<p>I will filling out applications in a few months, but I need some help on my list. I live in Florida and have UCF, UF, and FSU all ready on my list. It would be great if someone could help me expand the list. A list of possible safeties, matches, and reaches would be great.</p>
<p>My ACT score was a 34 (35E,34R,30M,36S), and I have not taken the SAT yet. I got a 750 on the Biology SAT II. I have approximately a 3.95+ UW GPA with some honors and APs. I have several extracurriculars and like 150-200 hours of community service. Also, I am pretty sure I will be valedictorian, and I might get National Hispanic Scholar.</p>
<p>I really need a school that meets full need, meets close to it, or has huge scholarships up for grabs. Some sort of financial aid is a must. My family can afford only a few thousand a year, and I do not want loans because of medical school in the future.</p>
<p>The location of the school does not really matter so long as the school is not in the middle of nowhere or has really, really cold weather. Urban and suburban areas would be preferred.</p>
<p>I plan on doing pre-med and possibly majoring/double majoring in economics (1st choice), biochemistry/chemistry, or neuroscience. Universities with strong programs in these and good placement into medical school are preferred. </p>
<p>Diversity does not matter that much to me. I am latino/hispanic, but I do care if I am like the only latino there. Size does not really matter either. </p>
<p>What do you mean you will be filling out applications in a few months? Are you a currently a high school junior who will be applying for Fall 2015 freshman admissions? The application deadlines for these schools are in October - January, not in a few months.</p>
<p>First are you hardship or low income and might qualify for Questbridge? Or are you moderate income and your parents do not have savings for college? We need to know if a ‘meets need’ college will work for you or if you seek full ride merit aid.</p>
<p>In addition, some of the super-selective schools have very good need-based financial aid programs (but no merit scholarships). Try the net price calculators on their web sites. There are other schools that claim to meet 100% of financial need, but each school’s definition of “need” varies, and each has a different expected student contribution (work earnings and federal direct loans), so run the net price calculator on each school you consider.</p>
<p>Check the Florida public schools’ net price calculators for need-based financial aid. There is also likely Bright Futures money for you.</p>
<p>@CollegiateDreams, That is a few months to me. I like to have everything planned well in advance. As soon as applications open, I am filling them out.</p>
<p>@BrownParent, Lower income would be correct. Looked up questbridge, and I would qualify.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus, Thank you for the list of scholarships. I have heard of questbridge, and I might end up doing that. If I did questbridge, then it would be like applying ED(deadline around ED deadline and answer around ED time)? Would I know which schools accepted or rejected me, or would I only know which university I got matched to? Lastly, which schools off the questbridge list would you recommend based on my preferences?</p>
<p>If you’re lower-income, you’re an ideal candidate for Questbridge. The Summer program application is up.
Then the Fall program (another application) matches you with top schools that promise you a full ride (ie., they even take into account the cost of books and travelling home in their scholarship award).
Questbridge candidates have a much higher rate of admission… but Questbridge is selective so these candidates are already pre-screened.
List of colleges that meet 100% need:
<a href=“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students”>Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students;
(note that some do without any loans, while others package federal loans - up to $5,500.)
Explore the websites and run the Net Price Calculators. Fill out the “request info” forms for the colleges you’re interested in so that you get onto the admission office’s radar.</p>
<p>Based on what you said, I would start with:
Davidson, Emory, Duke, Georgetown, HarveyMudd, Occidental, Pomona, Rice, USC, URichmond, UVA, Vanderbilt, Wash U.
(these are all in “warm” locations and in/near cities).
Other colleges, many of which you’ve certainly heard of, are located in colder climates but that shouldn’t prevent you from applying. :)</p>
<p>Even with the variations in how they define “need”, the 50 or so “full need” schools (schools that claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need) very likely will represent some of the best values for a high-stats, low-income Hispanic student. Chances are, their net costs will be competitive with (if not even lower than) your in-state public university costs. Their net costs may or may not be lower than schools on the “big merit” shopping list above. However, the “full need” schools almost certainly will have stronger arts & science programs (as well as smaller classes, better facilities, and more capable students on average) than the “big merit” schools.</p>
<p>From the Questbridge list, you can rule out Bowdoin, Carleton, Dartmouth, Northwestern, UChicago on weather alone. Dartmouth and Bowdoin are also isolated. </p>
<p>Here are my preferences from your criteria (as well as my own personal preferences):</p>
<p>Columbia
Brown
Rice</p>
<p>Don’t have all your prospective majors:
Amherst - small, selective school within a consortium in MA < 3000 students
Pomona - small, selective school within a consortium in CA < 3000 students
Stanford</p>
<p>You seem to have the chops and the motivation to thrive anywhere. I would avoid the tech schools (MIT, Caltech) as that is not your focus. I know you said you don’t care about diversity, but Washington and Lee and Davidson College have little in the way of economic diversity, as well. </p>
<p>The problem with restricting yourself by weather, which a lot of kids do, is they throw out most of the top schools in the country. I remember one poster who had the most restrictive set of requirements ever - top school, weather like SoCal (dry, warm, not humid, never any snow or cold) - but not in SoCal. I can’t think of a single school that meets those requirements in the US. (I don’t think she was good enough for Stanford.)</p>
<p>OPs requirements are not that restrictive, and there’s a pretty good list of schools to choose from, but note that WashU has had a HORRIBLE winter - not that that should stop you from applying, but it might make you open up to other schools. And really, you would turn down Harvard or Yale because it’s too cold? Suck it up and go!</p>
<p>Very true. Unless it’s some sort of health-related issue of course. Avoiding cold weather will eliminate NESCAC and that would be a shame since there are some great schools in the lot. </p>
<p>Below is an illustration of variations in net cost for a hypothetical high-stats, low-income student to attend schools with a variety of costs and financial aid policies.
Source: College Abacus* (except for Trinity College, as noted below)
Assumptions: one income, $35K/year; one sibling</p>
<p>University of Wisconsin-Madison (an out-of-state public university)
Sticker Price: $41,307
Total Aid: $8,245
Your Estimated Net Price: $33,062</p>
<p>The University of Alabama (an OOS public university with full-tuition merit scholarships for OOS students)
Sticker Price: $42,054
Total Aid: $26,745
Your Estimated Net Price: $15,309</p>
<p>Florida State University (an in-state public university)
Sticker Price: $21,014
Total Aid: $6,020
Your Estimated Net Price: $14,994</p>
<p>University of Southern California (a highly selective private “full need” university)
Sticker Price: $60,033
Total Aid: $49,533
Your Estimated Net Price:$10,500</p>
<p>Washington University in St. Louis (a highly selective private “full need” university)
Sticker Price: $63,755
Total Aid: $59,705
Your Estimated Net Price: $4,050</p>
<p>Princeton University (a highly selective private “full need” university)
Sticker Price: $59,865
Total Aid: $55,865
Your Estimated Net Price: $4,000</p>
<p>Since the QB NCM program means that you agree to attend your highest ranked school that admits you on a full ride, it really does not matter whether they tell you if any of your lower ranked schools admit you.</p>
<p>But do note that the schools in QB NCM tend to be reach-for-everyone schools, so be sure to have additional other schools, particularly safeties, to apply to separately.</p>
<p>The Florida publics appear to give aid on both a need and merit (Bright Futures) basis, so a net price calculation without considering the OP’s GPA and ACT score may not be as good an estimate as with.</p>
<p>They also vary considerably in financial aid. Test runs of NPCs gave a significantly lower price for UF than for FSU.</p>
<ul>
<li>Economics is a very common major, but different schools have different emphases. Some schools have a highly mathematical emphasis that is good for those intending to go on to PhD study. More commonly, others tend to have a more pre-professional emphasis, where students tend to major in economics as a substitute for majoring in business (particularly at schools without undergraduate business majors). You may have to dig deeper into colleges’ departmental web sites (course listings, degree requirements, etc.) to figure out the emphasis.</li>
<li>Biology, biochemistry, and chemistry are very common majors. Expect them to be full of pre-med. Biology is a rather broad field, so you may want to dig a bit deeper if you have a particular subarea of interest (e.g. molecular and cell biology versus zoology/botany/ecosystem biology). Chemistry is externally accredited by the [American</a> Chemical Society](<a href=“American Chemical Society”>American Chemical Society).</li>
<li>Neuroscience is the least common of your majors, although at some schools without a neuroscience major, you may be able to approximate it with courses from biology, psychology, and other departments.</li>
</ul>
<p>Below are more illustrations of variations in net cost for a hypothetical high-stats, low-income student.
Source: College Abacus* (except for Troy University, as noted below)
Assumptions: one income, $35K/year; one sibling; 34 ACT; 4.0 GPA; student is eligible for Bright Futures scholarships; NMF; 300-399 hrs of community service; $5K in family assets; US citizen</p>
<p>Florida State University (in-state public)
Sticker Price: $21,014
Total Aid: $6,020
Your Estimated Net Price: $14,994</p>
<p>New College of Florida (in-state public)
Sticker Price: $20,067
Total Aid: $9,645
Your Estimated Net Price: $10,422</p>
<p>University of Central Florida (in-state public)
Sticker Price: $15,816
Total Aid: $7,552
Your Estimated Net Price: $8,264</p>
<p>Troy University (an OOS public university with full-ride merit scholarships for OOS students)
Sticker Price: $22,502
Total Aid: Full Ride (Tuition+Room+Board)
Residual COA: $4,470
<p>Yale University (a highly selective private “full need” university)
Sticker Price: $61,500
Total Aid: $57,100
Your Estimated Net Price: $4,400</p>
<p>Observations:
There is just as much variation in the net prices of in-state public schools as there is in the net-prices of the above “full need” private schools;
Despite variations in net cost, the “full need” schools generally have lower net costs than the in-state public schools;
In some cases, “full need” schools may have lower net costs than schools offering “full ride” merit scholarships </p>
<p>Actually Holy Cross may be a great choice (100% need and all) but for premed I’d be wary since their release of commitee letters is conditional (essentially, their great numbers are due to the fact any kid who’s not stellar is not allowed to apply to med school - without the letter you won’t get into med school.)</p>