We are planning our last trip(s) to visit colleges. Can anyone suggest schools I may have missed in our search? Long post, but I was trying to anticipate questions that may come up.
Home state is TX; no geographic preference by D so far, have looked in Pacific NW and across South so far, and are familiar with NE schools somewhat due to older D’s search 4 years ago. We are looking for merit at private, or lower priced OOS public. We will not qualify for any need based aid. Our budget is $30,000/yr, but can probably stretch to $40,000 for the right school. She’s our last kid, and kid’s 1 and 2 came in under budget, so we have a bit of give.
In state, D will hopefully be auto admit for UT Austin, but thinks it may be too big for her. Not overly fond of Trinity or Southwestern, and probably won’t get any $$ at Rice even if accepted. UTD or UH will be her safety.
Stats: SAT 750/750/760 (old SAT, did not take new) ACT 33 comp, but retaking in June to try for a 34. UW GPA 3.7 ish, W 4.2 (we use a 100-point scale). Top 10%, possibly top 5% once ranks come out. Most rigorous courses, 11 AP’s total, expecting all 4’s and 5’s when done. Unhooked.
EC’s are slim – TSA/Engineering club state recognition, Global affairs club, Math UIL, County delegate on Foreign exchange visit to China, Summer Spanish immersion program in Spain, band 1 year, choir 1 year, some volunteering. But honestly, D is a philosopher at heart and prefers reading, studying languages, and other more solitary pursuits. She flat out refused to join NHS at our school because she didn’t like their busy work (in her opinion) requirements.
D will be graduating HS in 3 years next month so that she can go abroad as a HS exchange student next year in what would have been her senior year. She will start apps before she goes and should have good access to internet for completing apps from abroad. She will not, however, be able to make any after acceptance visits, so she will need to have a good idea of fit before applying.
D is looking for a medium size – likes the feel of LAC’s once they hit @3000, to maybe 3000-15000. A larger school with a smaller honors college experience may also be a good fit for her. She likes to be around techie people, but may choose to pursue a humanities major herself (she is really undecided at this point, has many different interests including languages, comp sci, history, economics, physics, government). She will likely attend graduate school. She wants to study abroad, and to be around students who are equally interested in exploring the world. She is shy, but not introverted, and would like nothing better than to be part of a smart group of kids, up to all hours off the night discussing everything. Dream job at the moment would be in academia, but she knows that can be a difficult path.
She loved GA Tech when we visited – liked that all the students were studying, liked the academics and the offerings at the liberal arts college within GA Tech. She’s a legacy. She may get in, but I have slim hopes of merit there, but she may try anyway. She liked U Puget Sound, but doesn’t feel their majors line up with what she’s looking for. Did not like Willamette or L&C. Liked St. Olaf and U of Minn, but not Macalester. Like U of SC honors college, and U of Alabama Honors. Was so-so on Case Western.
So, we are looking to find a few more schools that would be good fits for her so we can visit this summer (I know, not optimal but it’s all we have left). I’m thinking about heading to WPI and RIT. Any other’s come to mind?
TIA