Help me find the right college? TX and National Universities

<p>I'm a junior looking to find about 5-10 colleges to apply to. I am a TX resident, and I get a big discount on tuition if I stay in state, so that is a factor. </p>

<p>Projected GPA at time of application: 3.7-4.0 UW, 4.5 W
SAT Estimate: 1800-1900
Class Rank: Top 15%, maybe top 10% but not a given.
APs: Will have taken 6 at time of application (AP Human Geo, AP Psych, AP Lang, AP Art History, AP Environmental Science, AP US History) and plan to take about 4-5 APs senior year. Scored a 5 on AP Psych and a 5 on Human Geo AP Exam
ECs: President of a club, secretary of the class, secretary of dare program, started my own nonprofit (having operated for four years to date)</p>

<p>Interests: Journalism, English, Film, Political Science, Sociology, Marketing, Law (Anything NOT related to math or science, with the exception of Biology). </p>

<p>Other Factors:
-I like the atmosphere of a small school. I am shy and, to be honest, like nurturing environments. I get stressed easily because I am very hard on myself.
-I actually come from a huge, competitive public school, and the environment has been stressful for me.
-Would love to go somewhere with a good study abroad program!
-Legacy to Tufts and Florida State for Undergrad</p>

<p>Can anyone recommend some colleges that I should look into? I would greatly appreciate it!</p>

<p>How much can your family pay?</p>

<p>We are a middle class family, so nothing exorbitant without financial aid.</p>

<p>The problem with Texas is that a lot of the public schools are very large. Have you looked at TCU or TSU? I know they’re not as big as UT or A&M and they’re still quite good schools!</p>

<p>Do you prefer the south, or do you want to consider the Northeast? You seem like a match for Rutgers/SUNY Binghamton, or maybe a UCSB/UCSD.</p>

<p>It would be nice to be closer to home, but I am willing to consider anything. My personality is more suited to the Northeast and California.</p>

<p>Take a look at some of the liberal arts colleges (LACs) - closer to home would be Rhodes (Memphis) or Hendrix (Little Rock). More to the west, and on a block schedule would be Colorado College. LACs are small (generally fewer than 2,500 students), with small discussion-based classes, lots of faculty mentoring, no grad students competing for faculty attention or teaching classes/sections, and a strong sense of community. Just be aware that they tend to have strong ‘personalities’ and you want to choose places where you feel you’d be a good fit.</p>

<p>You’ll have to check the financial aid policies case by case.</p>

<p>Occidental in CA and Trinity U in San Antonio would be worthwhile to consider if you could inch up the SAT a bit for merit money. Also, be sure to attempt the ACT. Some students perform much better on ACT vs SAT. Oxy also guarantees to meet need (but there will be loans in the FA package).</p>

<p>Go to the library and get Colleges That Change Lives by Loren Pope. It highlights 40 LACs - Rhodes & Hendrix that M’s Mom mentioned are in it. Some of these LACs offer full tuition merit. Goucher (near Baltimore, MD) is also highlighted in the book. Goucher has 100% of students study abroad.</p>

<p>The thing I’ve learned about LACs is that the financial aid and FA/merit scholarship combo can vary widely (by up to $15,000)among schools that from all other respects (rankings, geo location) appear to be on par. I’m encouraging my HS junior son to apply to a minimum of 10 schools, preferably 12-14, because our income and his grades could give a variety of results in the FA package. At first he was daunted by the large number of apps I’m encouraging, but after reviewing the Common Application and finding schools that would not require additional essays and schools with no app fees, he has relented.</p>

<p>You might look at Baylor they are smaller than the TX state schools and have large scholarships. The Honors Res college or Brooks Res College might be a good fit since there is a lot of personal attention from Profs and you live in a smaller community setting. Another school might be UT Dallas. It is a smaller state school, gives great tuition plus scholarships based on GPA and has brand new freshman suite style housing.</p>

<p>The UCs (UCSD and UCSB as well as the others) would be full pay at $50K+/year. That doesn’t qualify as nothing exorbitant. </p>

<p>OP, what about some of the smaller TX schools like TX State?</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for your input so far! It is very helpful and I will look into the schools that have been suggested. </p>

<p>I have considered some of the smaller schools in Texas, but I usually run into the following issues:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Many are affiliated with a specific church (I’m Jewish) and I wonder if I would not fit in well. </p></li>
<li><p>I have Guaranteed Tuition Plan, so the cost of going to public Texas school would be zilch, whereas the cost of TX private would be much greater due to less coverage under my tuition plan. </p></li>
<li><p>I want to continue on to graduate school, so I need to go to a school that is well-recognized in order to have some pull in graduate admissions.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Rice would be great, but for the hyper-competition to be admitted.</p>

<p>Bump for edit</p>

<p>Have you considered UT Dallas?</p>

<p>Do you know your expected family contribution (EFC) from the FAFSA extimator? Are you eligible for need-based aid?</p>

<p>You might consider Austin College in Sherman, about an hour north of Dallas. It looks to be a great match for you, and they have a tremendous study abroad program. AC is affiliated with the Presbyterian church, but college president Margorie Hass is Jewish, and you won’t have any issues fitting in.</p>

<p>My EFC is $45,867, which seems a little high to me. It’s being driven up by real estate that will be sold before I apply. </p>

<p>I will consider Austin College.</p>

<p>I’m not that interested in UT Dallas. </p>

<p>For various reasons, I am able to attend Texas A&M without paying a penny (excluding books). So that is too big of an incentive to pass up to go to another Texas public school (with the exception of UT Austin, which would be of very low cost to me as well).</p>

<p>Both schools are great choices. If your family sells the real estate there will be some money in an account or a different asset that will be considered. I doubt that will make a difference in your EFC.</p>

<p>Correction: EFC is 28,954. Previous number did not factor in real estate debt.</p>

<p>That seems more reasonable!</p>

<p>If you are looking for a small school and considering NY, I would take a look at SUNY Geneseo. Top Public LAC in NY</p>

<p>[SUNY</a> Geneseo | SUNY Geneseo](<a href=“http://www.geneseo.edu%5DSUNY”>http://www.geneseo.edu)</p>

<p>Check with the Texas Guaranteed Tuition Plan and understand all your options. We were pleasantly surprised at how the money could be transferred to private universities.</p>

<p>Once you get your SAT, call some of the smaller state schools and talk to them. Some of them offer free tuition if you make a certain SAT score that is not published on the web-site. (Stephen F Austin & TWU) At some of the smaller state schools, you may qualify for the honors program which may help to give a LA feel. </p>

<p>Go visit A&M and UT. When my daughter was a junior she was set on a small liberal arts college. We visited Southwestern and dropped by UT on the way to Trinity. She loved UT and it was a school that she had orignally crossed of her list. (She also attends a mega highschool that senior class is over 1300).</p>

<p>Double check to make certain you have calculated EFC using the institutional method. I think college board has changed their website so you may need to go to a private school website. Even if you don’t think you are competitive enough for Rice they do have a pretty accurate calculator. For example, our family income makes our EFC around 16K but when you calculate college savings, pre-tax deductions it makes our EFC around 24 K. </p>

<p>Have fun, keep your options open.</p>

<p>Have fun in your search and ask your parents to check on the finances. It is challenging to do but most colleges will have calculators by October that should ease this.</p>