<p>I know most people haven’t heard of it… I like to base my decisions off of how I feel about each college personally, not prestige or how “well-known” it is. Will this affect me later when searching for a job with a degree from NeverHeardOf U.? Maybe. But in the end, a degree is a degree no matter where its from.</p>
<p>Might as well look at Evergreen State too. Btw, it sounds as though you might make a great advertising major - kind of gels all your interests, except maybe chemistry, but I suppose if you got into photography that would be covered too!</p>
<p>That’s funny because i’ve been sort of eyeing a marketing/communications type education. But i’m still not so sure yet…</p>
<p>One school that I personally hate (and am hoping to transfer from), but which seems to fit your requirements quite well, is Case Western Reserve University.</p>
<p>The climate is reasonable, around where Boston is. Some days can get fairly harsh (according to most people anyway), but I’ve found this present winter season to be reasonable. Very hot at the start of the year, but nowhere close to as bad as a Southern state.</p>
<p>We have a semi-closed campus in East Cleveland. Some decent stuff in reasonable proximity. For that which might otherwise be hard to reach, there is an extensive subway and bus system in the city.</p>
<p>Currently, there are about 4100 students at Case, due to overenrollment this past year. The target number is usually 4000 total students. And, as per gay student life, Case is ranked among the 100 most gay-friendly campuses in the country.</p>
<p>Roughly 50% OOS, so there is 4-year housing availability for all students. The housing does suck, but it is there. </p>
<p>Cost could be the biggest issue. Without aid, it is about $47,000 a year. But most people get significant money. It is a top 25 best value college according to the Princeton Review.</p>
<p>JxSCEA: I just did a spreadsheet for my s. Everything that was private school was COA of $45K or higher, no kidding. Are you a URM? This would help you greatly with FA. Please, no offense, but I don’t think your stats would get you merit aid.</p>
<p>You should look at Trinity U, in San Antonio. Fits some of your wants and needs, and my understanding is that they’re generous w/FA. You wouldn’t be there in summer, so hopefully not too hot for you. Their COA is around $36K. My son will be looking at that one, as well as American U.</p>
<p>Chapman U in Orange, CA is the right size and has communications. High COA, though. The Claremonts are pretty competitive to get into, plus the town is not friendly for students and LA is FAR if you have no car.</p>
<p>I could send you the results of my spreadsheet, if you pm me your email address, since your requirements are similar to my son’s.</p>
<p>From what I know working with FAFSAs with similar students, you will probably come up with Zero as the $$$ expected from your mom, or you. That’s called EFC–expected family contribution. That means you “qualify” for full aid–but the trick is finding a place that will give it to you. As far as what you can do NOW, you are actually better off, IMHO, putting time into your grades, rather than a job. You can be jeopardized to some degree, for earning too much money, and the chances of earning enough to cover a possible “gap” between what it will cost and what they will give you, are not high. GOOD GRADES, a good GPA and SAT’s or ACT’s, can really help you qualify for better finan. aid. Consider some religious-supported schools. They are not necessarily as stifling as one might think, and they often have strong support, especially if you are URM. Wagner College on Staten Island? Check it out–ends up on lists of top beautiful campuses, wants a diverse student body geografically, and I think it would have most of the rest of what you are looking for, at the moment. And you can get there by public transportation, which may be a factor in your family. Also, a year from now when you are applying for finan. aid, you will need a social security number and SOME sort of finan. info from one biological parent. SSI or IRS 1040 is fine, from your mom, but just an alert, that saving those papers starts to be rather important. You may be first in your family to go to college? That qualifies you for some additional aid–our country is trying to support upward mobility–well, sort of! But it actually is a positive factor.</p>
<p>On the smalll side,but also strong in finan. aid for good grades, and there is not huge competition for its $$ and places, is Concordia College in Bronxville (north of NYC). 800 students, small campus for same, but nice. Really nice people. Bronxville is NOT the Bronx, it is a cozy little suburban village. It’s worth a visit, if you are in the NY area. Train to-from NYC is 2 blocks from campus. If you visit you get the app. fee waived. If you visit, apply, are accepted, and go there, there is an automatic $500 scholarship. And at lower wages which most teens have, that is a reasonable amount of time you don’t have to spend working.</p>
<p>Oregon -
Portland: Lewis & Clark College, Reed College (both smaller than what you askedf for)
Salem: Willamette University (ditto)
Eugene: University of Oregon (larger)</p>
<p>Hmm… Concordia doesn’t look too bad. And the proximity to NYC is a definite plus. (Doesn’t look like it has any “name-branding” or “prestige” whatsoever, but I like the challenge… and its sort of charming too.) The religion aspect makes me a little wary though…</p>
<p>You would qualify for Fordham I would think, and that is also in the NYC area. Vassar isn’t that far, and is also a very good school.</p>
<p>Not exactly sure on the Financial aid situation, but assuming the 15k number I would expect full costs to be paid.</p>
<p>Considering your financial situation I would actually expect ‘expensive privates’ to generally be less expensive than ‘cheap publics’.</p>
<p>Fordham University or possibly Stony Brook?</p>
<p>If Concordia sounds interesting, it’s worth a visit. You could visit that and Fordham, easily, by car in a day from Boston area (I think that is where you said you were),and have decent time for both. Don’t let the religious part put you off until you have been there and talked to people, students, faculty. The president is a cool person I think. Fordham is Catholic anyway, I think…</p>
<p>And I should have said that Wagner College is on Staten Island which is PART of NYC–has in fact about the best view of Lower Manhattan. The student body might be sort of homogenous–IDK, but it has lots to offer, gorgeous, offers NYC proximity in a non-urban-intense setting.</p>
<p>BTW as far as costs, I imagine you would be on a tight budget, so if you are thinking of anywhere farther than 7 hours drive or so, you are thinking bus, or train (lots of places are not on the train, silly USA), or flying. DO plan on $1,000 per year transportation costs in addition, if you are looking at some of the more distant places. Not meaning to be too personal, but I have done a reasonable amount of college advocacy with youth in your finan. category, and ya have to remember about transportation–even if you only go back and forth Christmas and for the summer. Anywhere farther than 6-7 hours you may well be flying, usually students can find good prices, but it does make the whole cost higher. Worth it though–college should be an adventure! Or a chance to live in a place you could never afford to live in otherwise–CA? NYC?</p>
<p>Thanks… i’ve looked up wagner and the cost vs. average aid package is pretty big… Ugh, i wish my eyes didn’t dart straight to cost when thinking about colleges. But I i have to consider it. =\ Maybe it’s just because more high-income students go there that the cost vs. aid is so high…? But thank you anyways for all your help. Very much appreciated.</p>
<p>Don’t rule colleges out because of sticker price, find the ones you like. With your financial position, most schools will offer full costs, even those that don’t always meet 100% need. Email the schools to get an idea what sort of aid you could expect.</p>
<p>And also, don’t underestimate what schools you could go to. Your grades and accomplishments are very good, improve the test scores some and you can choose from many schools that offer 100% need and are need-blind, generally the top schools in general. At that level your financial status might actual work in your favor.</p>
<p>But once again, the list price does not correlate with your costs. Quality of financial aid, which can be found from statistics, financial aid calculators, and by actually emailing the schools, is the most important part for you to look at.</p>
<p>Check out Linfield College in Portland, Oregon.</p>
<p>Hmmm… I’m willing to get over religion… but for Linfield, it’s baptist… and maybe i’m overgeneralizing, but i don’t remember the baptist faith being too accommodating to gay people in general.</p>