<p>Hi, I'm a rising senior and I have no idea what I'm doing. My list so far is:
Fordham
Manhattanville
SUNY Purchase
CUNY Hunter
Hofstra
Boston University
Smith
Northeastern
Tufts
George Washington
American
UAB
Emory
Wesleyan
Yale
Princeton
Maybe Harvard??? idk
Columbia</p>
<p>I need help narrowing this down and finding schools that are better fits for me.</p>
<p>My stats are:</p>
<p>White female in Alabama
GPA: 3.96 UW / 4.24 W
Rank: 6/~300</p>
<p>ACT: 32 w/ 8 on writing (Retaking this Saturday)</p>
<p>SAT Subject Tests: Planning on taking US History and Spanish in October</p>
<p>APs:
As a junior: US History, Art History, English Lang (Predicted scores: 5, 5, 3 or 4)
Next year as a senior: Macroecon, US Gov, English Lit, Spanish, Psych, Calc AB</p>
<p>ECs/Awards:
-Volunteer at animal shelter
-Volunteer as tutor
-National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta
-I've started taking lots of MOOCs this summer and plan on putting that on my app I guess
-National Merit Commended</p>
<p>What I want in a school:
-Good sociology and Spanish programs, I plan on majoring in sociology and minoring or double majoring in Spanish
-Very liberal
-I want to be able to get involved in some social/political activism type things
-Affordable, I'm not going to be able to get any need-based aid but my parents can only pay $10-20k a year at the most
-I would prefer a school that is very close to NYC, like an hour or less (don't ask)
-I don't think I would be happy at a really competitive/rigorous school. I want my college experience to be better than high school which was completely miserable. I'm only applying to Ivies because my parents are pressuring me because we keep getting letters from them so they think I have a shot lol and I mean if I get in the financial aid is really good</p>
<p>So like I said I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm freaking out please help!! Thank you!</p>
<p>If you won’t qualify for need-based aid, but your parents can or will only contribute $10-20k a year, then you have serious financial constraints, and you will have to focus on schools where you are significantly above average and can obtain a sizable merit scholarship. Even then, most private colleges won’t offer enough to bring the cost of attendance down to $20k or less, and you will be saddled with debt. State universities can be pretty nasty for out-of-state students, but I have a few suggestions. Temple might be an option. They are a public university, but they offer some pretty generous merit scholarships to out-of-state students, and your stats would probably make you eligible for one. Philadelphia is a great, affordable city, and the setting is decidedly urban. They are not an hour from NYC, but there is plenty going on in Philly, and NYC and DC are both two hours away by train or bus, and students can survive in Philly without trust funds. University of Pittsburgh might have similar scholarships, since they are also a public university in PA. Barnard sounds like the perfect college for you, but merit scholarships are few and far between there, and I just don’t think it will plausibly fit your budget. You might apply, and see what they offer, but don’t apply ED - you would be committed to them as long as they meet your family’s demonstrated need. Are you dead-set on moving to the northeast? If not, then New College of FL might suit you, also. They certainly offer the academic and social culture you seem to crave, and they would probably come close to fitting your budget. The list price for out-of-state students is around $40k, but they awarded automatic scholarships of $15k to all non-residents who submitted all application materials by a certain deadline this year. My son is going there for less than what our own state flagship university would cost. They pride themselves on the fact that 70% of their students graduate debt-free. Independent study and social engagement are critical components of NCF’s educational mission. As a fellow liberal, my son can’t wait to dive into FL election politics.</p>
<p>Actually, Barnard does not offer any merit aid – it’s need-based only. In any case, Barnard would not be a good fit at all for a student who writes,
[quote]
-I don’t think I would be happy at a really competitive/rigorous school<a href=“Barnard%20is%20fairly%20intense%20on%20both%20counts”>/quote</a></p>
<p>I think Fordham would be a better choice in terms of potential merit money. </p>
<p>Arc628, do you mean the Bronx campus of Fordham (the main campus) or the Manhattan branch? The Bronx-Rose Hill grounds are the “traditional” campus of Fordham. Why do you think you’ll be happy there? I would suggest Manhattan College but it is similar to Fordham in that both are Catholic universities and tend to draw heavily from the Archdioceses surrounding metropolitan New York, so they have a particular feel to them that someone not from the northeast may enjoy.</p>
<p>Moving away from metro NYC, take a look at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey. It’s a 2-hr ride from NYC, 1-hr from Philadelphia, and 20 minutes from Atlantic City. It has a liberal arts bent and it does offer merit aid. No, it’s not Columbia or Yale, but undergraduate teaching and individual attention seems to be their focus. There’s also The College of New Jersey, but I speak about the likelihood of merit from that place. TCNJ is a very good school near Princeton.</p>
<p>I wanted to add Eugene Lang College at The New School to your list. It is very expensive, but your stats might qualify you for one of their scholarships - some are extremely generous. It is a very progressive, small, liberal arts college located on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. If you are unfamiliar with The New School’s history, read up on it. It would be an excellent cultural fit for you.</p>
<p>If money is an issue, I’d cross of GW and BU which aren’t known for giving a whole alot of FA. Fordham and Tufts are also on the expensive side, with almost no merit. If being close to NY is important to you, Emory and American seem a bit out of place (although AU offers more merit than the others on the list) If your parents can only pay up to 20K, then I think University of Alabama will be your best bet. It’s cheap, gives alot of merit, and would fit your budget.</p>
<p>Of the schools in or near NYC, it looks like Fordham is a solid choice and of course Columbia is a reach (but highly recommended, if you get accepted). </p>
<p>I would not rush to narrow down your choices. You have time to explore. </p>
<p>Also recommend that you consider Tulane University down in New Orleans. You probably would get good merit aid, plus a huge percentage of students there are from the Northeast. True, NOLA is not NYC. Still, it is a great school.</p>
<p>I’ve been going through the schools recommended here recently and I think Temple is a really good fit for me. Can anyone recommend me any similar schools? Preferably ones with similar merit scholarships (I would get full tuition at Temple)?
Also, I’ve been running net price calculators recently and have realized that I actually do qualify for some need-based aid.</p>