<p>I have a 2240 sat/33 ACT composite and a 3.99 UW GPA, with 5 APs so far (by senior year I will have taken 8 or 9). I am currently a junior. I've done many hours of volunteering, including starting a book drive that raised thousands of books. I dance (ballet and lyrical), and am in a band with friends (I play a few instruments). I am a very quirky person I think, and definitely a bit of a nerd. Because of this, I've looked at colleges like Reed and Macalester... But I don't really know where else to look. I'm interested in international relations/global public health, I think, so I'd like a school known for programs like these... But also a school with the flexibility to change majors, if I need to. Financial/merit aid is a HUGE consideration. I'd need the net cost to be around 30k a year, preferably far under....</p>
<p>So any college suggestions? Thanks for your time!</p>
<p>Grinnell has generous merit and financial aid (your stats should qualify you for a Trustee Scholarship) and a vibe/culture similar to Macalester’s (quirky and midwestern, although definitely not urban.) There is also a Reed-like contingent. They also have a semester in Washington DC with a strong public policy orientation and an concurrent internship, which might appeal to you.</p>
<p>* I’d need the net cost to be around 30k a year, preferably far under…*</p>
<p>What are your parents saying? How much will they pay?</p>
<p>It’s a good thing that you’re looking this early. Many kids wait til senior year to find affordable schools and they often meet the early deadlines for scholarship consideration. </p>
<p>Next school year, get your apps in early. Many schools have Nov and Dec deadlines for SCHOLARSHIP consideration…even if their admission deadlines are much later. </p>
<p>Erin’s Dad’s links are quite good, but be aware that scholarships might change for next application season, so check them again during the summer (when schools often announce their awards for the fall app season).</p>
<p>There are some schools with list price around $30,000 per year or less, like Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minnesota - Morris, Truman State, etc. But you need to check to see whether the academics are suitable for you. Of course, look in the links in #3 for more ideas.</p>
<p>It is my contention that all students should have at least one, preferably more schools on their list that they know will accept them and that they can afford with no contingencies. Once you have that base covered you can go to town with your other choices. You have some good direct with your choices already. You have the stats so that you have a decent chance of getting accepted to a school that will meet full need. But you need to have some idea what these type of schools define as need. You might want to run some NPCs on some possibilities. If your family limit is $30K a year, and the numbers come out that your family should be contributing more, and the school offers need only money, you are not likely to meet your price goal at those schools. If the numbers consistently come out to a contribution of $30K expected from you by full need met schools then you can have some expectation that applying to such schools will result in a price that is affordable. Otherwise you need to look at schools where your stats are well within the percentage of merit aid given with large enough such awards to meet your pricing goals. </p>
<p>Also, if you want a lot of flexibilty in taking a variety of courses, bear in mind that some universities are comprised of internal “schools” and there are restrictions in taking courses from a school other than the one you are enrolled. You have to apply to another school within the infra structure to change to some majors. That has happened to some of my kids. So make sure you ask what the rules are in taking interdepartmental or inter school courses, so you don’t find that obstacle there. LACs don’t tend to have this issue, but a lot of the larger schools do. You can’t just take, say business courses unless you are in the business school or are a business major in some cases.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info!! I don’t know about NMF yet and my school hasn’t released PSAT scores. My families’ net income is about $120,000 a year with no trust funds/extra real estate… I’ve looked at NPCs for Rice and Grinnell and these estimated my cost to be about $20k or $25k a year.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, I really don’t know all these terms. I mean that my dad makes about 105k, my mom about 15k… They don’t have really any savings or investments or any of that. And I posted above how much they’d pay.</p>
<p>I must have misunderstood. I thought you were giving the amount that the calculators expected your parents to pay. I didn’t know if that’s what your parents have said that they’ll pay. If your parents have said that they’ll pay $25k per year, then great. That’s actually a high amount considering that they don’t have any savings.</p>
<p>Full tuition scholarships will likely leave your family with about $15k per year to pay for room, board, books, fees, travel, and personal expenses. So, that’s probably more attractive.</p>