<p>^oh! Sorry. <em>duh</em>. Criminology, not criminal justice. That makes it a little bit harder to find a school like.</p>
<p>Sorry I didn’t mention that before!</p>
<p>Please apply to at least four schools, at least two of which are financial and admissions safeties. Please. </p>
<p>Have you visited Penn State? <a href=“http://www.sociology.psu.edu/[/url]”>http://www.sociology.psu.edu/</a>
Slippery Rock? <a href=“http://academics.sru.edu/sasw/criminology/faq.html[/url]”>http://academics.sru.edu/sasw/criminology/faq.html</a></p>
<p>Or, the Temple web site says
Have you considered Temple?</p>
<p>It’s clear that you’ve thought a lot about what college you want to attend and the one you are putting your “eggs in a basket” for is a good choice. It seems to be a fit for you both academically (as it has an honors college) and financially (as it is a state school). Chances are you will get in, as you seem like a good student, motivated, organized, etc. It is not as if you are putting all of your heart and soul into something you’ve never seen before half way across the country, a private that is 50K a year, or super reach or something. </p>
<p>HOWEVER strange things always happen…which is why parents are suggesting you apply to a couple other schools in PA or neighboring states, at least. I would focus most on the the college you are most interested in, but you should try and slap together some apps for Penn State, Temple, etc. Or, if you wouldn’t mind doing a little research, maybe some privates that you think might give you decent merit aid (you don’t have to have visited, necessarily, to know if a school has what you are looking for academically and financially). Private schools are sometimes even more generous with merit and need-based fin-aid. Some privates meet 100% of need.</p>
<p>As for getting your mother excited, mine is the same!!! She is always putting stuff off until the last minute…and then she does not have things ready for me on time (well, things she’s not interested in, anyway!). If I remind her, she accuses me of “nagging.” My mom, too, complains of me always asking her things at the “wrong time.” But nothing is really the right time, is it? They’re working and they’re “busy.” They’re relaxing and they “thought they were done with work.” So, I would try giving her a date in the future, but plan for her not getting things to you until the last minute. So maybe pick a date in the future that is not exactly when things are due ;). </p>
<p>I agree that you won’t change your mother, but hey…she DID get up and get that envelope for you, and she didn’t wait until the next day or the next week. She got up right then and there. She may not be EXCITED right now but maybe the most you can hope for is that she will be cooperative to the extent that you need. Chances are she will be much more excited for you when you’re bringing home good grades, meeting lots of new friends at college, getting involved in meaningful activities, etc. :).</p>
<p>gg–Have you thought about Pitt?</p>
<p>IUP isn’t exactly difficult to get into. If the OP is looking at the honors college, they’ll be fine.</p>
<p>^^ How do you KNOW she will be “fine”? Whenever money is an issue, it is extremely risky to apply to just one college. Sure, she may get into the honors college, but what does she do if she doesn’t get the money she needs to attend? If she doesn’t apply to other schools, she will have no Plan B.</p>
<p>If she’s banking on getting a certain amount through scholarships, then yeah, she should apply to multiple schools or consider community college.</p>
<p>IUP has rolling admissions. It is a ¶ state school, and the cost of attending IUP will be the same as any other state school. So I don’t see a problem with the OP only applying to IUP, as long as she does it early. If she applies in September, she should have an answer in October…if she’s accepted then there is no need to apply elsewhere.]</p>
<p>PItt might be an option, except that it would cost more. (IUP cost of attendance is in the 14-16 K range, Pitt is ~24K)</p>
<p>I actually looked at the CB’s site last night and wrote down some colleges I’m interested in based on criminology. </p>
<p>I’m looking for a college that will challenge me mentally but not fiscally. That’s why I really liked the Honors College at IUP.</p>
<p>And yeah, IUP itself isn’t that hard to get into. Show you have a pulse and you may just get a spot in the incoming class of ~3,000.</p>
<p>Also, don’t feel as though you have to visit schools before you apply to them. </p>
<p>I only visited two schools, and that was after I got into them and was trying to decided which one I could imagine myself at. Sure this approach may lead to you not applying to some school thats perfect, or wasting your time on a school you would never go to, but when all is said an done, you’ll have an option. </p>
<p>Also I feel that college tours (especially during the summer) are really useless, the buildings at a school say next to nothing about the culture of the students there.</p>
<p>Folks, really, the OP would be fine if she only applied to IUP. Its admissions and cost for in-state students are essentially completely predictable. Its honors college is very popular. It is the lowest-cost public four-year college option available to her.</p>
<p>It is not at all uncommon for PA students to apply only to one college if it is one of the PASSHE colleges. They are not open admissions, but they have well-understood admissions rubrics, and if a student wants to go there and meets the criteria there’s no problem. Finances can be an issue, of course, but it would be rare for a student to get a significantly better deal than one of these colleges without a lot of work and uncertainty (or even with it), and she won’t do better at Penn State, Pitt, or Temple unless she gets a rare merit full ride.</p>
<p>If her family is very low income, where she may actually do better is at Penn, with need-based aid. Penn has an excellent criminology program, so it may be worth a shot applying there.</p>
<p>^With a 1770 SAT and 29 ACT, I’m afraid Penn is out of my range, but I really like it. I may just apply for the heck of it.</p>