I need some safeties.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Homeschooler here.</p>

<p>Was thinking of applying to:</p>

<p>(perhaps a long shot, but I intend to retake SAT)
Cornell
Chicago</p>

<p>U Texas - Austin
U Wisc - Madison
U Minn - TC
U Ill - UC</p>

<p>TAMU</p>

<p>Here are my stats: </p>

<p>White, male, Texas resident, 16 y/o</p>

<p>HOMESCHOOLED <<<
4.0 GPA
4.13 GPA - W
4.0 College GPA (9 credit hours so far, 18 expected by graduation)
AP Calc AB (yeah, my only one, but I do have a ****ton of dual enrollment classes to make up for it)
2000 SAT (650 M, 640 CR, 710 W) - to be retaken in October
184 PSAT
Obvious focus on economics/government in transcript, I fulfill state requirements in all aspects but go above (1.5 credits over) in government-related social studies</p>

<p>Texas Boys State 2013 (minor election yet prolonged effective role in program)
Team Policy Speech + Debate - 1yr - (got into it late)
National Honor Society - Treasurer 2012-2013, 2013-2014 elections not yet held, expecting VP/Pres
Yearbook - 2yrs - charter member at co-op, writer/editor/photography, covered grad. ceremony</p>

<p>159.5hrs Community Service including leadership-related volunteering.
Volunteering was diverse, everything from kids to animals to events to libraries to food banks to... yeah.</p>

<p>Retail job, given front-end management opportunities (73mil annual revenue store) within 3.5mos of hiring. Not actual shifts, just control of the floor while supervisor doing interviews/on break/whatever. Employer cannot legally disclose so it's essentially just my word.</p>

<p>Can anyone suggest some safeties/low matches for me? Intend to major in Economics.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You have OOS publics on your list. Have you asked your parents how much they’ll pay? Those OOS publics will expect your parents to pay all or near all OOS costs. </p>

<p>You have a 1290 M+CR SAT. Are you going to take the ACT as well?</p>

<p>If you don’t know how much your parents will pay, ask them.</p>

3

<p>Yeah I know. Ugh. Having a hard time finding colleges that have decent financial aid, mildly reputable, and that I can get into.</p>

<p>Problem is, >110k income, so I’m kinda ****ed as far as aid.</p>

<p>Nah, not taking ACT. Hoping the college cares about writing section.</p>

4

<p>Hey, a fellow Boys Stater. What city were you in?</p>

<p>You’re pretty much set for any state school. TAMU College Station has a good economics program, and Rice is good (although I wouldn’t say it’s a safety but you have a decent shot).</p>

5

<p>Birkhead!</p>

<p>I just hate having to rely on Texas holistic admit. </p>

<p>So, with the presumption that OOS schools are expensive (even though I’ll still probably apply to Wisc/Minn), what are some privates that I could get an okay amount of aid from?</p>

6

<p>Your most important schools to get on your list are those that will certainly take you and that you know you can afford. So start working on that aspect. Maybe UT-Dallas or other state school. Look at some Catholic or other private schools that have good merit money to bring the cost down to what your parents can afford to pay. You need to be the top of the acceptee pool of these schools and they have to have awards big enough to bring the cost down to the affordable level to make your list. That part of the list is where it takes work to find the schools You’ve done your cherry picking, now you need to sort out what is realistic. </p>

<p>You will likely get some financial aid from those schools that meet close to all need, and your stats are such that you could be a likely candidate. Run some NPCs and find out what a full need met school like Colgate or Claremont Mckenna would cost you after fin aid. And throw in a few of those, but they are not the sure things.</p>

7

<p>The more I think about it the more UT-D makes sense.</p>

<p>I’ve already talked to admissions; I have auto-admit + significant portion paid + it’s ~30 minutes from home, so I can commute or live on campus. The money I’d save could be used for grad/law school if I so decided.</p>

<p>Not sure how much I’d hate myself for going to a ‘state feeder school’ though.</p>

8

<p>University of Alabama - with a 1290 and your GPA, you can get $11,975 per year in scholarships, which is equivalent to 1/2 tuition.</p>

<p>Other obvious safeties are other campuses in the UT system - Arlington, Dallas, El Paso, San Antonio - and other state Texas universities - University of Houston, other TAMU campuses besides College Station, and Texas Tech.</p>

<p>A good private safety/low match for you is Southern Methodist.</p>

<p>Here are some others (some of them are low-matchy)</p>

<p>Allegheny College
Auburn University (an OOS public, but you may get some merit aid)
Applachian State (ditto)
Clark University
Coe College
Centre College (see Lawrence U note)
Elon University
Furman University (this is one of those low-matchy places)
Hampshire College (this is one of those low-matchy places)
Ithaca College
Lawrence University (this is a place that is not highly selective - 70% of applicants are admitted - but is very self-selecting, as the average SAT score range is 1740-2150)
Marquette University
Denison (low-matchy; 50% are accepted)
DePauw University
DePaul University
Duquesne University</p>

<p>Given that all the ones you listed are large state universities, I think that UA, ASU, DePaul, Auburn, Marquette, and DePaul may be closer to the kind of experience you may want than the others.</p>

9

<p>Do you intend to aim for PhD study in economics? If so, look also for strong math and statistics departments, and a mathematical emphasis in the economics department (intermediate microeconomics and econometrics courses with math prerequisites beyond frosh calculus, and advanced mathematical economics courses).</p>

10

<p>@julliet </p>

<p>thanks for the list!</p>

<p>SMU requires 2 SAT II’s from me though, and that’s not going to happen.</p>

<p>@ucb</p>

<p>the furthest I’d go with Econ is bachelors, if I went further it’d be MBA/IR</p>

11

<p>Have your parents said how much they’ll pay each year? If not, ask them.</p>

<p>Even if you were to get into a private that gives good aid, the aid may not be enough according to your parents’ opinion </p>

<p>With a $110k income (from one parent?), the family contribution will likely be around $35k per year at a school that meets need.</p>

<p>Since $35k is more than TAMU, your parents may refuse to pay that much.</p>

<p>You need to know what you’re dealing with…ask your parents.</p>

<p>With Bama’s half tuition scholarship, the cost would be about $25k per year.</p>