Help a top-heavy junior make a more balanced college list

I go to a medium sized high school, but it doesn’t do rankings. 3.97 is pretty competitive at my school though. My parents are upper middle class, so I don’t expect financial aid. I am both African American and female, so I’m eligible for any scholarships that require those traits. I currently live in Wisconsin, but I’m willing to go to anywhere in the country. I would also like to add that I specifically want to discover colleges that are NOT extremely selective like the Ives or the top UCs.

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My parents have 150k put away for me in college funds, but if it’s a perfect match they’d be willing to add more. I also have 20k from other scholarships + savings from a part time job.

Thanks for all the recommendations!

For cost:
My parents have put away 150K and I have 20K from scholarships and savings, so 170k would be my budget.

I’m in Wisconsin and I live in a small suburban town.

The University of Wisconsin is very good for both math and computer science. At one point years ago I was involved in a CS project with some students and a couple of professors at U.Wisconsin and was very impressed by, well, everything and everyone related to the project.

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another vote for University of Utah, especially if you are willing to live there over the summer and get residency. Texas Public universities also have a path to gain residency and get your final 4 year costs very close to your target. I know for UT the general education requirements are minimal to non-existent depending on your AP/dual enrollment classes.

Public schools in the midwest might provide excellent safety options https://msep.mhec.org/ that meet your requirements.

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I know you are targeting mid-sized schools, but otherwise UW Madison checks a lot of boxes. It is strong in CompSci and Computer Engineering. It is very progressive. As a Big10 school with respectable sports programs there is a lot of school spirit. It is your in-state flagship where you will likely be admitted, and it is likely less costly than other schools on your list. If Madison has an honors program that might be a good fit for you.

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I hope you apply to UW Madison. I have a kid there doing CS/Math certificate and having a great experience. He had very similar stats. Honestly, with that as an option and grad school on the table, I’d seriously consider that and save some of those funds. Their CS program ranks in the top 20. There is an honors program.

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It’s quite large, but the University of Wisconsin-Madison is very strong in your four areas of interest (Math, Poli Sci, CS, Sociology). All four programs are highly ranked (top-20).

It is in a midsized city, but there are three lakes and plenty of green space and trees on campus.

Madison is also the state capital of Wisc, so if you were to end up interested in a political career, internship opportunities likely abound.

Edited to add: Jinx, @KaylaMidwest

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On Wisconsin! :partying_face:

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Is University of Wisconsin on your list? Seems to meet the cost limit, and getting into CS is not as hyper competitive as at some other schools.

In most cases, room & board, plus books and miscellaneous expenses, at any location will run $15-20k per year. So your first $60-80k will go towards that. That would imply you need to aim for schools where significant merit aid would get your tuition down to $20k/year or less.

You may want to look at the Net Price Calculators for various schools to get a better idea of their actual costs and whether your family would really not get any financial aid at all.

As a high-stats, minority female STEM applicant, I think you will have very good odds for acceptance, but you’d want to apply to many schools to maximize your chance of a high merit award.

Your statement that your parents are “willing to add more” if it is a perfect match suggests that some very specific talks with them would be in order to discover what your true budget for each school would be. While it is true that the most selective/rejective schools only provide need-based aid, schools like Harvard and Princeton provide aid up to family income levels far beyond those at other schools (about $250k family income is “needy” for them). Also an argument for throwing your hat in many rings and evaluating the offers once you are accepted.

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Pitt has the Cathedral of Learning Scholarships. It’s not your size desire but might work otherwise.

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Hi. Last year DS with 1550/NMF/4.0 (98+/100)/no class ranking got into Case and Rochester. He was looking to major in Mechanical Engineering but wanted the option to also study Econ and both Case and Rochester seemed to allow that. He received 31.5k merit at Case - so at 82k - 31.5k it was still over 50k. He received no merit at Rochester (disappointingly). His friend with lower scores and grades also got into both and got less money at Case but also got money at Rochester (around 15k I believe). Both schools are pretty special. We really enjoyed Cleveland (we visited twice). DS added RIT when he wanted a more likely option to round out his list (and they send him a fee waiver to apply). I don’t think that satisfies your criteria, but with his stats he received between 15 and 18k merit (I can’t remember exactly). When we were visiting CMU we walked through Pitt and also really liked it. DS considered applying but ultimately he’d have chosen Binghamton over Pitt so he didn’t apply (we’re from NY). Second son, a junior, will apply to Pitt. It may be a bit urban for you, but we’ve heard really good things about how while it’s a little larger, there are lots of ways to make it feel smaller. Good luck.

Have you checked out Miami University-Oxford Ohio? It seems to check off most of your boxes.

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