Title says it all. I’m a rising HS senior with no idea where to apply (aside from a few state schools).
I plan to follow the pre-law path in college. So I need a school that has a history of being a pretty good pre-law school, I guess?
Major undecided. I like english(!!!), philosophy, political science, and women’s studies. I also have a keen interest in biological sciences, so I don’t want a school that is so liberal-artsy that it would be pretty much worthless if I began to tend more toward my scientific side…
Cost-wise, I need somewhere CHEAP. Preferably public with some scholarship/financial aid opportunities, and if it’s private, I’m reaaally gonna need financial aid. I’m paying for college on my own.
I have a 2190 superscore SAT, ~4.5 GPA, 200 service hours, but lame EC’s, so I want a school where my scores/grades are above the average to make up for my lack of awesome clubs.
Campus-wise, I’m only into schools that look like castles :)))) Jk (sort of). I prefer the old-gothic-bricks-and-towers aesthetic over modern-style architecture… this is kind of petty, but it matters to me!
If you want cheap options you need to tell us what state you live in…
And @Hastomen123 is right– pre law is useless. If you’re interested in the sciences, consider majoring in biology then applying to law school. Frankly, if you want to be a lawyer, your undergrad doesn’t matter as much. Go somewhere you’re comfortable, and keep your GPA up.
Sciences and math are very much core components of liberal arts, sigh. Any of the subjects you are describing are good for preparing for law.
I can’t recommend particular colleges as I only know what a few of them look like. I do suggest you visit the financial aid forum and read the pinned thread with scholarship and low cost college lists. Depending on your UW gpa (I think) and SAT M+CR, you might have some full tuition options.
But I am curious how much money you have saved to pay for it yourself. As a student borrowing is limited to:
Student Federal Direct Loan
freshman 5,500
sophomore 6,500
jr 7,500
sr 7,500
A lot depends on why you are paying by yourself. Your financial aid offers will be much different depending on whether your parents are unable versus unwilling to help you afford college. Nicely for you, your academic achievement and standardized testing is above average for almost everywhere. This will help create affordable public and private college options for you. As for campus aesthetics, try a list like “The 25 Most Beautiful Colleges in America / Thrillest.”
For some merit aid options go to the pinned threads in the Financial Aid forum ASAP! Many scholarship application dates have already passed. There is also a thread there for the least expensive schools. For most of those bring your long johns.
A rising senior? Meaning you are currently a junior? Typically you only say rising when you are in between school years (summer break for most people).
Ok, big question here, are your parents willing to fill out FA forms? And do you have to pay because your parents don’t make enough money to contribute anything, or because they believe that you should be responsible for your own college costs? If they make a substantial amount of money, or won’t fill out FA forms, you will need very close to a full ride. If they just can’t contribute because they don’t have the means, you may want to look into some schools that promise to meet full need.
To clarify a comment made by someone else above. If you want to go to Law School, don’t take “pre law” if you don’t end up going to law school, the degree will be of very little utility and generally speaking any pre-law programs out there are not thought of highly. Most students interested in Law School will take English, history or political science. Some study engineering which qualifies you to become a patent attorney or work in the tech industry and if, god forbid, you don’t go to law school I know essentially zero unemployed engineer undergrads. The key thing for law school is to have a very high undergraduate GPA and to learn something useful.
^the key question is:
are your parents unable to contribute
or are they unwilling to?
If they can contribute a little, how much - and what’s their EFC?
Tulane, maybe? They do give merit aid (and I think a full ride merit scholarship), so it would be worth a shot. You should still check out external scholarships, though.
@MYOS1634 The parents are NOT low income…and will also soon be earning a lot more…but will not contribute.
So…the student needs to understand the jargon. She doesn’t need a lot of financial aid (that is NEED based)…she needs a lot of MERIT AWARDS. She needs HUGE SCHOLARSHIPS.
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So I need a school that has a history of being a pretty good pre-law school, I guess?
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There is NO SUCH THING. Pre law isn’t a major. People major in ANYthing they want. They take the LSAT and if they get a high score, and they have a high GPA and good LORS, then they can get into a good law school.
for someone who wants to go to law school, then English is a fine major. There are also univs that allow you to “create your own major,” which I think is great for someone who wants to go to law school.
If I were to “create a major” for a future lawyer, I would include: English, History, Poly Sci, Philosophy (including Deductive Logic, and Ethics), Communications, Psych, Sociology, Accounting, some math, and some hard sciences (bio and chem). Upper division courses would be a mix of English, History and Poly Sci.
Since your parents won’t pay and you will have an unaffordable EFC, then you need the following strategy.
Apply to a reach "just to see" and satisfy your curiosity.
Apply to 2-4 schools that have HUGE competitive merit…these are VERY hard to get, especially if your stats aren’t in the upper 1% for the school.
Apply to 2-4 schools that have ASSURED HUGE merit for your stats.
When I say HUGE merit…I mean MORE THAN full tuition. Since you can only borrow $5500 and maybe earn another $3k-5k, you will need more than a full tuition award to cover your costs. So, don’t be distracted by “half tuition” or other awards that “seem big”, but will still leave you with a huge price tag…that you can’t pay.
What is your M+CR SAT …that is NOT superscored? Merit scholarships are usually based on single-sittings…not super scores.
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so I want a school where my scores/grades are above the average
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You need a school where your stats are within the top few percent…otherwise the school will have no incentive to give you the HUGE money that you need. Schools don’t give HUGE merit to students whose stats are “above the average”. If they did that, they’d have to do that to half the school…lol.
this student’s stats are nowhere close to being competitive for Tulane’s full ride. Tulane gives those to student with near perfect scores.
^M2CK: okay, I’d missed that. The situation would be different if this were a student with EFC 0.
incked: you will likely go to college in the South (where there’s good merit aid for your stats) or in the “cold states” (UMN might be unaffordable without parental contribution, but the Dakotas should be okay, and there are competitive full rides in Montana.) Howard may be a possibility if you’re fine with HBCUs. If you’re fine with women’s colleges, they have merit scholarships, not sure if they’d be sufficient (there are some full tuition scholarships but I don’t know whether you’d be competitive for them.)
Do your parents realize that it’s no longer possible to “put yourself through college” by working and taking on loans? What was possible when they were young no longer is.
Ouch. That’s pretty bad. Since your parents make enough to pay for college, the FAFSA and CSS will EXPECT them to, well, pay for college. So scholarships will be even more important.
With those scores, Alabama may be a good option. What state is OP in? Offshoot branches of the state school may be super cheap.
