College suggestions for my middle class situation.

College Search & Selection
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<p>My parents make around 125k per year before taxes. My parents will pay around 10k a year max and I cover the rest.I have an iPhone app business which makes around 15k a year after taxes. This leaves me not qualifying for any FASFA assistance and I won't be able to get the cheaper rates into colleges that they offer families with incomes under a certain amount. </p>

<p>So what colleges would you recommend for someone interested in Chemistry or Buisness?? I'm looking for highly respected schools like top 25 ranked and was wondering if I could possibly get the price wittled down to under 25k per year.</p>

<p>My stats</p>

<p>Will be a senior next year
GPA Unweighted - 3.8
GPA Weighted - 4.0
ACT - 32</p>

<p>Some EC's</p>

<p>Various Piano Wins
Various cycling wins
Started and run successful business
Volunteering at local church
Volunteering at soup kitchen
Leader in marching band</p>

<p>So where would be the best schools that I might be able to get in to for under 25k??</p>

<p>edit - some possible schools?</p>

<p>Stanford
Cal Berkely
Chicago
Brown
Cornell
Dartmouth
Penn
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern</p>

2

<p>You look at the top 25 ranked schools at whatever list you think is the most valid to you and look up what schools have merit awards that would bring the cost down to about $25K. You then assess the odds of getting one of such awards given your ACT scores. If none look likely, look for the next 25 on the list.</p>

<p>What is your state flagship? That would likely be your best bet. </p>

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<p>Kansas, worst schools on the planet.</p>

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<p>At a top “25” school (based on the schools you listed above) your stats are not exceptional enough to earn a merit award. You’ll likely need to target a school where you stats place you in the top 25%. </p>

<p>What is your home state? In addition to your state flagship(s) universities, you may have some other options. Many states have tuition exchange programs – where states have collaborated together to offer in-state tuition rates to students within their “common market.” There are four such markets in existence:</p>

<p>New England Regional Student Program – New England Board of Higher Education: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.</p>

<p><a href=“http://nebhe.org/programs-overview/rsp-tuition-break/overview”>http://nebhe.org/programs-overview/rsp-tuition-break/overview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Midwest Student Exchange Program – Midwestern Higher Education Compact: Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and North Dakota.</p>

<p><a href=“http://msep.mhec.org”>http://msep.mhec.org</a></p>

<p>Student Exchange Program – Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. </p>

<p><a href=“Save Money On College | WICHE Student Access Programs”>http://www.wiche.edu/studentExchange&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Southern Regional Education Board Academic Common Market: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. </p>

<p><a href=“Academic Common Market - Southern Regional Education Board”>Academic Common Market - Southern Regional Education Board;

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<p>PSAT score not high enough for National Merit? For KS, it looks to be around 216.</p>

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<p>Also, try to save money by getting a ton of AP credits.</p>

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<p>Oh, and you pay in-state tuition at A&M if you win any little scholarship:
<a href=“https://scholarships.tamu.edu/information/tuition_waiver.aspx”>https://scholarships.tamu.edu/information/tuition_waiver.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>You can also try to win full-tuition scholarships at places like Vanderbilt, Emory, Richmond, and Tulane.</p>

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<p>You are in luck. Uof Kansas has a COA of under $25K a year. Look at the exchanges and see what schools might interest you there. </p>

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<p>A possible low-reach school is Vanderbilt.</p>

<p>Use the Net Price Calculator to estimate your cost. </p>

<p><a href=“Net Price Calculator”>Net Price Calculator;

<p>If Vandy looks in the ballpark, you can start looking at other schools, such as Tulane. Run the net price calculator for each school. </p>

<p>While you’re at it, run through the numbers for KU, so you’ll have a base line to compare the other colleges.</p>

<p><a href=“http://affordability.ku.edu/costs/calculator”>http://affordability.ku.edu/costs/calculator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Good Luck!</p>

11

<p>Also check out the Financial Aid forum, and review a few of the “sticky” postings. </p>

<p>For example:</p>

<p><a href=“Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

<p><a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>With a 32 ACT (and a 3.5+ GPA), you can get an automatic full OOS Tuition scholarship at the University of Alabama. Several other options are also available, as long as you’re not looking at a top “25” school. </p>

<p>Good Luck!!</p>

12

<p>You can also try to win big merit scholarships at places like Vanderbilt, Emory, WashU, Richmond, Miami, and Tulane.</p>

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<p>Your stats will give you a full ride at places like Howard and Louisiana Tech. Some lists here to check:
<a href=“Links to Popular Threads on Scholarships and Lower-Cost Colleges - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Links to Popular Threads on Scholarships and Lower-Cost Colleges - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

14

<p>Might try Holy Cross, Richmons,and Lafayette.</p>

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<p>Most of the top ~25 national universities do not award merit scholarships. Exceptions include Duke, Rice, Chicago, WUSTL, Vanderbilt, and Notre Dame. The competition for merit money from these schools is very strong. Even if you get it, it won’t necessarily bring you under your $25K limit.
Source:
<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts&state_code[]=ALL&id[]=none”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts&state_code[]=ALL&id[]=none&lt;/a&gt;
(these numbers may be from 2012-13)</p>

<p>However, whether they offer merit scholarships or not, most private national universities in the US News top ~25 claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need. Many of these schools do grant need-based aid to families with incomes as high as $140K. Run the net price calculator for each school on your list. I ran an estimate for Penn, assuming your family had one other child and a house now worth $400K. The estimated net price was about $28K before “self help” (student work or loans.) Self-help could bring the net cost below your $25K limit (assuming my assumptions are close to your reality.) </p>

<p>Here is a list of the ~60 colleges that claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need:
<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2014/09/15/colleges-and-universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2014/09/15/colleges-and-universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need&lt;/a&gt;
Even though they all claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need, their net prices may vary by thousands of dollars. Most of them are very selective, so you’ll need match and safety schools that may not offer such generous n-b aid (but which may offer merit scholarships or lower sticker prices).</p>

<p>Note that very few public schools are on that list. Berkeley is not. For out of state students its rates are high, it does not give very generous need-based aid, and it does not offer merit scholarships. </p>

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<p>Too many unaffordable top schools are being suggested. The student’s stats are NOT high enough to get any merit, much less big merit, at those top schools. This student needs nearly a full tuition award (assuming he can contribute $10k to add to parents’ $10k). </p>

<p>Few/none of those schools mentioned will give this student $35k+ per year awards. No way will Vandy give this student much/anything for an ACT 32. that is just too low for the school. Same with WashU. WashU is obsessed with scores.</p>

<p>You have a lot of unaffordable schools on your list. Most will not give you enough aid to be affordable.</p>

<p>YOU can only borrow $5500 as a frosh. </p>

<p>Your EFC will be high because of parent income and YOUR income. </p>

<p>Take off any UCs, you will be expected to pay ALL costs there. Not affordable for you.</p>

<p>Kansas does not have the “worst schools” on the planet. You may want to go OOS, but to make that claim is just silly. (nevada has the worst schools…)</p>

<p>Your stats are not high enough to “whittle down” to $25k per year at top 25 or even top 50 schools. </p>

<p>An ACT 32 is “lowish” for those schools. There is NO reason for those schools to give you any merit. Look at their upper quartiles…they will be ACT 35-36. Those students will be in the merit selection pool. </p>

<p>You need to understand HOW merit aid works.</p>

<p>Top schools have a gazillion high stats kids, so they often do NOT need to offer much/any merit. When they do, they offer good-sized awards to those who are WELL-WITHIN the top 25%. A top school’s upper quartile is going to be ACT 34 or 35+</p>

<p>A financial safety for you is Alabama. Alabama is strong in Bio. The school has a new state of the art 900,000+ sq ft Science and Education Complex and has a very good B-school Culverhouse </p>

<p>If you apply to Alabama before the scholarship deadline, you will get FREE tuition. Your remaining costs will be about $15k max. </p>

<p>Viewbook <a href=“http://viewbook.ua.edu/”>http://viewbook.ua.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“The Capstone of Higher Education: Bama by Drone 2 on Vimeo”>http://vimeo.com/105797233&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“The Capstone of Higher Education: Bama by Drone on Vimeo”>http://vimeo.com/104625184&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“A&S: This is how college is meant to be - YouTube”>A&S: This is how college is meant to be - YouTube;

<p><a href=“UA's Beautiful Campus - YouTube”>UA's Beautiful Campus - YouTube;

<p><a href=“http://cba.ua.edu/”>Home - The Culverhouse College of Business; Culverhouse</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>That is true if we’re talking about merit aid. However, many of the top ~20 private national universities and top ~20 private national LACs are need-blind and claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need.
The OP’s qualifications are strong enough that he may have a decent shot at some of these schools (or at others that are a bit less selective yet still offer good n-b aid*). A $125K family income probably is not high enough to preclude need-based aid … although the devil is in the details of family assets, number of family members, parents’ ages, the individual schools’ formulas, etc. Especially after including “self help”, he may at least get enough to bring the net cost under his $25K limit.</p>

<p>Now, even if n-b aid brings his net below $25K, the COA still will be more than it would be after a full tuition scholarship from a less expensive, less selective school like Alabama. Maybe $5K-$10K per year more (even after factoring in a few thousand from student employment and a few more from federal loans).</p>

<ul>
<li>Trinity College (Hartford CT) for example is a “full-need” school. For admitted n-b aid recipients with family incomes in the $120,000 - $149,999 range (like the OP), the mean 2014 n-b aid was $34,444. This apparently includes several thousand dollars in “self help” aid. </li>
</ul>

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<p>The OP should run net price calculators at his list and see how they look. One school to consider is U of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Out of state tuition isn’t as high there as most other decent state schools.</p>

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<p>I think it’s kind of cool that OP is making $15K a year from an iphone app. That strikes me as a fairly strong EC and I suppose one source of college $?</p>