<p>Mom of rising senior needs help creating a solid school list. Undecided as to a major. Pre-Dental is on the table as well as Broadcasting. I know....two very different majors. He says he would like a school with a strong Division 1 sports program as he is very interested in going to games at a school with lots of spirit. </p>
<p>I have been staying away from Privates due to High tuition. Would love to know if he can get any Merit Money? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>What state do you live in?</p>
<p>We are in Florida</p>
<p>Lots of threads on merit money in the Financial Aid Forum, so pop over there, and take a look around!</p>
<p>Depending on the state that you live in, and the state(s) that your son is interested in studying in, the public institutions could be very nearly as expensive as many privates. Once you know what your realistic budget is, make certain that your son knows so that he can make wise choices when he applies.</p>
<p>Wisconsin
Minnesota
Virginia Tech</p>
<ul>
<li>Lower cost out of state publics</li>
</ul>
<p>Even though it is private you may want to try Miami as well</p>
<p>Hi Happymomof1, </p>
<p>Our state schools are the most economical. He should get into at least one of the two listed. But we would be willing to go out of state if it was a great school and fit for him like UNC. Based on everything I read on CC it seems like he has no shot at UNC. Anyone think I should just pull it off the list?</p>
<p>barrk123- Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out.</p>
<p>What is your budget? Those OOS public schools can cost you $40k per year. </p>
<p>You have Auburn on your list, but not Alabama? why??? Alabama has very good broadcasting and it has a very good pre-health advising.</p>
<p>40k is about max, which is one reason why we aren’t looking at U of M. TBH I don’t know much about Alabama. Auburn is on because we know someone who goes there and from visiting the website it looks like they have many of the qualities he is interested in. </p>
<p>Distance is no issue either. We were trying to stay at schools that are close to a major airport. We took Penn state off as it is geogrphically more challenging. I would really appreciate some feedback on reach schhols. Which on the list are considered reach. Should we add any others? </p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>It seem UF should be a great choice for your son. Good academics, great sports, in-state tuition.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the high school’s notion of weighted GPA – colleges are likely to recalculate or holistically look at courses and grades since high schools use different methods.</p>
<p>For lower cost at list price schools, take a look at this list:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1294383-less-expensive-list-price-less-obvious-schools-attract-good-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1294383-less-expensive-list-price-less-obvious-schools-attract-good-students.html</a>
(You may want to run your own search by adjusting the parameters at the web site referenced in that thread.)</p>
<p>Among the bigger school spirit and sports (NCAA D1 FBS) schools in the above list are:
Brigham Young University-Provo
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
North Carolina State University at Raleigh
University of Arkansas
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of South Florida-Main Campus</p>
<p>Of course, in-state public universities should also be considered for cost reasons.</p>
<p>u of texas OOS is probably 35k in tuition alone.</p>
<p>I would add Iowa State and University of Pittsburgh, both at 25k OOS tuition.</p>
<p>Texas state schools are required to give 24 credits for an IB diploma.</p>
<p>I would take UNC off the list.</p>
<p>Revisited the Finances. All schools on list are doable. However, I am not sure it is the smartest thing to spend 50K on an undergraduate education, especially if we might be looking at dental or grad school. Funds are limited and we have another child behind DS to put through school. I would like to retire before i’m 90! lol OOS makes most sense if he qualifies for merit money. I went through thread on FA forum and can see that at flagships that will be tough. We say if he got into a top school like UNC it would be worth it to pay full OOS tuition. But since we are not instate, I guess it is not possible? </p>
<p>I get the sense from reading these boards, that many feel that if you don’t have Ivy or top 20 stats, then might as well go where it is most economical. I just don’t want to sell him short. One would think that a kid with all A’s and B’s with a pretty rigorous shcedule, strong leadership etc, who is very well rounded should have great options. But then you start to hear how competitive it is and lower the bar. </p>
<p>I would really just like some feedback on if we should shoot for some other reach schools or just stick to my list.</p>
<p>BTW in response to hzhao2004</p>
<p>“It seem UF should be a great choice for your son. Good academics, great sports, in-state tuition.”</p>
<p>Word is getting into UF instate is a real challenge for an unhooked kid with similiar stats to my DS. Many unhooked kids with 2000+ SAT’s and high GPA’s and class ranks get rejected from our area. We know kids who got into all the reach schools on my list but not UF. Florida is a huge state and with the prepaid tuition plan a big motivator, UF competition is off the charts!</p>
<p>m2ck… maybe they are auburn fans…not everyone is a bama fan… LOL my town is split down the middle, 1/2 the kids would never go to auburn, 1/2 would never go to ua based on football alone</p>
<p>2kdz… from our experience a couple of years ago, Indiana will give him merit and honors merit most likely, but that will still leave a huge amount… wonderful school and beautiful campus though.</p>
<p>uab in birmingham would give him 15k against total cost of 20-25K automatically. great school for pre dental…very strong in sciences…home of top med school. it does have a mass communication major…i dont know much about it though as my S2 is a stem student there [UAB</a> - Welcome](<a href=“Error 404 | Not Found”>CAS - Department of Communication Studies | UAB)</p>
<p>I am a Florida parent. UF has become very, very hard to get into so I wanted to pass along this information - explore the idea of being a summer applicant. My son was accepted to UF as a fall admit but we have several friends who had their children apply as a Summer B applicant - they feel that this is what helped their child get into UF</p>
<p>Also, University of Alabama is a very popular choice among Florida kids. I would take a look at that school. </p>
<p>The other popular school is University of Central Florida - several of the top students in my sons graduating class chose UCF and did not even apply to UF.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about UF situation. It seems that in Ohio where I am, anyone interested can get into OSU. If is going to be OOS with full tuition, I’d advise reaching for some private schools instead.</p>
<p>99% of the rising seniors in this country would be thrilled with the choices available to your son. He has great options and you are not lowering the bar.</p>
<p>Minnesota, Ohios State, and Indiana are all ranked amongst the top 75 universities in the entire country. Minnesota is a research powerhouse (top 20).</p>
<p>Consider Wisconsin and Illinois as a reach. Maybe U of Washington.</p>
<p>For privates,look at Tulane and TCU. Tulane gives out lots of merit money.</p>
<p>Thank you Parent56.</p>
<p>Indiana looks like a great choice for school spirit, campus and they do have both programs.</p>
<p>Does anyone know of any privates that meet his D1 criteria where he could get Merit money? If money was no Object the privates on the list might be U Miami, Syracuse, USC…</p>
<p>hzhao, interestingly enough, the selection rate for UF is ~40% while tOSU is ~60%, but the accepted stats are not very different at the top end (UF is a little higher at the 25%ile). It could be a product of tOSU being larger (10K more UG students).</p>
<p>*40k is about max, which is one reason why we aren’t looking at U of M. </p>
<p>TBH I don’t know much about Alabama. Auburn is on because we know someone who goes there and from visiting the website it looks like they have many of the qualities he is interested in. *</p>
<p>Oh good, then its doesn’t sound like you’re Auburn fans, with a bias against Bama. :)</p>
<p>Well, then do look at Alabama. It has very good pre-health advising, a brand new mega-sized science complex, and a wonderful Honors College.</p>
<p>Pre-health Advising
[The</a> University of Alabama Health Professions Advising Website](<a href=“http://premed.ua.edu/]The”>http://premed.ua.edu/)</p>
<p>Bama has the big Div I sports your son wants, it has very good (and expanding!!!) Broadcasting. Bama is building a much larger area for its broadcasting majors. Bama also owns a television station and radio station, a public radio station. </p>
<p>At Bama, your son would automatically qualify for its awesome Honors College based on his stats. And, if he gets his stats up a bit more, he’d get more merit money. </p>
<p>[The</a> University of Alabama](<a href=“http://www.ua.edu/]The”>http://www.ua.edu/)</p>
<p>[TCF</a> Department](<a href=“http://www.tcf.ua.edu/]TCF”>http://www.tcf.ua.edu/)</p>
<p>The TCF major is subdivided into five specializations or “sequences”:</p>
<p>Electronic News Sequence
Newsroom Emphasis
Sports Emphasis
Entertainment Emphasis
Production Management Sequence
Media Management Sequence
Critical Studies in Film and Television Sequence
Documentary Sequence</p>
<p>UA’s TV station:
[WVUA[/url</a>]</p>
<p>UA’s Radio station
[url=<a href=“http://wvuafm.ua.edu/]WVUA”>http://wvuafm.ua.edu/]WVUA</a> 90.7 FM](<a href=“http://wvua.ua.edu/]WVUA[/url”>http://wvua.ua.edu/)</p>
<p>UA also owns Alabama Public Radio</p>
<p>I suggest you visit. If you do, let me know because you should set up an Honors College visit as well as a campus tour.</p>