Hello! So I’m a junior in high school and was looking at all the schools I really like and have noticed that they are all extremely expensive. Luckily my parents are paying for my undergrad, and money is not too important, but I don’t want to burden my family with a 50k tuition and then room and board on top of that. My sister went to school for like 35k (Yes, I know that is still expensive) so thats roughly my budget. We probably won’t get need based financial aid, so any money that I do get will come from merit aid or independent scholarships. If anyone could help recommend some schools, I would be extremely appreciative because I feel like all the schools I look into and like end up having a 55k tuition.
surrounding area: I really like urban campuses in cool areas. I don’t want my school to be in the middle of nowhere or be in a big “college town”
location: I live in Virginia and would like to stay in the eastern half of the country
religious: I am not religious, but I don’t mind a school with a religious affiliation as long as there aren’t strict rules (ex: no boys in the girls dorm after 10 pm) and the religion of the school is not forced onto me
size: mid sized preferred (I just don’t want super tiny or ginormous)
mom has a masters and dad has a doctorate (I think, he’s an optometrist)
stats: 4.3 w and 4.0 uw GPA (at end of sophomore year), 6 AP and 8 honors classes (freshman-junior year), I haven’t taken the SAT or ACT yet, but I took practice tests without studying and got a 1330 and 29
in the Medical and Health Specialties Program at a normal public high school
activities: Operation Smile (treasure sophomore year, president junior year, member of regional leadership council junior year), recycling club (joined junior year), CHKD circle group (project leader junior year), jobs (lifeguard, gift shop, church nursery, babysitting, dog sitting), write a section for a local magazine published once a month, sports: swimming (varsity 9, 10, 11, 12), lacrosse (jv 9th, varsity 10, 11, 12), volleyball (varsity 10, 11, 12; club 9, 10, 11, 12), trying to get an opportunity to help with environmental research as nearby university for this coming Summer (has not been confirmed yet)
honors: Spanish NHS, NHS, student commentator for New York Times
with your good grades and scores you might get some merit at VCU. I know it doesn’t have the cachet of UVA but we really liked Richmond and how VCU is integrated into the city. I would definitely do a tour and see if you want to add it as a safety.
Also you might check out College of Charleston. I think they have pretty good environmental science programs. Charleston is a great city, too.
Also which are the schools that you like? Folks here might be able to suggest some ways to bring the prices down or be able to suggest some similar schools.
Thank you so much! Your recommendations are actually really funny because one of my sisters goes to VCU and the other went to CofC and I liked both of the schools and areas whenever my parents and I go to visit them :))
As for other schools I really like (but are all too expensive) are American University, Georgetown, and Northeastern (GU and NEU would definitely be reaches but I really like their vibes)
also I would like to extend my question to include schools that would be more match/safeties because I also need more of those
You could check UVM. It’s right in Burlington which is a cool city though not very big. I’m not sure it would be urban enough for you. My understanding is that they are very good for environmental science.
As has been recommended, check out College of Charleston. There is merit for OOS that can get you to your financial goal or lower. Their enviro science and science majors are great with excellent opportunities for research.
Emory or Oglethorpe in the Atlanta area may be of interest and have merit.
Eckerd in St. Pete has merit and lots to do in a smallish city with Tampa close by.
Also, visit some of the bigger universities in cities you like as bigger colleges can feel small once you get into your major and interests. Some will have merit aid to help.
UNCW is worth a look, although Wilmington may be too small for your taste. It’s on the smaller side for a public university (~14,500 undergrads) and is a good choice for environmental science, particularly marine science.
With your grades, etc. you can apply to be a Charleston Fellow and potentially earn free tuition - although you need to keep a 3.5. They don’t tell you this and it took four scholarship rounds but they kept piling on the money.
You might look at U of SC too - lots of merit. You can use Honors to lower the school size - if you’re able to get in.
Don’t know much about Christopher Newport - but might be worth a look.
U of TN and U of TN Chattanooga (cool city)
Pitt as mentioned but if you submit the test score you won’t get merit.
UVM?? UNC Asheville?
btw - the best schools are Arizona, Alabama, UAH, Ole Miss, Arkansas (cool city) - that’s where your 4.0 will get you dirt cheap tuition - but you want to stay in the east. If you got a a 31 ACT, you’d get an OOS waiver…but not at 29. You might look at FAU Honors in Jupiter though.
UAH is mid size (suburban) - Arizona meets your needs if you do the Honors college…cool city, etc. but obviously it’s not in the east.
But you could cash in for sure with your GPA but you have to be flexibile in location.
