<p>White from income bracket under 50k. 3.8 unweighted gpa. I wont have many APs because I go to a small Lutheran school and dont have the option. I do take as rigorous a courseload as I can. I scored a 35 on my act, but only a 6 on the writing. I was feeling tired and unmotivated by the time writing rolled around. I expect to be captain of the football team, student council for 3 years, president of my schools NHS, and heavy involvement with my FIRST robotics team. Im interested in computer science/engineering/finance. Im not entirely sure what sort of a campus Id like, but I think I might prefer a small local arts. Midwest is a plus but not required. Thanks for any suggestions!</p>
<p>Look at the column on the left. Click on SuperMatch. Plug in your data. See what pops up, and then get back to us with anything that interests you. There are several hundred schools for which you’re a match; we need some help.</p>
<p>Just running through that quick and based on some previous thoughts, 3 schools stick out to me. Carelton, Grinnell, and Oberlin.</p>
<p>Also look in the Financial Aid forum at the pinned thread on Full Tuition/Full Ride scholarships.</p>
<p>How did you do on the PSAT?</p>
<p>do you have a non-custodial parent?</p>
<p>what is your home state?</p>
<p>how much can your family contribute each year? ask them?</p>
<p>what are your safeties…these are schools that will accept you AND you know FOR SURE that you have all costs covered. Your flagship may accept you, but many give lousy aid…so…</p>
<p>I only scored around 190 on the PSAT. The University of Alabama is my safety, i have guaranteed full tuition plus at least $2500 per year there. My home state is Wisconsin. My parents are not able to help me pay for college at all. </p>
<p>For Cs/Engineering/finance, liberal arts colleges generally will not have a range of options in these areas, even if they have the programs listed. Also, I think recruiters are more likely to show up at large flagships for engrg. majors. So flagship state universities are your best bets. OOS flagships are generally stingy with aid/scholarships etc. , with universities like Alabama being an exception. Are there others like Univ. of Alabama? The CC folks can help you with that. What about the Wisconsin in-state universities? I think both Madison and Milwaukee are well regarded, but do not know about aid. Even if full tuition is covered, what about room and board? Most large flagship state universities are pretty much identical , so go after the most cost effective option.</p>
<p>However, we need more information to help you better. And keep in mind that an “aid package” can consist of loans that you have to pay back. I teach at a regional state university and so I know all the ways that colleges can make things very opaque - especially with regards to financial aid. </p>
<p>Does not UMN-Twin Cities have a tuition agreement with Wisconsin? You might also look at engineering or CS at Temple, which has an automatic tuition for which you’d qualify; Miami OH, Rochester, Ohio State, Delaware, Pitt, USC, Tulane, UMD, Duke, WashU, Vanderbilt–all have full tuition scholarships, some a dozen and some a couple hundred. These are extremely competitive. Tulane’s CS is brand new, I believe, but they’re pouring money into it. Case Western is very generous.</p>
<p>This same discussion is playing out over in the Chances forum, where the OP asked for chances for U of Chicago, Carleton, and Northwestern.</p>
<p>Madison I feel is a very good choice for me, but they dont have merit based aid at all. And several from my school go to Madison every year, which makes it feel less “special” to me. I know thats a lame reason.</p>
<p>U of Wisconsin is certainly going to be cheaper (given that it is in-state) than most of your other choices except U of MN - TC. </p>
<p>There certainly are merit scholarships at U of Wisconsin - Madison, too. Here is a search page you can use:</p>
<p><a href=“https://scholarships.wisc.edu/Scholarships/findSchlr”>Our Opportunities - Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH);
<p>Have you run net price calculators at any of the other schools? You are very unlikely to get merit aid at Chicago (very competitive), Carleton doesn’t offer any except $2000 for National Merit. Not sure about Northwestern, but if they offer any it is very competitive. The net price calculator on each school’s financial aid webpage will give you an idea of how much need based aid each school might give you give. </p>
<p>You shouldn’t be worrying about where anyone else is going. If you are on your own financially you will have a limited number of choices.</p>
<p>There are also schools with guaranteed scholarships based on your stats. Here are a couple of threads you may find useful:</p>
<p>(This one is long, but worth looking through):
<a href=“Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-p1.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“Automatic Out-of-State Tuition Waivers - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Automatic Out-of-State Tuition Waivers - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;
<p>If you like small LACs such as Grinnell, Carleton, and Oberlin, but you are considering engineering, then have a look at Harvey Mudd College, which is like a mini-MIT. It is part of the 5-college Claremont Consortium. Also consider Swarthmore College, which is another one of the few LACs to offer engineering majors (although even there, you won’t find the full range of engineering degree options you’d get at many large universities).</p>
<p>Many high-stats students with family income under $50K would do well to consider colleges that claim to cover 100% of demonstrated financial need. Northwestern is a top midwestern “full-need” university with strong engineering programs. Vanderbilt is another possibility.</p>
<p><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”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014</a></p>
<p>However, if your parents can’t contribute anything at all, but they earn close to $50K, then your best bet may be to go after a large merit scholarship at a school like Alabama. If it only covers tuition, you’ll have to cover the balance of room, board, and other costs from “self-help” (loans and employment).</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/2012/12/09/national-universities-that-offer-full-ride-scholarship/”>Loading...;
<p>Harvey Muddle ive heard of before but never looked into seriously. I thought it was a reach for me. </p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is a reach for everyone. Acceptance rate last year was about 13%. A great school, but a very tough core and challenging academics. Excellent school for the right students, but you would want to visit before making a final decision to attend there.</p>
<p>At under $50k of income, I would suggest you run the financial calculator for Cornell. Good CS program and you might be surprised at how affordable it could be if you get in.</p>
<p>No offense intparent, but I doubt someone with parental income of 50k will have the chance to visit any school that far away.</p>
<p>Yeah, schools outside the Midwest are a big stretch to visit. Im seeing the University of Alabama next month but I think thats gonna be my only cross county trip.</p>
<p>on the other hand, Harvey Mudd might be just the school to check out. I think they fly some students they really want to campus for the hard sell. With your stats and parental income, perhaps you would get their interest, I don’t know. Call their admissions office and see what their policy is. 909.621.8000. And they have an Ask a Mudder program you might check out. </p>
<p>See if you would qualify for a Pell Grant.</p>
<p>use the retrieval tool and submit FAFSA as if you were going to college this fall. If your parents financial info is about the same for the current year, you should be able to find out if you qualify for pell.</p>
<p>Look for low income/ diversity cAmpus fly in programs. Also remember that the 13% acceptance of HMC is a a bit deceptive since the pool tends to be highly self selective.</p>