Large Schools for English

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a high school senior with about two months left for applying to schools. Thing is, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for or how to start (which is terrible, I know) so I was wondering if some of the kind people here at College Confidential could help me out.</p>

<p>Like everyone else, I have a huge list of reach schools to go to, but no safeties whatsoever. I'm not the best student or most spectacular in anything... so yeah. If people could recommend me a few schools to check out, that would be great.</p>

<p>And ugh I want to major in English which is really impractical and stuff, but I don't see myself doing anything in fields like business... science... med... etc.</p>

<p>My stats:
GPA: 3.94 Unweighted.
SAT: 2090, 710 Writing, 700 Reading, 680 Math.
SAT 2: 700 Math 2, 650 US History.
ACT: 33, 31 Math, 33 Science, 34 Reading, 34 English.
AP: 5 WHAP, 5 APUSH, 5 Eng Lang.
Predicted Scores: (5?) Gov, (4/5?) Stats, (5) Human Geo.
Rank: 16 out of 560
Poorness: Very. Just under $50k.
ECs: Extremely weak. Member of a few clubs, started one club, volunteer at library/shelter, work experience.</p>

<p>Don't laugh, but here were my reach schools:
-Like 5 Ivies (Lol >_<): Yale, Brown (!!!), Columbia, Harvard, UPenn. (Zero chance, but I want to apply anyway... You never know, cough.)
-California: USC, Stanford, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego
-University of Chicago, New York University, Georgetown University</p>

<p>Here were my "target" ones, which tbh are really selective too:
-University of Washington: Seattle
-University of Michigan: Ann Arbor
-UC Santa Barbara
-UC Davis</p>

<p>So yeah, what I'm looking for basically is a large school with at least like 15k, but obviously that isn't a requisite factor. I'm not really into the partying scene, so night life and Greek like isn't an issue for me. Preferably, I'd like to be in a large city or at least close to one. This is kinda necessary, as I'm rather destitute; good financial aid for out of state students. (need based, merit based, etc.) </p>

<p>Sorry if I seem really picky! I'm not. I just wanted to pick the best of the best first, which I'm not really in a condition to do, but alas, teens... If anyone could help me out with finding a few more safety/target schools for me, that would be great! I have extensively searched online, but it's just really overwhelming you know? Maybe some of you guys knows more? c: Thanks a lot!</p>

2

<p>Wisconsin has a strong English dept and is large. Not in a city but large college town with good access to several cities.</p>

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<p>$50,000 is about the median household income in the US, and is only somewhat below the median household income in the US for households headed by those age 45-54 (common age for parents with high school or college age kids). It may be “poor” relative to many posters on this site, though… (“middle class but won’t receive any financial aid anywhere”)</p>

<p>Are you a California resident? If so, UCs should have good financial aid for you, but you should run the net price calculators to be sure. If not, they will likely be $23,000 too expensive.</p>

<p>If you are a California resident, applying to the full slate of UCs (including SC, R, and M) should make it extremely unlikely that you will be rejected from all of them, unless your application has a glaring defect that they all care about (e.g. missing a-g requirements).</p>

<p>Most out-of-state public schools besides Virginia and UNC-CH will not give good financial aid to out-of-state students (many are not even that good for in-state students).</p>

<p>However, there are large merit scholarships available; go to the financial aid and scholarships forum and look at the sticky threads on top for the automatic and competitive full tuition and full ride scholarships.</p>

4

<p>The thing is, I’m a bit of an elitist even though I have no right to be… Riverside and Merced are considered like super embarrassing schools to attend where I live. Thus, CCs are ruled out :c And yeah, I am a California resident. Thank you for the information, I’ll fully utilise the information on other threads…</p>

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<p>Bump guys? :3 I really would love to get some help with finding more schools within my reach. :c</p>

6

<p>You’re asking for a large school that gives out lots of aid, which is going to be private school, plus a school you can get in, yet is prestigious and is located in or near a large urban area.</p>

<p>Hmmm. I could use the college sorter found elsewhere on this site and enter your stats and look what I came up with…</p>

<p>Or you could do that.</p>

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<p>Yes, of course I used online tools before resorting to posting here. The SuperMatch thing matched me with many of the schools I was already considering. I’m here merely asking if anyone else knew of perhaps more obscure colleges or any school I may have overlooked.</p>

8

<p>Large schools with good reputation usually are not obscure. Well, maybe if they are in another country, they may be obscure, although probably not to people living in that country.</p>

<p>Also, large schools are more likely to be public schools, which can be a cost and financial aid problem for most out-of-state ones, unless they offer big merit scholarships that you qualify for.</p>

9

<p>Save yourself some application $. You won’t be able to afford UMich, UW, NYU.</p>

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<p>*This is kinda necessary, as I’m rather destitute; good financial aid for out of state students. (need based, merit based, etc.) *</p>

<p>Take off the OOS publics & privates that won’t give you large merit or aid. UMich and NYU won’t be affordable.</p>

<p>How much will your parents pay each year?</p>

<p>Are you low income?</p>

11

<p>Well, you have Boston University, American University, DePaul…
But schools that are really well-known for English are either public, in which case you’d better stay in-state since the UCs are good (Irvine is supposed to be very competitive for English!), or smaller, like Kenyon, Hamilton, Reed, etc.
UMich and UWA will be out of reach financially (no financial aid and large OOS fees which would result in your family having to starve for 4 years - literally, since I doubt they have $45-55,000).
Your lack of EC’s probably makes you less competitive for Stanford or USC, which admit students with your stats AND great EC’s (unless they have a very good reason not to have them, such as working 30 hours per week outside of school, or being homeless.)
NYU will not provide enough financial aid, but check out Fordham which may be better financially for your stats.</p>

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<p>Like History, English is one of those majors where it is hard to find a bad department at a large university. Look to see if the particular department has the courses you are interested in. I would urge you to stay in-state. There is no reason to go to any of those out of state schools if you want to major in English.</p>

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<p>If you’re looking at UPenn, you might also want to consider other similar schools such as Emory, Fordham, Georgetown, etc. Some of the Claremonts might also be worth considering. Realistically, most decent schools have good to outstanding English offerings since it’s one of the most popular majors out there and highly qualified English phDs are a dime a dozen. </p>

<p>Remember, a year after you graduate high school, you’ll be out of contact with the overwhelming majority of your high school friends. Who cares what they think about UCSC or Riverside? Fwiw, at one time, UCSC was the most selective UC in the system.</p>

14

<p>Thanks. I really did need a reality check -___</p>

<p>It never hurts to apply. A $60-100 application is nothing when you compare it to tuition. :/</p>

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<p>Don’t forget the cost of sending test scores, sending transcripts for schools that don’t do the self-reported HS record like UCs and CSUs, pestering teachers and counselors for recommendations at schools that ask for them, writing school-specific essays, etc…</p>

<p>Make sure that any school you apply to at least has a chance of being affordable. It is a complete waste of time to apply to a school with zero chance of affordability.</p>

16

<p>As a California resident, you should apply to many of the UCs and many of the CSUs (and not to burst your bubble, but no, you are not above or too good for the CSUs). USC is an incredibly expensive private school that is no better than many of the UCs. All of the UCs have solid to excellent English departments… ditto for the CSUs… check out the faculty lists at CSUs and you will see that most of the professors earned PhDs from top 20 programs. </p>

<p>As for applying to public universities as an out-of-state resident, I don’t see the point… public universities are subsidized by the state and give most of their financial aid to state residents… many public schools have a preference for out-of-state students who can pay full price with no financial aid. (If you’re family was well-off and you didn’t need financial aid, by all means apply to out-of-state public universities… but you claim you need substantial financial aid).</p>

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<p>That criterion will eliminate many OOS schools with strong English departments, small classes, and excellent need-based aid. Of the ~60 schools claiming to meet 100% of demonstrated need, more than half are small liberal arts colleges.</p>

<p>[Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet Full Financial Need - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014)</p>

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<p>College Abacus: Estimated Net Costs of Attendance for a Middle-Income Student</p>

<p>$30,365 NYU</p>

<p>$14,439 UC-Davis
$12,651 UCLA
$12,619 CSU-SD</p>

<p>$12,167 University of Southern California
$10,341 Kenyon (a selective LAC in OH with a highly-regarded English department)
$5,000 Stanford</p>

<p>Source: collegeabacus.com
Assumptions:<br>
Family AGI = $50K
$50K in family financial assets
Married parents in late 40s, both work
Home purchased for $150K in 2000, owe $100K
No assets in student’s name; no student income
Student will live on campus</p>

<p>YMMV</p>