<p>I'm completely new to CC as a member, but I've been reading posts for a couple of months now. I'll be a senior this year and I'm desperately trying to somewhat finalize a college list. I've got some reach schools and safeties, but I'm having trouble figuring out matches/safeties where I could get good merit aid. </p>
<p>My stats so far:</p>
<p>Asian (Indian) female
Private Competitive high school in TX
GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.33 W
ACT Composite: 33
SAT: 2360 ( Reading 800, Math 760, Writing 800)
SAT 2: World History 740, Math 2 750(planning on retake), US History 800
AP Scores: World History 5, waiting on Computer science, APUSH and AP Language
Have taken as many honors and AP classes as schedule will allow
PSAT: 227 (probably semi finalist, hopefully finalist)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars
Key Club (all 4 years): Club Secretary, now Divisional Secretary / Lieutenant Governor Executive Assistant
National Honor Society 3 years
Mock Trial will be all 4 years
Mu Alpha Theta
School Ambassador
Engineering and Robotics Club
Asian Student Union
NASA Aerospace Scholar</p>
<p>Volunteering:
Pretty good hours
church projects, altar server
children's hospital volunteer
various school projects</p>
<p>Future plans?
Possibly major in engineering, hopefully law school after that. Want a school that would give me the flexibility to switch, but still provides an all around education, not just centered on technical fields</p>
<p>List so far:
Private
Stanford REA
Rice
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Yale
SMU
Princeton?</p>
<p>Case Western Reserve (Admit rate is about 70%, which may sound like “safety” territory for you, but average SATs are similar to UVa’s, Michigan’s, UNC’s, or Wake Forest’s. Over 70% of non-need students get merit aid averaging about $20K, which is one of the best merit profiles of any private school. Strong engineering.)</p>
<p>U Rochester (Also grants merit aid to a very high % of students, but in smaller amounts than CWR.)</p>
<p>Brandeis (Almost as small as a LAC but with graduate programs; about 25% of students get merit aid. No engineering except through dual-degree program w/Columbia.)</p>
<p>I would not necessarily choose any of these over UT-Austin. Depends on cost after aid.</p>
<p>I’ve considered those schools but ultimately took them off because of their small size and because of their emphasis on technical fields.
I’m pretty sure I can get into UT-Austin through automatic admit (top 8%) in Texas
thanks tk21769!</p>
<p>Case Western’s admit rate this year dropped to 48%, reportedly because they are trying to reduce the number of kids they admit who are using the school simply as a safety and have no intention of attending. They’re also changing some other admissions policies - a CWRU rep who spoke at my D’s school in April said they will start requiring the CSS Profile for fall 2012 applicants.</p>
<p>Your stats are extremely strong. Some safe-ish schools would be like: Colgate, Bucknell, UMich, stuff in that tier. I would be very, very surprised if any one of those schools did not admit you.</p>
<p>Great stats, but nothing EC-wise or volunteering-wise that stands out… Look for some lower top 20s where you might get in on stats alone. Or higher-level UCs where stats come first.</p>
<p>Sounds like the challenge is to find schools in that tier that offer good merit aid, in addition to a balance of arts & engineering/technology. Otherwise, why pick them over less expensive (but very good) UT-Austin? Colgate does not offer merit scholarships at all. I doubt Michigan offers much for OOS. Bucknell might work (offers some merit aid; has engineering but is not a super techie school). Lafayette combines liberal arts & engineering, offers a fair amount of merit aid, and is comfortably in the OP’s “match” territory. But again, Lafayette & Bucknell might be too small. Since the OP thinks CWRU is too small with ~4K, LACs must be pretty much out.</p>
<p>@Drought: Do you know if UMichigan gives good need based aid for OOS? or merit aid for that matter? </p>
<p>@EliKresses: I live about an hour away from school and due to some other difficulties my family has had, I’ve been limited time wise to engage in ECs. Which lower top 20s lists/schools are you referring to?</p>
<p>^^ The University of Chicago would be less demanding on the EC side than Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. No engineering, but very strong math and science. They offer a few full tuition merit scholarships and a few more $10K merit scholarships (not that they’re easy to get.) Mid-sized, good all-around education (but you might prefer Northwestern, which does offer engineering.)</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins is another T20, mid-sized university that would be less demanding on the EC side than YPS. It, too, has some merit scholarships (as well as engineering).</p>
<p>Very, very few. Merit aid isn’t an institutional priority, they just have it because the money was donated a long time ago and they are required to use it for merit aid.</p>
<p>I would look into Duke, Lehigh, Colgate, Bucknell, UMich, Fordham, Boston College, UNC Chapel Hill, UVA, Vandy, JHU, Villanova, Syracuse, and UChicago. Good luck!</p>
<p>^^ Again, from OOS publics like Michigan, UNC, UVa, I doubt you’ll get enough merit aid (if any) to make them very competitive with UT-Austin in-state. Size might be a concern, too, if UT is “too big”. UVa is smaller than the others.</p>
<p>How vital is it to get good merit aid? Have you used an online calculator to estimate your expected family contribution?</p>
<p>If merit aid is essential to making an expensive private school or OOS public work, you may not have too many match-safety options that are significantly more attractive than UT. Even if you get into the reaches, they may be unaffordable (unless it’s a school like Yale or Stanford with a high ceiling on income qualifying for need-based aid). The more selective the school, the less likely it is (in most cases) to even offer merit aid.</p>
<p>If you’d consider a true engineering school, you could shoot for free/reduced tuition schools (Olin or Cooper Union). If you’d consider a small school, you might have luck with a LAC that would shower merit aid on a high stats, Asian female STEM major from Texas.</p>
<p>Tulane doesn’t have as much in engineering anymore…since Katrina.</p>
<p>*Do you know if UMichigan gives good need based aid for OOS? or merit aid for that matter? *</p>
<p>Needing aid will make many OOS publics iffy. OOS publics don’t give much need-based aid, and some don’t give much merit.</p>
<p>However, with your stats, UMich may give you large merit. Purdue would give you about $9k, but that means that you still have to pay about $30k per year. </p>
<p>How much merit will you need? How much will your family pay?</p>
<p>We’re planning on applying for financial aid. Our income is just over 100K but due to the economy we’ve had some major setbacks. My parents said that they can contribute up to 20K, but I’d rather not have them pay that much since I’ve been going to a private high school. </p>
<p>How does Tulane not have much in engineering anymore?</p>
<p>I’m not really considering a true engineering school because I’m not dead set on being an engineer. I have a somewhat hazy plan of maybe going to law school after college. If I switch majors I want there to be a balance with the humanities.</p>