With a 35 ACT composite, taking the SAT with writing is completely unnecessary (at least for US-based colleges) unless your school requires it for graduation or you need it to qualify for National Merit FInalist.
You might want to consider St. Olaf (MN) - very strong in math and sciences, no Greek life, and low key on the partying. You would be competitive for merit scholarships there - as for the need-based component, run your numbers through their calculator and see.
If you didn’t go to UK, how would you cover say $80,000 - $100,000 in college costs if your parents can pay $15,000 and student loans will be less than $30,000.
@ClarinetDad16 Just to clarify I’m basically going to go to the college that I can afford (not loans) and am most interested in. For example, if I get into Swarthmore and Caltech but Swarthmore offers full aid I’d go there. I’m also applying for as many other Scholarships as I can.
@mamaedefamilia Many of the schools I am interested in do require the writing and, though I haven’t gotten my score back, I think I will be competitive for NMF since I got the 35 just 3 days after I took the PSAT.
So are you going to apply for merit scholarships?
I don’t think there will be schools that will provide you a full ride financially. Without loans.
Perhaps you need to redo your list and remove all schools that don’t offer full ride merit scholarships.
And then you need to realize the odds for one at a highly competitive school that offers very few full rides is extremely slim.
If you have that at U.K., that is most likely your destination. Congrats that is great! You should be very excited!!!
I respectfully disagree with @ClarinetDad16 last post. $65k income is not that significant and may qualify you to get significant financial aid. Furthermore, your family’s adjusted gross income may be less than $60K, where a number of these schools will provide entirely loan-free aid. Please go to this site and complete the information using your parents tax returns https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/netprice. You can then see a very close estimate of what each of the schools in these pages will provide in aid. https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/netprice/participating-schools. Do not assume that need based financial aid will not be sufficient. You have excellent credentials and I don’t want to see you not applying to the best schools because they do not have merit based scholarships. At a minimum complete the net price calculator at the above link and at least see how much need based financial aid you qualify for the schools you are interested in. If you find that it is not sufficient, fine then don’t apply, but at least get the estimates.
The OP needs 100% financial aid save $5,000 or so a year. What schools provide that for families that make well above the poverty level?
We don’t know what their AGI is, we don’t know how many family members there are, we don’t know if there are deductions or losses from a business etc… So without knowing so much how can we assume that any of these schools are out of reach financially. Wouldn’t the smarter move be to fill out the net price calculators using actual tax returns and get a realistic estimate of the costs before we deter this applicant from some of the best schools he may have an excellent chance of getting into? If after he does all this and if their net price ends up being out of reach, fine, then he can apply to schools that provide merit aid.
Just quickly filled out the form for Caltech. I have most of the accurate info with estimated med bills. Estimated cost of attendance is $3,900. This is cost-grants and work study. Just at what I can afford!
@Glorfindel1 I am really glad you did that. Now go back into the list of participating schools and check each school you are interested in, generate your estimated family contribution (EFC) for each one and save a PDF of it so you can go back and compare later. Before you do that i encourage you use actual tax return information to ensure there are no unpleasant surprises later on. Check Dartmouth, University of Chicago, MIT, Williams College, Amherst etc… These schools are very generous with financial aid.
Cal Tech is one of the smallest and most competitive schools nationwide.
They only have about 250 freshman spots.
Okay great, out of my top pick colleges, I can afford Caltech, UChicago, Swarthmore, Reed, and U.K., Harvey Mudd is a stretch and Wheaton is too much.
@ClarinetDad16 Yeah, it’s a high reach. Very tough to get in but I still have a year to do what I can.
I’m not an expert at financial aid, but I’ve learned from others on CC that small businesses can be a complication that throws off the results of the NPCs. Seek advice on the Financial Aid board of this site. I think you’ll also find financial aid officers helpful in answering your specific questions.
If you’re comfortable with UT as your safety, then you’re all set financially and academically. However, if you’d like to identify one or two small to medium privates as your safeties, then keep looking. I mentioned Rhodes. I’m sure there are others that would qualify.
If you like the sound of Harvard then apply. I don’t see any downside. Because you have a solid safety (both academic and financial) you can afford to be reach heavy. Many schools offer waivers on application fees.
Visiting after you’re accepted is fine (and some colleges will fund the visit) but it would be a good idea to visit a range of schools to see how you feel about the culture – for example a small LAC, a tech school, a super liberal activist school, a middle-road sporty school, you get the picture. I’m in favor of trying to visit as many potential safeties as you can. Seeing them in the flesh can help build your confidence in them, also, it helps with demonstrated interest which is important at some schools.
Small LACs have distinctive personalities and cultures, so visit as many as you can. Swarthmore and Reed are among the most progressive, activist schools in the country. If that appeals to you you might look at Wesleyan as well.
Look at the top ranked liberal arts colleges as well as the Ivy’s. If you apply to enough of them, you will get into some of them. And many of these will be within a $1000 - $2000 cost range of the others. If I were you I would include Hamilton, Vassar, Williams, Amherst, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell and Middlebury. Even the ones that you think are a stretch will not be as much of a stretch as you think. If you were applying from states such as New Jersey, New York, California or Massachusetts it would be a stretch. However, you are applying from Kentucky. you are likely to be a very attractive candidate from your region. I am not insensitive to the cost associated with applying to so many schools, but look at it this way. Considering that this can have such a significant impact on your future, I think it will be a well worth investment to spend an extra $1000 (application fees, and costs of sending ACTs, FAFSA, and CSS to all these schools). If you get into the right school you are likely to save more than that every semester.
And your dad’s goal is to build a profitable business. So a college that might at first appear affordable, some deductions could be added back in which will raise your cost / lower the aid offer. And then as the business grows your aid could decrease significantly. Pell Grants gone. School grants reduced,
You said your parents want you close to home and only want to pay $15,000 total. And you said you don’t want to take out loans.
Merit can be your safest path as it will not be influenced by spikes in income.
@Glorfindel1 Sorry, I don’t think I was clear. I’m not saying “don’t take it with writing.” I’m saying don’t rush to take the SAT until you know if you need it. When you get your PSAT results back, you can get an idea if you’re in range for the NMF cutoff for your state. If so, then it makes sense to take it with the essay section. If not, I’d stick with the ACT.
You will need to identify some safeties (both admissions and financial) as well because Caltech, Chicago, Swarthmore, Reed are reaches for everyone.
I think there will be schools who would be happy to have a male from Kenucky with great stats, exposure to another culture, and interesting ECs. I would absolutely look into Davidson and Amherst and also some Ivies. These are schools that will not require you to take out loans (I believe). I think Reed might not be the best fit for a Christian conservative. Lots of pot smoking. Same with Grinnell and Macalester. You might want to look into St. Olaf and Pepperdine as safeties. I think Davidson is perfect for you. Aim high, because you offer geographical diversity and lots of other things. You might also like schools like Sewanee and Furman as safeties.
You probably don’t “have” to go to U of Kentucky. Don’t let anyone make you think that’s the best you can do.
Consider Rice - you’d qualify for free tuition there (family income <$80K), and you have a good chance at getting accepted. Terrific school.
As a recent Reed grad I think you’d be perfectly fine at Reed as long as you’re not hostile to students of color, trans students, etc. Reedies are very non-judgmental about religion, substance use or lack thereof, etc. If all you want to do in college is learn, have nerdy fun with friends without using drugs or alcohol and observe your faith, Reed would serve you very well. I had several friends exactly like that.
With your stats, make sure you apply for merit scholarships, particularly at the LACs. This is often a separate process from the regular application so pay attention to deadlines. Often, to be considered for the merit money, you have to apply early decision. W & L, Davidson, Furman, Centre, Rhodes all have generous merit possibilities.