I ran NPC on the colleges you listed and trinity was the most affordable for me (2,000) followed by dickinson, skidmore, lafayette (all three at about 7,000). Goucher is an academic safety and it’s about 19,000
the others were 25,000 and up which is not affordable for me
Applying to college can be cheap. Many will send you app waivers. Also, there are many schools that do not charge to apply. Many will also let you self report your test scores. You just send once you decide where to go.
Also, your counselor can make it so all schools will waive the app fee. And other folks mentioned Questbridge which you may be a candidate.
Even great schools - Chicago, Washington & Lee, WUSTL - offer app fee waivers. Just get on their email lists.
Great schools for merit - sometimes you have to think outside your zone - Arizona, Alabama, MS State, Washington & Leee (Johnson Scholarship), SMU, Bradley, Mizzou.
https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/colleges-with-no-application-fee/
Your scores are definitely not low, but I understand your urge to want a better score. My daughter is a black female who was disappointed at her 1250 (EBRW 600 and Math 650) on the PSAT as a junior. She took her 1st SAT in January of Junior year and made a 1390 (EBRW 650 and Math 740) and took it again in August Senior year and made a 1470 (EBRW 680 and Math 790). I believe one of her biggest issues was that she believed that she was a “bad timed test taker” so she just had to build up her confidence and put in the work, because she had the knowledge when she practiced without a time limit. By the time she took her last practice test, I cut her time by 5 minutes on each section and she was still able to finish and did well. I like where you are and believe you will have some great options, but there is still work to do. For students who need more financial aid, I always advise to apply to a few more schools who can bridge the financial gaps. Calling on my friend @EconPop to look at your posts as he has 1st hand experience at making college very affordable for his family.
I got into better-ranked schools than the ones you listed with similar stats, but arguably?? better ECs (not trying to be braggadocious, but you yourself admitted that was a weak point). I would add a few higher-ranked schools for some reaches. I definitely think you might be undercutting your odds.
I took everything I’ve been told and came up with an updated college list for now, I know I still have more research to do. I’m going to focus on getting a few more safety’s but this is what I have for now
I put a star next the the ones I like best. funny how none of the original list made it through lol.
Safetys:
), montclair state university, and an NC school I’m still looking for one I would be okay withMath/target:
), laffayeteHigher target:
), bryn Mawr( )Reach:
), northeastern( )I’d love any feedback on whether this is a realistic list for me 
@MYOS1634 @thumper1 @tsbna44
Lafayette more in line with higher target. UNC brutal to get in OOS - but doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
If you are looking at UNC, take a look at Elon - easier to get into.
NC State, UNC Wilmington. The NC schools don’t give much aid - although UNC claims to meet need based.
For public schools, you need to stay in state to afford - most OOS schools have merit, but not need based. So keep going with the privates.
@tsbna44 the OP is currently a resident of NC…which makes UNC-CH a possibility. And UNC-CH does meet full need for all.
I respond to too many - i get all the situations confused. Yeah, if NC - then look at UNCC, UNCW, etc. too.
In terms of women’s colleges… the public health program at Agnes Scott might be worth a look. I know you’re leaning toward northern cities, but Atlanta has a lot to offer, and the public health major in particular was developed in collaboration with the Emory school of public health, and allows you to get a head start on MPH classes there as an undergrad. Agnes Scott College - Public Health Program It’s not a guaranteed-full-need-met school but merit could come through to fill the gap.
The Global Health major at Denison could be worth considering also. Granville is only about half an hour outside Columbus. Denison meets full need and has a strong commitment to diversity. Also, Case Western Reserve U. is a great full-need-met urban school (in Cleveland) that has a public health minor for undergrads, and lots of great opportunities because of the MPH program and the med school.
@tangerinetake1 , hi from a fellow NCer. I noticed this thread earlier but forgot to respond.
I think your stats are great and will make many universities accessible to you. It’s easy to browse CC and assume you don’t have a chance at a “good” college if you don’t have a 4.4 and 1500. I’m glad you ridded yourself of that bad logic. Your stats are fine, your ECs are okay, and you will have more acceptances than rejections.
The second step of course is affordability. Right now, it seems you’re uncertain as to what your family can afford. Basically it seems CCers fall into three camps, which again are not necessarily representative of all American college applicants. On CC, most seem to be equally divided by families that can pay the full cost of any university they choose ($50K-$75K/yr) and families that can pay about half that ($25K-$45K/yr). Either is a great position to be in and provides those families with the opportunity to shop options. Most families have a lot less in the college budget, and most students focus on in-state colleges because those are the only ones that are readily affordable. I open with the “usual CC” poster because just as you realized you kicked the assumption that certain schools would be beyond your reach stats wise, you should also realize your college application-decision journey will also be different than the CC families who have substantially larger budgets than most regular Americans.
With an EFC of 0, you’ve discovered that when you run EFCs many Top50 colleges will end up affordable" … if you are accepted. With your stats, it makes sense to apply to any college you decide is a fit for you. Be aware that for most T30 schools, you are very likely to be denied admission. Also be aware that some will admit but require you to include debilitating loans in your FinAid package. It’s generally accepted that the DSLoan for 4 years is probably the max you should consider taking, and those will total approximately $27K over 4 years. If you need more than that amount, the college should probably be considered unaffordable to you.
So, where to begin your search? I like the evolution of your search so far. You are really absorbing new information and rejigging your list. You have a budget of approximately $8K/yr out of pocket.
Don’t focus on only one NC public university, and don’t assume UNC is a reach. If I had to bet, I’d say you probably have over a 50% chance at being admitted to UNC. However, you should also apply to at least three other in-state universities. If all else fails, you need to know you have affordable options on the menu. And if UNC says no, you need to have multiple in-state options because some may offer slightly more aid and/or admit you into their Honors College which will be beneficial to you.
Really look inside yourself and determine if your original preferences are deal breakers. Just as you’ve changed some of the schools you’re considering, you may also decide to include new regions and/or city sizes into your thinking. At the least, consider the school itself more than the location. Any school that seems like a fit for you, regardless of city size, should remain under consideration until you have a more definitive list. Once you have “enough” schools, you can start dismissing some for whatever reasons you may have.
Never forget that you are looking for significant amounts of FinAid to reduce your COA down to the amount your family can afford. That means your list will probably need to be larger, initially, than many other students on CC. You’re not just looking for fit, you’re looking for fit and serious $$.
While it’s great to keep higher-ranking name-brand schools in mind, do not ignore those with less name appeal to you right now. Once you get past the T40 schools who offer good need-based FinAid (but are difficult to be admitted to) you will discover that many of the schools that will offer you the FinAid you require may lie outside the T100 and/or may be Liberal Arts Colleges. Do not be offput by that because there are many outstanding colleges out there.
I love your initial remade beginner list. Goucher is often overlooked. Dickinson will probably be attractive to you. Trinity should be a natural fit.
Definitely look at some of the schools recommended by others. Specifically for you, Manhattan College, Elon, Denison, American, SMU, Haverford, St Joseph’s. My niece graduated from Wellesley last year and I think that might be a good fit for you if you don’t mind an all-female setting. Also consider Macalester, Ursinus, Marist, Rollins, Eckerd, Loyola Maryland, and Connecticut College. If you’re willing to travel further west, Reed, Occidental, Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga, U of Portland, and many others should be targets.
Be careful about focusing too much on OOS public universities. Even the schools mentioned as being very generous with Merit Aid will usually fall short of offering enough to drop under $10K/yr. Those Merit inducements are more for families that have budgets around $15K-$30K/yr. Some OOS publics that might have a better chance at being affordable in your situation (great stats) are OSU, a couple of the Alabama and Mississippi universities, and maybe UVA which will meet need for accepted students. The AZ schools will not likely come down far enough, and neither will most of the FL schools. UMd will probably not be affordable, nor UDelaware, Temple, etc. Apply to a few if you want to take your shot, but keep in mind that 95% of OOS publics will not end up with a COA in your affordability range.
My S20 was in almost the same situation as you (but with lower stats) and he came out of last spring with several good and affordable options up and down the east coast and beyond. If you approach this the right way, I have no doubt you will have even better options and more options.
That’s a FANTASTIC excellent post (@tangerinetake1 you can bookmark it to have as a compass).
@tangerinetake1: UNC should definitely be on your list, if only because of Carolina Covenant.
Add NCSU because it’s instate and an academic match, and if you identify as first generation you can have the support of “First in the Pack” which is always helpful at very large universities.
Now, there are three universities in the second tier of NC publics: UNC Asheville, UNC Wilmington, and App State. All also offer honors programs, with the most developed ones at App State. You can go and visit them relatively easily compared to many other universities (ok, not that easily but probably more easily than Goucher or Dickinson).
Econpop will probably help with better descriptions, but for now:
UNC A is in the mountains, in a really cool small town with a lot of artists. It’s smaller and more student-focused. The students are more “intellectual” or quirky than at the other places.
UNC W is near a resort town, not far from the beach. It’s larger and more traditionally “collegiate”. Soccer, basketball, baseball, swimming… but no football.
App State is in the mountains, larger, with a combination of artsy (Watauga), “earthy”, and jocky (football), the most rural in the typical sense.
You should include one of those (or more?) and make sure to apply early so that you can apply for Honors Programs/colleges and any special scholarship programs they have. Deadlines are very early.
Next tier: UNCC, UNCG, ECU, A&T. Pick one or 2 you’re ok with, apply for honors for sure.
These 4-5 are kind of your “insurance” for a 4-year college.
Your new list shows tremedous versatility and ability to integrate new information.
I’d say Skidmore and Lafayette are both high targets/reach, same as UNC, BU, and Northeastern.
It means that, with Montclair and Goucher and the NC colleges above, you’re good in terms of safeties (you need more than usual, because they may be academic safeties but may not be financially feasible. You can always add more safeties for financial reasons and these applications are usually not too onerous).
You have plenty of reaches (and you can add some, still - you’ll get fee waivers for your applications, since EFC 0 means you really need enough applications to cover your bases financially and it’s hard to know which will offer the package you need). Basically, when it comes to reaches,for now you run the NPC and see if it’s affordable, then just add them to your list if they are – you’ll whittle it down in June or July.
So, the only area that needs more work is “targets/matches” and “higher targets”, because basically you only have Dickinson and Trinity, plus NCSU and one of the 3 NC “second tiers” which may not be affordable, so you’d be betting it all on Dickinson and Trinity which is very risky.
=> You should try and find 3 more “matches/higher targets”.
We can help if you wish.