Has taken four honors courses (math and Spanish) and is currently in two honors courses and one AP (stats.)
He played JV soccer freshman year, plays varsity currently, and was a camp counselor for the past two summers.
Should we just stick to looking at in-state public schools? I feel like they’re the best bang for his buck, so to speak, but I’m just wondering if it’s worth taking a look at private OOS schools where he may be eligible for merit.
Also, does anyone know anything about what to look for in math programs? I’m pretty clueless.
His stats would make him a decent fit at UNC Wilmington (fantastic mid-sized coastal university where most OOSers are Northerners), Appalachian State, and/or James Madison.
Does he know what he wants to do with a degree in math? From what I know of math PhD programs (my boyfriend is a mathematician), they’re extremely selective and draw students from the top undergrad math programs. He should be taking graduate courses by junior or senior year if he’s interested in a PhD in math, so selecting a university with a (strong) graduate program in math would be a prudent move. Other knowledgeable posters over the years agree:
@merething For math there are lot of colleges you can choose that will provide merit aid. You should like at the following groups - Liberal Arts Colleges and National Univ that offer merit scholarship. Here is the list Denison U, WPI, Univ of Texas at Dallas, Univer of Texas at Arlington, Trinity U, Southwestern U, SMU, Baylor, Univ of Alabama, Univ of Kansas, OU. These are some. Let me know if you want more.
@bk1366 I think the student wants to know about schools that will give good-sized merit for her sibling’s stats, and the 3.1 GPA will eliminate him from many schools…and many have merit application dates that have passed.
Also, this student needs schools that will give enough merit to get costs down to $25k; that’s another hurdle.
As for the other post’s mention of Rutgers…that’s fine. But will RU accept a 3.1 GPA? The student may need to look at the other publics in NJ.
@mom2collegekids yes some school merit deadline has gone. The once I remember that is still open is Univ of Kansas (it is a very good school), UT Arlington to name a few.
@mom2collegekids We’re juniors, so we have a while until the deadlines become pertinent. The 25k/yr is per twin. His weighted GPA is around a 3.75 on a 5 point scale. We’d prefer not to take out loans, mostly because there are instate schools we can afford without doing so.
@warblersrule I’m glad Rutgers is a good option! We haven’t visited yet, but it’s pretty much a given that we’ll both be applying. As @mom2collegekids mentioned, it’s not a guarantee that he’ll be accepted; we’re looking at other NJ publics like Rowan and Montclair State.
I think he’d get into Rutgers. Students at my school have gotten in with only a 3.0, it doesn’t seem as selective for in-state students.
I’d check out Montclair, too. I know it’s not a great school, but it’s a pretty good deal. I’m probably going there, and I’ve toured the campus. Everyone is really friendly, the food is actually pretty good, and the campus is gorgeous in the fall.
@newjerseygirl98 Thank you for the vote of confidence! Our naviance is a little confusing because it’s based off of weighted GPA, but they changed the weighting system fairly recently, so I’m pretty sure we’re getting data from 2010-2013 that uses one system, and data from 2014-2015 that reflects our current one. Anyway, it’s hard to compare anyone to previous admits.
We’re likely going to be looking at Montclair, too.
Before I provide some suggestion can you please provide some additional info - home state (I suppose NJ), money (do you need it), prefer public or private, size of school, major you plan to study. Also it is Jan so you must have applied to some schools.