This is inaccurate. Most low income students don’t get enough aid to attend residential college, and most colleges don’t have deep enough pockets to meet full need.
Use the search feature on each school or read the school specific threads
Regarding University of Arizona, it is a very good school but Tucson isn’t exactly a “fun” city. The area near campus has bars and restaurants and you can find outdoor activities like hiking, etc. Beyond that, I’m not sure what you would be attracted to.
If you end up looking in Arizona, I would also check out Arizona State University in Tempe (Phoenix). ASU is located very near the Phoenix airport (which would be a consideration if you are coming from the east coast - you probably would not want to make a connection to get to Tucson. It is about 2 hours by car). ASU is a large school and there is a lot to do in the Phoenix area (hiking, outdoor sports, shopping, concerts, etc). Prospects for internships, etc. are a bit better than Tucson (they exist there, but are more plentiful in Phoenix). Both UofA and ASU have Honors programs but the Barrett Honors College is highly rated.
I’ll say a few words about Florida State University… Overall, a good school - one of the best in Florida. It has a great reputation. Pretty affordable for out-of-state (especially comparing to other public universities).
Keep in mind that it is definitely a party school with lots of Greek Life. To me it was a downside, as I was trying to avoid that. FSU is also a very big school, with over 30,000 undergraduate students. If you are looking for more individual approach, I’d go somewhere else. Also, Tallahassee is definitely not Miami. It is a pretty small city and feels very different from many other bigger Florida cities.
If what I mentioned above sounds good to you, I’d definitely recommend applying. I have several friends who go to FSU right now and absolutely love it there.
Good luck with your college search!
Based on what you wrote above, it looks like your criteria for a college/university are:
- competitive to get in but also easier to get into. Those are 2 opposite things, by the way.
- some place "fun." What do you consider fun?
- some place that offers business or law majors. Law isn't a major as an undergrad. Technically, you could major in anything in order to apply to law school. Law school entails an incredible amount of writing. Pages and pages of writing. And a mountain of reading. 3 years of super hard work. My sister is a lawyer. She worked her butt off in law school.
- a big school with 'a diversity of students.' What's your definition of a 'big school'? ASU has something like 70-80,000 students. I think Notre Dame is something like 15,000 or so (but look at their website for the actual totals). Huge difference.
- some place that has sororities and fraternities. Most schools have this. But some have a much bigger % of students participating in Greek life than at other schools.
Right now, your criteria are too broad and not defined enough. But it’s a decent start. You said that you didn’t want advice, but I’m going to give you some anyway because most of the time, the average high school counselor gives out lousy advice on applying to college, thus leaving many students in the lurch when they don’t get into their dream school.
Step 1: Reach, target, safety schools
This is where the CDS (Common Data Set) information available on each of those schools’ websites is useful. A ‘reach’ school would be a university where your GPA & test score stats have you in the lower end of the range of current freshmen accepted/admitted into the school. A reach school could also be a target in terms of your GPA & test scores, but is a Reach financially (i.e., you can’t attend unless you get additional financial aid).
By the way, a “Safety” school is NOT just a college where you absolutely know that you’ll get in. Here on CC, “safety school” usually = you know that you’ll get in (based on where your stats are in that school’s Common Data Set), you know that you can afford it, and you will be happy/satisfied to go there. If the school only satisfies 2 of those 3 criteria, then it’s not really a safety.
Step 2: Does it offer a major that you’re interested in?
There’s a lot of variety in this. Some majors are common just about everywhere. But some of the schools your looking at might be better at that major than others. Or maybe there’s something unique about the curriculum for those majors that intrigues you more than those same majors at the other schools. This will require you to go yourself into those colleges’ websites and look up the information on each of the majors you’re interested in.
Step 3: “Fun”
Since it sounds like this is a big thing for you, you need to define what “fun” means. Does it mean big football and basketball games? Does it mean something like 40% of the student body is in a sorority or fraternity? Does it mean the college offers specific clubs or special interest groups that you’re interested in? Does it mean that it has certain club sports that you want to participate in?
Step 4: Finances
Exactly how much can you and your parents afford? You need specifics. Something like “my parents are loaded and they can afford anything” isn’t specific. You know what’s specific? “My parents have budgeted up to $70,000/year for 4-5 years of college.”
You mentioned UCLA in your post. Granted, this was 20 yr ago, but my sister went to UCLA. Certain things about LA haven’t changed much since then, so here’s a few general things about life in LA:
LA is a car-based town. Every student on campus wants to have a car, but that isn’t possible. Many of my sister’s classmates were from the So Cal area and they would lie and say that their address was their parents’ address 60 miles away so they could get a parking permit…even though they were actually living next to campus in an apartment with 2-3 other people in a small 1 bedroom apartment.
UCLA is no different than some other large universities in that some majors are impacted and if you aren’t smart about it, then it could take you 5 years to graduate instead of 4. So just be aware of that.
Football games at the time 20 yr ago were in Pasadena. That’s like an hour’s drive away from campus. So make friends with somebody with a car or hope & pray you can find a ride to the big football games.
That being said, my sister really loved UCLA. It costs an arm and a leg to go there if you’re an OOS (out of state) student and there are like ZERO scholarships for OOS students.
Also re: UCLA - it is NOT close to the beach. Public transportation to the beach takes FOREVER! This is why if you want to go to the beach there, you have to have a friend with a car.
Which brings me to my next school (not on your list, though) - you should consider UCSB if OOS tuition is truly not an issue for your parents. It’s considered a party school, but not everybody parties. I went there. It’s a great school with very good academics and in some departments, it’s better than UCLA or UC Berkeley. It is RIGHT NEXT TO THE OCEAN. Isla Vista is where most students live starting in sophomore year and it’s a short bike ride away. Your student ID card works as a city bus pass and the Santa Barbara bus system is convenient and you can get pretty much everywhere on it.
You can study on the beach in October. 1 of the dorms has rooms which actually have an ocean view (but those are highly coveted). The weather is beautiful. If you want to join the Greek system, it’s there but it’s not like at Alabama where 40-50% of the student body is in the Greek system. If you’re female, it’s easy to get into frat parties even if you’re not in a sorority. Your social life will not suffer there if you’re not in a sorority or fraternity.
I loved UCSB. It was a great experience. I would totally do it all over again.
BUT…jobs post-graduation in Santa Barbara have historically always been very very difficult to come by. This is because of the fabulous weather. Nobody ever wants to leave. So you’ll need to leave the area after graduation in order to find gainful employment.
You could also consider some place like Tulane University in New Orleans. It’s a private school. tuition & fees runs ~$50,000/year (but look it up at the website for the actual #s). Total student body is ~13,000 with ~8000 or so of those being undergrads. I think they have a football team. It’s competitive to get in, but not as competitive as Oxford.
By the way, Oxford is a reach for everyone. It’s not easy to get in there. And the UK university experience is different than in the US. Do some research on that before you decide whether or not to apply to a school overseas.
However, when I look at your list of schools you’re interested in learning more about, the #1 factor that’s common among all of them is a big football program. Trust me when I say this…a big football program should not be your biggest reason for picking a university.
Aside from Ohio and Michigan, most of the rest of schools seem to be in states in the lower half of the US, which would lead one to think that you’re looking for a school with decent weather for a good portion of the school year.
If you’re interested in UCLA and if football & a big school are top priorities, then you should consider USC as well. However, the neighborhoods surrounding USC are terrible. As in, unsafe to venture into. Compton. Campus security at USC is good though from what I’ve read.
If you’re interested in FSU, then you should look at Univ of Florida as well or other public universities in Florida. You could also consider University of Miami in Miami, FL. It has total enrollment of ~17,000.
1 of my coworker’s daughters went to Clemson in South Carolina and she LOVED it there. Truly loved it. Joined a sorority, had a wonderful time, and got a great education.
It is very easy to get to the beach from UCLA. You can take the Big Blue Bus to the beach in about 30 minutes tops, and it costs only 50¢. Alternately, you could catch the Metro Rapid in Westwood and get there in 15-20 minutes. It’s even easier to get to Santa Monica if you live on the Expo Line, which a lot of students do since Culver City, Palms, and Sawtelle are some of the only relatively affordable places left in west LA. Additionally, UCLA has a deal with UberPool that caps prices for students traveling from campus at only $6 if a fare is up to $15 (any cost over $15 is added to the $6 flat rate).
FWIW I’ve lived in LA for 7 years and never needed a car.
I think your requests are reasonable. Nothing wrong with wanting a place that’s fun, and nothing wrong with wanting info that goes beneath the standard self-praising baloney that each college’s web site is going to say.
Your grades are excellent; how about your ACT or SAT scores?
Tucsonmom mentioned weather. Since most colleges’ academic year runs from September to April, weather can be a huge variable in how much fun you will be having. If you’re not into skiing or other snow & ice sports, then schools like Michigan, Penn State & Notre Dame will give you a couple nice months in the fall, & probably one nice month in the spring. The rest of the time you are often scurrying to/from class in cold, snowy, or rainy weather.
There have been many good suggestions…I’d add U of Georgia, U of South Florida, and Florida Atlantic.
I agree: Go to the sub-forums for the colleges of interest.
Also read the Fiske guide for a nice summary of each college.
Then google " reviews" and you will get more info
Also check out https://www.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/
tusconmom: i hadn’t even realized most of them have big football programs. I don’t really follow football that much, college or nfl.
also, many mentioned that oxford is a reach. I agree, it definitely is but it’s a school that i’ve always wanted to go to (i guess u could call it my dream school). I’m not sure why exactly i want to go there since it is so different than all my other options, but I just have a gut feeling. i know that sounds stupid lol.
Libraries contain the information you seek at this stage. You need to go to the reference section, and look for a basic, how to get into and apply for college type book, so you can begin to think about what you should be doing now to give you the most options in the future. Read “how to be a high school star” by Cal Newport, I think. And focus on developing the skills and abilities that will serve you well and make you competitive for college admission.