<p>she should get in Case, Rochester, Pitt and Stoneybrook, RIT. How about RPI? WPI? Can you do one of these EA so she can have one acceptance in hand? If she doesn’t get in, she can refocus her list away from the reaches? Of course the reaches are always tough but she has good stats! Good Luck!</p>
<p>Just an aside, if she does some the safer schools soon, she might find herself getting accepted with merit aid!</p>
<p>If you concerned about schools that consider “level of applicant’s interest” to reject or waitlist applicants who appear to be using them as “safeties”, you may want to read this discussion: <a href=“Ways to show a high "level of applicant's interest" - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1626043-ways-to-show-a-high-level-of-applicants-interest-p1.html</a></p>
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<p>Huh? She can major in physics at any of the named California schools.</p>
<p>What kind of price limit are you looking at?</p>
<p>Maybe I’m missing something, but why not Harvard, Yale, Penn? Schools with money can afford to be more generous and students with far less in the grades and scores department in her situation have gotten into those schools. It’s certainly worth flinging the application over the wall to see what happens.</p>
<p>As for non-reaches, given the $10K you can get from the DC TAG program, publics seem like a pretty good option. <a href=“DC Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) | osse”>http://osse.dc.gov/service/dc-tuition-assistance-grant-dc-tag</a></p>
<p>Given that, it would seem like UVa and especially W&M should be high on her list. W&M is probably a slam dunk. Michigan is probably larger than she wants, but not outside the realm of possibility. </p>
<p>Ohio State is too big as well, but combined with all the merit scholarships on offer for her test scores plus the DC TAG grant and some top-notch science programs, it may be your biggest bang for the buck. From test scores alone, she’s going to get $14 or $15K (depending on class rank), plus the $10K DC TAG which nearly pays for tuition. You’d be on the hook for under $15K a year. And there are competitive diversity scholarships available as well, but you might need to apply by Nov. 1 to be eligible for some of these.
<a href=“Merit-based scholarships - The Ohio State University”>http://undergrad.osu.edu/money-matters/scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>Of course there’s Alabama, but that’s probably not the direction she wants to go.</p>
<p>In case your D changes her mind about UW-Madison, there are full tuition + books scholarships available for URMS:
<a href=“Our Opportunities - Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH)”>http://scholarships.wisc.edu/Scholarships/schlrDetails;jsessionid=KxbBQPMdw1v35QbzN2Gfvsxk06x5LkH4zJ3hy21515dhVTCPJvn!209038631?scholId=5123</a></p>
<p>They also have a program called PEOPLE for in-state kids that culminates in a full tuition scholarship and involves lots of summer and school year mentoring in high school and aso an 8 week bridge program the summer after senior year. I don’t know, but might be possible to get in on the bridge program, earn college credits for free that summer and meet some peers in advance of starting college.
<a href=“http://www.peopleprogram.wisc.edu/collegescholars.html”>http://www.peopleprogram.wisc.edu/collegescholars.html</a></p>
<p>Stonybrook might give good scholarship and has the WISE program. They offered my D full tuition from OOS with no visiting or interest shown. Her grades were better but just an ordinary white kid. Your D has excellent chance of getting good money there.</p>
<p>Backing up what MrMom62 said about Case. If you want it as a safety, show a lot of interest. D was rejected there, but accepted at much more selective universities. I don’t blame your daughter for not wanting to be near Ferguson. I’ve heard some ridiculous reasons even some from my D, but that isn’t one of them in my opinion.
Again agreeing with MrMom62. She should aim high as high as she likes as she does have a chance. Just balance it with matches and a safety or two.</p>
<p>Brown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Wesleyan, URochester, not urban but Harvey Mudd, Pamona, Barnard (women’s college but very integrated with Columbia), Rice, Tufts (show interest), U Wisc-Mad and UF might be nice public safeties.</p>
<p>I thought she was already aiming pretty high. She has 7 schools on her list with admission rates of 20 percent or less (especially for out of state). Even Stonybrook has 88% of new freshmen from instate, so she is trying for one of those remaining 12% of slots. It is as bad as UNC chapel hill
And I have been encouraging her to look at Rensselaer but she didn’t put it on her short list yet. A student I met who is at the school said it’s 70% engineers. Any info on that? He was a really nice kid too</p>
<p>Just saw the link ClassicRockerDad gave and she has a very nice assortment. Saw she didn’t care for Harvard, but has she considered Brown? Just sounds like a good fit to me. UF has fairly good OOS tuition and is strong in the sciences. If she wants MIT, make sure she has the SAT II in math and a science. You may have mentioned this also, but I didn’t read everything.</p>
<p>The SAT 2 are next month so I have my fingers crossed though I really think her math scores could be anywhere from good to average</p>
<p>She is aiming high, but an AA female with a 34/35 ACT is rare, very rare. There is absolutely no reason to to try for the absolute top with that sort of score - while keeping some matches and safeties in mind. I’ve seen a non-athlete AA male with worse grades and wealthy non-alumni parents get into Harvard with a 27 ACT, so there’s no reason not to go for the top schools. She’s certainly well-qualified.</p>
<p>As someone who went to a school with a vast majority of kids majoring in engineering, I’d say definitely be wary of sort of campus. It’s not exactly as balanced, in many ways, as you’d like. The men complain there aren’t enough women and the women miss having very many like-minded women around. I already know of one female from D’s class who is regretting going to a male-centric engineering dominated campus.</p>
<p>Stony Brooks low OOS numbers probably result from the fact that OOS applications are rare, not that it’s difficult to get in like UNC. (Though your daughter should have a good shot at UNC as well.) Even in-state applications from outside the NYC area are rare, only 10% of the student body is from upstate.</p>
<p>Thank you for the insight MrMom62. Is there any info source on how OOB applicants fare at UNC? What is the true admit rate there?</p>
<p>UNC-CH is a tough OOS admit, but if I look at our HS Naviance data, it looks like having close to a 4.0 UW (3.9+) plus an ACT of 31+ gives you a really good shot.All our applicants over the years with a 34+ and 3.9+ got in. As a URM with good grades and great ACT score, she’s probably got a great shot, but not guaranteed, nothing is.</p>
<p>UNC’s OOS rate for unhooked kids is Ivy-level.
SUNY’s aren’t anywhere as selective, even if their admission rate is similar - the OOS students applying aren’t of the same caliber.
It’s good you’re looking for matches and safeties but throwing in a “who knows?” app could be good. Although that math test score is worrisome for a future STEM major at a very competitive school.</p>
<p>Iwonderwhere you said that on the next ACT test the math score was switched with writing. I wonder if there was an error in recording the scores. I would think that with a 5 on the CalcAB test that her math ACT would much likelier be a 34 than a 28. I’m guessing that admissions might wonder the same thing. A good SAT II math score (either level 1 or 2) would put their question to rest.</p>
<p>The prior math act was a 33 but this month she said the exam was harder. That is why I am not going to hope for too much from the SAT subject tests and am leery of her choosing physics as a major…but since I won’t be the one sitting in class I just cross my fingers and hope for a change of heart
I really am not feeling that MIT or Caltech are the right fit either…
Back to my safety hunt</p>
<p>33 is a great math score. If she’s admitted to MIT I wouldn’t worry. They’re known for saying that they don’t make mistakes when admitting students. Hope you get more safety suggestions and hope that she doesn’t need them in the end.</p>
<p>There are plenty of sciences where she could excel with that math score, but physics is not one of them. You really don’t want to go to Harvard and be competing with the future Neil deGrasse Tyson or Brian Greene’s of the world, which is exactly who you’ll be in class with.</p>
<p>At least I would be intimidated by that prospect. Maybe your daughter’s up to the challenge.</p>
<p>UNC admit rates for in-state vs. OOS here: <a href=“Our Newest Class - Undergraduate Admissions”>http://admissions.unc.edu/apply/class-profile/</a></p>
<p>Check page 15 of this document for SAT scores of enrolled freshmen. They list in-state and OOS separately. Very dramatic difference.
<a href=“http://oira.unc.edu/files/2014/09/fb2013_2014.pdf”>http://oira.unc.edu/files/2014/09/fb2013_2014.pdf</a></p>