I’m going to be a junior in high school next year and am having some difficulty figuring out what colleges I should apply to. I would like to major in computer science or engineering. I live in Texas and will need some financial aid because my parents make 100k and need to put my other two siblings through colleges during the same time.
Credentials: 4.8/5.25 W, 3.77/4.0 UW
SAT: aiming for a 2100 unless I do well on the ACT then I won’t take it
ACT: aiming for a 32
AP: human 4, world 5, taking physics 1, Chem, U.S. History, English, and comp sci next year, and 5 or 6 APs senior year
EC: marching band all 4 years, going for a leadership position senior year
Science Olympiad 3 years
100 volunteer hours with elementary children and college for kids at TCC
Hooks: URM Hispanic
What I want in a college:
I want the college to have some sports and things to do besides studying. Not too big of a city but definitely one that has people and activities. I don’t want the school to be too big but I want to be able to connect with people and possibly create an app or something with classmates.
So far I’ve been looking primarily at Texas colleges and am liking UT Dallas, Baylor, Texas A&M (I heard not too good socially with UTD and A&M), and UT Austin. I’m not sure what categories these fall under with safeties/matches/reaches. I am fairly introverted as well. I am wanting to apply to around 10 colleges and any and all suggestions are welcome.
What’s your class rank? That’s the most important admission criteria for UT and TAMU. Make sure you study for the PSAT. If you do well there you might make NHRP which will generate some scholarships for you.
My class doesn’t rank those not in the top 10%. If I had to guess I’m at least in the top 25 if not 20%. The gpa cutoff for the top 10% is 5.055 and I currently have a 4.86 for my ranking gpa and a 4.79 for my cumulative gpa.
the only other school that comes to mind is muhlenberg college and maybe butler university in indianapolis
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/
https://www.butler.edu/
I think you would be auto admit to TAMU. Look at U of Alabama. If you get the scores you’re seeking you would get good merit aid. It’s a large school but fulfills all your other requirements. Also look at U Alabama Huntsville which hits most of them.
Do you know if Tuscaloosa is a good college town? I saw some photos online and it looked pretty rundown.
My son is a senior at A&M and my daughter is starting at Alabama in the fall.
We live in California, but I grew up in Dallas and went to A&M.
Tuscaloosa and College Station are similar. Alabama is a smaller prettier campus next to a river.
Alabama has great scholarships!!
A&M has a great Alumni Network!.!
If you want to go to grad school, you might want to consider Alabama because of scholarships.
A&M has fantastic engineering programs, but not much in the arts.
A&M is huge and growing (not necessarily a good thing).
Alabama has a huge greek system, and it’s Honors college has tons of programs.
Visit the campuses and see what you like. If you visit Alabama contact the honors college and get them to schedule a tour.
My son would not like Alabama and A&M wasn’t for my daughter.
Both are good choices.
Putting in a call to @mom2collegekids for feedback on Tuscaloosa
Did you ever find anything out about Tuscaloosa?
Have you considered Rice and Wash U? Both sound like they could work well for you if you qualified for scholarship money. A lot depends on those test scores, so practice!
http://admissions.wustl.edu/scholarships-financial-aid/Freshman-Academic-Scholarship-Fellowship-Programs/Pages/default.aspx
https://staff.rice.edu/staff/Scholarships.asp
I have looked at Washington and Rice. I don’t particularly like Rice a whole lot just because it’s really hot in Houston and I feel like I want to go somewhere a bit colder. How is Washington with their scholarship money? What kind of stats are needed to be admitted? @N’s Mom
Wash U wants high stats. They meet need for FA but merit aid is HIGHLY competitive.
Thank you. Will they give as much as half tuition? Do you happen to know any other nice colleges for engineering that are in a fairly cold climate that provide good financial aid?
UMN-Twin Cities 
Do you mean “financial aid” or “merit aid” though?
Do you want to stay in Texas? Texas public Us are a deal for instate residents.
A&M is not so bad socially, just distinctive. Worth a visit to see if you like it.
If you like Austin but can’t get into UT, think about Saint Edwards or Southwestern. DK what the aid situation is, but worth a look.
If your test scores end up being high, you have a good shot at a scholarship at UTSA or Tech. Okay, so Tech isn’t in the hippest city, but there is big time football. UTSA is in a nice city, San Antonio, and that campus is growing and changing all the time. UTSA has football and a strong honors program. There are several small schools in SA that might offer you merit aid as well, like Trinity or St Marys.
I like the idea of the Twin Cities as well. Would you go somewhere that far and cold?
Is your family low income? If so then looking for colleges with good Financial Aid makes sense (since that is based on need). If they are middle/high income and just have bills then you need to look for Merit Aid.
Look here for other options: http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
My family makes 100k, probably more around 110k. I think it’d be nice to go somewhere cold; it’s pretty hot in Texas.