Colleges to look into??

College Search & Selection
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I’m a junior right now and am starting to look into colleges but I really don’t know that many that I should look into. I live in Louisville, Ky. Here’s some info about me, feel free to look at my other topic for some more.

GPA: 4.0 unweighted (school only shows weighted but all A’s

Rank: School doesn’t do rank but I’m one of the top 3 in about 600

ACT: 31 comp, 34,27,32,31 (Feb. 2016) not much study, studied over the summer
35 comp, 36,34,36,34(Oct. 2016) Required to take it again in March. I will take writing as well

White Male of middle class (parents make about $65,000)

EC:
Cross Country (9-12) possible Captain next year
Track (11-12)
Future Problem Solvers (10-12) very possible Captain or Co-Captain next year
Math Team (11-12)
Volunteer at Southeast Christian Church, I do tech for the children’s worship, one of the biggest churches in the US
NHS (10-12)
Educational Justice Activists (11-12)- recently started tutoring program offering free, one on one, once a week tutoring for low income 5-8th grade students. I’m tutoring a 6th grade student once a week, every week for at least the next year. Just google it for more information
Part time Job (2nd semester 9th-10th) payed for my own car etc
Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program (summer after 11) pretty sure I can get in, applying right now

Classes- Freshman- AP Human Geography (5), Advanced Geometry, Advanced English, Honors German 1, Computer
Literacy, PE/Health (required), Advance Biology (only one available AP class)
Sophomore- AP World History (4), Accelerated Advanced Algebra 2, Advanced Chemistry, Advanced English, A+ (tech class), Video 1, Advanced German 2 (only one available AP class)
Junior- AP Chemistry, Accelerated Advanced Pre-Cal, APUSH, AP English Lang and Comp, Humanities (required), Advanced German 3, AP Physics 1
Tentative Senior schedule- AP Physics 2, AP Calc BC, AP GoPo, AP English Lit, not sure on other classes, I might talk to counselor to take Chemistry classes at local colleges
Also, my school has Comp, Honors, and Advanced classes in that order. Accelerated advanced classes are only in math classes.

Other: I lived in Central Asia from late 1999-2004 and 2009-2013
I don’t have much money to spend on college and would not like debt. I am going to work during college to help pay. My family has about $15,000 to spend period (not per year) plus what I save if I can get a job senior year.
I trained on my own for 6 months and ran a marathon in 3:37 sophomore year
I’m not that fast but running could play a factor in lower end D3 schools.

I am looking to major in Chemistry, hopefully to go and teach at a university eventually. I would love a small school with an intellectual and open atmosphere. I am a Christian but am not particullary looking for a Christian school, though I am looking at Wheaton. I am a big book nerd and lean toward that side (I read like crazy) but am looking to major in STEM so am not sure where to look at. I am also pretty traditionally minded when it comes to parties, drinking, etc so a low key school on that end.

I do like CalTech but they are very STEM oriented. That could be a reach school for me. I will apply to U.K. because I can go there for free.

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Also, I forgot to mention that my parents would rather the school be close. It doesn’t have to be super close (within driving distance) and I’m not sure how strong they are on this point. I would rather look at all schools no matter the area but we’ll see.

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Have you figured out your EFC? Expected Family Contribution?

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@Fishnlines29 Yes, they have about $15,000 for me, not per year just that amount. If I get a job next year I could probably save another 1-2k.

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EFC is the calculation from the school itemizing what they expect you to pay per year. The difference between that ad your 15000/4 is the amount you would need to make up with a combination of work, loans, and aid.

You should consider Alabama where your grades and ACT scores guarantee you free tuition and maybe more.

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@WISdad23 Okay, that makes more sense. I have looked into that at some schools but really have no idea where I am going to go so I haven’t looked into it much. If I had a better idea of colleges to look into then I could get onto looking at EFC. Also I’m definetly going to put some public state schools on my list just because I can go to them for free but I’d rather go to other schools if I can.

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Search for schools that are “full need.” That means they will fully meet the difference between EFC and their rate for tuition, room, and board - often without loans. Other schools are generous but there is still a gap that you have to cover. Also, consider schools that for you would be a safety but are known to provide a lot of merit aid. In your area, several Ohio schools (e.g. Miami, Denison) offer good merit aid if I recall.

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If you really have to ROTC could be an option. Free tuition and some extra money for 2 years active and 6 years reserve (just a weekend every month) isn’t that bad if you can’t afford much.

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College board EFC estimator:
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator

FAFSA4caster:
https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1

These tools will give you an EFC, which will give a general ballpark of what college financial aid formulas might think your family can afford.

For each individual school, there will be a Net Price Calculator somewhere on their website. This will usually give you a better idea of what a particular school might cost after financial aid. NPCs vary somewhat in quality: some may not attempt to figure your merit aid, some may have out of date tuition charges, etc. It’s never a guarantee, but it helps you know if a school is likely to be within reach.

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I’m really liking U Chicago and Caltech, they both have great financial aid programs, mostly full need. Would I have a chance at getting into these?

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Yes, you would have “a chance.” No, you cannot build your college admissions strategy around those schools. They are reaches for everyone.

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I recommend you target the following:

  • Reaches which you might get into (your stats are good but they're a reach for everyone), that meet full need. Places like Chicago, Rice.
  • Privates offering full-tution scholarships - these are also highly competitive, but you have a shot, like USC, Notre Dame, WashU, Duke.
  • Small privates / LACs where you can get significant merit aid or meet full need, like Reed, Grinnell.
  • Public schools that offer full-tuition or full-ride scholarships for outstanding students. Some like Alabama, you'd qualify for automatically. Others are highly competitive but you have a shot if you apply, such UNC.
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This must be reiterated. You cannot PLAN to go to any of the super-selective colleges. Every year each of them turns down many more qualified applicants than they accept. It’s not a reflection on the individual applicants, but on the sheer numbers of great applicants applying for a limited number of available slots. When a school is accepting between 5-15% of its applicants, no one can count on admission. They are reaches, no matter how good a student you are.

So apply, but have other schools in your mix. You need matches and safeties to go with your reaches. There are many very good schools and many schools that are generous with financial aid if you are from a low to moderate income family. But you have to do the legwork. You need to run the NPC for each school, put in ALL the number from your family’s income and assets, and see what the results say for each school. It takes time, it’s a pain in the neck, but it’s worth it.

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@ThankYouforHelp Thanks, yeah I need to check into all the NPCs, I just haven’t had the time to do each one yet. Also I agree I need to look at more matches, which leads me to…

@insanedreamer Any ideas for matches? I’m having a hard time finding more matches (20-25 ish acceptance rate) that I would like. Places I like so far
Reach- Caltech, U Chicago, Swarthmore
Match- Wheaton (IL)
Safety- U.K. (Decent Chemistry program, close to home and free)
I know it’s still 8 months away before I have to get serious but I’d like to have some better ideas. Also I will take the ACT again and probably the SAT with writing along with SAT Math II and Chem subject tests.

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For matches, what about LACs? If you want to go on to get a PhD and work in academia, Reed generates more PhD students in Life Sciences than any other college besides Caltech. Plus they meet full need.

Also: Colgate, Haverford, Lafayette, Colby.

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Sounds like UK it will be

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@Glorfindel1, There’s nothing in your resume that would keep you out of any college in the U.S. and plenty that would get you in. That said, you need to compile a balanced list of reach/match/safety, both in selectivity and in affordability.

Assuming there are no underlying complications (like divorced parents or a family run business) I think you could receive enough need-based financial aid to cover the cost of attending many private institutions. As a general statement, the most selective and prestigious are often also the most generous. Before you do anything else, sit down with your parents and run a few net price calculators to see where you stand.

Seeking out merit aid is also a good strategy, but quite a few schools are either-ors: they may guarantee to meet full demonstrated need or they may offer merit aid, not both.

If you like small LACs (and many can fulfill your wishlist) I would add Williams, Davidson, Hamilton, Carleton to the reach category. For matches, Kenyon Grinnell, Macalester. I believe that Rhodes would be a safety for you.

In the mid-size category I would look at Emory and Rice. There’s also reason why you should apply to one or two super reaches, like HYPSM.

Some of these might fall in the driving distance range (or maybe not). For those further afield, coming from Kentucky could be a diversity factor.

All of these schools can offer excellent academics and a balance of humanities and sciences. Though most U.S. colleges lean left, these are more middle-road politically, than, say, Swarthmore or Reed. Your athletic ECs, even if you don’t participate on a varsity level, would also be a plus. Your international experience living in Central Asia, would be, in my opinion, a strong positive that you should expand on in your essays and resume.

I hope that you’ll have a chance to do some visiting to zoom in on the general culture that appeals to you.

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You have excellent credentials. Any one of the top schools by itself will be a reach (for anyone), but if you apply to 10 - 15 schools, you will likely be a right fit for several of them. As far as small colleges near Kentucky I would suggest Davidson College, Washington & Lee, University of Richmond, Vanderbilt, Washington U (St Louis). Depending on how far your definition of near extends, but if it extends to 300+ miles then I would add, Swarthmore, Haverford, Grinnell and Rice. If it extends even more now you have most of the top 10 Liberal Arts colleges in New England, Upstate New York and Carleton in Minnesota. You can also add Dartmouth and MIT to your list. Typically, the most highly ranked colleges are also the ones with the greatest endowment and the ones most generous with need based financial aid. A number of these schools include NO-LOANS in the aid package for those whose family income is below $60k per year. if you haven’t already done so, the College Board has a financial calculator you can fill out and see how much need based aid each of these schools will likely offer you. This way you will be in the know, as opposed to guessing what a specific school is likely to cost you.

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That’s really helpful @momrath I’m liking Swarthmore and Reed, Emory is also an interesting prospect. From what I’ve read HYPSM wouldn’t be great fits for me but I like H the most out of those, might apply to that. For a higher reach I was looking at Caltech and U Chicago. Is there a problem with owning a business? I didn’t mention this but my Dad started a small business recently (one year coming up) he is a home inspector. Is this an issue for FA? We are putting together a list of colleges to visit right now but ones as far as Caltech or Rice I wouldn’t be able to visit probably unless I get accepted next year.

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I’ll see about doing some FACs today as well. I have definitely seen that the top most schools have the best aid as well.