Help Me Pick a College! Which ones are for me?

College Search & Selection
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<p>This is a re-post minus some financial details. My counselor said I should make out a list without that first but I want a school with good Need-based aid!</p>

<p>I think I go to a rigorous private school. Most people have the impression that we're smart kids (I hope so anyway. Hehe.) I'm Black and my Great Grandmother immigrated from Venezuela to Trinidad & Tobago then both of my parents immigrated to the US! I should be a first gen. college student but I'm not sure. Confusing family situation.</p>

<p>Academics:
GPA: 3.4 (Lame freshman year. My mom lost her job and my sister, who still lives with us, had a baby. TONS OF STRESS!! Maintained a 3.7 since then!)</p>

<p>SAT: 1st Time: CR: 630 M: 470 W: 600; 2nd time: CR: 640 M:460 W:590 (I want to get that up to a 2000 with some intense math prep this time around! I have 4-5 months until my next test day)</p>

<p>ACT: Haven't actually taken it yet but I estimate about 30 right now. (I get this from a practice test I've already taken)</p>

<p>Classes: Mainly Honors for the past 3 years with 2 AP tests (took these while taking Honors classes) this year (Eng. Lang. and US History. Have no idea how I did.). I'm taking 4 APs senior year and the rest are Honors again.</p>

<p>Honors: Maryland Princeton Book Award Nominee, Ranked 29th in the nation for Level 3 National Grand Concours (National French Test), French Honor Society, and 2nd Honors since sophomore year.</p>

<p>ECs:
*Softball for past 3 years
*President of Film Club
*Plan to work with Day Camp that my school holds.
*Attended March for Life with my school
*Helped with Freshman Orientation and Open House for the past 3 years.
*Help with a technology Youtube channel my friend is the main person on.</p>

<p>So far on my list: (I need help sorting these out too.)
Reaches:
Michigan
UNC
William & Mary
Duke
George Washington
Georgetown </p>

<p>High Match/ Match:
FSU
UDel
UMD (In-state)
UMBC (In-state)
High Point
Elon
Loyola (MD) (Private but still in-state)</p>

<p>I'm having a little trouble finding safeties... Hehe. Towson, Frostburg, and Salisbury just aren't appealing to me for in-state safety options. Also I want to make sure I have something to do other than study and that I live on a beautiful campus! Right now it's not realistic for me to go too far west unless the living expenses are really cheap and again, that I get a lot of need-based aid!</p>

<p>Majors:
History (Possible minor)
Psychology
Criminal Justice
Political Science</p>

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<p>Uhhh . . . to be blunt, your counselor is an idiot. As someone just stated so eloquently in another thread: there’s no point in falling in love with a school you can’t afford to attend.</p>

<p>I know your financial picture isn’t clear yet, and you’re eager to get started, but it just doesn’t make any sense to put schools on your list that you may end up finding out you can’t possibly attend.</p>

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<p>I would recommend that you look into a program called Questbridge. If you are selected as a finalist, you will have the opportunity to take part in the College Match. The College Match program offered by Questbridge will allow you to apply to the most selective colleges in the nation, and if you are accepted by the college or “matched”, you will receive a full ride(everything not just tuition) from the school. Here is the link if you want to check it out: [QuestBridge</a> Home](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/]QuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org/)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>My counselor is actually pretty experienced, sending maybe thousands of kids to college in the years she’s been working and sending two kids of her own to college who are very successful right now. I trust what she’s saying to me and she’s been working with me since freshman year. She told me to make a list while not keeping finances in mind so I can get a wide spread of schools and then I can look at finances once I starting applying.</p>

<p>I already have financial safeties that are schools that I truly like and she knows that so no worries! If I find out that I can’t go to a 50K school it won’t be heartbreaking! I already love some schools that only cost 10K as well. I’d be happy either way. :)</p>

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<p>Well, applying to a school with no chance of being affordable is a waste of application fee and effort (both yours and that of any teachers or counselors who write recommendations).</p>

<p>Of course, applying to a school with a chance of being affordable may be worth the effort – but you need to adjust your reach/match/safety assessment accordingly (e.g. if you need a reach-level merit scholarship to make it affordable, then the school is a reach, even if gaining just admission is match or safety level).</p>

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<p>What you can do to prune your list is eliminate all schools that you would not choose over your safeties under any circumstances.</p>

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<p>Not to get into too many details but how can you afford a private school if you need a school with good need based aid? And UMich OOS is not one.</p>

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<p>@ucbalumus: I’m not going to apply to a school that I know I definitely cannot afford if it pops up on here. If if has a 50K price tag I’m just going to pass over it. I’m just looking for schools I can get into and every time I post on here I never get schools, just people telling me how bad my finances are which I was aware of before.</p>

<p>@Erin’s Dad: Many people at my school need to go to colleges with need-based aid? Not every private school has a huge price tag. My mom pays 6K a year which she can afford with what she gets now and savings.</p>

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<p>You should check out the POSSE program:[The</a> Posse Foundation](<a href=“http://www.possefoundation.org/]The”>http://www.possefoundation.org/)</p>

<p>If you are selected, you are eligible for a full-ride for all four years one of a number of excellent schools that accept POSSE students from the DC metro area. I’m assuming you are from Maryland if Loyola is instate.</p>

<p>I know about POSSE because Grinnell, where S attended, sponsors POSSE students - president of the student body the year he arrived was a POSSE student. I think Bucknell and Sawanee are two others - there are more if you check the website.</p>

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<p>Bumping this again! I want to say that I don’t want to seem ungrateful the advice that @dodgersmom has given me on other forums. I just want to trust my counselor as well since she knows how my school runs and she knows me better since I’m in her office almost everyday and I’ve been seeing her since freshman year!</p>

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<p>AllyJay - I appreciate that and I know that you’ve paid close attention to all the advice we’ve given you. But I still think that any guidance counselor who says “worry about finances later” is out of her mind! :)</p>

<p>Unless she’s saying that in order to help you come up with a preliminary list only. In other words . . . “what do you love, what do you want?” But you’ve got to move on from that wish list to reality quickly . . . and long before it’s time to start filling out applications! Where you apply - and when you apply - has to depend on finances. As has been noted in other threads, some merit aid is offered on a first come-first served basis . . . you’re going to want to get those applications in ASAP . . . long before the regular decision deadlines of your other schools. And many scholarship applications also have early deadlines. A wish list is fine to start with . . . but your next step is to look at finances.</p>

<p>By the way, I’d second M’s Mom’s suggestion to look at Posse - it’s an amazing program. You can read more about it on the [url=&lt;a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/]Grinnell[/url”&gt;Grinnell College - College Confidential Forums]Grinnell[/url</a>] forum - the Posse thread is a featured discussion there.</p>

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<p>I though Posse was really interesting too but I’m not sure whether I could do that or not. It says DC which I’m sure would apply to some areas of MD but I live about an 1 and a half drive away so I don’t know if it reaches that far. I’ll ask around.</p>

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<p>It might be inner-city only . . . but it’s worth asking. Contact the program directly if you need to.</p>

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<p>Yeah. It’s definitely something I’ll look into though.</p>

<p>Does anyone know about any schools with good need-based aid and maybe some merit-aid money with my stats?</p>