<p>Hello CC users. I need help creating a list of match schools. Other than the subjective information, I have a 99+ GPA on the 100 point scale, a 30 ACT composite and a 740 Math 2 Subject Test and 650 Chemistry subject test. I'm interested in going to a college or university in or outside of a city environment, preferably on the East Coast. I'm interested in business, computer science, and information systems. Feel free to suggest undergraduate business school, LAC, or universities. School needs to have a good job placement, committed alumni, and good OCR, strong resources in entrepreneurship, and a decent (average) population of minority students. Good need-based aid and/or merit aid is a HUGE plus. So far I have Penn State (state flagship) and Boston College. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Are you from a low income family? Have you asked your parents what they can afford? </p>
<p>Temple would be one option with merit aid. </p>
<p>@“Erin’s Dad” Thanks for responding. My family is low-income, and my current college list has mostly schools that are selective and give out Great need based aid. </p>
<p>Do you have a safety you can definitely get into, can definitely afford, and would be happy to attend? Penn State would not be it because they don’t give good aid, in our out of state. Alabama would give you some merit $.</p>
<p>I’ll look into Alabama. Safety is UPitt. Good school in good location. Probably give out a lot of merit aid. </p>
<p>How about Northeastern? They offer a decent amount of merit if you have good stats, not sure about need-based though. It’s in a city, and seems to be strong in the areas you have listed. The co-op program would probably appeal to you as you can make money while still being enrolled in college and gain real-world experience. It is invaluable for alumni graduating from the school. Diversity seems to be above average, at least more so than BC</p>
<p>UCincinnati also has a great Co-op program and if you apply by Dec1st you have have a shot at full tuition/full ride (Cincinnatus).
UWaterloo, in Canada, is awesome for computer science and if you get into co-op, you could make as much as $18,000 a year while in school. Its costs are reasonable compared to Penn State but it’s hardcore STEM.
Have you applied to Shreyer? If not, hurry, priority deadline’s soon and your odds fall dramatically if you apply past that date (they only admit 1 in 9 applicants, so, you really don’t want to make things eve harder for you).
For CS, a few match schools could include Dickinson, URochester, Umass Amherst/Commonwealth College (only if you can get a full ride though, so, check), CWRU has been known to offer superb financial aid packages to talented URM students (merit and/or FA), Suny Buffalo (check merit but I think it’s pretty good.)
You’d get a full ride at Howard. You’d get full tuition + $2,500 yearly stipend at UAlabama/Engineering. </p>
<p>You really think Pitt will give you a lot of merit $? <a href=“https://oafa.pitt.edu/learn-about-aid/academic-scholarships/”>https://oafa.pitt.edu/learn-about-aid/academic-scholarships/</a> </p>
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<p>Pitt is NOT a financial safety for you IMO. They are not great with need-based aid and merit aid tends to start around a 33 ACT. Those aren’t their top awards either.</p>
<p>They are a good school. I just wouldn’t put them in the financial safety column.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion @shawnspencer . I added Northeastern to my list and its a good program for me. @MYOS1634 Yup, I applied to Penn State Shreyer! I added Howard and Temple to my list and I’ll research URochester et all.
@Erin’s Dad My friend recently got into Pitt with a full ride. He had a 35 ACT with 750+ subject test scores. I mistakenly thought I could get a slightly less but still decent package from Pitt. Seems the minimum is 33 ACT</p>
<p>For Howard, apply soon, because the scholarships are first-come, first-served.</p>
<p>Yeah, Pitt is really hit or miss w/ merit aid, I luckily got full $$$ w/ my GPA (4.0 UW), rank (1 / 443), and ACT (35), but I know a lot of my friends w/ stats similar to yours got little to no merit $$$. If you’re looking for more local matches/ lower reaches, Cornell, Notre Dame, and William and Mary all boast top 20 business programs, and they’re fairly generous with aid money.</p>
<p>@ivyhopes12 I’m surprised that you say that William and Mary is fairly generous with aid money. While it may be true for in-state students, for OOS students the maximum amount of aid they can provide is 25% the total cost of attending. I’m one of the biggest supporters of W&M (as it happens to be my current school) and they have incredible opportunities for undergraduates, but it may not be a good fit for someone OOS who is looking for need based/merit aid</p>
<p>The only way for you to know how much need-based aid you are likely to get is NOT by having us guess. You need to run the net price calculator for each school. Go to their Financial Aid webpage, click on “npc,” and plug in yours and your parents’ financial information; it will produce an Expected Family Contribution. This is the only estimate that matters when you’re wondering what your family will have to pay each year. You can see from some of the comments here that you’re mistaken about FA and so is at least one of the posters.</p>
<p>Next I’m going to make a distinction you have to consider between need-based aid and merit aid. Need-based aid (see above) is determined by your parents’ income and assets, merit by your test scores, GPA, ECs, unusualness. Your standardized test scores are not going to score you a lot of aid at northern schools; for instance, Rochester will have little or no merit aid for you. Pitt aid this year seemed to begin at 1450 (CR+M), although I know of one OOS parent who said his or her child had a 1490/3.8 and didn’t get merit. Merit aid is quirky at many schools and hard for us to predict. </p>
<p>Have you any unusualness? Are you a URM or a first-generation college student or from a small convent school in small village Montana?</p>
<p>Suggestions: Northeast: Bentley, PACE, RIT, Hofstra, Siena, Ithaca, Quinnipiac, QPI, Northeastern, Utica, Fordham, BU, Bryant, Canisius, Merrimack, SUNY Binghamton, Buffalo. South: Birmingham Southern, College of Charleston, Clemson, USouth Carolina (Honors), Alabama Honors </p>