Help with picking college list

College Search & Selection
1

Hi :slight_smile:

My college selection process has been pretty inefficient (started out with a list of 20+ schools because of my indecisiveness) so I am turning to college confidential for some help. Any help would be seriously appreciated!

Stats: 1500 SAT (retaking in November, projecting a 1540) SAT II: n/a taking physics and math II this Saturday
UW: 3.8 APs: around 20 APs, National AP Scholar, competitive public school (I am in top 3% of around 800), and a few unique but not extra-ordinary (by college confidential standards) ecs because I struggled with social anxiety in my first few years of high school that I have since overcome (def will not mention this in my apps tho)

Cost constraints: My parents have repeatedly stated that cost is not a huge issue, but I do not want to burden them with 40K every year. Looking for costs around 20K or so. They make around 200K but my mother comes home with significant stress everyday and it is taking a toll on her physical and mental health. I will take out loans.

I live in FL, and although I am definitely considering my state school (UF), I would much rather prefer to go somewhere out of state (but, again, cost constraints).

I plan to major in economics, but also am interested in computer science and English and film (random i know). I want to go into business, so I am interested in a university that offer many opportunities for internships. I’ve noted that Northeastern’s co-op program offers such opportunities, and of course NYU’s Stern and proximity to Wall Street is also very alluring. Wharton has been my #1 for a while but it is an extreme reach as I imagine most of applicants would outshine me in terms of entrepreneurial ecs :/. I love the thought of Brown’s open curriculum and Dartmouth’s flexible schedule but I know many other schools allow for double majors and minors, etc.

Social scene: not too keen on Greek life (pretty much indifferent to it), same goes with parties, I am not looking for a religious environment, do not care at all about sports, I am not looking to get involved in any political activism but I do appreciate a good political debate every now and then (pretty much indifferent). I guess I could assimilate into any type of student body as long as I can find a group of genuine people who are driven, empathetic, and crazy enough to think we can make a difference in the world somehow (reading that made me realize how cheesy it sounds but oh well). Not into the preppy, arrogant types (of which I heard HYP have a reputation of having a lot of??-pls confirm or deny)

Other preferences: I would love an urban campus (especially on the coasts) but I find that I can adapt pretty easily to a suburban one or rural one as well (assuming I still have access to solid internships), Don’t really care for the “college experience”, so I guess a larger campus/student body would be a turn off for me. However, I am worried that LACs may not provide the opportunities that more well known colleges do (yes, prestige is obviously a factor, but it is not the ultimate determinant). I might be completely wrong on this though, which is why I am turning to you guys for advice :slight_smile:

I find that I do best when surrounded with other competitive and ambitious students, which is why I am drawn to the “prestige” of ivies and stanford, as the “prestige” is only perpetuated by their competitive, ambitious, and admirable student body (not that state schools or LACs do not have these type of students-just stating that they are more prevalent at these top 10 schools). I definitely am looking to challenge myself (not only intellectually but even in terms of my perspective and how I view the world).

Some schools on my list and why I am interested in them:
Upenn (Wharton, philly)
UF (state school, cheapest, could knock out my credits with my APs)
northeastern (co-ops, boston)
Boston University (boston, internships , but I heard there was grade deflation??- if someone could please deny or confirm)
NYU(New york city-duh-stern, independent and artsy student body, wall street)
Stanford (love the entrepreneurial vibe at the school, computer science is strong-heck everything is strong its stanford!)
Dartmouth and Brown for aforementioned reasons
UVA, UNC, CMU, Northwestern(not sure about these, my dad has encouraged me to apply)
UCLA (LA) and UCB (Haas)
Tufts
Babson(business?)
Duke and Columbia I obviously considered but I am not looking to apply to every ivy, and I am not sure if Columbia’s setting can offset the negatives of its core curriculum for me
UMich (Ross, I used to live in close to Ann Arbor and could live with a relative while attending)
Safety- FSU (really do not want to go here but is the only safety I can afford based on cost-benefit analysis)

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I realize I said 40K every year when it will probably be much more, like 50-60K, for some colleges on my list.

3

Over $60K for many of them. Run net price calculators on each college website. Generally you can’t have it both ways with an income of $200K – you can’t have highly ranked schools and the price tag you are looking for. Regarding loans, you can only take out $5,500 in loans freshman year, and slightly higher each year after. Any other loans will require your parents to cosign. You are going to have to drop your prestige concerns (and your list is heaviky weighted around those types of schools) and get more practical if you are serious about your financial limitations.

Regarding internships – you are in class most of the time during the semester. Most internships are in the summer anyway. On a practical level, that proximaty during the school year isn’t all that relevant.

In short, your list in no way matches your financial goal (even the $40K goal). You probably need to scrap your list and start over with schools that will offer you merit even to get down to $40K. Also, employers and grad schools know LACs – you can do just fine from them. Some of them are equally prestigious with top universities, and just as hard to get into.

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@intparent Thank you for responding and giving me things to consider. Do you know any schools that would offer that type of merit and still be a suitable fit for me? (as far as what you can discern from my post)

5

Is your target $20K? Your in-state schools are your best bet then. $40K has more options. You would likely get merit at Ohio State, for example. If you are female, Mount Holyoke would likely give you decent merit. You’d get some at Scripps, probably (and the Claremont consortium is a good arrangement). Are you a NMSF? Alabama would give you a pretty good deal then.

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^Agreed. Pricetags on the NE LACs is going to be at least $60K, many closer to $70K with top merit being around $25K. Get your price back to $35-40K and you’ll have some choices but slim to none at $20K unfortunately.

7

If your parents tell you not to worry about cost, ask them point blank: what amount are they comfortable with paying, out of pocket, from income and savings? Don’t guess. If they don’t know, run the NPC on a few universities with them and see if they can afford what comes up as net price.
For economics (with excellent professional placement) I would recommend Middlebury, Hamilton, and Colgate.

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Do they give merit, though? I didn’t think so. They have to go down the list a bit further. It doesn’t sound like the OP is going to be able to be full pay.

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I am only a little puzzled how you could have taken 20 APs? Number of total courses one can take during the last 3 years of high school is about 18 (considering 6 per year max).

10

Your list is a bit reach-heavy and schools like NYU are notoriously cheap with any type of FA or merit. The ivies and Stanford don’t offer merit. Duke has a couple of big scholarships, but they are nearly impossible to get. U Chicago is another reach, but they do offer merit to some students.

Are you a NMF? If so, I would add USC to your list as, if admitted, you’d stand to get 1/2 tuition from them (there’s an early application date for merit consideration – you’d still be applying RD, but I think you need your app in by Dec. 1st. U RIchmond, Emory, and Tulane have good programs and offer some merit (Tulane’s big scholarships require EA). For LACs, I’d put Grinnell, Macalester,and Davidson on your list. A potentially more affordable option in NYC might be Fordham.

The Claremonts are great schools and there’s much to be said for the consortium – CMC offers some merit (as does Scripps if you’re a woman.)

Rice is another gem of a school that offers some merit (their price tag is a tad lower than most to begin with).

I’d also check into some public unis with honors colleges as an option.

But, as @intparent correctly stated, you’re going to have to go a couple of rungs down the prestige ladder to get merit.

11

^Some schools have 9 or 9 periods a day and OP probably “self studied” some…

12

20 APs blows the mind. Anyway, I agree that you need an exact number from your parents in terms of what they can give you. A school like Alabama has the Greek life and sports you don’t like, but is big enough that you can find people like yourself. I think you get a generous deal from them and I believe it’s in a big city (Tuscaloosa).

13

You need to have “the Talk” with your parents to see what they are willing to pay out of pocket for 4 years.

Once you have that figure, get back to this forum and we can make suggestions based off that figure.

Good luck!