Feeling lost and trying to build a list...

College Search & Selection
1

Hi!

I’m a graduated HS student and I’m currently on a gap year in Sweden (living with family). I didn’t apply to colleges last year (mistake? probably?) and now it’s crunch time.

Unfortunately, since I’m out of the country I’m pretty much going at this alone. I can’t change my ACT scores and I’m stuck with my grades. It’s hard to get in touch with my old counselor and even my parents due to the time zone difference. So that’s why I’m here!

I’m looking for help finding safeties, matches, and even reaches. Basically, anything that fits my wants and is within my stats limitations. I’ve got a few schools I’m already set on applying to, but I’m very worried about financial aid. More than anything, I’m looking to find schools I could actually afford to go to. Help!

In an ideal world, I’d want to go to a very “intellectually-minded” university. I want to be somewhere where my peers are learning for the sake of learning. I’m not going to college “just to get a degree”, I want a well-rounded higher education. My favorite experiences with education so far have been discussions in my AP classes. That’s where I thrive and if my entire college experience could be like that? Man, that’d just be incredible.

My number one thing would be small >50 class sizes. Location wise, I’m torn. I love to be surrounded by nature and always have mountains on the horizon. At the same time, I’m wary about going to college in the middle of nowhere in terms of job/internship prospects. City life interests me as well, though ideally, it wouldn’t be too hard to find a place to go hiking on the weekends. As for where in the US? I really don’t care too much. I’m a little wary of the South, but more than anything I want to go somewhere that actually has seasons! I’m super interested in becoming a Rhodes or Fulbright scholar, so colleges known for that would be great. Opportunities for undergrad research would be a major plus as well!

Job wise I’d like to work for a think tank, university research institute, be an academic, or a city planner. All of these jobs are going to require grad school, so a college with a good grad school placement record would be great for me.

I’d love to apply as an economics major everywhere but frankly, I’m worried about doing that. The field fascinates me and the more I learn about potential jobs that come from the major, the more I find it’s what I want to do. However, I don’t have a strong track record in math. I have a bad ACT score in math, only went up to pre-cal, and mainly got Bs in my math classes. I’ve been working on my math here in Sweden (and I plan to work more in university to give myself a better foundation), but I can’t really show that tangibly. I fear that if I apply as an economics major, I’d be rejected.
The same goes for a psychology/cognitive science major. Other than my essay, I don’t have any demonstrated interest in the subject on my application. I didn’t take AP psych and none of my extracurriculars pertain to that.
Therefore (with some variance between schools), I’m either applying as a philosophy major or an urban studies major. I plan to add economics as a second major and perhaps finance as a minor.

Stats:
(using common app FYI)
W GPA 3.89
UW GPA 3.73
ACT w/o writing 32 (English 33, Math 26, Reading 33, Science 34)
California student from a high achieving public high school near Sacramento (around 40 kids went to UCs, 10+ got into HYPSMs’)
White, female, second-gen immigrant from Sweden.
Class rank: 114 out of 407
AP (mostly without testing due to money issues): European History, CSP, CSA, Literature (4), Gov.
Extracurriculars: Near nightly waitress work throughout hs, competitive soccer throughout hs, annual leadership positions with an elementary school festival and a soccer program for special needs kids, currently an English teaching assistant for a middle school here in Sweden.
I took a gap year, lived and traveled in many European countries, now fluent in Swedish.
I am epileptic as well. Does that get me anything? It’s been a struggle throughout my life and I’ll need to have a single dorm throughout my college career (as well as I can’t party or stay out late). I write about it in the additional info section of the common app.
My common app essay (prompt 6) is basically me geeking out about brain plasticity and choice phenomena.

Financial aid wise my parents make about 140,000 before taxes. I’ve already submitted the FAFSA and it’s come back saying I qualify for a Stafford loan but nothing more. I’m guessing this means I’ll be getting no financial aid from the colleges I apply to.
My family has not saved up any money for me to go to college and are in a bad state financially (lots of maxed-out credit cards, living paycheck to paycheck, high cost of living).
Paying for college is all on me. It’s not going to look that way, but my parents aren’t offering any assistance. The college with the best financial aid is probably going to win out.

In fact, the entire college process is all on me. There’s no pressure to go to a high tier university or become a doctor etc. That’s nice in a way, but it means I had no guidance in this process. I started late and as a result, I don’t have outstanding extracurriculars or good test scores (I was in fact, discouraged to take the SAT/ACT and just go to cc instead. I only took the ACT once and that was on 2 hours of sleep after a panic attack). I feel behind and outclassed by my peers. I definitely underperformed in high school. And now, I feel like I don’t have options for college.

I’m for sure applying to St. John’s College (Annapolis) and Deep Springs College. I’m considering applying to American and GW as I’d love to go school in D.C. I can’t apply to UCs because I didn’t take the ACT with writing and (so far) I haven’t found a CSU that interests me.
I’m open to any and all suggestions. I’d love to go to a top tier LAC or university because I think that’s where I’d find everything I want, but I don’t think I’d be admitted or given enough aid to attend. I’m on the bottom 25% for pretty much everywhere that’s perfect for me (WashU, Columbia, and Chicago looked so incredible but I know it’d be a waste of money to apply)and I don’t have a standout extracurricular to boost that up.
Honors colleges interest me too. Are there any top quality WUE honors colleges?
I’m also a European citizen. If anyone has any suggestions for universities in the EU I’d love to hear it!

Thanks to all who read through this and please let me know of any colleges you think would fit my interests and grade limitations. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

2

University of Rochester, Vassar, UPitt check off a lot of boxes, but finances might be an issue. You should look at some women only colleges as well, Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley?

3

WUE - I think check Arizona State University - Barrett Honors college.
University of Arizona.
University of Nevada Reno- has honors college. Also transfer from California community college.
Check Univ. New Mexico.

Commuting to community college and transferring may be your affordable route. Have you run Net Price Calculators? Your parents need to fill out FAFSA or CSS PROFILE for financial aid.

Consider colleges in Minneapolis and Chicago since there are Swedish cultural institutions.

Epilepsy- with medical records, once admitted, a college might provide accommodations for disability as may be covered under Americans With Disabilities Act.

4

New College of Florida - LAC, honors college, the number one thing people use to describe it is the intellectual atmosphere. Students are 100% there because they are passionate about their academics, not because they “want a degree to earn more money”. AND New College produces a record number of both Fulbrights and Rhode Scholars for its size (between 700 and 800 students). The more I read your post the more I think you’re exactly looking for New College, actually. I very strongly urge you to read about it, you seem like the absolute perfect fit.

5

You are European Union citizen? May have free tuition and classes in English at Stockhom University. Or reduced rates in other EU countries like Germany.

"Students are not required to pay application fees or tuition if they can document that they are:

Exchange students at Stockholm University. (You are exempt from paying application and tuition fees for studies conducted as part of the exchange agreement.)
Swedish citizens or permanent residents
Swedish temporary residence permit holders for reasons other than studying
EU/EEA or Swiss citizens
PhD student (in the process of applying or already registered)"
https://www.su.se/english/education/admissions/fees-and-scholarships?open-collapse-boxes=collapseCollapsible1571752405276_656973,collapseCollapsible1571752405267_821190,collapseCollapsible1571752405263_730184,collapseCollapsible1571752405280_389440

6

Oh trust me, I’ve looked into Swedish Universities. Who wouldn’t when there’s the prospect of free tuition?

I’m applying to 4 (Swedish max for applications) programmes outside of the American universities I’m applying to.

There’s no guarantee I’ll get in tho, as the programs are based on transcript grades and I have no idea where I fail on the spectrum.

If I get in, that’ll probably become my first choice.

7

The biggest stumbling block to finding a college for you is the cost. It appears that your family cannot pay what colleges will be expecting them to contribute. That’s a big problem for you because you do not get financial aid based on what your parents are willing and able to pay. You get financial aid by formula, heavily driven by your parents’ income, for your first year of college, in 2018.

How much can you realistically depend upon getting from your parents? Can you afford to go away to college? That’s the crux of the matter. Getting a full ride merit scholarship is a long shot and with your stats not being in the truly stellar range, very much a lottery ticket.

8

I agree with @cptofthehouse that, while I can think of quite a few great options for you if you could pay your EFC, the fact that you can’t makes a lot of those potential suggestions pointless. For example, I want to suggest intellectually-rich CTCL schools ( https://ctcl.org/category/college-profiles/ ) like Whitman and St. Olaf and others, I don’t see how you’d make it add up. You’d likely qualify for some need-based aid and some merit, but the two won’t “stack” to cover the gap between your EFC and your actual resources.

Same issue with the WUE schools - it’s a nice discount but the out-of-pocket is still beyond what you can cover with loans and earned income.

You have solid stats that you should be proud of; they’re just not so unusually-amazing that you’re going to get full-ride-level merit money from most schools that would satisfy your intellectual, life-of-the-mind parameter.

Perhaps check out Gustavus Adolphus in Minnesota. They have some substantial merit scholarships that you’d qualify for, and the school’s Swedish heritage (and language & study-abroad programs) are a focus in addition to some strong programs in your other areas of interest. They host an annual Nobel Conference which brings a lot of rich intellectual discourse to campus. I feel like they would find you a very attractive candidate for scholarships given your Swedish connection combined with your academic qualifications.

It sounds as if you don’t consider it an option to live with your family and commute to a local CC or CSU? If your family can’t provide you housing, then I’d look only at CA schools in affordable areas. (Like, perhaps establish yourself in Merced where rentals are cheap, attend Merced College during the year and take UCM classes in the summers, and then transfer to UCM. I still hesitate to suggest this because it would just be kicking the can down the road as far as the cost problem, but it would be better than digging a big debt hole from day one.)

Hopefully you’ll have an option in Sweden or elsewhere in Europe, because that really sounds ideal - no reason to let that EU citizenship go to waste!!