First try at college list for rising senior. Please weigh in!

College Search & Selection
1

My D and I are working to come up a first college list and would love feedback.

The basics: Midwest. Small, rigorous public charter school. White. No hooks.

GPA: 3.95 UW (school does not weight or rank)
Lots of honors classes, 4+ per semester. Three AP classes this year (stats, rhetoric, Latin), scores not in yet. Will take strong load senior year including AP Calc, Latin 8, Genetics, etc.
ACT: 31
SAT: 2120
(Not planning to take either again)

Strong extracurriculars: State championship in mock trial, plus individual awards; high place in international competition. National Latin award. Will be yearbook editor senior year. Varsity athlete. Works as freelance photographer and has PT job with photo studio.

Fingers crossed, she’ll get National Merit. (One point above last year’s number for our state).

Here’s what we’re thinking

Super long shot: Yale (early action)

Not sure where to draw the line between which of these are reaches and which are matches:
Barnard (probably her favorite right now)
Tufts
Boston University
Wellesley

Matches
Fordham (esp. if national merit)
Brandeis

Safeties
Missouri (if journalism. She’s guaranteed in-state tuition as a legacy with good scores)
Oklahoma (only if national merit and for full ride)

She’s also going to to some research on schools in Pacific Northwest (more in the Schools that Change Lives vein… would be very dependent on merit aid).

She’s considering continuing with mock trial in college and many of the reach-y schools are strong in that.

Major is undecided. Definitely humanities. Might want to minor in photography. Possible majors: political science, journalism.

Would love to be in big city, which is why you see all the Boston and NYC schools. She does not want to stay in our state.

We are middle class and have some savings for college. We have told her we can pay 20k year for college. We’re seeing EFCs in the mid-20s mostly, with some slightly higher. Obviously the financial aid from schools like Barnard would be a deciding factor. She does not want to go in debt and is not particularly driven go to highest prestige schools. In fact, the draw of a free ride for NMF scholarship is very (too?) interesting to her.

Based on what I’ve said, are there other schools that should be on our radar? What is your take on the list … which are reaches and which are matches?

Thanks for reading!

2

I’d suggest doing some research on Univ of Alabama scholarships, as well as Pitt.

3

What do you mean by the fin aid being a “deciding factor”? Are the NPCs gapping you at all of the privates? Do you require merit aid?

4

If Barnard is her favorite, then why is she applying to Yale SCEA? I think she would be better off applying to Barnard ED. They accept most of their freshman class ED, and the acceptance rate for RD is crazy low. You can always get out of ED if they don’t give you enough money.

5

I think BU is definitely a match, and the other three are more low reaches.

If she likes Barnard and Wellesley, she might want to look at Bryn Mawr (another women’s college near a big city). If she likes BU she should check out Northeastern.

6

@Dunboyne We’re seeing a range of EFCs when using net price calculators … low/mid-20s up to low-30s, I think because some schools on the list count 100% of home equity as parental asset (Barnard for example). These numbers aren’t awards, just estimates using college calculators since she’s just a rising senior.

For schools that only award need-based aid, that number is key for us and anything over 30k, we definitely can’t do. If it were her dream school, I could see her doing small loans and paying mid to high 20s.

She’s also looking for schools that will give a student like her strong merit aid. Backup plan would be in-state tuition at Missouri or big NMF scholahip at Oklahoma.

But her preference would be large city, small LAC. That’s the area where I’m less sure of her best options v

7

Look into Lewis & Clark College for the combination of merit aid, urban environment, and opportunities to get involved with a variety of activities.

8

Barnard seems to meet all of her criteria (with perhaps cost as a significant unknown). I agree with @Irreplaceable that looking into a Barnard ED app may be a worthwhile consideration right now. ED is not always the answer, but in this case Barnard just seems so right for her. Alternatively, if cost becomes the major consideration, which is quite a rational approach as well, then Barnard may not belong on her list at all.

Really, it depends on at which stage you consider costs most heavily. If the temptation now is to do so, then merit scholarship schools should be getting primary consideration.

She is, not incidentally, a great student and will get into most of the schools above. BU, as already stated, would probably not be a particular admissions challenge for. Her ACT, in relation to her even better SAT, does little to help her profile.

9

[/quote]
But her preference would be large city, small LAC.

[/quote]

I agree with @Irreplaceable: from what you’ve said applying ED to Barnard makes more sense than EA to Yale.

Some other academically strong LACs in cities or close to cities:
Macalester, Rhodes, Davidson, Richmond, Haverford, Wesleyan

Not LACs, but medium sized similar to Tufts: Emory, Rice and Boston College.

She might want to reconsider her resolve not to retake the SAT I or the ACT. If she’s only taken them once, she’d most likely see improvement on the second go. Her scores are quite good, but for selective colleges, better is better. Also check the individual college’s requirements on SAT IIs.

10

A lot of schools super score the ACT and or SAT - so it would be worth taking both a second time. Some super score for admittance, some for scholarship. I would add the University of Tulsa, they have strong merit scholarships. I would also tell you that there is a real need for newscast producers - and Missouri has a great program. Producers often move up to management. Their graduates find jobs in journalism - reporters and producers.

11

I wouldn’t recommend the University of Tulsa for a humanities oriented student, especially when the University of Oklahoma is a potentially viable option.

12

I agree with the other posters that if Barnard really is her top choice, applying ED would give her the best chance. If she likes Barnard and Wellesley, I suggest you take a look at Bryn Mawr as well.

13

Wow. Thank you all for such great feedback. Our primary concern with Barnard ED is the financial wild card. It has highest EFC when we tried the calculator. But you’ve definitely given us something to think about with ED vs RD, @Irreplaceable. I guess I didn’t realize you could back out based on insufficient financial award.

Good point about the ACT, @merc81. The SAT score just came in last week and it was an improvement. I suppose she’ll need to take two subject tests after all if she wants to use that instead of the ACT.

Thanks for the college suggestions, @lalalemma and @whenhen. We’ll definitely add them to the list.

We are planning a combo NY/Boston trip this fall and that would hopefully clarify things.

So helpful!

14

@MplsMomTo2: Yes, that trip is important before this becomes truly real. If she really takes to Barnard, though, she may at some point be in this situation:

Barnard ED: match
Barnard RD: low reach

That possibility is probably what brought out a couple of firmer than usual opinions.

Btw, I forgot about the ACT’s value as an acceptable substitute for subject tests.

15

At first glance, Wellesley and Barnard are probably high matches/semi-reaches. Fordham is in “likely” territory. Look at American U, GWU, U Richmond. Possible merit at Clark U.

16

I agree with Lewis and Clark. Also consider Macalaster in St Paul.

17

How set is she on urban/suburban? There are many fine small LACs in New England and upstate New York that might appeal to a high achieving athlete/photographer. When you’re in the neighborhood you might visit a few, just to get an idea of the options.

18

Whitman is a gem of a school on the CTCL list and though not in a city it is in Walla Walla which is apparently a lovely town. Also Colorado College is an excellent LAC and located in a more urban environment.

19

I’d ditch Yale. She isn’t in the ballpark and she’d definitely have to apply ED to even get looked at. That’s a big opportunity cost given that she can ED somewhere she’d love and has a good chance of getting into. And take a look at Rice in Houston - LAC-like at 4,000 students, great weather in the winter, the same housing system as Yale (if that’s part of the attraction).

20

^^ Yes, don’t ED somewhere where your odds are going from 5% to 15%. It’s a waste of a perfectly good turbo-boost to your admission chances. Find a high match/low reach where your admission odds are improved to, say, a 2 in 3 shot or better.