I have no idea where to look for colleges

Paying for College
1

<p>I feel lost. I am posting here because the number one most important thing will be money. </p>

<p>I want to be in an academically competitive school. But I also want to be able to do things without majoring in them. For example, I would like to play in orchestra. A liberal arts school would likely be perfect. But I do not want to go far from home. And I would prefer a school that is not so much a commuter school, most people live on campus. </p>

<p>My end goal, if everything I love comes true, I would like to go to grad school, and then teach at university level. And I do not want to go to a place with a skewed gender ratio.</p>

<p>One of my orchestra conductors has his doctorate from a particular Ivy League school and highly recommends it. I think he would write me a recommendation too. But, he did not send his own daughter there. His daughter goes to the flagship university. My parents cannot afford the flagship university as they do not really give financial aid (basing this on the financial aid calculator for UT Austin). I really loved Baylor and Rice. But Baylor's financial aid situation seems awful. And they told me I cannot stack scholarships, so all I can have is the highest scholarship I earn there. This means, if I get NM, I am fine, but if not, no. I don't think I will get NM. (Texas-216).</p>

<p>My parents have saved to pay my EFC. But my older sib got a fullride, so, they said maybe they could dip in to his fund, but maybe not until he is closer to graduation. Apparently, the funds can be passed down to younger siblings. But my parents want to make sure he is close to graduating and really won't need the money before they give me more.</p>

<p>Oh, and my parents are considering selling their house and downsizing, just so they can give me more money. No way! I am sure I can find a place that can meet need, or I can find another route. I have attended a couple of financial aid and scholarship seminars that were great so I would think that I should be able to do it.</p>

<p>I want to add something about my parents. I WANT to stay near home. And my mom told me that it is worth it to pay extra (due to lack of financial aid in our area) to have me stay closer. I do not need to head to the Northeast, they will cover me. I love my parents, they are great. I think I am lucky to have them. They say they are lucky to have me. And with all this luck going around, I want to stick around! OK..I know..I sound cheesy. But, what I am trying to say is, they are willing to pay more for closer by colleges. And if I go further away (which I am not thrilled about) then they will pay less. </p>

<p>And I am a conservative Christian, who happens to support things like Gay marriage and female pastors. Most conservative Christians I know do not. And my parents are a mixed religion. Yeah, I am all over the map. But I would like to be able to meet conservative respectful people. I figure in a big university, I will be fine, because there will be different groups and I can find my place. In smaller schools, I need to pay closer attention to things.</p>

<p>SO...my majors would be ....Asian Studies, Applied Mathematics, Physics, and music. Probably not all of them, but, some of them, or some sort of mix. My mom swears I will love geology once I try it and wants me to take a summer class or something. I don't know. </p>

<p>Maybe my post is not specific enough. Feel free to ask me anything and hopefully, you can help me at least make a list of schools to look at.</p>

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<p>How much can your parents afford? What do the net price calculators say as parent contribution and what is your parent efc? Grades, scores, course load (APs or IB) and how good a musician are you? Oh, and do you have any unusual circumstances-- divorced parents or step parents, parents who own a business/ rentals or anything like that?</p>

3

<p>No unusual situations. The EFC generally states a little over $7000 a year. I have a disabled sibling, but, nothing on the FAFSA or financial aid calculators have mentioned that. My parents saved enough to pay for me and my brother, but he got a fullride so his college fund will be put in to mine when he is closer to graduating. They said I can go over the $7000 a year, as in, double. But not really above that. My mom has not even had new shoes in years. They are very frugal and have really saved for us kids. If they sell the house and downsize, they will have more. But, I don’t think they should do that. They never take vacations, their cars are old. Honestly, they have done tons for us. </p>

<p>I am a good musician. People keep telling me I am great. I am in city orchestra and have been first chair for some performances.</p>

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<p>You never specify what you mean by “close to home”. To some people, it means a 500-mile radius (roughly one-day drive). Other people mean within twenty minutes driving. Texas is obviously a huge state so you might be limited to in-state options regardless.</p>

<p>The only full-need-met school that I know in Texas is Rice. It is not a LAC, but it is small and offers an excellent music program. SMU is similar, but it does not guarantee to meet full demonstrated need (although they tend to be generous with well-qualified applicants).</p>

<p>Your other option would be finding schools that offer generous merit aid. Automatic merit awards are typically based primarily on test scores, but you have not told us yours. Alternatively, you will need to apply to a range of schools with good reputations for merit aid and hope for the best. You can compare their FA packages and try to leverage them against one another.</p>

<p>Congratulations on having a loving family. It sounds like you recognize what a tremendous advantage you have with this base.</p>