do you really think I’d be accepted into Northwestern? I know Northwestern super scores the ACT, so I’d have a 30 there.
Also I dont want to leave the midwest area ( i’m from minnesota ) unless I got some super deal from a good business school.</p>

<p>Northwestern would be a reach but not impossible. However, it is unlikely they you will receive any merit aid and would probably have to pay full tuition. I think Minnesota is a great fit for you based upon your interests, major and tuition budget. Good luck to you!</p>

<p>Michigan= Over 50k and not much aid for the out of state students.
What about Nebraska or Kansas?</p>

<p>UMich isn’t a good idea for someone with a $25k budget and not-too-high of a ACT.</p>

<p>*My family will be willing to pay 25k with room & board (taking in inflation)
This 25k needs to come some way with help of financial aid/scholarships etc. if needed.
*</p>

<p>??? are you saying that your parents will pay $25k per year and the rest needs to come from FA and scholarships?</p>

<p>If your family can pay $25k per year, then it’s likely that they won’t qualify for much aid. Aid is based on income/savings. You need to run some FA calculators to see what your EFC will likely be. </p>

<p>Keep in mind that most OOS publics don’t give much need based aid to OOS students.</p>

<p>For you to get merit scholarships, your test scores would need to be much higher to get merit money from schools that are ranked higher than UWisc-Madison.</p>

<p>I’m not looking into a school ranked higher than Madison. I just want some other options besides the two public schools I have reciprocity in.</p>

<p>Private school ideas is what I’m looking for essentially</p>

<p>The issue is can you afford private schools (which tend to be more expensive). Its seems like Madison is the clear choice for you.</p>

<p>*I’m not looking into a school ranked higher than Madison. I just want some other options besides the two public schools I have reciprocity in.</p>

<p>Private school ideas is what I’m looking for essentially *</p>

<p>===============================================</p>

<p>*The issue is can you afford private schools (which tend to be more expensive). Its seems like Madison is the clear choice for you. *</p>

<p>==================================================</p>

<p>Slipper is right. Privates are generally more expensive - running about $45k - 55k per year. Since you’re saying that your parents will pay $25k per year, that could be a problem.</p>

<p>Financial aid isn’t based on what your parents “say” that they will pay. First of all, most schools don’t meet need. Secondly, schools often determine that families should pay more than the families are willing to pay.</p>

<p>Your parents income/assets may be high enough that schools may determine that you don’t qualify for any aid. Or, you may qualify for some aid, but the school doesn’t meet need. </p>

<p>I can understand that you may want some other choices besides UWisc and UMinn, so you’ll need a strategy. Apply to a few schools that are financial reaches “just to see,” but also apply to some schools that you’re likely going to get some good merit scholarships so that they’re affordable once you add in your parents $25k per year.</p>

<p>If you raise your test scores, you’ll likely have more choices of schools that will give you merit scholarships.</p>

<p>It sounds like Minnesota and Wisconsin are the best fits. Ohio State has a scholarship that brings OOS tuition down to in-state levels but I don’t see that as a better option. Also OOS tuition at SUNY schools is close to IS in other states but that is probably not a better option either. Some LAC’s such as Kalamazoo College offer scholarships that reduce tuition about $14K per year. You may qualify for that.</p>

<p>Minnesota has tuition agreements with several states:Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and the Canadian province of Manitoba. In addition, it partcipates in the Midwest Student Exchange Program which reduces tuition to some schools/programs in Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Nebraska. You would need to look at the program website to verify which schools/programs are covered.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.mhec.org/MidwestStudentExchangeProgram[/url]”>http://www.mhec.org/MidwestStudentExchangeProgram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you are looking for a private school that might give you enough merit aid to bring the cost down take a look at Bradley University in Illinois.</p>

<p>With OSU, do you think I’d have a chance to get the instate tuition scholarship?</p>

<p>Google Search National Buckeye Scholarship. I think you need an ACT of 27 to qualify.</p>

<p>The Buckeye scholarship is competitive…it’s not assured. And, it doesn’t give you instate tuition.</p>

<p>Award amount
$8,700 ($34,800 four–year value) </p>

<p>Criteria
Ohio State is committed to enrolling a diverse and talented student population. The National Buckeye Scholarship is awarded on a competitive basis to non-Ohio students required to pay the out-of-state surcharge who are admitted to the Columbus campus for autumn quarter. Those considered rank in the top 40 percent of their graduating classes and have ACT composite scores of 28 or higher or combined SAT Critical Reading and Math scores of 1260 or higher.</p>

<p>In-state tuition and fees: $9,420
Out-of-state tuition and fees: $23,604 </p>

<p>The 8700 yearly scholarship brings the out of state tuition down to about 15k per year. A nice discount, but not the same as instate.</p>

<p>So it would essentially equal the u of m’s and wisconsin’s fees w. Reciprocity.</p>