<p>I have somewhere between a 3.7 and 3.8 for a GPA (I don't know yet because my Senior conference is next week) and a 2040 on the SAT, 1380 without writing. My CR score was a 750, and I feel confident I will do well on the Literature and US History subject tests this weekend.
I'm from upstate New York and I desperately want to avoid SUNY schools. There's just something about them I don't like. So I guess my question is, what might qualify as good safety schools for me outside of the state university system? I already have some reach and "good fit" schools, but I'm missing fall-backs.
I would prefer to stay in the Northeast, but I'm open-minded.</p>
<p>Bard. Bryn Mawr. Lesley.</p>
<p>Oh, I probably should have mentioned that I’ll probably kill myself if I don’t go somewhere urban. So Bard is kind of out of the question. Haha. Thanks for the prompt response, though.</p>
<p>Is money at issue?</p>
<p>Nova, Northeastern, Bentley, Temple, Hofstra, Fordham, UConn, Conn College.</p>
<p>Yes, money is certainly a factor. I’m a middle-class only child living with a single mother who receives no child support. However, my uncle and grandmother are fairly wealthy, so there might be money available there, as I am the only young person in my entire family right now. Ha.</p>
<p>Thanks, informative! I’ll look into some of those schools.</p>
<p>Holy Cross-very nice campus with good academics.</p>
<p>“Yes, money is certainly a factor.”</p>
<p>Then you need to find out exactly what the money situation is. Have your mom run some of the FAFSA EFC calculators so that she knows more about what she will be expected to pay. After she has her numbers, take a look at the Financial Aid Forum for ideas on making your education affordable. Your grades and test scores will qualify you for merit scholarships at some colleges/universities.</p>
<p>The only problem with Holy Cross is that I’m not religious…I kind of hate religion as an institution. So I don’t think I would fit in very well there.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice, happymomof1. My mother and I have used the EFC calculators, and as long as they are fairly accurate we should be able to afford my education. Here’s hoping that my rich relatives will chip in. Haha.</p>
<p>
I have no idea what that means. The EFC calculation is only the first step. Most schools will NOT just require you to pay your EFC. That is the MINIMUM you will pay. Schools that meet full need are very competitive in their admission. What can your family actually afford to pay each year?</p>
<p>I do apologize if I am not as well-versed in the financial aspect of my college admission process. I don’t really take care of that because I’m not the one with the money…
Anyway, we can probably pay $15K-$20K per year, more if relatives will help out a little more than we expect.</p>
<p>If you really want urban then, as someone suggested, Northeastern. Also Boston University, George Washington and American. For someplace cheaper, the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis is supposed to be one of the more inexpensive public schools and high quality. For an urban liberal arts college that would be a match—Macalaster.</p>
<p>Thank you, Hitch 
Boston University is currently one of my high match/low safety schools, along with Emerson (I’m more than confident I can get in there, but I like to keep my options open). I’ll look into Macalaster, though. I have looked at GW and Northeastern, but I’m not sure how much I like Northeastern. I do like GW, but my mom has raised concerns about me going to school in DC because she thinks it’s dangerous. Hahaha.</p>
<p>I’m a middle-class only child living with a single mother who receives no child support. However, my uncle and grandmother are fairly wealthy, so there might be money available there, as I am the only young person in my entire family right now.</p>
<p>Please have your mom find out now exactly how much your relatives will pay each year. You need to know SPECIFICS!!!</p>
<p>*we can probably pay $15K-$20K per year, more if relatives will help out a little more than we expect. *</p>
<p>did your mom say that SHE can pay $15k-20k per year? If not, how much can SHE pay. </p>
<p>You need to know specifics about how much you’ll have to spend. Otherwise you could end up with an unaffordable gap. :(</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>$15k-20k per year might cover in-state tuition, room, and board, at your home-state public U, but it won’t take you very far anywhere else. You do need to learn more about the financial aspect. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that on your own, encourage your mom to read through the threads in the Financial Aid and Parents forums. She can get good help there.</p>
<p>You also ought to take a look at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a> and see if there is anything that could work for you.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, my mother says she could pay the 15 to 20 thousand. Anything extra would come from my grandmother and uncle, who both have a lot of money. However, they are both frugal people, so some convincing will have to be done on my part. I’m sure that they’ll chip in at least $5K each, though. I’m the only child in the entire widespread family (all four of us remaining) and I would suppose they would like to see me succeed and be happy.
I would be interested in majoring in English or Journalism (likely English because it’s going to be nearly impossible to find a stable job in Journalism by the time I graduate).</p>
<p>happymomof1, the problem is that I don’t want to go to state school. That’s why I’m looking for private schools that I could consider safeties. But thank you for the link, I’ll certainly look into that. I know I really should get involved in the financial side of things, I just get scared thinking about money. My mom has already said that she doesn’t want money to be the difference between me going somewhere I’ll actually be happy, or having to settle on somewhere I don’t completely love.</p>
<p>So I just got my GPA/rank in the mail. I have a 91.289% (unweighted). Needless to say, I am not happy.
Will this change anything?</p>