Maybe help me find places to apply?

[butterflyplague]

<p>Hi, CC. A good friend of mine referred me to this site because I really have no idea where I'll be applying next year.</p>

<p>I'm a white female who lives on the West Coast. My high school isn't really all that competitive, although last year we did have somebody get into Harvard, and this year a senior got a full ride to Stanford, but a lot of my friends and graduating seniors this year have plans to go to local community colleges.</p>

<p>My SAT score was 2250, and my ACT was 33.
Unweighted GPA: 3.89.
Weighted: I don't know exactly but it is over 100.
I'm in the top 10 percent of my graduating class of 400.
I will be in need of financial aid.</p>

<p>Since my freshmen year, I've volunteered over 200 hours at a local hospital. We don't have hour requirements for school, it is just something I've felt like doing.</p>

<p>Since sophomore year, I've been in ARGO (art and writing club) as well as Key Club. And drama club, which I'm heavily involved in, I spend a lot of late nights in the theater. My freshmen year was kind of ridiculous and I had no idea what I was doing with anything, but I did spend time volunteering.</p>

<p>I've one three Scholastic Gold Key awards (one of poetry, one for a painting, one for photography).</p>

<p>Freshmen Schedule:
Honors English.
Honors Biology.
Geometry.
Beginning Acting.
Health for first semester, P.E second.
Spanish II.</p>

<p>Took a half credit of P.E over the summer.</p>

<p>Sophomore:
Honors English.
Honors Chem.
Honors World History.
Honors Alg. 2/Trig.
Spanish 3.
Play Production (audition only class that produces the school plays, quite obviously)</p>

<p>Half a credit of P.E over the summer.</p>

<p>Junior:
AP English.
AP Physics.
Honors Pre-Calc.
APUSH.
Spanish 4.
Play Production.</p>

<p>Senior (predicted, but pretty much set in stone):
AP English.
AP Biology (maybe AP Chem).
AP Calc AB.
AP Euro History.
AP Stats (instead of Spanish).
Play Production.</p>

<p>As for other specifics. Well, I don't really care about area. Just not the mid west. If I can stay on one the coasts, that would be best. But I don't mind New England, or anything around there. I'd like to get out of state, too, but no top-tier schools are in my state. I'm looking for matches, reaches, safeties. I know I'm applying to my in-state university, but that is only because I will be going there if all else fails.
I'd prefer a smaller LAC type school, where the community is more tightly knit but I don't have anything against universities.
The area doesn't matter, but I would prefer to be IN a big city, or at the very least, ten/twenty minutes outside of one. Nothing rural.
As a person, I'm quite liberal, so a school that is liberal is pretty important.
I'm really into intellectual-type people, I'd love to be a part of an intelligent community, I know that sounds pretty ridiculous, but I'm looking at perhaps a more competitive school.</p>

<p>As far as majors... I have no idea. And that is where I'm stuck. I don't really know what I want to do with my life.
Architecture, business, computer programming, psychology, and computer design are all areas of interest I have. I love science.
But, to be honest, I get bored easily, so I don't really know what specifics I am looking at.</p>

<p>Can anybody help me? I know I should be meeting my counselor, but really, she's just not very helpful at all. She's suggesting I get my core classes out of the way at community college but that isn't really what I want to do.</p>

[paperplane]

<p>How much money will your family be able to contribute? Have you/your parents estimated your FAFSA EFC (expected family contribution). If you google ‘fafsa forecaster’ you should get a link where you/your family can input your financial info, and get an idea of ROUGHLY what colleges will expect you to pay, at a minimum (usually, they expect MORE than your EFC).</p>

<p>I recommend you figure the financial aspect out, unfun as that is, if you haven’t yet.</p>

<p>Go to the financial aid forum for lots more info on FAFSA.</p>

<p>Basic info: with your stats, there will be many places you’ll qualify for merit aid. But there are many (higher-end) schools that offer NO merit scholarships. Anyone who got a ‘full ride’ to Stanford, got it for need-based aid. </p>

<p>You are smart to be thinking of this now. It will give you time to see what your financial options are, and to be sure you have a few ‘financial safeties’ that you also love.</p>

[butterflyplague]

<p>My FAFSA EFC is 0, I live with my dad and little sister and he has an income of 30k, he owns a small bakery.
I’m also looking for schools that have decent study abroad programs, maybe in England. That isn’t a direct requirement, but study abroad is a necessity.
Thank you so much for your help. :)</p>

<p>Might anybody else be able to give me a list to start my research from? My dad didn’t even graduate high school, so this university thing is a bit new to me.</p>

[ricegal]

<p>You can borrow $5500 per year. So you can only attend a school if the financial aid package leaves you with around $12K to pay which they usually do (and sometimes more). That’s probably why the counselor recommends community college. It’s often cheaper than $12K per year. Merit aid won’t help either; they just subtract that from your financial aid. People on this forum always recommend that you look for schools that meet full financial need. I think there is a thread on this topic.</p>

[butterflyplague]

<p>Thanks! I googled it and found a list on usanews, and it basically gave me a list with a few Ivies and Lacs. </p>

<p>Here is the list: [Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet the Full Financial Needs of Students - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students)</p>

<p>So I’m basically going to narrow down my search from that. Thank you for the help, guys! It’s quite a huge list and some of the schools I’ve got no idea about academics, so I’ve got my work cut out for me.</p>

[Erin_s_Dad]

<p>You should also look at merit aid schools. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you are a NMF: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;