A bit early because daughter is only a junior now. Academics are impeccable (4.0 UW, 4.7 W with 7 APs so far, 5 more planned senior year). Don’t have standardized scores yet. A fair amount of varied extracurriculars (athletic, academic and service) and volunteering.
She would prefer a large or mid-size school and not all the way on the east coast (reasonably easy to get to from Arizona where we live).
We will not get any need-based aid. However we are also not prepared to pay the very high full price that some schools charge. It seems to me that she should have easily made herself eligible for merit-based scholarships but I also realize that some of the most competitive schools basically don’t offer them since they get so many excellent candidates.
Hopefully this makes sense. We have some in mind that are great schools but I also suspect there are some I’m not thinking of.
Miami in Ohio. Southern Methodist University. The Ohio State University. Tulane. Schools that offer the Stamps Scholarship (hoping someone else can name some). Just about all flagship universities. Ok ow some of these aren’t close to Arizona…but…
Any chance she will be a national merit scholar (I know that test is just now happening for juniors)? If so, that will open up some doors for scholarships at places like University of Southern California. She might also qualify for merit aid at Santa Clara University, University of San Diego.
What is she thinking she might want to study? Does she prefer an urban or suburban or rural location?
Unsure about major - currently considering finance, data science, engineering, etc. something somewhat math oriented and not programming.
Urban or suburban would probably be okay for her but mostly she really values a beautiful campus with a foresty feel. The opposite of the Arizona desert .
As an Arizona resident, you’re in a WUE state which opens up a lot of options across the western U.S. which will provide significant discounts on tuition on many of the region’s publics: Save On Tuition | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)
Other possibilities include:
Loyola Marymount
Chapman
U. of San Diego
U. of San Francisco
U. of Southern California
Santa Clara
Scripps (women’s college that itself is small, but it’s part of the Claremont Consortium which has about 5k undergrads)
Hmm, most urban campuses don’t have a foresty feel. Maybe the PNW or Colorado?
If she is looking for a big school in an urban setting, USC would check most of her boxes and they award half-tuition and full-tuition merit scholarships. Both are very competitive. National Merit Finalists that are accepted to USC automatically receive a half-tuition scholarship.
Vanderbilt and Wash U also have some nice competitive merit scholarships.
USC, Vanderbilt and Wash U all send their admissions teams on the road to talk to students near their hometown. You might have your daughter get on their mailing list, and possibly attend an info session this year.
Coast to Coast College Tours are joint presentations by Berkeley, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Princeton and Vanderbilt. They were in Arizona earlier this month, but there is a virtual session this Sunday.
Exploring College Options is another college road show. Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford and UPenn travel together to meet with students. I don’t see anything on the west coast. I think they may have been here in August or early September.
Ha! Yes fair, urban tends not to be forest but I was thinking specifically of University of Washington type - technically in the city but a distinct and gorgeous campus. And PNW and Colorado are where she has been mostly focused this far
The big beautiful campus - with forests not far away - and a 4.0 depending on what the tests bring - is Alabama. It’s funny - because with a 4.0 from OOS, U of Arizona is a great school. Mississippi State is another great one. You’d be amazed at how many smart kids go to the Southern schools. Why? They buy them in. My son’s freshman year roommate at Alabama was from Scottsdale. About 200 go from Arizona but more than 1100 from neighboring CA. It has the most or close to the most National Merit Scholars - so you’d be amazed at how many smart kids there are - and it’s “cheap” if you get a good test score as is Miss State.
You might look at Arkansas too - it has all you want - gorgeous campus, forest nearby, and Bentonville (XNA Airport) an easy connection from Dallas. And and the price will be great. Alabama and Arkansas would be easier to get to than Ms State but MS State it’s not far off the Natchez Trace Parkway which is an outsider’s heaven.
Mid size and it depends on the budget - actually several schools - Colorado, Colorado School of Mines (not finance, U Denver could work with U Denver likely coming in least expensive.
Trying to keep in mind your Forest - maybe the Oregon Schools or a Washington State or a Gonzaga (religious). Also, the U (Utah) and Humboldt in California or Montana State in Bozeman. U noted UW which is urban - maybe a Utah??
And for a reach and a bit hard to get to - Cornell. The thing with going far east - you’re not going that often.
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Maybe the PNW or Colorado?