<p>I made a final list of schools to apply to. Any suggestions of how I should change it/add more schools?</p>
<p>Stats: top 3% at competitive high school, ib program, 2020 SAT w/out studying I but will retake and hope for 2100+, good ECs, good recs, hispanic, first generation in usa, know 3 other languages</p>
<p>Criteria for schools (in order of importance): I cannot pay more than 20k .. not even w/loans ( my efc is also 20k), good business or econ and good psychology programs, in a city were i will be able to find an internship, the school is nice looking (sorry lol but it matters), decent weather (haha i should look at California)</p>
<p>here are some schools... of course they dont meet all of my criteria, but these are the ones i hope to apply too... i would love any help!!</p>
<p>REACH
University of Pennsylvania
New York University
Columbia University
University of Chicago</p>
<p>MATCH
University of Michigan
Carnegie Mellon
UNC</p>
<p>SAFETY
University of Texas Austin
University of Texas Dallas (financial safety)</p>
<p>If you really can't afford to pay more thn your $20K EFC, several of your schools are unrealistic. Schools like Penn and Columbia, which meet 100% of need and use profile, probably won't work. If your family has any home equity or other assets, you be expected to pay more than the FAFSA suggests. NYU is famous for gapping, so unless your stats put you in the top 5% of their applicant pool, which would be hard at Stern, money will be an issue there. Bottom line, add more financial safeties.</p>
<p>zagat, what you are saying makes a lot of sense. my parents dont have any assets, their home is a mortgage and all... would they meet my efc? would they "meet" of efc with loans?
i heard that UNC was hard to get into... but i have no idea how hard it is.
what would be good schools that are financial safeties? what i am thinking, if i dont make it into any of those schools/they dont give me a lot of money i would just go to UT... or would it be wise to have more schools that would be relatively cheap? another idea of mine was to just apply to UT... since there is 99% chance that it is where i will go, and i am perfectly satisfied with that option.</p>
<p>REACH
University of Pennsylvania -> my dad (alum) told me that the tution is around 30k, and only the best get finacial aid...
New York University -> it has the highest tuition in the US
Columbia University -> really high living expense, ur in NYC
University of Chicago -> i think it might have the best $ suituation for u</p>
<p>MATCH
University of Michigan -> i ts a state school is tuition is betterr...
Carnegie Mellon -> private a little rocky
UNC -> ???</p>
<p>Have you considered liberal arts colleges? I think Rhodes College in Memphis meets your criteria, and offers excellent merit-based aid (which you would definitely qualify for) as well as need-based aid.</p>
<p>Tulane is another that would offer you good education/good assistance.</p>
<p>Penn offers only need based aid, anyone they accept will be offered full need as determined by Penn. OP, schools that meet 100% need, mostly top schools, expect your parents to psy their determined portion any wy they want, but without loan help from the schools. Many schools that gap this need offwr parents PLUS loans which are subsidized.</p>
<p>So with an EFC of $20K, a school would expect your parents to pay that, and will probably expect you to contribute close to $10K between work study, loans and summer job. At schools with good aid the rest would be grants. At schools that gap, the next step would be a PLUS or private loans.</p>
<p>Again, when you have good stats and money issues, merit aid is the way to go. See the parent's board for a list of schools offering good merit aid. Unfortunately, you will sacrifice in terms of school ranking to get merit money. Schools usually reserve this money to attract students who would otherwise go to more highly ranked schools where they can't get merit aid (no ivy offers).</p>
<p>You have a great class rank and well above average ST scores. Getting those scores as high as you can will really matter in terms of who would offer you merit money. Look t schools where your stts re at the top. Indiana (Kelly) my be worth look.</p>
<p>if you're in texas you should go to ut austin.</p>
<p>michigan and nc will not give you good enough financial aid to attend there with the price tag for out of state students, it also wouldn't be worth it, i say cut it out.</p>
<p>is the 20K per year or 20 k for all four years. if it's 20k for all four years then i recommend just going to ut austin. because no matter what school you attend, private or not, just the living expenses will exceed 20K for all four years.</p>
<p>20k per year.... though it is kind of pushing it.
i know that i want to go to ut.. but does that mean i shouldn't apply to any more schools? do you think it is better to go to utd (ppl in ib in my school almost always get full rides + "book money") for free? or apply to schools like u of indiana, u of miami (ohio)? should i still apply to some reaches?</p>
<p>20K per year, is pushing it, I honestly don't think its worth paying that much to go to school. At the most I would say spend 50K for your whole four years of undergrad.</p>
<p>Look into schools that are known for giving merit aid, because if you have an EFC of 20K as reported by fafsa, you won't get need based aid.</p>
<p>None of the Ivies give financial aid based on merit, so I kind of see it as a waste of time, unless you plan on paying more than 20K. NYU is notorious for giving financial aid, even if it's need based.</p>
<p>Besides UT Austin would be a fine choice for Finance.</p>
<p>A school like USC would be a better choice because they give both need based and merit based aid. They are known for giving good merit aid to students they want. With the Trojan Network you honestly can't go wrong with getting internships in LA.</p>
<p>I would think Boston University would also be a good choice, they give merit aid as well.</p>
<p>It just seems as though a lot of the schools on your list are because they are ranked related, rather than being a fit for you and your needs.</p>
<p>Instead of going to UT-Dallas for free, you could go to Indiana for free. Check out the Kelley Scholars and Wells Scholars programs, full ride oppurtunities for studens of your caliber. You qualify for the Honors College, Direct Admission to the business school, and their scholarships. You could get the Mitte Scholarship, which is 5K, honors college scholarships (1-11K), and direct admission scholarships (1-7K), in addition to your guaranteed 7K IU faculty award. Also, look at the minority scholarships, Hudson and Holland Program, as you said you were hispanic. Lots of money options there. </p>
<p>But UT-Austin almost makes too much sense for a student with your interests and your statistics. If you can get into BHP and McCombs there, I wouldn't trade it for any other school. I was looking at it for a possible transfer option and the OOS external transfer acceptance rate is 1.6%.</p>
<p>If you are majoring in business, and you have financial issues, and you like UT, you have no reason to NOT go there. It is a top 5 nationally ranked business school and by far the best in Texas (Cox @ SMU doesn't come close)</p>
<p>UT-austin is obviously a safety but Mccombs isn't. I do think you'll get in(because they look at GPA and rank more than test scores) but mccombs is selective so I would think that is about a match. BTW, aren't they having a big tuition hike over the next two years?</p>
<p>75% of the spots in McCombs are based entirely on rank. They start with those ranked in the top 1% of their class and move down to around 5% until those spots are full, and then the other 25% is competitive admissions, OOS, and non-ranking high schools. As top 3%, you would get in.</p>
<p>it seems like i am definently looking at Indiana... I like the idea of scholarships.... you are right, it is far better than UTD (the idea of going there makes me want to cry lol)
UT seems like an amazing choice. i think the cutoff last year was 5.5%. so I think I will make into McCombs, but I really doubt I would make it into BHP.
dorian_mode, I really cannot see myself in A&M... I know the school is good and all, but I really do not think I would be happy there.</p>
<p>what about notre dame and carnegie mellon? should i bother applying there?</p>