Hello! I am a current sophomore in HS and I have begun my college search! I think I have already found the right college for me, and that would be Mizzou. I have been to Mizzou once already and will be going two more times this year. So far, my GPA is good enough at 3.7 and I am taking the right classes to fulfill their coursework requirements. I will be taking the ACT next year and the score required for auto-admit is a 24, so that shouldn’t be an issue. My question is, should I even look at other colleges? I really do think Mizzou is the right place for me.
If you like Mizzou, your family can afford it, and if you know that you are an auto-admit, it is perfectly OK to stop looking at colleges. My nephew was in that situation with Iowa State U, and he never even considered anything else. He had a great time at ISU, and has never looked back.
After your parents file their taxes this spring, ask them to run the Net Price Calculator at Mizzou’s website so that all of you can verify whether or not it is likely to be affordable. If it is, then congratulations! You can be done with this whole thing a lot sooner than other people.
Already a step ahead of ya! We ran everything through the calculator for the FAFSA and it came out to be completely doable. Thanks for the reply! I am so glad that my college search isn’t full of so much stress like my friends. 
I agree that if you’re happy with Mizzou, then good for you. However, know that you will change a lot in the next few years. What seems perfect at 16 might not be what you want at 18. My 21 year old’s “in retrospect” college list is completely different than his “I know exactly what I want” list as a junior/senior in high school.
Keep doing what you’re doing, but don’t close any doors and keep an open mind as you progress over the next couple of years. Best of luck!
@indubidibleh - The FAFSA calculator and the Net Price Calculator have different purposes. The EFC determined by the FAFSA will indicate what types of federal aid a student is qualified for. It is not the amount of money that the college or university will require your family to pay. Many colleges and universities don’t have a lot of financial aid to spread around, and families find that they are expected to pay a lot more than the EFC they get with the FAFSA. That is why you need to run the Net Price Calculator too. As long as there aren’t any issues with your family’s financial situation (divorced parents, a lot of property other than the family home, a small business, etc.) the NPC should give you a reasonably accurate estimate for your actual costs. If there are any issues in your family’s financial situation, it is perfectly OK to contact the financial aid office at Mizzou and ask. But do that during the summer or early fall when the office isn’t crazy busy like it would be right now.
Right, FAFSA efc is not what you pay for college. Run NPC.
Sorry for the late reply! Been quite busy today! Anyways, I ran it through the NPC and it was good too. I will try and keep an open mind throught these next years but so far, Mizzou seems like the one. Thanks so much everyone!
Are you in-state for Mizzou?
Excellent! Good luck with everything!
I don’t see a problem with that philosophy. If it’s sensible, affordable, and you will be happy there, go for it. I’m a senior and I only applied to 2 schools. Don’t stress out. You might like some of the remarks on my thread about that:http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1718982-who-out-there-only-applied-to-safety-schools.html#latest
Let me offer a counterargument. Focusing on one college and “committing” to it as a sophomore is silly because you are going to change a lot in the next couple years AND no college exists in isolation from other colleges. How can you know what Mizzou is really like if you’ve never seen a smaller, larger, private, distant, etc. school? What do you have to compare your ideal to? If Mizzou is your ideal school, then it shouldn’t matter if you look at other schools in the next couple years. Don’t close the doors yet. Keep your options open. There are probably a hundred schools out there where you would be a good fit. Have you ruled out the possibility that your “commitment” to Mizzou could be due to some anxiety about the search process? Would your parents and friends agree that it’s not a matter of anxiety? This is a big decision and it involves a lot of money. You have not yet made a decision this large, probably, so why trust yourself to do so about college? Do the homework. Look around at other schools.
First of all, I think it’s great you are being proactive in your college search. But to answer your question, yes, you should look at other colleges. Research schools with your future goals in mind. You’ll either find a better fit OR just confirm that Mizzou is the school for you. Knowledge is power.
Btw if you are OOS it is rather easy to establish in-state residency. I know several of my DD’s friends who did just that by working over the summer in Columbia between their freshman and sophomore year.
Intparent, Yes, I am in-state.
albert69, Thanks for the link! I will definitely check it out!
jkeil911, I totally understand that I will be changing a LOT the next few years and because of that, I will keep an open mind. I have been to a couple other colleges (MSSU, MSU, even OTC) and so far Mizzou has been the most appealing. I don’t think that I really have anxiety about my decision. I do know it is a big decision and I have done a lot of research, ultimately leading to my post here on CC. Thank you for the counter argument!
@88jm19
??? Can you explain that? How can a HS student establish in state tuition by working a summer in another state? Columbia? Which one?
I have another question, I used this calculator (https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1) and it calculated the estimated amount of aid I would receive, then added on to that the amount from the Pell grant, scholarships, Stafford loan, and Work-study and subtracted that from the cost that I put in for Mizzou (around $20,000) and it gave me an amount (around $5,000) which I assume is the gap that my family would need to pay. Am I right? Just want to make sure this is the number I am looking for when it comes to the money out of our pocket.
@artloversplus 3 of my DD’s friends worked over the summer in Columbia between their freshman and sophomore years of COLLEGE. In other words, they paid OOS for freshman yr at Mizzou (we’re from IL) and now are paying the in-state rate. I was sharing that information, because I don’t believe establishing in-state residency is that easy at most schools.
http://admissions.missouri.edu/costs-and-aid/residency-requirements/documents-and-steps.php
@88jm19
That is a news to me. I have always thinking that to establish residency requires the parents to move into that state, I guess Mizzou is different.