Help: need to seriously revise my college list

College Search & Selection
1

I’m a high school senior and could really use some help narrowing down my college list :slight_smile: Advice is very much appreciated!!

I got a 36 on the ACT, 1590 on the SAT, and a perfect score on the PSAT so will likely be National Merit. I have a 4.0 GPA, 4.4 weighted with 12 AP classes and six AP exams (all 5s). I got an 800 on the Math II and US History Subject Tests and a 770 for Chem. Have played in All-state band/orchestra every year since I was a freshman and very involved in a wind quintet at my local university, marching band, private lessons, etc. President of Science Olympiad and won state champs/went to nationals, also a member of Math Club and Model UN and have won several awards at competitions for both. I tutor refugees and have also held many leadership positions at my church.

I used to be set on biomedical engineering until I did a summer internship in a BME lab and didn’t enjoy working on a computer all day. Now I’m thinking of a double major in something engineering/architecture/premed and global/public health but really I just want to go to a school where I’ll have plenty of options in case I change my mind (although I would enjoy a science focus). Ultimately I want to work in humanitarian aid and international development so study abroad programs in developing countries and opportunities to volunteer/intern with local NGOs or development groups are important to me. I don’t mind big class sizes because I’m used to being self-taught but I would enjoy interesting lectures. I dislike the idea of Greek life and would prefer an urban campus for more internship opportunities and the big city experience. Because of my interest in music, access to a variety of classical ensembles is also a priority. My family can only afford to pay about 10K a year although our EFC is more like 27K.

Here’s the catch. I want to go to a school where I will be challenged academically and interact with students who are wayyyy smarter than me, while still having time to try new things and get really involved in the community. I know this probably won’t happen, but I want to study Arabic, Swahili, French, and Spanish. I want to keep learning the violin while bringing my oboe playing to the next level. I want to take a few dance classes and join an intramural soccer or basketball team. I want to take courses in everything from music composition to creative writing to astrophysics, even though they may not actually be relevant to my major, and I want to continue working to improve refugee resettlement and education. If I can get a full scholarship so that I can spend more time pursuing these interests and volunteering and less time working to pay for my degree, that would be ideal.

To put it simply, these qualities are not easily quantified and I’m struggling to find out if colleges have what I want purely online.

Schools on my list right now are:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia – although I’ll likely drop this because of the core requirements
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins
Brown
Carnegie Mellon
Boston University
CU Boulder
NYU
University of Washington
University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin
Penn State
University of Rochester
Syracuse University
Arizona State University
Seattle University
Tulane
UNC-Charlotte
Ohio State

I can only apply to about eight and am open to the possibility of schools that aren’t on this list. Basically, I’m in desperate need of some suggestions.

Thanks so much to those of you who read this egregiously long post- I really appreciate your insights.

2

Have you run the net price calculators on all of these? They are on the website of each college. There is no point in applying where you can’t afford to attend.

What is your home state?

3

So it sounds like your family cannot afford you EFC – something a lot of families discover and much better to realize now, as you are shaping your list than in April when you have to turn down acceptance at your top choices because of finances. If you can only afford to pay $10k a year, then being out of state for a lot of public flagships will be unaffordable because most do not “meet full need” for out of state students. The exceptions, as I understand them, are Michigan and Virginia. But if you cannot pay your EFC, those are still not solutions.

Follow the thread on automatic merit awards (Alabama, ASU and others) as you will qualify with those stats for some full tuition awards. That leaves room and board which is usually $12-15k, depending on the school. With earnings from a summer job, it sounds like you could be able to afford those schools.

We know some kids who have gotten the mega-scholarship at Wake Forest, which is full ride plus lots of perks – so tuition and room and board are covered by the scholarship. You may be competitive for some of those full ride scholarships at private schools – Wake, Duke, W&L all have them – the scholarships are reaches for everyone, but you may be at least in the mix. The Ivies do not give merit awards, so if you can’t meet your EFC, those are not going to be affordable options.

What is your in-state public university? If your flagship offers merit awards to instate students, you may be able to afford that as well.

You should have some excellent opportunities come spring, here at CC we want to make sure you can afford to attend them!

4

Are you sure you meant to list UNC-Charlotte? Most students are trying for UNC flagship in Chapel Hill?

UNC Charlotte is a much lower tier college. I have a more negative impression having grown up close by to it. But maybe it has improved over the last twenty years and my impressions are just outdated.

5

Have you “ranked” your list of schools yet? Is there an “honors” program in your state flagship that is high up on your list? I ask these questions because a good tactic to use is to apply to a state flagship(s) that ranks highly on your list with rolling admissions so that you can cut off a bunch of lesser ranked schools. Further, you can use EA (or even SCEA) to further winnow your list before the RD deadlines.

As far as FA is concerned, H (YP+S) are 100% grant aid (vs. grant and loan and meet full financial need). Run the NPC for those schools to see if they will be affordable, but if your family income is as you represent, those schools should be within your budget.

Based on your stat’s and summary (congrats on your accomplishments!), assuming H and S are high on your list, I’d consider applying to one of those SCEA. I’m partial to Y myself in terms of offering great choices in a broad undergrad experience, but it is not in major urban area like H. On the other hand neither is S or a bunch of other schools on your current list.

6

Northwestern seems like a good fit. Their financial aid office can be very generous & cooperative. Since you want to study a lot of things, their quarter system would work well for you.

Note that at Northwestern, a typical course load is 4 courses per term (resulting in 12 classes per academic year), whereas at most universities at that level the course load is usually 4 classes per semester or 3 classes per quarter (resulting in 8 or 9 courses per academic year).

7

Your list will not be affordable for a 10K budget and a 27K EFC. None of the elite privates will give you full scholarships and neither will elite out of state public universities.

Go hunting on the list of schools that give big money for National Merit. It will be a bump down in the prestige ladder, but you can get a good education. Focus on large research universities for the widest range of opportunities (though no school will have everything on your extremely diverse list of interests).

http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2013/04/20/best-major-universities-for-national-merit-scholarship-funding/

(Don’t worry about the date in the URL, the list has been updated)

8

Remove Penn State; even with Honors and departmental merit, you won’t get close to $10,000. Plus it’s rural.

Add Pitt, which does offer competitive full tuition and full ride awards to high stats kids. You already have Ohio State on your list, which is a good choice. Look at U Maryland (if you were awarded a Banneker Key, plus they have some interesting Honors and Scholars programs) ) and/or U South Carolina (top public Honors college).

As others have suggested, run the NPCs for each school. Your budget is $10,000 from parents plus $5,500 student loan plus assuming another $2,500 from a job. Keep only those schools that either meet this budget with financial aid OR that have mega-merit opportunities that would get your costs under this level. That’s a quick way to cull the list, as many of the schools on your list will likely not be affordable.

9

I can’t speak to the cost but look into Case Western Reserve. About 1/2 the students who attend are grad students so their will be many who are more advanced if not smarter. It is in the University Circle in Cleveland which includes the Art Museum, the Botanical Gardens, the Cleveland Symphony, Cleveland Insitute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Art. They have dance classes available for non majors. They have a very good orchestra and while they have fraternities they tend to be more volunteer based than social. They tend to give pretty good scholarships though I can’t say they would get much below your need.

10

Remove all the out of state publics - you can’t afford them. What is your home state?

11

powercropper I meant UNC-Chapel Hill, whoops.

12

I’m from AZ

13

Seconding Case, Pitt, UMaryland, USC Columbia Honors.
Unless they have a special deal for NMFs, I would cut Penn State, CU Boulder, UMich, UWashington, UWisconsin. NYU and BU are unlikely to be affordable, run the NPC just in case but apply to only one without expectations of anything.
I’d look into Jefferson scholars at UVA and the Robertson at UNC Chapel Hill.
I’d add Yale for overall excellence and music, and Amherst for the open curriculum that would let you try a lot of different classes. Run the NPC because they don’t have merit, so it’d be need based aid only and since your family can’t afford their EFC it may not make them affordable enough despite their terrific aid.
You may want to add St Olaf, since they have terrific music ensembles, music scholarships even for non majors, interdisciplinary seminars called the Conversations (science conversation, great conversation ie., classics, American conversation, etc), a partnership with the Mayo clinic and excellent science, and merit scholarships for your stats, but it’d only be a safety if you express interest now since with your stats it’s clear they’re a backup (and you want to avoid Tufts syndrome).

14

You need to narrow your list down to schools that offer and encourage a lot of flexibility and give you time for exploration before you commit to a major. I’m sure there are quite a few schools like that and I don’t have the whole list. But University of Pittsburgh/Pitt should definitely be on your list.

For engineering, you are accepted into the Swanson School of Engineering but you don’t have to declare your major until your second year. You are required to take a seminar class where they spend the entire year exposing you to all of the different options within engineering. They bring in guest speakers and faculty so you truly understand the different options. They also highly encourage a minor or certificate path of study outside of engineering. In fact, one of the forms of paper in her registration pack was a sheet that said “You CAN minor in a language while being an engineering student.” I love that they encourage this and all of her contact with them so far has shown that they love a well-rounded student and would love a kid like you.

With a 36 ACT you are likely (but not for sure because merit there is not guaranteed) to receive at least 3/4 tuition to full tuition at Pitt. You really need to check them out.

Additionally, Pittsburgh is a great city. Right now as I type this out, the incoming freshman engineering students are touring Google, Uber, Fed Ex and the human performance lab that was featured when President Obama visited last year I believe. Lots of opportunities there.

15

I didn’t see Northeastern on your list. Your scores are over the top, I think you will definitely get some free rides. Pick your safeties and then pick a few that have what you are interested in, I don’t think the EFC takes into consideration merit money. UVA prides itself on meeting need and with your scores, you have a strong shot at some merit money or scholars program. Best of luck to you. Whereever you end up will be lucky to have you.

16

^ Full rides are very rare even with a 36. Even colleges with large merit scholarships typically stop at full tuition.

17

Why can you only apply to 8 colleges? If that is due to the cost of applications then this is a shortsighted decision. Since you are fishing for almost a full ride you may want to consider applying to a lot of colleges that offer large merit scholarships in hopes of snagging a biggie. And with your stats it is definitely possible!

What is your NPC at HPYS? Is it still 27,000? Because they are usually the most generous for financial need.

Some of the schools on your list have full tuition scholarships- like U of Rochester. That would only leave you with room and board and travel which would be about 15,000 + travel (1000). With your parents 10,000 and if you take a student loan for 5500 and get a summer job you would have that covered. Check out Tulane, Case and Syracuse because I bet you would be in the running for any full tuition scholarship at those. Case is early action non binding as well!

So basically, review your list and see where you could qualify or apply for full ride or full tuition scholarships, see if you may actually get enough financial aid at HYPS, and then apply to arizona and alabama (automatic presidential elite full tuition plus one year room and board plus stipend, plus!!!)

To be considered for these full rides, most of the schools have early application requirements so don’t miss out. Get organized and be ready!

Good luck! And good for you for working on an affordable list!! You will be a huge success wherever you chose to attend.

18

Start hunting for large merit scholarships here. But verify on college web sites since some may have changed.

http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2006094-2017-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/

19

OP - since you are an AZ resident, you should absolutely apply for one of the Flinn Foundation scholarships. It’s a competitive scholarship and is a full ride at NAU, ASU, or U of A for all 4 years (tuition, fees, room & board, plus study abroad). https://www.flinn.org/flinn-scholars/

Also FYI - your stats would qualify you for free full tuition & housing at Univ of Alabama - Huntsville.