Some schools we have looked at with strong science programs that give merit aid (as well as need-based aid) are St Mary’s College of Maryland and Juniata (in PA). Both are very small rural schools, but would probably fall into the safety category for you and have the strong program you want.
Also, why are none of my matches matches?
I like to cite this example to answer that question. We visited a tip-top LAC a few years ago. They said that 70% of all applicants were fully qualified in every way, and the school expected that they would succeed academically and otherwise accepted. At the time, the school accepted 14%. So 4 in 5 fully qualified applicants could not be accommodated. There were many more than seats available. More demand than supply.
I suspect that 70% number is pretty much true at most competitive schools. So any school with an acceptance rate below 20% is really a reach for pretty much everyone. It doesn’t mean that a student is not qualified and and would not succeed. Actually the opposite.I suspect you would succeed at every school on your list, and Harvard too. It’s just that many qualified applicants won’t be accepted. And many who are not accepted will do just as well in life as those who are, at any competitive school. And most students will have acceptances and rejections.
For a strong student like yourself, I’d pretty much consider any school below 20% acceptance rate a reach and most above 40% a safety, though that might vary somewhat in any given circumstance. (For example, if lots and lots of Californians apply to an LAC with a 42% acceptance rate, some very well qualified ones probably won’t be accepted.) Note also a school with a 20% overall acceptance rate will probably have a much lower RD acceptance rate, perhaps dramatically lower if it accepts a high % of the incoming class in ED/EA.
You might google “colleges that meet full financial need.” Many of these schools are the wealthiest and most competitive, but not all of them are hyper-competitive. Note that they may be “need aware” in admissions. Also, that they might expect you to pay more than you can actually pay. But at least there is a commitment to meeting full financial need, and maybe you can talk to them if accepted but cost is too high.
I find Bryn Mawr, Cornell, Yale, and Wash U on the list I’m looking at, also Holy Cross and Mount Holyoke, which I recommended. Connecticut College is another good one. Very good school, competitive admissions but not hyper-competitive.
Are you first gen for college? How many are in your family? Have you looked into Questbridge? It could be worthwhile to try for it if you think you fit:
https://www.questbridge.org/high-school-students/national-college-match
Another college to consider (run the NPC) is the University of Rochester in NY. I’m not sure if they’ll expect your dad to be part of it or not. You could always contact them to find out.
@xTashaa Congrats on the Governor’s School acceptance! That’s in UTKnoxville, your state flagship. So you will get a chance to experience what they have to offer. I believe it will be a financial safety for you,since they have many scholarships based on stats. They are very good in the sciences and will give you a solid undergrad background.
Regarding diversity, even if a campus is diverse, the science programs may not always be so. It’s something you may have to get used to. And please follow the advice of the other posts here about having the financial talk with your mom.
OP’s parents are divorced. That complicates things at many colleges with good financial aid otherwise.
As others have said, start by really drilling down into the finances. Would you be eligible for a waiver of the non-custodial parent financial info at schools which would otherwise require it? I’m not familiar with what goes into that decision, but have heard about students whose bio dad had never been in the picture getting a waiver for the non-custodial parent financial info. Others may know more how you investigate that, it seems to be a school-by-school decision.
In terms of finances, the first step is to know whether your family can afford your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) – depending on the school, you may already be expected to take out loans and work study as part of your financial aid package, so having a parent borrow to cover the EFC is generally not a good idea.
Find some solid financial/admission safeties – where your stats get you automatic full tuition merit award. There is a “stickied” thread about schools with automatic merit. Getting the ACT up to a 34 would make a big impact on getting more merit, so putting the time into prep this summer would be well worth it. Some of the big publics with Honors programs, especially in the South, can be very generous with merit aid for high stat kids, so that is where you could start.
Then, build your list from the “bottom” up – safeties/match/reach. You might want to consider the qualities you are looking for in LACs and also larger universities, and then build a list of each, from safety/match/reach, which share qualities. For instance, perhaps you are looking for LACs with strong sciences and which value diversity, then you might have a list which had Earlham, Wooster as closer to safeties, Mt. Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Denison as matches, and Grinnell and Haverford as reaches. (Note, any school which uses holistic admission, and not just numbers, is hard to truly call a safety. At the same time, if a student expresses genuine interest by contacting admissions rep, attending any college fairs in town which the college is participating in, requesting an alumni interview if they can’t travel to campus to visit etc., then can be closer to safeties). Do the same on the university side – perhaps starting with your instate public flagship Honors program, if it is affordable. The challenge with being an out of state applicant at public flagships is that most of them do not offer good financial aid to out of state students, I believe North Carolina, Virginia and Michigan are the few which do offer financial aid, but those are ridiculously competitive for out of state students. I’m not as familiar with Wash U St Louis and Vandy admissions, so defer to others about those schools.
@xTashaa You sound like a wonderful, accomplished, hardworking, sincere person with a bright future.
As somebody who has been advising a relative with similar financial and familial constraints, I will offer some unsolicited advice that may help you.
The structure of financial aid at colleges and universities is divided into two broad categories: FAFSA only and CSS Profile schools. Generally the most selective private schools (and some selective publics like Michigan, NC, and others) will want you to fill out the CSS Profile, which is a more exhaustive form than the FAFSA. Most Profile schools also will take your non-custodial parent’s income and assets into account and will want him or her to fill out forms. based on the combination of both parents’ assets and income, they will determine your level of need-based aid. There are processes for obtaining a non-custodial parental waiver. I have provided a link below - see if you fit the criteria. Here also is a link to a list of Profile schools that indicates which don’t require non-custodial financial information. Georgia Tech, Chicago, and Vanderbilt might be of interest - all reaches.
https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/pdf/css-profile-waiver-request-non-custodial-parent.pdf
https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx
Your next option would be to seek merit-based scholarships that offer full tuition (hard to get) or full ride (extremely hard to get). To be competitive, high standardized test scores are important.
Realistically your budget might be 10K annually from your custodial parent, 5.5K federal student loan, work study, and perhaps some Pell. That would cover room and board, books and travel and perhaps some incidentals.
Your state flagship is not a bad safety option. It is FAFSA only and you may qualify for need-based aid/merit there. You may also want to consider HBCUs and women’s colleges (as mentioned upthread).
Finally, regarding matches/reaches, any place with a less than 20% admit rate is a reach for everybody, no matter how qualified, because there will likely be more qualified applicants in the pool than the college or university can accept. Being first generation, African-American, and a female interested in STEM can provide some boost in admissions. Your grades and class rank are superb. But still, when the percentages for acceptance are low, nothing is a sure thing.
Hope this helps!
Many times parents tell their children not to worry about the cost of college at the beginning of the search process because they want their children to dream big. So be sure that your mom know you are dreaming big!
Then ask her to help you run the NPCs at a few of the places on your list, and use that as an opener for the conversation about money. She may know something about college money that you don’t know (some parents keep their savings private, or there are rich relatives who have committed to help). There also are current realities about the cost of college and the financial aid process that might be completely new to her. She may have unstated preferences for your major or where you study. So bring on the soft tissues and preferred adult beverage(s), and help her begin to work through all of this with you.
But even if she offers, please, please, please don’t let her borrow money or co-sign loans for you. Dream big, but get real when you see the final numbers next spring.
Applying to college is not cheap, given all the application fees and costs to send your test scores. Talk with your mom about getting a summer job or a part-time job next fall so you can help pay those costs.
Your ACT score and GPA qualify you for some of the automatic scholarships (apply and you will get in and you will get the money) in the thread on automatic full tuition and full rides that is at the top of the financial aid forum. Go read through that list. Pay attention to see if any of them change for this coming application season. They can serve as your dead-on true safeties. Biology is not a rare major, so the auto scholarship places are likely to have decent, and possibly even stellar, prigrams.
Lastly, take advantage of your time at Governor’s School to get to know what is available for you at UTK. Pay a visit to admissions, and see what merit and need-based money they might have for you.
I am definitely going to try this soon, thank you so much!
St Mary’s College (MD) is a remarkable, affordable college. I would check it out @ http://www.smcm.edu/
Your Mom may wrongly think that you’ll be able to borrow all the costs or that ypull get lots os aid.
Please explain that you need to have a sane app list
@xTashaa congrats on being an excellent student and working hard. Are you a first generation college student? If you would like to stay in the South, you may want to look at The Honors College at College of Charleston. They has generous scholarships , especially for URMs and first gen students. They have an excellent biology program and have a close relationship with the Medical University of SC. They also have undergrad research opportunities. Quite a few of their grads go on to med school, grad school and law school at some very selective schools and quite a few of their grads have won National awards such as Goldwater and Fulbright. It may be worth a look. My son is a student there and I can’t speak highly enough of the program and the support and investment provided by the faculty. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.
From the school’s perspective, that alone is not a legitimate reason to exclude his income/assets in determining financial need (unless the college has a blanket policy of not requiring a non-custodial parent statement).
Here is a list of colleges that do/don’t require CSS Profile and the Profile NCP form (but … be aware that some schools that do not require the Profile NCP form may instead use their own form).
https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx
Look at the non-custodial parent statements & waivers for schools that interest you.
Emerson College posts a relatively clear statement that may help you understand expectations and processes.
https://www.emerson.edu/financial-aid/new-undergraduate/applying-aid/noncustodial-parent-statements-waivers
If you think you need an NCP waiver but still don’t understand expectations, talk to your school’s GC about it or else post additional questions on CC.
Did you look at Temple U in Philly as your safety?
As diverse as you will get. Has good science programs with access to Med schools and other opportunities for research. They have changed their merit aid but I think you would still qualify for a scholarship.
Good luck
Rhodes College in Memphis is very good in biology, and research at St. Jude Children’s Hospital is possible through Rhodes.
Rhodes is generous with merit aid. Not sure about need-based aid and if non-custodial parent info is required.
Earlham could be a safety. Strong sciences (especially pre med).
Thank-you, and I am a first gen and there are only two in the house. However, because there is only two of us and my mom makes 60-70K QB may not be an option but I will look into it thank you!