Hi guys, I was wondering if any of you knew any good colleges that would be a good fit for me. I mainly looking for a private school that offers merit scholarships and that is competitive for secondary education and it would be great if they weren’t super small! Also, since I’m from Wisconsin the only public schools I’m really interested in are in Wisconsin or Minnesota (reciprocity) and if you need a little basis of where I’m at academically my act score is 34 (superstore 35) and I am 4th in my class of 295.
What majors are you interested in? What can your family afford to pay?
Congratulations on your hard work and success!
You are in great shape in many ways. Try to relax, trust it will work out in the end.
I read your other thread as well. The schools, like Brown, you mention seem like reaches, but reasonable ones, just understanding that lots more qualified students apply than can be accepted. It’s really not a matter of you not being qualified, just lots and lots of well qualified applicants at a school like Brown. But you’d be in great shape at lots and lots of schools, and a reasonable applicant at those schools.
It’s great you have a good line on Wisconsin/Minnesota schools.
Another route would be to focus on colleges that meet full financial need. You can google that. They might be “need aware,” which might make acceptance less likely if you are not paying a substantial portion of the “sticker price.” Also, they might offer money but less than your family feels is necessary. But you can run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) on a school’s website to get an estimate of the total cost you might be expected to pay. These include many of the wealthiest, most hyper-competitive schools, which is a bummer. Some I find that might be of interest,
Oberlin College–west of Cleveland, slightly larger LAC
Wesleyan University–Middletown, CT, has gotten much more competitive in recent years, partially due to success of Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), also slightly larger LAC, a reach
Clark University–Worcester, MA, looks like you’d get significant merit aid, still probably more expensive than UW-Madison, also a oversize LAC, essentially
Cornell University–Ivy, obviously very competitive, but maybe an Ivy that fits well, a reach but you’d be a reasonable applicant. It does not have an education major, but maybe a history/English major (your other post), and it does offer licensure through Ithaca College
https://education.cals.cornell.edu/undergraduate/teacher-preparation/
Ithaca College–excellent school, you’d be a very strong candidate, run the NPC, it’s across town from Cornell
https://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/education/
One thing posters often mention–and I have some experience in this–if you know where you want to live after college, you might consider a strong program there. You will do lots of your training in the state where you attend college and will probably go through teacher licensing there. It can take additional steps to be licensed in another state.
I’m not sure if you’re saying you don’t want the school to be super small, or the scholarships… so bear with me on the small-school recommendations below…
Schools with strong education programs and merit:
Tulane (NOLA)
U of Richmond (VA)
Brandeis (MA)
Clark U and College of the Holy Cross, both in Worcester MA
St Olaf (MN)
Macalester (MN)
U of Miami (FL)
Drexel ¶
U of Denver (CO) (Also check out the Pioneer Leadership Program, a competitive honors cohort)
Case Western Reserve U (OH)
Connecticut College (merit scholarships might not be big enough, but worth a look esp. since guys are advantaged)
Grinnell (IA)
Vanderbilt (TN) - merit is limited but there are some generous scholarships.
Also… consider Sewanee in TN, which is a gorgeous LAC where you would probably get significant merit
http://admission.sewanee.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/
Sewanee has a longstanding collaboration with Vanderbilt that funnels education students into an accelerated masters program. http://www.sewanee.edu/academics/education/ Getting a great financial deal on an undergrad degree (major of your choice + education minor) from Sewanee and using the money saved on a 3-semester masters/credential program at Vanderbilt seems like a smart and enjoyable path culminating in a grad degree from an elite U.
How much is your family able and willing to pay per year?
Have you and your parents run the online net price calculators on any schools that interest you?
If you’re focusing on merit scholarships, does that mean your family income is high enough that you’ve ruled out need-based aid? Some selective private schools offer need-based grants even to some families earning over $200K/year
(https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2017-09-21/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need).
Many private schools do offer merit scholarships.
Check out the Kiplinger lists of “best value” schools.
It sounds like you’d want to focus on the private university list, here:
https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php
(click-sort on the “avg non-need-based-aid” column.
Notice that many of the averages are in the $15K-$25K range.
Those averages would leave you with net prices well above Wisconsin (in-state) or Minnesota (reciprocity) rates.
Selective schools with relatively large average amounts for competitive merit scholarships include:
Vanderbilt (which also claims to cover 100% of demonstrated financial need)
USC (ditto)
Tulane
Case Western
George Washington
Kiplinger’s has a similar list for LACs (but you indicate you don’t want “super small” schools).
Some universities, like Alabama, automatically offer large merit scholarships for qualifying stats.
However, many of these are OOS public schools.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
With any private (or OOS public) university, you may not have as clear a 4y path to Wisconsin teacher certification (if that’s a goal) as you might find at the University of Wisconsin. All things considered, it sounds like the school to beat is Wisconsin-Madison.
My family income is confusing because I live with my mom and step-dad whose family income is around 110K but to my understanding (and I may be incorrect) the FAFSA doesn’t take into consideration my dad’s and step-mom’s household income of around the same.
My family income is confusing because I live with my mom and step-dad whose family income is around 110K but to my understanding (and I may be incorrect) the FAFSA doesn’t take into consideration my dad’s and step-mom’s household income of around the same.
Also I’m definitely open to NOT staying in Wisconsin especially if I’m going down the teacher route. I know that Wisconsin isn’t a horrible state for educators but it still isn’t great compared to neighboring states. Taking that into consideration, I probably wouldn’t want to go to college in places like Kentucky and Arizona where teachers are extremely undervalued.
If your total family income is $110K, you should qualify for n-b aid from selective private colleges. Maybe even enough, for some colleges, to bring the net price close to Wisconsin-Madison levels (at the in state sticker price.)
However, many of those schools will consider the non-custodial parent’s income/assets (and possibly a step-parent’s as well). Your parents will need to get smart about this issue if you want to explore options for affordable private schools.
https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1903490-npc-and-css-noncustodial-profile.html