Making my college list... Suggestions & Advice?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi, I’m a high school junior looking for colleges to apply to in the future. I’d like to know the best colleges with my chances and what good options there are outside of my public state school.

Major is undecided but I have interest in Computer Science, Environmental Studies, Liberal Arts, and Design of any sort (I’m kinda all over the place)

Background: Asian-American female, Middle class, Large public high school, Suburban MD

Cost constraints: My parents are willing to contribute up to $60,000 for my entire bachelor’s degree, but may stretch depending on the situation. It is unlikely that i can get need-based aid but of course I will try for scholarships and merit.

UW GPA: 3.9, Taken 4 AP classes(all scored 5), currently taking 5 APs and plan to take ~4 more in my senior year
SAT not taken yet but my goal is 1480+. PSAT was 1380 so I definitely have some work to do!
ECs: Musical theatre(onstage and tech), Class council Historian, President of Habitat for Humanity club in school, National Art Honors Society Treasurer (hopefully leader next year), Youth & Government (school lobbyist head), Piano, tutor, and hospital volunteer out of school, and some more clubs and orgs like unicef, NHS, MSP etc. Some minor awards for artwork.

Preferences: Urban setting (open to suburban), a fairly diverse and driven student body, some type of hip hop dance company/team so I can continue doing dance :).

Want to avoid: Location in the middle of nowhere, Really small schools (<4000 students), extremely cold/gloomy climates

I hope this covers enough info, I tried following the pinned forum. I am by no means a perfect student and I have a lot of interests so I’m sorry if that makes it difficult. I’ll be more than grateful for any help with the process! Lmk if you have questions.

2

Up to $60K for your total college is only $15K a year. You can take a certain amount of loans, around $27K across 4 years. So you definitely will need to chase merit money. A 1380 PSAT places you around the 95% - study for SAT and try ACT, too. Your real test scores may help you earn merit $$$ places.

You should definitely include your state flagship, University of MD-College Park on your list. Other schools you might look at include Boston University, Fordham, American, George Washington. But run net price calculators on these and others with your parents financial info and see what they price out as. Other than urban, do you have any other geographic preferences? Do you want to stay east coast or are you open to midwest or west? Highly recommend you get the Fiske guide and dive into it. You’ll find lots of colleges that might intrigue you.

Another question: Do you have any siblings who you will overlap with in college? That can impact your EFC, too.

3

Look at your non flagship instate options first. That’s where students typically find the most merit unless they are NMF.

4

Run the NPC for some colleges and see if you might qualify for aid. Otherwise you’ll need a lot of merit. If you’re chasing big merit it seems like 1500 SAT is the starting point plus very high GPA. S20 stopped at a 1480 SAT. He’s getting nice merit but not full ride territory. Fordham would still be $45k/year with merit and loan.

5

@4Gulls I’ll definitely look into those schools. I am open to midwest and west coast but I have a slight preference for the east coast since it’s closer to home. I have an older brother who’s graduating right before I enter and a younger sister who may overlap with my senior year.

6

No more than $15K/year is a tough requirement. You will clearly be academically eligible for a wide variety of schools that will not bring your cost down that low if you are not getting need-based aid. I would consider looking at:

UMBC (their president, Freeman Hrabowski, is an impressive person), Towson, Loyola Maryland (though it’s on the small side relative to your requirements).

Clark in Worcester, MA.

7

15K ($20K with loans) per year with no need-based aid is really tough. UMBC is probably your best bet, they offer some scholarships which would at least get you close to $15k and it’s a really good school as well. The University of Central Florida might have some opportunities for you including a unique honors college, depending on how well you do on your SAT. Another option is two years at Montgomery College and then transfer to UMCP or UMBC, but it means forgoing part of the typical college experience.

I second the suggestion to run the NPC calculators to see if you might be eligible for aid because of your siblings, but would add that it would be great to have your parents run those NPC’s with you. It is possible that they might find a way to help more if they see how few options you have at $15k. Worth a try:)