Hello! I have been a little caught up in looking at those top/ reach schools, that I have neglected searching for safeties and matches. My reaches are probably going to be Northwestern, Georgetown, UVA, and UNC @ CH.
I will post my stats below. Any suggestions are welcome!
Potentially Applying to: American U, Georgetown, UVA, UNC @ Chapel Hill, U of Chicago, Santa Clara, U of Washington, Northwestern
USC, Emory, State School
Major: Not sure yet
Unweighted: 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.32 (end of junior year)
Rank: 2/275
Act composite: 30 (planning on retaking)
SAT: 1290 (taken last year)
SAT II: 750 APUSH, 720 Chem, (will take math II)
AP Scores: Human Geo: 5 APUSH: 5 Calc AB: 5 Psych: 4 English Comp: 5 Chem: 4 Macro: 5
Planned course load for next year: AP Spanish, AP Lit, Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Gov, AP Econ
Asian-American
Proficient in English and Spanish, highly limited knowledge of Latin and Korean
Essays: Haven’t done them yet, will probably be okay.
No Hooks, not URM, Will apply for financial aid
SMU
College of Charleston
University of Miami
James Madison
University of South Carolina
U of Delaware
What state are you from? Do you have a geographic preference?
I am from Oregon, and I think I prefer states like California, New York, Virginia, but mostly near larger cities. I guess I am trying to say anything but very rural areas. (if that helps) @DadTwoGirls
Syracuse
SUNY Buffalo ( UB)
Fordham ?
What’s your EFC and can your parents afford it?
You’d actually be URM in some regions of the country - look at Grinnell, Carleton, St Olaf, UMN Twin Cities, UNC Asheville, Kalamazoo, Dickinson, Denison, SUNY Geneseo…?
Have you looked through the WUE schools? I know you’d like to leave the region, but these schools have guaranteed grants for OOS.
http://www.wiche.edu/wue
Have you been given a specific budget by your parents? If you don’t know your EFC, estimate it here:
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator
U of Denver. Urban, international affairs and business, 5000-10,000 students.
College of Charleston
As an OOS in California most of the UCs are going to be reaches with your test scores (note UC’s don’t consider ethnicity so you being an ORM won’t hurt you there). You could try some CSUs like SLO that have strong science programs, or maybe LACs like Occidental or Chatman, those could be matches fo you. Good luck!
If you’re not to worried about cost of education i would consider villanova, Lehigh for a match. Drexel fordham University of Cincinnati for safety (alabama full ride possibility). I don’t know to much about Reed college but my highschool sends 1-2 people their a year who have similar things to you.
Temple: it’s not as costly as the UCs for non-residents, and you might qualify for a merit scholarship. It’s a big school, but no bigger than some of the other universities you’re considering. You might qualify for a merit package at Tulane or American.
You need to work with your parents to run the net price calculators at all the suggested schools and make sure you can afford them. One problem is that it is a very good idea to visit matches & safeties if you can – it is really easy to find reaches you like, but matches and safeties are harder. An on-campus visit is very helpful – otherwise you could pick schools as matches or safeties that you don’t like that much, and not have good choices in the spring. But you are short on time now to do that.
Be sure you run the net price calculators on the schools already on your list, too. American, for example, does not meet need. Just because you apply for FA doesn’t mean you will get what your family thinks it needs. Each college has the calculator on your website.
In general, your test scores are low for your reaches (but it sounds like you know that). It does mean that it is extra important to have matches & safeties you really want to attend and can afford.
This student doesn’t sound like a match to Reed to me. I don’t see the “quirk factor”.
University of Richmond? I don’t know about their financial aid, though…
Re California schools
The CSU’s, like the Cal Poly’s are STATE funded an will not provide any financial aid to OOS students.
Santa Clara is a private school and does have financial aid for OOS students but can be limited in funding so you should try.
Agree with @intparent, check the NPCs at the schools you are targeting.
This student SAT score would need to significantly be higher to ge merit aid at Santa Clara…and in terms of need based aid…they don’t meet full need.
Since the OP is from Oregon, I would suggest the Oregon public universities as his safety schools. They will likely be more affordable as well.
What can your parents pay?
@“aunt bea” OP is from OR and would get WUE discounts at some CSU’s.
@aroundhere, WUE doesn’t apply to impacted CSU campuses.
So, if the OP wants to study in California, depending on the major, he/she may end up in Humboldt, Stanislaus, East Bay, Channel Islands, Bakersfield, Sacramento, etc…
The Cal Poly’s typically limit WUE students to certain majors because both Cal Poly’s are impacted. They don’t have to accept everyone that applies through WUE.