here we go, could use a little direction

College Search & Selection
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<p>We are very new to this and if anyone wants to reach out a welcoming helping hand, I would be forever grateful. My daughter is a Jr. at a very well-ranked Michigan high school. Her interests are theatre and forensics. Her strengths lie in the english language, writing, literature areas as well as acting. I think she's a talented writer and extremely witty and colorful in her abilities. She's taking some AP classes and she knows she wants to leave Michigan and attend a small private college as opposed to a university, perhaps studying communications with a minor in theatre. Her ACT scores in her sophomore year were in the 27 range (she'll be taking it again this year.) Can anyone offer a path we can possibly start looking down? Her choices so far encompass Emerson, Ithaca, De Pauw and Marymount Manhattan. She has some natural talents which could take her somewhere into theatre but my husband is an unemployed local actor and I thinks she knows how tough it is and she wants to have more of a guarantee in life. I worked in radio and television and she has seen the struggles I have gone through as well. As I said, this is all new to us, this is my first post. Thanks for any insight you can give. I am quite open to anything anyone has to say</p>

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<p>one of an applicant’s primary concerns must be money, unfortunately. each school has on its financial aid page a net price calculator. it can give you an estimate of what a particular college is likely to cost you. You have a great flagship at UMich, so run the npc for you there (you can do this without her input, but you should know what one of the least expensive and BEST options is likely to be). Then run the npcs at these other schools you mention.</p>

<p>Getting that ACT up, or taking the SAT and getting a good score there will help. What is her unweighted GPA?</p>

<p>Consider, too, other good writing schools like the ones you have. Eckerd, Earlham, Kenyon (a reach). Muhlenberg is good in theater and English and is a possibility. Pace, UCLA, USC, UWash, ditto. We can know more when you provide the gpa and her re-take of the ACT.</p>

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<p>thanks very much for your input. She did take the PSAT in her sophomore and her score was 197 and she is retaking it in several weeks. Her GPA is a high 3.6 - 3.7. I will run the NPC at UM and others. She really has her heart set on going outside of Michigan, preferably toward the NE coast and she really doesn’t want to attend a large university. Thanks again, I really appreciate the info. This really is a new road we are traveling down and I’m anxious to learn all that I can to help her make a good choice.</p>

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<p>Before looking for a list of college names I suggest building your understanding of the whole process – what “fit” means in terms of college, understanding financial aid, how to make the most of college visits, etc. There are many good books about this; one I recommend is “Admission Matters”.</p>

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<p><<<<
Her choices so far encompass Emerson, Ithaca, De Pauw and Marymount Manhattan.</p>

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<p>I have heard that DePauw (not DePaul) can sometimes give good aid, but no promise to meet need… I don’t think the others meet need. </p>

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<p>Sounds like paying for college will be a big issue. let us know how you like the NPC results you get. </p>

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<p>I hope she’s been doing some practicing. Making NMF could mean some large awards at some schools.</p>

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<p>^^^ excellent advice. You all know how hard the entertainment business can be. It is better that you figure out how much YOU can contribute towards college and let your D know that. Explain what you will and won’t do. Many parents will not borrow money or co-sign additional loans. Run the NPCs and share the results with your D and let her know which ones may work, and which ones won’t. </p>

<p>Since you do know how hard the business can be, you will likely want to advise her not to borrow much…yet most schools will include full federal student loans in their FA offers (which also mean that you can’t use them towards EFC).</p>

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<p>Those scores will likely go up, my D had similar and there was a big jump junior year. I agree that money is an important first consideration (for us also). There is a parent group for your D’s class you might want to check out: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1296016-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2016.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1296016-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2016.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;