<p>I would look at good local schools: Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and Penn.
Add in a few lower ivies: Brown, Cornell.
Then top it off with some of the prestigious non-ivies: UVA, Duke, BC, Vandy, Northwestern, Northeastern, Emory.
Then add in a few cost conscious safeties: UMD, Delaware.</p>
<p>A good target is UVA, which is very prestigious and offers in-state tuition to MD residents I believe.</p>
<p>What is CMU?</p>
<p>Your daughter has very good rank so that is something to offset the GPA.</p>
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</p>
<p>Uh. no. Unless this is a brand new policy. I have never heard of this. OP will have to pay OOS tuition.</p>
<p>Also UVA is a lottery school for OOS.</p>
<p>^^My friends with UVA students will be glad to hear of this development, @informative 
</p>
<p>@Living61 I think CMU in this case is referring to Carnegie Mellon Univ. in Pittsburgh</p>
<p>If she wants a school in a warmer climate and is interested in studying abroad she should look at Florida State University. They are relatively strong in political science, and have a law school. If she opted for the first year study aboard program, she is guaranteed instate tuition for her remaining years. The study abroad year runs about $40K and she can choose between Florence, London, Valencia and the Republic of Panama. Florida instate tution after that is about $6500 per year.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.international.fsu.edu/types/fya/fya.aspx”>http://www.international.fsu.edu/types/fya/fya.aspx</a></p>
<p><a href=“FSU Admissions | Error 404 page not found”>http://admissions.fsu.edu/freshman/finances/costs.cfm</a></p>
<p>I know FSU has a reputation here as a big football and party school but that’s not all there is here. I have a math major son who is very academically inclined and has found many opportunities to challenge himself here. And has found many like-minded peers. And for someone interested
in political science there are ample opportunities for internships as FSU is located in the state capital.</p>
<p>FSU also has a strong film studies/theatre department. A student does not have to be in that major to audition for roles.</p>
<p>As far as urban, Tallahassee is not exactly a major city. But Jacksonville is two hours away, Orlando is three and Atlanta is about four and a half. Megabus and Red Coach serve FSU. Megabus will take you to Orlando and back for less than $10.00 round trip.</p>
<p>
I haven’t read through the full thread, but it sounds like cost is going to be a key limiting factor. I’d recommend trying some net price calculators. If you can only afford $20k due to things like supporting a large family or having another kid in college, the net price calculators will compensate for these expenses and return a lower cost. However, if you can only afford $20k due to things like credit card debt or having an expensive lifestyle, the NPCs results will differ. Some colleges do have excellent financial aid for persons in your income group, but they tend to be very selective. For example, if I enter a $150k income with typical assets into Harvard’s calc, it returns a net cost of under $20k. It’s not only HYPSM-type colleges that offer excellent financial aid. As an example, Bowdoin’s calc returns a net price of ~$26k. While a 2300 is an excellent score, SAT score is only a small part of the admission decisions at the colleges with best financial aid, as they tend to have a holistic focus. GPA and course rigor tend to have a greater impact on admissions results, and non-academic criteria are important as well.</p>
<p>Merit scholarships may also be a good option. However, most have a GPA cutoff as well as test score cut off, so a mismatched GPA/test score kid won’t qualify for some of the better near-full tuition ones. There are threads on this site listing specific cut offs at specific colleges, such as the one at <a href=“Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-p1.html</a> .</p>
<p>We were similar income to you and our daughter fell in love with Pomona, which did not offer any aid for someone in our income bracket. We don’t complain, she got a top-notch education, great professors, and research opportunities all four years, grants and jobs during her four years as well as getting into a great grad school and job! It was a stressful time as we decided what we could or would do as a family.</p>
<p>If 20k is what you can afford then limit your search to schools that give decent merit aid, they are out there. Be clear and don’t look at schools outside your means, don’t let her look for her “dream” school, which may be unattainable. Don’t spend money you can’t or don’t want to afford.</p>
<p>Looking back, I honestly don’t think she would have gotten a better education elsewhere but I am pretty sure she would be successful whatever school she went to. This is an important distinction, there are many roads to get somewhere, and the most prestigious isn’t always exclusive. An example, one of her classmates got into a really nice Med school and was accepted early in the application process, another friend who went to a really small remote LAC (not on the top 100 list but gave her great aid) was on eggshells for quite a while waiting to be accepted into any Med school. But she got in one! And it is a good med program with a great reputation. Both will be doctors one day.</p>
<p>@slackermommd “Also UVA is a lottery school for OOS.”</p>
<p>I think she means it is hard to get in for OOS. Lottery in the sense that you may not know for sure. Not in the sense of they pick them at random.</p>
<p>One thing to consider is that some of the schools that people are recommending for you to consider will require 2 SAT subject tests, so if she has not done that you will need to make a plan if she is going to attend one of those.</p>
<p>Additionally, others can comment on this better than I can, but if applying to a top 30 school, I think that an essay about this whole unexpected situation could be compelling, if well crafted. </p>
<p>I think Maryland could be good if they give you a much better financial package. If they don’t, I would also consider, Chicago, WUSTL, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Vandy, and Virginia as potential candidates. </p>
<p>Penn and Brown are long shots, based on what I read, but could be worth a shot if her essays are compelling.</p>
<p>JMHO</p>
<p>I think some kids in MD, NJ, MA, and CT have a tendency to go to schools that are worse than their state schools because of the stigma of going to state school that exists in those states. Don’t let your daughter do that. Make sure that every school on the list is at least as solid as UMDCP. </p>
<p>I know you mentioned warm weather, but University of Minnesota will possibly bring down COA to instate rates if she gets one of the scholarships for students in the top 10% of the class. It’s a very urban campus and Minneapolis/St. Paul area has a good reputation (education, healthcare). </p>
<p>Just googled Minneapolis/St. Paul rankings and looks like their theater offerings are nothing to sneeze at :)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.travelandleisure.com/americas-favorite-cities/2012/category/culture/theater-performance-art/resident”>http://www.travelandleisure.com/americas-favorite-cities/2012/category/culture/theater-performance-art/resident</a></p>
<p>Back from hiking in Nova Scotia and in Halifax airport now with my fingers crossed that my plane arrives (and lands!) in one piece. Hope all you east coast CC’ers make it through this hurricane w/ minimal damage.</p>
<p>Trying not to beat myself up about not paying attention to PSAT and for not knowing how a good score could help with money. Spoke with my daughter last week and she has friends at camp who go to very prestigious private high schools in DC. They all were in prep courses for PSAT. 
Sigh. Our fault for not asking but I wish a teacher or a counselor would have mentioned it along the way… </p>
<p>Mid-year my daughter heard some talk of SAT subject tests, she asked her counselor, and was told they weren’t necessary. When she met the counselor again after receiving her SAT scores, the counselor said she should take the tests. When my daughter asked her why earlier in the year she said they weren’t necessary, she said, “I didn’t know you’d get a 2300.” So… we scrambled and signed her up for the last session w/o much time to prep. She just got her scores: 750 for US history and 760 for Lit. These scores seem OK, but not great, I think?</p>
<p>Should she also take a math subject test? Math is the primary reason for her 3.71. She also got a few B’s in Chem and Physics, I believe. She always took the most challenging courses (AP calc, etc.), but usually got B’s in math.</p>
<p>I have a few college books waiting for me when I return so I can focus on researching your suggestions. Thanks again, everyone. I’ll keep checking here and report my findings/results as we go forward.</p>
<p>
Those scores are fantastic.</p>
<p>I apologize if someone else already mentioned this, but it might be worth running a FAFSA simulator like this: <a href=“Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator - Finaid”>http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml</a> to get your actual EFC. If you are supporting another family member substantially, might that not affect your EFC somewhat? If so, then you could be looking at schools that both meet 100% need AND give merit aid… that might make it do-able. I know that Mount Holyoke is one such school, and it’s very strong in your daughter’s interests.</p>
<p>The first school I thought of when I read your first post was Wellesley, but unfortunately they don’t give merit aid :(</p>
<p>I think Macalester gives merit aid. If she can sacrifice on the warm weather requirement, it would be a great place for her, given her interests – fabulous theater town, a passion for gender studies, human rights, etc. would be well met there. I don’t know what the dance program is like there, but if they don’t offer something, the students can take things at other schools in the Twin Cities.</p>
<p>She would definitely get merit at Muhlenberg (about $20,000 per year). Very strong theater program, but not sure the setting will be what she wants. They also have an honors program, with extra benefits. </p>
<p>Strong SAT IIs. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about not prepping for the PSAT. That is water under the bridge. And who knows if she would have wanted to? My kids wouldn’t do it. They made strong PSAT scores, but it was when they got ready for the SAT that they finally bothered to prep a little. </p>
<p>Would she consider NYU? Before putting it down as such an expensive school with lousy aid, people should know that sometimes they actually give amazing aid – it depends on how much they want the student. Take a look at the BA in Performance Studies at Tisch – they’ve just instituted it as a BA (previously only as an MA) and they might be very interested in providing good money to attract students to this new program. </p>
<p><a href=“http://performance.tisch.nyu.edu/object/ps_ba.html”>http://performance.tisch.nyu.edu/object/ps_ba.html</a></p>
<p>It doesn’t look like they have much up on the website yet about specifics for the BA, so you’d probably have to contact the department directly to learn more about the curriculum. </p>
<p>They also offer a minor in dance, and opportunities to minor or major in other schools at NYU. She’d probably have to look into whether she’s too advanced for the technique classes in the minor. She could also keep up with her dance at STEPS, a studio near the theater district, which offers instruction on a drop-in basis and attracts very high-level dancers. </p>
<p>Here’s a look at the Tisch clubs from the past year: some good opportunities for a dancer! (there are also NYU clubs as well that Tischies can join). </p>
<p>I wouldn’t rely on her 2300 score alone to get her special aid (trust me: she wouldn’t be the only one applying to or attending Tisch with those kind of scores…) but it does happen!</p>
<p>Warm weather? Very high SAT scores? Plenty of good APs? Need merit aid to lower the ticket price in the 20s?
Urban area? Some art scene? </p>
<p>You got the NY schools, but there are neither in a warm climate when school is in sessions and not particularly charitable. So, I think it is worth the time to check the USC forum and read what parents say. The school has been agressively attracting high SAT scorers with merit aid. It would be nice to be courter with a couple of bags of dollars. I am not a great fan of the school, but many love it! </p>
<p>Fwiw, the comments on the UW GPA are missing the mark as the GPA in vacuum means little to nothing. You have to measure it against the class rank and the way the courses are graded. At more than a few schools, getting a perfect 4.00 is very hard, and missing it by a couple of decimals is not unheard of. Obviously the high test scores and good class rank indicate the academic level of the student. On the other hand, some students get stratospheric high GPA but the test scores reflect how abysmal the school really. </p>
<p>PS USC is not in South Carolina. It is that one that used to pay Cheatin’ Pete salary. </p>