Good, cost-effective schools for B+ students.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So yeah, I've kind of slipped during the high school years. I still managed to get into the top 10 % of the class. Either way, my GPA is kinda low. Like 3.5 or so. So I need a good, quality school which is still affordable for an international student.</p>

<p>Schools like James Madison, Washington University, Indiana University and so on. Not necessarily public but private schools in the U.S don't tend to be either cheap, or give financial aid. Unless it's Harvard or Yale, but yeah, duh.</p>

<p>So can you help me? I'm going for Psychology, International Relations and/or History.</p>

2

<p>^^^^</p>

<p>Not necessarily public but private schools in the U.S don’t tend to be either cheap, or give financial aid.</p>

<p>Not sure I understand that sentence.</p>

<p>How much can your family pay? </p>

<p>What is your SAT or ACT score?</p>

<p>At this point, you’ve missed most/all of the deadlines for schools that give FA to int’l students (altho your GPA may be too low for those) and we don’t know what your SAT/ ACT scores are.</p>

<p>When you give us this info, we can help you.</p>

3

<p>At this late date, one of the main concerns is deadlines. Below are some schools still taking applications, culled from a bigger list on another thread. I recommend you start by checking out Occidental, which is in the LA area and is the school where President Obama started. </p>

<p>02/01 - Centre College
02/01 - Dickinson
02/01 - Franklin & Marshall
02/01 - Gettysburg
02/01 - Kalamazoo
02/01 - Lewis & Clark College
02/01 - Occidental
02/01 - Wisconsin-Madison
02/15 Catholic University of America (in Washington, DC)
02/15 - Earlham
02/15 - Wooster
rolling - Hendrix
rolling - IU - Bloomington</p>

<p>For a bigger list:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/841691-official-list-schools-later-deadlines-9.html?highlight=deadlines[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/841691-official-list-schools-later-deadlines-9.html?highlight=deadlines&lt;/a&gt;
My short list eliminates women’s colleges and technical schools, among others. The ones above are all pretty good schools, and are more or less likely admits for a B+ student in the top 10% (assuming your scores are not unusually low). Aid prospects for an International student? Google [school name] + “Common Data Set”, download the CDS document, go to section H6 (aid to degree-seeking nonresident aliens). Not every school posts a CDS document.</p>

4

<p>Are there any schools with later deadlines that give aid to in’tl students with average stats?</p>

<p>I’m not thinking of any. (besides, we don’t know if he has determined “need.”)</p>

<p>I’m thinking that the OP will need to pay full-freight and therefore might need schools that have COAs (total cost of attendance) in the $25k-35k range.</p>

5

<p>His stats do not sound average to me. 3.5, top 10%? Maybe among international applicants to some of the above schools. </p>

<p>Kalamazoo (to take one example) awarded aid to 23 internationals in 2008-09, averaging $9,336 each. For Centre College 2009-10, it was 21 students averaging $21,670 (sounds like a better deal, doesn’t it?) But I don’t know if these CDS/H6 numbers refer to freshman only or to all students (freshmen only, I would hope). I don’t know if the money is awarded evenly among all applicants or more heavily to EA/ED applicants (more to early birds, I would think). The OP can contact schools to find these things out, if it matters to him.</p>

<p>Ah! Earlham College shows awards to 131 internationals averaging $30,784. That’s a pretty nice little school, too. A bit out in the rural boondocks but academically solid without being too too selective. It’s a traditionally Quaker college, as are some of the best small colleges in the country.</p>

6

<p>*His stats do not sound average to me. 3.5, top 10%? Maybe among international applicants to some of the above schools. *</p>

<p>I was just considering him against the int’l pool which contains students with near perfect stats.</p>

<p>However, since I don’t know what his SAT/ACT is, he may be high in the int’l applicant pool. WE also don’t know his family income/assets. They may earn too much to qualify for aid.</p>

<p>What are the deadlines for these schools?</p>

<p>I wish the OP would come back so we’d know his SAT/ACT score and what his family can pay.</p>

7

<p>Hithle, the above advice from TK and mom2 is excellent. You rtime is hsort, however, to follow it.</p>

8

<p>Look at Minnesota. Great Big Ten school in an amazing city. Plus tution plus room and board is only 24K for out of state and international students so it is also the cheapest top state school in the country.</p>

<p>Not sure when the deadline is though.</p>

9

<p>My SAT score was 1700~ ish or something, not very high. (if I may blame something it’s that I didn’t practice at all). The biggest shock was that I got under 500(490 to be exact) on writing, which I am good at! Maths was no shock. I never cared nor did I have any talent on it. 520. I got 700 on reading, though. Which might be good for the stuff I am looking at(psychology, history etc).</p>

<p>I come from the most socialized western nation on earth: Sweden. This means the government guarantees me 25 k dollars per year in student loan+grant in one big package on very favourable terms. This may be used for a total of 6 years and you can never be turned down. Add to this my mother is a family doctor and an entrepreneur who earns around 13 thousand dollars per month. She can pay 10,000-13,000 dollars per year. So total sum is 40-43,000 dollars. But that’s maxium. I’d prefer to have a cost of under 30,000 for int’l students, all included. Or at least under 35 k.</p>

<p>Also, I wonder… is it better to take a school which is cheap and okay’ish instead of a school like University of North Carolina(already applied) or Purdue, who are good, but yeah… you know I am looking to become a lawyer and isn’t it better to save cash and take an ‘easier’ school for your 4 years in undergrad and then take the big walletspender for the Juris Doctor? What is your opinion?</p>

10

<p>*you know I am looking to become a lawyer and isn’t it better to save cash and take an ‘easier’ school for your 4 years in undergrad and then take the big walletspender for the Juris Doctor? What is your opinion?
*</p>

<p>Yes…save the big expense for law school. A strong GPA from a “good school” and a strong LSAT score will get you into law school (I don’t know if LSAT is for American law schools only, or if you plan on going to law school here, too.)</p>

<p>So, it sounds like you can afford some publics whose deadlines haven’t passed.</p>

<p>Here’s some affordable publics that can prepare you for law school. I tried to include the ones that have COAs of $35k per year or less.</p>

<p>I’m not sure which schools deadlines for applications have already passed…</p>

<p>COA per year for OOS students , State Universities…
COA = Cost of Attendance - tuition, room, board, books, fees, travel, personal expenses, etc.</p>

<p>$25,787, U MINNESOTA
$30,000, IOWA STATE
$31,500, U ALABAMA
$31,872, AUBURN
$34,812, U IOWA
$35,029, U WISCONSIN
$35,311, U N CAROLINA
$34,922, U DELAWARE
$32,752, U PITTSBURGH</p>

11

<p>What about Truman State or Texas A&M International University? </p>

<p>Don’t wanna waste too much cash for something like psychology or history which probably won’t land me a job anyway, but don’t want to come with a community college-ish diploma either. </p>

<p>Not to be arrogant, but if I really made an effort in school I could probably fit in easily at schools like UCLA and Berkeley. But I didn’t, so now I’m kinda stuck in the greyzone. So I think it may be better to go to an okay school, get great, great grades there and then take the LSAT and get into a really, really good law school? Instead of going to places like Purdue, Indiana University or North Carolina?</p>

12

<p>Who is suggesting that you get a community college-ish diploma??? The schools I suggested are ranked higher than those two schools.</p>

<p>I’m sure that you really did make an effort at school. </p>

<p>Are you a junior or senior? If you’re a senior, then you’ve missed deadlines for UCLA or Berkeley (altho I don’t think your SAT is high enough for either.)</p>

<p>If you’re a senior, you have to go where your SAT will allow you to go. There are many good schools that will accept your SAT because your CR score brings up your math score.</p>

<p>Are you a junior or senior?</p>

13

<p>What else do you want in a school besides a good pre-law program?</p>

<p>Big
small
warm weather
cold/snowy weather
full campus experience?
big sports to watch?
city
rural
collegetown</p>

14

<p>Okay, to make clear. I am going for law eventually. I wonder if it isn’t better to take a good, but not-as-good school as e.g. North Carolina at Charelotteville but instead something like… Ball State or similar to get a better GPA.</p>

<p>In my dream world the college would be:</p>

<p>Under 20,000 in total enrolled students.
Under 30,000 $ dollars in <em>total</em> costs for international/out of state students. (I can bend to 35,000 dollars if I have to).
Preferably in a bigger-town setting, if possible. Or at least close to a bigger town.
All courses must be accredited to psychology first, preferably as that will be my choice.</p>

15

<p>A little bit of a reach but a great choice is SUNY Geneseo. Top 10 best buy Public LAC in NY for in state students #2 best buy for OOS. No TAs teaching classes here and a school with a major focus on providing a top rate affordable undergraduate education. Over 40% of graduating students attend graduate school. </p>

<p>40 minutes from Rochester, 1.5 hours from Niagara Falls, walk from campus into an adorable college town and if you are into the outdoors biking, hiking, skiing etc. there are some great options in the area. </p>

<p>[SUNY</a> Geneseo | SUNY Geneseo](<a href=“http://www.geneseo.edu%5DSUNY”>http://www.geneseo.edu)</p>

16

<p>

</p>

<p>Well, it already had it’s application deadline(1st Jan).</p>

<p>Anyone got any clue? Like a little gem or two(perhaps private), because I got the big public schools pretty covered.</p>

17

<p>Privates are going to cost too much and will likely have deadlines that are passed. It’s the publics that usually have the later deadlines. </p>

<p>Here’s an example of the COAs for privates (COA = cost of attendance: tuition, room, board, books, fees, personal expenses, misc)</p>

<p>$43,288, Rice
$47,934, Yeshiva
$49,968, Caltech
$50,100, Syracuse
$50,806, SMU
$50,620, Princeton
$55,312, U Miami
$50,436, Case Western
$55,160, Fordham
$50,550, Yale
$52,000, Harvard
$44,278, Worcester
$52,000, MIT
$48,750, Pepperdine
$52,623, Stanford
$52,394, Cornell
$52,132, Emory
$53,000, Boston University
$53,608, Northwestern
$51,300, Notre Dame
$55,368, Vanderbilt
$52,082, Wake Forest
$51,050, Lehigh
$52,973, Dartmouth
$51,140, U Rochester
$52,162, Brandeis
$53,793, NYU
$52,030, Brown
$55,866 Wash U
$53,095, U Penn
$53,390, Duke
$53,618, USC
$54,300, Boston College
$53,390, Johns Hopkins
$54,160, Rensselaer
$55,330, Georgetown
$54,047, U Chicago
$53,660, Carnegie Mellon
$55,125, George Washington
$53,200, Tufts
$52,996, Tulane
$53,644, Columbia</p>

18

<p>but most of those have far higher costs than I asked for(remember, max 35,000 dollars?)</p>

<p>I’m thinking about Truman State, York College and those kind of schools. I’d prefer a 5.000-10.000 student body school that’s on par with Truman in academics but also very cheap.</p>

<p>Anyone know anything? I’d appreciate it, thanks.</p>

19

<p>Hithle, SUNY Geneseo has a deadline of 1st June for international students. I am positive about this. </p>

<p>Mom2collegekids was showing you that you can’t afford privates. She was giving examples. </p>

<p>I’d advise you to check out SUNY Geneseo (undergrads : 5000), SUNY Binghamton (12000 overall I think), University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Lake Forest College and Franklin and Marshall College (undergrads: <2000) (the latter two deadlines are in a week)</p>

20

<p>Franklin and Marshall College has almost 40,000 in tuition and fees. And not counting health care insurance, food etc.</p>

<p>These are my current colleges:</p>

<p>Important factors in deciding which college is for me:
[ul]
[<em>]Cost under 25,000 dollars in tuition and fees, most preferably. No more than 35,000 unless it’s an absolutely AMAZING college in all aspects
[</em>]Friendly community. I’d prefer a centrist and/or politically dead environment. If I have to choose between two extremes, then I’d take more conservative than far-left liberalism. But if it’s a far-left liberal campus that’s also tolerant of centrist views, hey, I don’t mind.
[<em>]Under 20,000 in undergraduates. Preferably between 6-15 thousand students.
[</em>]An academic environment without too many branies. I want to have an atmosphere of study and hard-work without having too much competition.
[<em>]Students focus more on co-operation and groups instead of competition between themselves.
[</em>]I don’t want a commuter school.
[/ul]</p>

<p>Considering all of these these, I have several candidates. I need specifically to know more about their campuses and school environments.</p>

<p>Here are the current ‘top list’ (may still change):</p>

<p>[ul]</p>

<p>[<em>]Bellarmine (Seems like a great community, and not too large)
[</em>]Bradley University (Like the above, although slightly larger)
[<em>]Truman State(may be a bit too over-achieving for me to get a great GPA?)
[</em>]Brigham Young University (Cheap, solid academics and seem like a calm place. Perhaps too calm, though?)
[<em>]Elon University (School seems great in all aspects, but is a little costy. Seems to be going up in the ranks in the future too which would be great)
[</em>]Flagler College (Smallish lib arts college in north of Florida. Seems to be a bit of a slacker/surfer school at times as well as a commuter schools. But there’s always different crowds. Perfect academic profile, though.)
[<em>]Howard University (Seems just great on all fronts. Is completly dominated by blacks though, and I’m white. I’m not racist at all, but how will I fit in? How would I be received?)
[</em>]Salisbury University (Cheap, good academics. What about the campus atmosphere, though? Anybody knows?)
[<em>]Wabash College (All men, smart guys but not too smart. Seems like a very social place. Cost, though?)
[</em>] West Virginia University (Cheap, a ‘safety’ school. A bit too crap academically, though? Their SAT ranges begin at 480. )
[/ul]</p>