My mom and I just ran the net price calculator for LMU and it said our estimated cost after aid was gonna be $45,000-$50,000. My parents said the most they’d be willing to pay is $20,000.
Ok. Good starting point.
LMU doesn’t meet need. To get more merit you’d need +1 on your act but it still won’t be 20k final costs.
Run the NPC on College of Charleston and a few others with strong merit from upthread, then run the NPC on Emory, Davidson, Vanderbilt.
(Each university calculated differently).
@MYOS1634 Charleston says $45000, Vanderbilt says $40000, Emory says $45000
Ok, then you need to hunt for merit aid. It means your EFC is likely around 45K and if your parents won’t pay more than 20K, you’re going to get your sights on universities with great merit scholarships.
UAlabama would be automatic scholarship and automatic Honors college, possibility to compete for “honors with honors” special programs.
Charleston’s cost BTW is before merit aid.
@sophiavictoria , given your parents $20k per year, you need to limit your applications to:
- Colleges in commuting distance.
- Colleges with guaranteed or competitive merit up to full tuition.
Room and Board runs from 11k to 15k. And you need to leave room in the 20k budget for transportation to and from and increases in tuition.
@MYOS1634 @Longhaul Yeah that’s kinda what I’ve been thinking since the beginning. I know I don’t want to commute though (my parents don’t want me to either).
I’ve been looking for some more automatic scholarships and I think I found an automatic full ride at Lee University? I’ve never heard of it before but it’s a medium-sized private Christian school in TN (which is like exactly what I’m looking for)- their average ACT is 25 but I can get past that. This is the website- http://www.leeuniversity.edu/financial-aid/scholarships.aspx. However, for the Centennial Scholarship requirements it says “any student who has graduated from an approved high school” so I don’t know if they have like a list or if it’s for any high school grad (other reviews I found online made it seem like any high school counts), but it also says “If a student enrolls in another college/university before attending Lee University, this student will forfeit his or her eligibility for the Centennial Scholarship” and I don’t know if they would count my dual enrollment courses as being enrolled in another university. I might try to contact them and see.
Are you an Evangelical Christian and/or ready to sign a Creed following conservative Evangelical tenets? (Look at the mission and Creed online). You shouldn’t attend a Christian college just for the scholarship, but to grow in your faith. Faith, Jesus Christ, and salvation are important to students and faculty at Lee, you should only apply if it is an equally central part of who you are.
Any accreditated school or homeschool counts
@MYOS1634 Yes, I am a Christian. That’s why I’m considering Christian colleges (and/or joining faith organizations at other colleges). I’m not necessarily Evangelical, but I saw the signature place while skimming a sample application PDF and I read through their mission statement and I agree with following it.
Ok, in that case look into John Brown, perhaps St Edward’s (if you consider Catholics Christian)?
@MYOS1634 Okay I just looked at both of those. The John Brown automatic merit is only $11,500 which won’t be enough (it looks like they also have competitive scholarships though), and the St. Edward’s scholarships require being in the top 20-15% of senior class (which I know I won’t be). Thanks though, I’ll keep looking.
You’ll have to find two automatic full tuition scholarships (I strongly recommend UAlabama for one of them -it’s a bit bigger than what you wish but it has everything else).
Then add colleges with competitive scholarships.
Is your comfort level more in line with LMU or with Lee/John Brown?
@MYOS1634 Yes, I am considering Alabama now (and my mom is on board too). I also found what looks to be large automatic scholarships at Ole Miss, U Arizona, Arizona State. And do you mean comfort like religiously? I’m comfortable with Pepperdine, and I’ve heard that it can be pretty religious/conservative. I don’t really know that much about Lee yet to compare.
^and I also really liked Belmont University
I’d say that on the spectrum from more mainstream to more conservative Evangelical/fundamentalist, it’d be
LMU, St Edward’s/Pepperdine, Belmont/ John Brown, Lee (there are degrees before/after and in between).
@MYOS1634 I agree about LMU, but my mom and I felt like Pepperdine was more religious than Belmont. Are you familiar with Biola? I feel like Biola is too much for me (they require a pastoral recommendation, church information/address, and a more in depth statement of faith to sign). Would you say Lee is more or less “intense” than that? I couldn’t find any information about spiritual recommendations on their sample application, and their statement of faith seemed more broad than Biola’s, but idk. Should I make a new thread in the Christian Colleges forum about Lee? Because it seems like a school I could really like (+ the scholarship).
Lee is a step before Biola, perhaps //Azusa?
Great idea- Do make a thread, asking people to compare the ones you know and the ones you wonder about, in terms of
religious intensity, importance of religion to students’ life and classes, conservatism, focus on growing one’s faith, and quality of academics.
Keep Lee on your list in any case at this point.
I started a thread for Lee University here- http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/christian-colleges/2138343-lee-university.html#latest
Also another update: My Mandarin teacher just told me about the Chinese Flagship Program that a few colleges have so now I’m looking at it at Ole Miss, ASU, University of Oregon, and possibly a few other colleges if I decide I’m really interested and can compromise on location and a few other things.