<p>Hi! I've been lurking on CC on & off for a while, and I finally am taking the plunge to post.
Although both my kids were born in the USA, my spouse & I adult immigrants (and now citizens) to the USA and the college process here is unfamiliar and overwhelming.</p>
<p>My oldest is a junior at a public charter school; she is bright, hardworking, gets high grades and takes Honors classes and some AP. I think she is in the top 5 out of 75 or so students. Her teachers love her as student, specially for writing & math. She has decent ECs. She took the Jan SAT without preparing and did not do so well; she is taking a prep class now and will retake in June.
She is not sure what to major in but leaning towards "some kind of engineering" or math-related or possibly CS / data course.</p>
<p>I am hoping we can find her a college that:
a) is drivable from the metro Philly area (she hates to fly & would be nice to be near enough for emergencies)
b) is affordable without massive debt
c) is reputable or has an honors program she can get into</p>
<p>This spring break we looked at these schools and here's what I/shethought:
Princeton - "lottery dream" - maybe if her essay is super-duper-mega-awesome
Lehigh - me: $$$, her: too hilly
Widener - (suggested by guidance counselor) - ok, I'd hope she can find a better safety</p>
<p>We will also be looking at Penn State, Temple, Drexel, U Pitt, St Joe's, and just for the heck of it, CMU & Penn.</p>
<p>Here's my question (finally!) - what other schools should we be looking at?
Prior to browsing CC, it did not occur to me to consider State Universities of nearby states because I was thinking their out of state rates would price us out. But I gather some so offer breaks from out of staters?</p>
<p>You may want to look into the ACT for your daughter. DD performed much better on the ACT and only submitted those scores and was admitted to her ED school. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Is your income such that you will get need-based aid at most privates or are you looking for merit money? Does she want a large or small school? Is her high school challenging or would it be a big step up to an Ivy or other elite school? Some of the schools suggested do not offer merit aid (Franklin and Marshall for example). But other do. Lehigh may actually be a nice option and she would get used to the hills (although my son did not want to apply based on our visit). If she is interested in a technical field, she may want to check out schools that have more boys than girls like Rensselaer or Worcester Polytech. Even at other elites, a girl in engineering can stand out. </p>
<p>You may need to look a bit farther down the rankings to find an affordable option, especially if she can bring her test scores up. American U in Washington is an easy train ride to Phila, as is U of Maryland, or some other smaller schools. There are many schools where she can get a fabulous education beyond the top 20. </p>
<p>As others have said, run the Net Price Calculator and read the financial aid sections of each school’ web site. Many schools do not meet 100% of need, and others provide primarily loan aid. The Education Life section of the Sunday NY Times this week focuses on “need” and (may be able to view it online) has a table of “need-aware” schools showing the % of need met. This ranges from 100% to 5%. It also shows what % of applicants are given loans as financial aid. Having an affordable safety is key. </p>
<p>UDelaware was a popular choice for my kids’ friends who were cost sensitive and good enough students to have a shot at Penn (but didn’t get in) and to compete for a full-tuition scholarship at Pitt (but didn’t get that either). UDelaware is very close (Newark DE, less than an hour’s drive, and I think you can do it on public transportation), has a good honors program, and like lots of flagships for small states really depends on out-of-state students to keep going.</p>
<p>Pitt has a really good honors program, and a vibrant urban setting that city kids like, not to mention a shot at those great merit scholarships. In the relatively recent past, I know it has bent over backward to try to get strong women into engineering. But it’s not so driveable from Philly – hard to do a one-day round trip. (Ditto CMU, Colgate, suggested above, or most SUNYs other than maybe Binghamton and Purchase, both of which are about 3 hours by car one way.) </p>
<p>West Chester probably deserves a look. It’s by far the strongest school in the PSSHE system. Also trainable as well as completely driveable. I would think it was a better safety than Widener. And if you are willing to consider western Pennsylvania maybe check out the honors program at Indiana University of PA, which I think is supposed to be good.</p>
<p>UMBC (University of Maryland - Baltimore County) has a historically strong computer science program, and has been known to offer good merit aid to good students from Philadelphia (or at least that was true in my kids’ cohort).</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr can be a great option for a girl.</p>
<p>If Penn accepts her, it is likely to be affordable thanks to the Mayor’s Scholarship program. For Philadelphia students, Penn regularly beats Harvard or Princeton in financial aid, so that’s really worth pursuing if she looks like a viable candidate. (And if she doesn’t look like at least a possible candidate for Penn, she probably isn’t going to be a strong candidate for big merit scholarships at Pitt, UMBC, or UDelaware, unfortunately.)</p>
<p>@funfatdaddy - did your DD do a prep course or self-study for the ACT? I have told my kid that if her second try at the SAT is disappointing, that she should consider the ACT.</p>
<p>More details:
Scores: Her SAT (without studying for it) was only 1700. I think it was a shock to her. She seems to be taking studying for it seriously now (before, my nagging about reviewing had little effect). I don’t know how much she can raise it, although her last mock test at the end of this review course in a couple of weeks should give us an idea.
Her weighted GPA for 9-10th grade is 4.09; it’s been on an upward trend (in 9th grade she got two B+'s; it’s been A’s since then, knock on wood). </p>
<p>Her charter school tries hard to get kids into college - it made it to the top 100 of Philly Mag’s public high schools (out of 286) and made it to the top 2000 US public high schools list compiled by newsweek for 2013 (almost made it to the top 1000).</p>
<p>Calculators & need-based aid: I have not run the calculators yet (next on my to-do) but based on tables I’ve looked at I think she will get some need-based aid. We are part if the insecure middle class - spouse has a good (not great) job, I am unemployed, and always lots of bills though we really try to scrimp day to day.</p>
<p>@mom2and - I will try to find that NYT article. I’m hoping the “girl in engineering” thing will help her. We are open to looking down in the rankings - I know a lot depends on the quality of both teachers and student.</p>
<p>Recap - Colleges suggested on this thread so far:
SUNY schools
Bucknell
Lafayette
Colgate (no engineering)
U Delaware
UMBC
for the heck of it, Swarthmore - (I know they do “no loan aid”, tempting)
Bryn Mawr
Muhlenburg,
Albright,
Alvernia,
Franklin & Marshall
Rensselaer
Worcester Polytech
American U
U of Maryland </p>
<p>Thanks again for the recs & advice, please keep them coming!</p>
<p>@JHS -thank you, your post is really very helpful, just the kind of info I have been looking for.
(We are not in Philadelphia county, though, we are in the burbs.)</p>
<p>We are open to up to a day’s drive away.</p>
<p>I think we will definitely look at UDelaware & UMBC.
Adding West Chester & Indiana U of PA.</p>
<p>My S went to college about 3 hours drive away from us. We made the round trip in one day many times each year. It’s fine. And affords one the opportunity to spend three hours talking to the kid, a captive audience. :)</p>
<p>@Consolation - lol at the captive audience thing. Both my kids have managed to perfect the art of zoning out during long drives - I swear I never know what exactly they hear when I talk. I feel like a grown up in a Charlie Brown cartoon.</p>
<p>@surfcity - Pitt is on the list, we have scheduled a visit this summer. It’s a 5 hour drive for us (stopping by Penn State main which is mid-way) so we’ll have to stay overnight and to tour it & CMU (for the heck of it).</p>
<p>Thanks for suggesting College of NJ - will look into that.</p>
<p>Alfred would be worth a look. They have an engineering program and might give merit. Northeastern, Drexel?</p>
<p>Had a girl in engineering. She got into schools that she might not have otherwise (not because she wasn’t qualified but because of acceptance rates) but we found that she did not get more merit aid. </p>
<p>D told me that Lafayette is looking into offering a B.A. In engineering instead of a B.S. That is just a rumor but something worth looking into. </p>
<p>It’s been a long time but Swarthmore’s engineering program was a BA for people looking to go to graduate school. It was not ABET accredited. My info may be a bit off. Like I say it’s been a long time since we looked into it. </p>
<p>As the parent, you need to figure out what your maximum contribution to her college costs is, without endangering your household finances (or the college budgets of any younger kids). You then need to make it clear what the limit is before she makes her application list.</p>
<p>You and she need to check need-based financial aid estimates by using the net price calculators on college web sites. If they are too expensive (i.e. greater than your contribution plus possibly her contribution of federal direct loans and/or small amounts of work earnings), then you need to find out if there are in-reach merit scholarships available. (Unfortunately, PA is not a good state for in-state need-based financial aid at state schools.)</p>
<p>scholarme, deb922’s information is incorrect about Swarthmore. The engineering program at Swarthmore is ABET accredited and students receive a B.S. in Engineering. Just so you know, Swarthmore is quite a bit more selective than the schools mentioned, other than Princeton. It would require much higher SAT scores, perhaps 400 points higher before consideration, with very strong SAT math and SAT 2 scores.</p>
<p>Thanks momof3sons! Like I said it’s been a long time. I do remember that we decided not to look there as I thought it was primarily a program for those looking at graduate school. D wasn’t interested. But thanks for clarifying. </p>
<p>I would have to say to look at Temple. It is a great school and definitely often flies under the radar. I know a lot of people from Pa that were A-B students and got full rides or close to it, so if money is a stress it might be a good safety.</p>
<p>That said, our engineering department isn’t the best from what I have heard. </p>
<p>A little longer drives, but worth it: Smith and Virginia Tech. Remember, you will only have to drive to drop off in the fall and pick up in May. Other times, someone will be heading at least to the area for breaks.</p>
<p>Juniata gave my daughter half-tuition merit aid and has impressive career counseling/recruitment, friend’s daughter loves it there. Also recommend looking at U Pitt (lot of very bright, able kids I know are going there), Bryn Mawr, and Muhlenberg. My daughter is going to Haverford College next fall so obviously we are pro on that one. Depends on programming and feel I guess-- my daughter was very clear that she wanted a small school with a strong Honor-codey type tradition.</p>