hi, this is my first post! i’m a current junior (c/o 24) and it’s finally hitting me that i’m gonna be applying to college soon lol… my parents haven’t gone through the american admission process, so i’m kinda going in blind and honestly have no clue where to even start with choosing colleges to apply to.
i’m planning on majoring in econ with maybe a double major in public policy or public health as well.
what i’m looking for is:
friendly non-cliquey community (outside of greek life)
study abroad program
student publications
supportive faculty/profs
good pre-law advising
in terms of location and size, i’m okay with anything. i’ve attended both large and small schools in the northeast and in cali, and they were all fun fresh cool :PP
my favourite school i attended was a large and pretty well-funded school in the northeast though.
in terms of cost, i think i’d be mostly full-pay anywhere i go because of my parents’ income. my parents are willing to pay $15-20k per year and they will lend me the rest (so i won’t have “traditional” student loans).
demographics
state: california (south)
type of hs: medium sized public school (not too competitive, kinda the neglected school in my school district)
gender/race: east asian female
gpa, rank, test scores
uw gpa: 3.96
weighted gpa: 4.46
rank: i’m not sure, but i was nominated? by the school for the uc elc program
sat: 1440 (will be retaking, hoping for a 1500+)
coursework
all honors and aps for core classes
aps: calc ab, lang, physics-c mechanics, apush, japanese (test only)
senior year aps: chem, gov, macro (maybe micro), lit
senior year dual enrollment: stats
three years of french
awards
small journalism award (technically nat’l but not too hard to get i think)
csf (idk if this even counts lmao)
school-wide majors program thing? idek LOL
extracurriculars
school newspaper, editor-in-chief
varsity tennis (but our team sucks which is the only reason i’m on varsity)
english tutoring
tutoring japanese hs students in english
teen advisory board @ local library, officer
planning events and programs for teens
csf, fundraising coordinator
red cross club, treasurer
girls who code sip
kode with klossy
mock trial (this team sucks too, our school is just Not Very Competitive at most things)
i’m also starting acadeca next year but it’ll be so recent that i don’t think i’ll include it in my application
i moved around a lot as a kid so i don’t have anything i really carried over past middle school and all my ecs are from sophomore year since i moved after freshman year to california.
my parents want me to apply to like reach reach schools like yale, etc. but i feel like i don’t even have a shot at it? so i’m kinda lost haha.
also, if there is any way to make my application stronger in the very limited time i have left, please lmk!!!
any help would be really appreciated, sorry this was kinda long.
I can’t tell if this is sarcasm, (false?) humility, or just negativity. There is nothing average about your scores, SAT, and EC’s. Aim high and be postive about your accomplishments.
If it does then the most generous meets need schools may be affordable for you.
If it comes in over $20,000 are your parents willing and able to lend you the difference? And if so, have you run the numbers to see what the debt means in terms of payments?
If it isn’t feasible, you should target schools where full tuition merit scholarships are possible since $15-20k is the cost of room and board at a lot of schools or colleges within commuting distance if you can live at home.
Based on your interest in public policy (which relies on the field of economics, along with those of political science and philosophy, for its foundation), this site may provide you with suggestions for colleges to research further:
Note, however, that the included schools are among the most selective in the nation. Because of this, it will be necessary to screen them for suitability with appropriate discretion.
You have achieved a lot and should be proud! But schools “like Yale” are extreme reaches even for valedictorians with perfect test scores. I commend you for recognizing you may not have the guidance needed to navigate college admissions.
The most important thing is to identify your safety/highly likely school… one you would be happy to attend, have a very good chance of admittance and can afford. Since you are in CA this may be a CSU or CC>UC with TAG. @Gumbymom@ucbalumnus Do you have suggestions for safety schools for this student with a $20k budget?
I will hold off on the rest of my post as I just noticed @BuckeyeMWDSG asked my next question. We can best help you once we know if need-based financial aid will get you to your budget or if you will need merit. Let us know!
Not lend but give - because if it’s a full pay or close to it - that would be an insane amount of borrowing. Agreed on checking the NPC - it could be the student will have many LAC opportunities.
Obviously you have the UCs and CSU.
A U of Arizona will come in near budget as would Alabama - both with auto merit. Many more schools would too. You could do Honors at both and frankly so many publics with merit from a South Carolina to Kansas etc.
Schools such as SMU, W&L and more have full ride competitive scholarships that might interest you.
Let us know what your family need is - as the schools say. That’s not what your parents want to pay but what the schools say they can afford to pay.
An overall 15-20k budget will be tough - and you don’t want to take on debt.
No need-based financial aid with <$20k per year parent contribution is rather limiting. (You can borrow up to $5.5k first year without a cosigner, increasing slightly in later years, through federal direct loans, and you may be able to earn a few thousand dollars in the summer or part time during the school year.)
Will your parents continue to subsidize your living and commuting costs if you stay home to attend a nearby college? If so, then commuting to a nearby UC or CSU (or nearby CC then transfer to a nearby UC or CSU) will likely fall within budget. A stretch budget of $30k per year ($20k from parents + $5.5k direct loan + $4.5k your work earnings in the summer and part time in the school year) may be enough to attend a CSU that you have to live on or near campus to attend. That might also be enough to cover the first two years commuting from home to a nearby CC followed by transfer to a UC that you have to live on or near campus to attend.
Otherwise, you are looking at needing a merit scholarship that covers at least full tuition. Some less selective colleges may offer them automatically based on high enough GPA and SAT score (this is where you may see other posters mentioning Alabama, Arizona, etc., but check the details and thresholds if interested). But others may have competitive merit scholarships, which can effectively turn match / likely / safety for admission colleges into reach for the needed scholarship colleges.
thank you! for the savings part, i wasn’t really sure if i did it right, but my cost came out to be ~$50,000. my dad said he would loan me at a lower interest rate than the standard rate and would be willing to loan however much i need to cover school costs. i’m not entirely sure what that would become in the long run but i tested 5% for 15 years and yeah, not liking that price LMAO
btw, i put the budget as $20k because my dad said he would cover ucla full cost if i got in and that if i chose to go to another school or got rejected he would carry the ucla cost over to the school i attend (i figured that would be ~20k).
sorry i misspoke, i believe he was referring to full tuition when he said that. though, if i got in, i think he would be happy enough to pay the full full cost lol.
for merit scholarships, would applying for merit scholarships/honour colleges affect admission into the school itself?
and should i not bother applying to out-of-state/private schools that don’t give merit scholarships?
$20k if you have no need will be close. Some Honors cost.
Your Alabama (tons of smart kids from out west), Ms State etc will be cheapest. Bama about $20k with auto merit. Arizona mid 20s. A Florida State with OOS waiver will get you mid 20s.
Obviously perhaps there a UC or CSU and you can live home - but that’s not really going to school. Better to go to a CC.
There are privates with big merit. Like Kalamazoo, Depauw and more but not enough to get you close.
There are the full ride Hail Marys - SMU, W&L, Seattle etc.
Tell your dad he needs to fund all of UCLA…assuming he can afford it. Otherwise you’re in a bind.
So basically something more like the $16,052 number (if he will let you continue to live at home and commute at no extra cost), correct? How many UCs, CSUs, and CCs are within reasonable commute range?
No, but admission without the merit scholarship that is needed for affordability is equivalent to a rejection.
If their list prices are too high, and they have no merit scholarships that will make them affordable, an application is essentially wasted due to being a guaranteed (financial) rejection.
If your parents want you to apply to colleges like Yale, ask them if they will pay for it, since you do not want to go into large debt to attend college.
It sounds like your parents are willing to pay somewhat more for prestige (i.e. UCLA)… but there’s a big differential between the in-state cost of UCLA, and full-pay at Yale et. al. If the full cost of UCLA is a hard limit, then the answer to
is yes, you should not bother applying to schools that have no chance of affordability. Most elite privates cost double what UCLA would cost you, or even more. Even an informal debt of >150K for undergrad would be very unwise, especially for a student with career goals that may not be immediately lucrative. You don’t want to end up with a choice between struggling financially and damaging your relationship with your parents, over the money they loaned you.
Look for options that are both good and affordable. In addition to in-state schools in CA, look at schools with WUE reciprocity also. And others that give big merit awards.
Your description of what you are looking for sounds more like a small college or undergraduate-focused university than a school like UCLA. And if you’re borrowing money from your parents (or anyone), you’ll want as little debt as possible, especially if you’re thinking law school. You don’t really need pre-law advising-- all you need to get into law school are excellent grades and LSATs. You might also be interested in policy-related internships, but that’s not pre-law – that’s all about having a good internship program. Anyhow, there are plenty of colleges and smaller universities that offer good merit, and lots of internship or applied work opportunities, and have strong programs in policy or poli sci. Some that I’m aware of include Cornell College (IA), Lewis and Clark, University of Denver, Macalester, Sarah Lawrence, Connecticut College, Oberlin, Kenyon, and Mount Holyoke. There are others. But if you want a smaller environment where you can get to know your professors, don’t have to compete for clubs or spots on the school newspaper, etc., you should look at smaller schools with merit.
I’ll wait to hear more about the budget (i.e. UCLA in-state tuition only or UCLA tuition and room & board), but one school that popped to mind was Willamette. It’s in the capital of Oregon which makes it great for people interested in public policy, and it’s among a minority of liberal arts colleges that offers a major in public health. It also has a relatively popular major in Japanese Studies, should that be of interest to you. It would be a likely admit and also likely merit aid…the question is whether you would get enough merit aid to bring it into budget.
ETA: 40% of Willamette students study abroad and there’s a student newspaper and a literary magazine.
Another to look at could be Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. It’s an excellent women’s college that’s diverse and generous with merit. Its Public Health major is particularly strong, as it was developed in collaboration with the Emory U School of Public Health, and allows students to take grad-level classes toward their MPH while still in undergrad. (There are also internship opportunities through the CDC in Atlanta.) Majors are also available in Econ, Poli Sci, and International Relations. Agnes Scott has cross-registration agreements with Georgia Tech, Emory, and other area colleges. There’s both a student newspaper and a literary magazine; and 46% of students study abroad.
Your extracurriculars would be valued at Ohio State. Apply EA and admission is likely. On a $20,000 budget an oos applicant needs to win a Morrill (EA preferred, must apply for Morrill) or Eminence (must apply by EA, indicate honors and apply to Eminence) scholarship. On an affordability front that would make it a reach since it is tough to get those awards, but worth your time to apply since you’d be a contender.
If your parents are willing to pay more you’d only need to receive the National Buckeye (no additional application, all admitted oos students considered), which I think is likely. So if they do bump up the budget, Ohio State would be a match.
The student newspaper is The Lantern, there is a living learning community called the John Glenn Civic Leadership Community that might interest you and a good College of Public Health.