Hello! I am a rising senior from the midwest and I am worried about my list! My first choice is Northwestern and I am probably applying ED. I also like UMICH and UW Madison but I want somewhere a little bit smaller and possibly on the east coast. Please let me know what you think!
My List:
Iowa State (already accepted lol)
U of Minnesota
UW Madison
U of Michigan
Northwestern (ED)
Vanderbilt (Maybe idk)
St. Olaf
SMU
Miami of Ohio
U Pitt
Northeastern (another maybe)
Scores:
GPA: 3.9 unweighted 4.2 weighted
ACT: 30 (33 English, 29 Math, 31 Reading, 26 Science)
AP: AP US History (4), US Government, Biology, and Calculus
My school doesn’t rank but I am on the highest honor roll
Senior Classes: AP Bio, AP Calc, French 4 Honors, Honors English/Social studies (interdisciplinary class), Honors Physics
ECs:
Varsity Tennis (since sophomore year, captain next year)
Dance at a studio since I was 5 (I am very involved in classes and shows)
160+ Volunteer hours at the Children’s museum
Student Council (Service Committee)
Newspaper (executive editor)
Church Youth Group
NHS
School Blood Drive Committee Co-Chair
Strengths:
I write really good essays, and have good relationships with my teachers so I expect excellent recommendations!
What is your financial situation? Proposed major? Dickinson might be a fit. But you need to show interest; if you can’t visit, see if they are having any admissions events in your area and attend.
Add university of Iowa, just in case ISU doesn’t give you aid
I honestly have no idea how much my parents make but I’m middle class and I definitely need financial aid!! Im not sure what i want to major in but I want to be a corporate lawyer so maybe econ, political science, or business of some kind for undergrad.
Thanks for the suggestion @intparent
Vandy may be a bit of a stretch, given your statistics. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but the odds are not in your favor.
What about Denison University in Granville, Ohio?
@gandalf78 i have a friend who just visited Dension and loved it so maybe!! also, what do you think of Bucknell (if you know anything about it)??
You need to ask your parents about available money for college. “Middle class” can mean a wide spread in income. You need to know if you will receive aid from schools that meet full need like NU and Vandy or if you need to pursue merit scholarships. Many middle class families find the EFC (expects family contribution) to be astonishingly high.
Ask your parents to help you run the NPC for NU. You must do this if you are considering an ED application. Having siblings in college can affect aid as can having real estate assets or a business.
So your parents are going to want to run the net price calculators on the financial aid pages on all the websites for these colleges. There is no need to just wing it for need based aid these days with those calculators provided by each college. Now if your parents are divorced, have a small business, or own rental property, that can make it look like you will get more aid than would actually be awarded. But for a lot of students, they are very useful. It can keep you from wasting application time & money on unaffordable schools. Also, what state do you live in?
OP, my niece went to Bucknell and loved it. My D did not consider Bucknell because of the Greek presence. She is currently at Denison majoring in English and she is very happy there. Best of luck!
I like St. Olaf. Also consider…
Ohio Wesleyan University
Saint Louis University
U of Tulsa
Beloit College
Willamette University
It isn’t clear which state you are in, but you need some financial safeties. That usually means choosing some public places in-state, including possibly one in driving distance of home, and choosing some others where you know before you apply that you qualify for significant scholarships. For example, some universities post grids showing GPA and SAT/ACT score combinations and what these qualify for in the way of scholarships, ranging from full ride on down to partial tuition. You will probably need scholarships and not just financial aid to attend a private university or to attend a public university out of state, so start researching – it will be worth it.
OP, a number of the schools mentioned by posters above can be found on the Colleges That Change Lives website: http://www.ctcl.org/. It might be worthwhile to spend a little time there, and may give you some additional things to think about.
One or two other schools come to mind, depending on how you define “smaller”: Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, TX; and Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. I know several students at Wofford who have gotten pretty good financial merit aid; I don’t know whether likely merit aid from TCU would make it affordable, but you might go to the TCU forum on College Confidential and look at some of the threads there on scholarships.
If your school has Naviance, you might use it to narrow down or identify potential schools.
@mommyrocks I would prefer not to tell the Internet what state I live in but yes I am applying to a public school in my state and more than one school in my state that is in driving distance!! Don’t worry