Help me finalize my college list PLEASE :D

College Search & Selection
1

<p>GPA : around 4.3
Rank: top 5%
SAT: 1870 (540 cr 740 m 590 w)
Major: Chemical or Biomedical Engineering
Rigorous Courseload
State: NJ
Above average Extracurricular
Need Aid : parents income under 45K with one house (primary and for retirement)
First Generation Asian Male
Rising Senior</p>

<p>USC (Dream School)
University of Rochester (2nd Choice)
Syracuse University
Worchester Polytechnic Institute
Case Western Reserve
Northeastern University
Lehigh University
Rutgers University (in state)
The College of New Jersey (in state)
University of Minnesota TC
North Carolina State University</p>

<p>I would GREATLY appreciate any feedback regarding which school to cut from my list and/or if there is a school I should add. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!</p>

<p>:D</p>

<p>THANK YOU!!! :D</p>

2

<p>Ok, I see you have put together a thoughtful list but there is a problem of affordability it seems to me. I don’t think most of these meet need and you are more than likely to be gapped, maybe only USC does. Did you run the NPC for each of these? How much did your parents say they can pay for each year? Will they be able to cover the instate options?</p>

<p>Also how many times did you take the SAT? What is up with that average CR score?</p>

3

<p>@BrownParent‌ yes I have ran the npc and my parents are willing to take out however much but I don’t want them to. </p>

<p>I have took the SAT twice but I attend a public high school with an average SAT cr around a 380 and my cr skills aren’t so great. </p>

4

<p>On the npc they were all under 30K</p>

5

<p>Using the net price calculators, which of the schools are affordable with only federal direct loans for you (up to $5,500 – no parent loans or parent-cosigned loans that would be needed for loan amounts higher than that)?</p>

6

<p>U Rochester also claims to meet 100% of need (as they define it, of course…).</p>

<p>This means that if you only go with schools on your list, you’ll likely be taking on debt, because USC and Rochester are probably reaches for you.</p>

<p>I’d definitely still apply to them – you never know – but you will need to find additional matches and at least one true academic and financial safety.</p>

<p>As I see it, the only true match is Rutgers. Maybe NC State OOS. The rest, I would think, are at least high matches, if not reaches.</p>

7

<p>On the npc, I disregarded any type of loans.</p>

<p>They are all affordable except for Northeastern and WPI which cost 25K- 28K WITHOUT any loans. But the co-ops from both schools kept them on my list especially Northeastern</p>

<p>Thank you @BrownParent‌ and @ucbalumnus‌ for your feedback :D</p>

8

<p>And with only the federal loans they were all affordable. </p>

9

<p>Note that other schools do have optional co-op programs, although they may be emphasized for engineering students. For example: <a href=“http://www.soe.rutgers.edu/oaa/coop”>http://www.soe.rutgers.edu/oaa/coop&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@prezbucky‌ my school has an ample of students accepted to Rutgers - NBA with 3.0 GPAs and 1400-1500 max SAT (with writing) so could Rutgers be considered as a safety? </p>

<p>Also since Rutgers is rolling admission, I’m planning on applying during August and if I get accepted than that’s my safety. If I don’t I’ll apply to Rowan University and NJIT. Both in state. </p>

<p>And based on my research, Lehigh meets 95% need. Correct me if I’m wrong. </p>

<p>@ucbalumnus‌ Yes I am aware; it’s just that I heard Northeastern is known for it’s co-ops.</p>

11

<p>OK so list the colleges again with NPC cost to you. If you are thinking of taking 30k a year loans means a college is affordable, it is not.</p>

<p>What is your UW gpa? I mention the CR because it is holding you back from aid if not admissions, not to be mean.</p>

12

<p>I wouldn’t refer to Rutgers as a safety, though it might be a low match. So you’d probably get in. The idea of a safety is to obliterate doubt: you are 100% sure you can get into, and afford, a safety.</p>

<p>It sounds like you do have a couple of safeties lined up. So apply to.all those schools if you want to. Best case scenario, you get into USC and/or Rochester and you don’t have to worry about unsubsidized loans (probably).</p>

<p>Worst case is, you just get into a safety. </p>

<p>I’d bet you’ll at least get into Rutgers and probably one or two others on your initial list, though, so you <em>should</em> have some pretty good options.</p>

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<p>Lehigh meeting 95% need – that could leave you with a $2500ish loan per year. Not too bad. </p>

14

<p>

</p>

<p>USC is the only one I see on the following list of colleges that claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need:
<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014&lt;/a&gt;. The other full need schools with engineering (Ivies, WashU, Vanderbilt, etc.) probably are all too selective for a 540 CR.</p>

<p>Rochester covers 86% of demonstrated need on average, according to USNWR. That could leave a fairly big gap. The OP needs to identify a few more “match” schools with good engineering programs and affordable net costs (schools that cover 90% or more of demonstrated need or else have low sticker prices, even for OOS students.)</p>

<p>Check out the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech). The OOS sticker price is ~$25K. Minnesota - Twin Cities has an OOS sticker price just below $30K, and seems to have strong engineering programs.</p>

15

<p>@BrownParent‌ the results from the npc are: (without any loans)</p>

<p>Northeastern: $32,001
WPI: $29,616
University of Minn TC: $25,842
Syracuse: $24,267
NCSU: $12,101
CWRU: $20,223
Lehigh: $4,870
USC: $11,562
Rutgers: $5,917
TCNJ: idk their npc was weird
U of Rochester: $24,987</p>

<p>I showed my parents the average cost for USC before and they said they could afford that with no loans. I asked them up to what price could the afford but they wouldn’t tell me and they ONLY want me to apply to a “well-known” college.</p>

<p>@prezbucky okay! I’ll keep that in mind. I’m also retaking the ACT. I previously got a 26 without any studying.</p>

<p>@tk21769 Thanks I’ll look into New Mexico Tech and Minn Twin Cities is already on my list hehe :D</p>

<p>THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP</p>

16

<p>Oh and by the end of senior year, I would have applied to over 15 outside scholarships.</p>

17

<p>You might want to take the SAT again or ACT to even out your SAT score because the colleges that you want to to to are pretty competitive, especially USC. You should definitely try taking the ACT or retaking the SAT…</p>

18

<p>I am also from NJ and plan to pursue engineering in college. I have considered colleges that may fit for you too. </p>

<p>New Jersey Institute of Technology (this is one of the cheapest I have seen that is in state)
Rowan University (overall school is not great but the engineering program has been rapidly increasing)</p>

<p>These would be good schools to consider in my opinion because of price and programs</p>

19

<p>Virtually all financial aid comes from the schools themselves - unless you’re speaking of the national scholarships (Millenium, Coca Cola, etc). Other scholarships are just small awards, often only for freshman year. So your best bet is to choose schools that meet your need through FA or merit.
I second Rowan for engineering.
Other than that, your list is very good. :)</p>

20

<p>I consulted this list for Rochester’s aid:</p>

<p><a href=“List of Colleges That Meet 100% of Financial Need”>http://www.thecollegesolution.com/list-of-colleges-that-meet-100-of-financial-need/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;