<p>I am a senior in HS, getting ready to apply to colleges.
My GPA is 4.71 weighted, 3.93 unweighted
SAT is 2320
CR 730 M 790 WR 800
SATii
Math 2 780
Chemistry 780
US History 780
I'm an Eagle Scout, and have been in JV CC and Varsity Track.
I'm in 2 service organizations (KIWIN'S and CSF) and tutor kids in the SAT.</p>
<p>Here's my list, I want to balance it by making sure it has enough reach/safety.
uchicago
pomona college
yale
stanford
swarthmore
rice
johns hopkins
carleton
wesleyan university
UC berkeley
UCLA
harvey mudd</p>
<p>It’s a great list of reach and high target schools, but you need some schools with lower stats than yours (lower targets), and at least one safety. What state are you located? If CA, then keeping those UC’s is fine, but throw in a less competitive campus as well (UCSB? USSC?). However, if you aren’t located in CA, then hoping you are aware that a UC is over 50K per year for OOS. The Presidential scholarships, and Regent scholarships will not make much of a dent in that OOS tuition. They often offer honors college status, but the regent isn’t awarded.</p>
<p>So, just find a safety, that’s really a safety. Are you a National Merit Semifinalist? If so, you can find your safety in the list of NM sponsored schools that you should have received in the application materials (from your counselor). There’s lots of threads on CC in Financial Aid forum, pasted to top under “National Merit Finalist scholarship”. The list of schools and the amount they offer NMF is also in those threads. USC, half tuition for NMF, bringing total cost to 30K; Alabama, complete full ride; Tulane, full ride; Denison, full tuition ride; U of Richmond, full tuition ride, are some favorites on cc that get mentioned a lot. So if you are a semifinalist, that’s a good place to start to find some options. And many Finalists decide it’s worth it to attend one of these sponsored schools if they have long term educational plans. Not a bad idea to take a full ride if you plan to head to med school, law, etc. </p>
<p>The other thing you need to do is the FAFSA forecaster that the responder already mentioned above. You need to know if you will actually be getting any need-based aid. All colleges will use your EFC to determine your FA, so do get that estimate (and the majority on your list will also use the CSS profile to determine need-based aid). The schools you have on list do not offer merit aid, so that’s why everyone is telling you to be sure you know what your family can afford. It’s often the case that students find out too late that although they got into Pomona, they can’t afford to attend. That would bite, so make sure you know what your expected family contribution will be (EFC).</p>
<p>Sorry I took so long to reply, I don’t use this site much and couldn’t figure out how to find my post.
I do live in California.
But, I was thinking instead of a lower UC, I would add a school like Macalester.
I am not a National Merit Finalist.
Also, my financial aid situation is pretty good; my counselor says if I go to a private on this list, it will be equal to or cheaper than a UC in price.</p>
<p>If your family is low income then, if you make it into one of these schools, there is a good chance you will pay less than at a UC. I wouldn’t call that a pretty good financial aid situation though. The ideal FA situation is not needing it at all.</p>