Help! Match some colleges to me, please :D

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I'm a rising senior who wants to find some colleges to apply to, and to have a good feeling about.</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Hispanic, 1st generation to college.
Magnet high school in Texas.</p>

<p>SAT: 2040(plan to retake in October)
GPA: 3.7UW
Rank: 20/600-ish(can't keep track ahaha)</p>

<p>APs- Eng. Lang(3), World History(4), US History(4) Eng. Lit(5), Psych(5)
- I think this qualifies me as an AP scholar w/ Distinction, but IDK</p>

<p>Awards: 2nd place in Hosa Area competition for Dental Terminology, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a finalist for the National Hispanic Scholar Program.</p>

<p>ECs(very mediocre :( )
- Typical Honor societies, such as NHS, SNHS, Mu Alpha Theta
- I'm most active in our schools HOSA, but I don't hold any officer position, I did go to state with this club, though.
- I'm a annual mentor with our Schools freshman.
- I was historian for our Environmental Club(11th) grade.
- Sunday School Teacher
- For my 9th & 19th grade summers, I helped out at a Early Literacy program, where I helped teachers teach little kids English and how to read in English.</p>

<p>Internship:
I'm a registered Dental Assistant (RDA) with the state of Texas, and I'm currently interning at a local Dental Office. I hope to get a job as a RDA soon, but I'm not confident enough. Can this count as work experience?</p>

<p>I'm currently looking for colleges that I could apply to and receive HUGE amounts of Financial Aid. I don't really want to go to UT, and I think I'd prefer to go to a Liberal Arts College, though they seem pricey.</p>

<p>My favorites are some of the woman's colleges (Wellesley, Bryn Mawr), but I'm not sure about my chances to these schools.</p>

<p>Please help me find some good matches! Thanks :)</p>

2

<p>Maybe its just in California but UT Dallas gives a lot of full rides. If you just keep your eyes open you will get plenty of oppurtunities for full rides. Schools like Drexel send students applications, but just know you will sacrifice free school for reputation of the school. Some ppl dont care, so if you dont more power to you</p>

3

<p>Can you name me any of these schools, besides Drexel?</p>

4

<p>Have you calculated your EFC?</p>

<p>Wellesley is going to be a reach, but you have a good chance at admission to Bryn Mawr. If you are interested in women’s colleges, you might consider Mills College in San Francisco. You would be in the top 25% of their applicant pool; as a URM, you might get VERY good aid from them.</p>

<p>You will want to apply to several schools to be able to compare financial aid packages, and you probably should apply to one state school that you know you can afford (possibly with some student loans, but still). Or consider other state schools if Texas has reciprocity with other states (but not sure that they do).</p>

5

<p>No; I haven’t. I thought you couldn’t do that until you applied for financial aid…?</p>

<p>How do you calculate it?</p>

6

<p>Take a look at Agnes Scott in Atlanta. It’s one of the Colleges that Change Lives and has guaranteed merit aid program which it looks like you will qualify for.</p>

7

<p>Take a look at Grinnell, a top 15 LAC. Exceptional financial and merit aid. Extraordinary sciences. Palatial facilities. No distribution requirements and the smallest average class sizes of any LAC. The faculty mentoring is also exceptional. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>Grinnell seems really interesting, but my stats seem kinda ‘eh’ for the school. Do you think I can have a realistic chance of getting in? Should I apply ED?</p>

9

<p>Colgate University in NY is a LAC and I think they meet full demonstrated need.</p>

10

<p>I think you have a very good shot at Grinnell, especially as an hispanic and first generation. Grinnell offers expecially generous financial and merit aid to ‘buy’ the diversity that they don’t otherwise draw naturally. As a result of the huge endowment, 12% of the student body is international, for example. I also think your work experience as a Dental Assistant is unique and interesting - my S was a firefighter/EMT and the admissions staff cited that explicitly as something that differentiated him from kids with the usual clubs and sports. </p>

<p>Don’t know if it helps, by the way, but Grinnell doesn’t look at your writing score on the SAT. Only V and M. And your grades are excellent: Admissions says grades and academic rigor as reflected in your transcript weigh heavily in the admissions dicision (about 50%).</p>

<p>And yes, you can negotiate your financial aid package: If two schools are comparable in prestige/selectivity, they will often try to match each others financial aid packages. And a less competitive school will sometimes offer even more to ‘beat’ the package of a more selective school. When your financial aid offers arrive, don’t be shy about shopping them around for a better offer. Again, we know from experience that Grinnell will match the offer of a comparable school if you send them proof that you have received a more generous offer.</p>

11

<p>Will your EFC be low? Are you looking for need-based financial aid, or merit aid?</p>

<p>Assuming your EFC is low, and you are looking for need-based financial aid, look for schools that meet need.</p>

<p>[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Need-blind admission - Wikipedia”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>U. Richmond seems like a good match for your stats, and is a LAC. Also maybe Beloit, Trinity, Haverford, Knox, Lawrence.</p>

12

<p>I assume my EFC will be low, as my parents make about 40000 dollars a year, but I have no idea how to calculate my EFC.</p>

<p>Does meeting full-need include all grants, or some mixture of loans?</p>

13

<p><a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/02/16/which-colleges-claim-to-meet-students-full-financial-need[/URL]”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/02/16/which-colleges-claim-to-meet-students-full-financial-need&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>Check out Mt. Holyoke (MA), usually meet a high percentage of need. </p>

<p>Other women’s schools that fly under the radar:</p>

<p>Chatham University ¶
Converse College (SC)
Simmons College (MA)
Cedar Crest ¶ </p>

<p>Best of luck in your college search!</p>

15

<p>thanks for the link Buffalo!</p>

<p>I’ve heard of Mt. Holyoke from my teacher who used to go there; she described with so much enthusiasm, so it will be on my radar.</p>

16

<p>Mt. Holyoke is beautiful, and a very good school.</p>

<p>Do not apply ED if you need to compare financial aid packages.</p>