College Search Help

College Search & Selection
1

Hi!

I’m currently a sophomore in my community college’s honors program. I’m looking to transfer to a well-reputable school , but am looking for suggestions as to which schools I should look into. I have excellent high school stats (helpful for the competitive schools that look at HS transcripts): graduated 3rd in my class, good extracurriculars, lots of APs, nearly a 4.0, etc. I went to community college mainly for financial reasons and because the guidance office at my school was incredibly unhelpful (went to a poor school district).

I’m looking to stay in the northeast and I’m a NYS resident. Looking to major in Computer Science and am female if that helps at all. Financial aid or merit aid is key for me. I’m in the somewhat lower income side, so I know I qualify for a lot when applying to schools with good financial aid programs. Unfortunately schools with need-aware policies for transfers hurts my chances a lot.

Here are my college stats:

GPA: 3.8
Extracurriculars: Student Government senator, newspaper, treasurer of Phi Theta Kappa, treasurer of Transfer Club and I’m joining art club this year :slight_smile: I’m also interning as a TA for a Java Programming Class at my school and also tutor students in that subject.
ACT: 30 – but took it like 3.5 years ago and will retake. Hoping for in the mid-thirties.

Here’s my very rough list so far:

REACH:
Amherst (‘need-affirmative’)
Columbia
Barnard (need-aware)
Brown (need-aware)

MATCH:
Cornell CALS**
University of Rochester (maybe)

SAFETY:
Binghamton (in-state and free application)
Stony Brook (in-state and free application)

**Cornell has an articulation agreement with my school, approximately 20-30 students transfer to Cornell each year from here. I also get a big bump being a NYS resident for Cornell’s contract schools and will be applying as an Information Science major here.

Other Notes:
-Going to a school with good financial aid will probably be cheaper for me than going to a state school; NY schools don’t really give much aid.
-I will also be applying to the Jack Kent Cooke Transfer Scholarship.
-I like mid-sized schools, but that’s not a priority.

Any college suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you in advance :slight_smile:

2

Have you visited the schools? You have quite a mixture of types of schools. Amherst is quite small. Do you have a limit in terms of tuition, room and board?

3

I’ve visited Columbia, Barnard and Brown, but I haven’t visited any of the other schools. Unfortunately, I really don’t have the means to visit any others. While I do prefer mid-sized, I don’t think I would mind a smaller school too much as long as it has a wide range of class offerings.

As for my limit, if you’re talking about monetary limit I currently don’t have one. I can’t afford much which is why I’m looking into schools that meet 100% of need. Then I can be sure that I can afford it, even if it’ll be a stretch. For me, the most expensive option would actually be my state school. With financial aid at a good private, it would cost less than if I went to a state school.

4

US news lists (Google it) about 60 colleges and universities that report meeting need and edvisors has a list of need blind admissions in colleges that extend that to transfers. East coast schools include those you list and Boston College, Brandeis, Dartmouth, Fairleigh Dickinson, Hamilton, Harvard, Haverford and many others. I’m not sure how accurate that second list (Edvisors) is though. Seems like your credentials are very strong. If your CC has an agreement with Cornell that might be your best bet because you will have an easier transition with courses already worked out in terms of which will transfer.

5

If you were a freshman eligible for freshman grants, that may be true. However, transfers generally don’t get much aid, so it may not be true for you.

You need a financial safety. Is there a SUNY within commuting distance? The federal student loan and summer work earnings would probably cover tuition. You could save on room & board by living at home. Does your family qualify for Pell? If so, you may qualify for the state TAP grant too. See if you work out the finances for commuting, then add on (financial) matches and reaches.

6

Your in a community college and you want to retake your ACT?
Why?
The transfer schools will consider your work at the CC level.

SUNY schools gave my OOS dd great merit aid.

7

@lostaccount Thanks! I will definitely check it out, especially those schools you mentioned.

@austinmshauri Unfortunately there are no SUNY schools in commutable distance for me :confused:

I’m borderline Pell so I received it last year and this year I barely missed the margin to receive it. I do get some TAP however.

As for freshman grants you might be right, unless I get into one of those schools that meet 100% of need which is pretty difficult.

@“aunt bea” I’m retaking the ACT because while my college transcript will be more heavily weighted, more competitive schools still consider my standardized testing scores and I want to make myself a more competitive applicant.

I’m surprised to hear you say that SUNY schools gave great merit aid. Which SUNY schools were those in particular? Most of my friends who were quite competitive applicants did not receive significant merit aid and they’re in-state.

8

@eternaldream, We’re also NYS residents. I think a few, very high stats, state residents get grants from SUNY, but I know a lot of kids who go to 4-year SUNYs and very few who get aid. I suspect part of the reason is the availability of the STEM (tuition) grant, but it’s only available to the top 10% of each class who are enrolling in a SUNY STEM program. Those of us who don’t meet that standard (homeschoolers, for instance), and who are also on the wrong side of the cut off for Pell and TAP won’t find the SUNYs as affordable. That’s why I mentioned commuting.

Run the Net Price Calculators on every school you’re interested in (they’re on their websites). I’ve heard people say that the SAT/ACT are for high school kids, but I can’t find that on their websites. I’d probably call the schools to see if they’ll accept it before you pay to retake it. In my opinion, it just shows where you are now. If an age range of the tester matters, the testing companies and/or colleges should be able to tell you.

Good luck.

9

Thank you for your help!

Yep. Many of the schools I’m looking at still require these tests and/or highly suggest we take them, according to their websites.

10

bump

11

^^

12

Still looking for suggestions :slight_smile:

13

In terms of smaller schools with firmly established computer science programs, professors from these colleges appear to be the first to have actively initiated and designed a model computer science curriculum for liberal arts colleges:

Williams
Swarthmore
Hamilton

Amherst
Vassar
Washington & Lee
Colgate
Allegheny
Bowdoin

These schools generally offer excellent financial aid.

(Information from the Liberal Arts Computer Science Consortium.)

14

Not much for transfer students. ESF did awarded some merit-based scholarships to my daughter.

15

AFAIK colleges will not consider an SAT or ACT (tests designed for HSers) taken while you are in college.

16

@merc81 Thanks! I’ll look into some of those colleges.

@4kidsdad I guess it also depends on what SUNY school it is. The students from my high school generally applied to only a few of the large SUNYs.

@“Erin’s Dad” They do consider ACT scores from because there are certain students who have never taken such tests as they immediately went to community college without considering applying to 4-year schools.

17

If anyone has any more suggestions for target schools, I’d appreciate it :slight_smile:

18

For target schools wouldn’t you like to try any in the UC system?? Or California ?

19

^UC schools are giving no financial aid to OOS students beginning Fall 2016.

http://www.dailycal.org/2015/11/23/to-fund-enrollment-boost-uc-will-phase-out-out-of-state-financial-aid/

20

@Viimmm Exactly what @IncorpXand said. Also, even with current financial aid policies I don’t think they’re that affordable for out of state students anyway.