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I can understand she would also be a bit afraid to have me go far away, she’d be at home alone with my 14 year old brother… </p>
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<p>I can understand. I also think that a single mom who is bearing the brunt of raising 2 kids by herself is going to be concerned about schools that require extensive travel. COAs do not cover all those costs. Holiday travel times can mean super pricey tickets plus shuttle costs. And, she has the younger child to consider. Whatever you end up doing will influence what the younger one does. </p>
<p>Can you identify other good schools that give great aid that aren’t super far away? NU? UChi? others? DePauw isn’t elite, but I’ve heard that it gives good aid. </p>
<p>Vandy, Northwestern, UChicago, Grinnell are comparatively fairly close. Earlier in my search I brushed aside UChicago because they did not offer engineering, but seeing as my interets changed it is an incredible school. The chances are incredibly slim though, I’m on the lower end of their applicant pool. But so I am at many other unis. I was turned off by DePauw’s “party atmosphere” and I think they have a majority of students in greek life.</p>
<p>IIT may give some good merit aid, but likely not enough to cover at least the price of tuition.</p>
<p>OP, I wouldn’t worry about finding a job with a physics degree. I have seen lots of our physics majors get decent jobs with just a B.S. If you decide you prefer to pursue a graduate degree and you are a strong student, you will be funded in your studies.</p>
<p>You can get a solid physics education just about any university. LACs do this well and so do big state universities. Where you choose to go should be a question of what fits you best and what you can afford. Make sure that you apply to schools that have special scholarships, you might just get one of them and give yourself more options.</p>
<p>From what I hear, physics majors do better than other science majors (like biology and chemistry) in the job market… but the jobs are often in finance, computing, or some types of engineering. If those jobs are not what you like to do, that may impact your post-graduation job and career options.</p>
<p>Grinnell will take transportation into account when giving financial aid. Other colleges do, too.
So, again: apply widely and see what has the best cost/benefit in March. :)</p>
<p>It all depends who is paying. If you are up to a full ride / full tuition Merit, then you have leverage in talking. If your parents are paying, you have none. Sorry, just be creatful for what you have and do your best under any circumstances and if you feel that you will not get in, what is an ISSUE alltogether? You just do not get in and be happy and no arguments. I would go with the flow and avoid any tension in a family. College application should be fun. Do not let it spoil for you. This are precious memories for the rest of your life, you do not want to remember this time as fighing time, nope, pure FUN. </p>
<p>Also note that I would say most families have a "parent pick"of a college to put on the list.
I would say not to waste effort to convince her at this point of the merits of other schools.</p>
<p>I was in a similar situation. I too am from St. Louis, and had to choose between Wash U, SLU, and Notre Dame (among others). My dad was pushing the prestige schools (Wash U, Notre Dame), while my mom was concerned about cost. If you want to stay in St. Louis, either option (Wash U, SLU) is attractive, as both schools have great campuses, a vibrant student life, and above-average academics (outstanding academics in Wash U’s case). </p>
<p>As an aside…don’t sleep on MOS&T…had a few friends go there, and they are doing VERY well. </p>
<p>Other schools I would recommend looking into if you want to stay in the Midwest (for physics): Creighton, Miami (OH), DePauw (IN), Carleton College, and Lawrence University</p>
<p>I’m also assuming that you wanted to stay away from state schools…</p>
<p>I’m not really uninterested in state schools because they are state schools, but just beacuse most state schools have a vibe that I’m not really attracted to. You know we have UMSL (I visited it earlier - kind of a commuter school and not in an interesting part of town). Mizzou, our flagship and party school where sports are idolized, UMKC which I’m sort of ambivalent about, and Rolla, the science/eng’g school. Rolla certainly isn’t a “backup”, it will most certainly help me meet the same ends. I feel that I’d have a much more enjoyable experience at a school like WashU, Chicago, Reed, etc since they have that “intellectual” vibe, a place where students love to learn. I want to major in physics but in my free time I spend hours playing the piano, reading history books, writing classical music, etc. I don’t want to be “technical” if you get what I mean.</p>
<p>I have heard of Carleton and Lawrence, and I am thinking about applying to the former. I’ll have to see whether or not I’d be in line for a lot of merit at Lawrence - most of these other schools have been giving me need-based aid estimates that cover at least tuition and more.</p>
<p>I think my mom only really likes WashU because we visited it and it was excellent. We talked last night and possibly in the next few months we will take a trip to Chicago and see UChicago and Northwestern, or Iowa to visit Grinnell. I’m saving money so we can maybe take a plane to Penn to visit Lehigh and Lafayette or go to Texas to visit Rice. Then maybe we can put all of the options in context, and she might not be quite as hesitant to send me off hundreds of miles away, since I have a good chance at getting accepted to certain schools (like Reed, Grninell, Lafayette, Lehigh)etc. but not so much at Washu or RIce and company.</p>
<p>And, perhaps another reason your mother favors Wash U (whether consciously or subconsciously) is that you would be close. </p>
<p>Northwestern, UChicago and WashU are all in the same tier, so if you get into one you’d have a fair chance at getting into all of them. My sister went to Northwestern (over UChicago). The campus atmosphere will remind you a lot of WashU. Evanston is also a beautiful area. UChicago has a great looking campus, but is in a bad area. </p>
<p>All I can say is apply, apply, apply…you never know, and it doesn’t hurt to apply. </p>
<p>I live in Philadelphia now, and have attended a few symposiums at Lehigh. Another beautiful campus. However, it does have a reputation as a serious party school</p>
<p>Yeah, I would have a similar chance, but the acceptance rates aren’t cumulative - getting into one alone would be phenomenal given my less than ideal gpa (3.68)</p>
<p>Of course you aren’t admitted yet, but Reed has a pretty unusual vibe. If you get that far down the road where you are admitted and it is affordable, I’d suggest a visit before you commit. Great for some students, but not for everyone.</p>
<p>Yes - on paper, Reed appeals to me a lot. Although if I am admitted, I should make a visit. However, of all of the schools I am considering, Reed is the furthest from home. (But once you reach a certain point, it’s a sufficiently long plane ride regardless) lol. Mom would be hesitant to send me away so far to a school she didn’t even know existed!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t cross off Mizzou simply because it’s a party school. A large school usually has a plethora of students who don’t drink every weekend, and it’s usually fairly easy to find them (that’s certainly the case at my large state school which isn’t terribly far from Missouri). In fact given MST’s size and location, it may be more difficult to find things to do on the weekend other than drink.</p>
<p>If I have to stay in state I’d rather go to MST, it is regionally better regarded in the engineering and sciences. Mizzou more so for journalism and communications. Plus, Mizzou is also just too flippin big. The overall environment is less unappealing at MST.</p>
<p>If you are a female US citizen wanting to major in a STEM field, there are scholarships available (Google, microsoft, I think). I am not a resource for this, but know that being an invisible pink unicorn has its benefits. You may want to do an exercise of “Where would I want to go if money were no object?” and apply there in case the springtime yields some outside money. If you are male…good luck, and you may ignore this post. :)</p>
<p>There are many thousands of female STEM students in the US… as the parent of one, I can tell you that money did not drop out of the sky for this reason. Any scholarships like that are VERY competitive (at least the ones of any substantial size are). </p>
<p>Jumping into this thread late, but a couple thoughts.</p>
<p>First, I would NEVER allow a child of mine to go to Reed without visiting. It has a unique campus culture, to say the least. Some kids love it, others hate it. Please check it out before enrolling.</p>
<p>Second, what about Rose-Hulman in Indiana? Relatively close, small classes, and STEM all the way. Friend of mine’s daughter is a senior EE major there, and absolutely raves about it. Plus, you have a very favorable M/F ratio there is you want to date. R-H is 2.6 hours away, straight up I70. Certainly worth a short road trip.</p>