<p>*And put Fordham University on your list. Bronx…main campus at Rose Hill. *</p>
<p>Fordham could be a very good choice IF the family is willing to pay full freight…about $55k per year. From the OP’s posts, it doesn’t sound like that’s do-able. His stats won’t qualify for merit at Fordham.</p>
<p>It sounds like the OP has a high EFC and won’t qualify for aid, so they’re sticking with a budget and merit options. </p>
<p>Right…a safety is a school with a high admit rate and stats are well in the top 25%. Being a “Naviance match” doesn’t make a school a safety. Plus, a safety has to be affordable as well. :)</p>
Admissions are competitive but the price for UNC depends on the family. UNC is one of two public Us in the country that meets financial need, even for OOS students.</p>
<p>Ok so if I am in Naviance and when I am looking at acceptances and the scattergram shows that my son has better stats than 80% of the other 100 kids from his school that applied and were accepted, that isn’t a safety? My understanding from his advisor was that those are safety’s. She said matches would be when he is at the median point on the scattergram and reaches are when he is under but there are still acceptances in his range. </p>
<p>I am surprised to learn that Indiana bases merit on UW GPA. They must make exceptions as we know another boy with similiar GPA to my DS who got a merit award there. He did have a higher SAT though. Around 1300 if I remember correctly. </p>
<p>Thanks again for everyone’s input. I am going to look up some of the schools mentioned here. Does anyone know what terms I search for on the college websites to find the stats of the students.</p>
<p>The question is, were there any rejected applicants with stats similar to or better than your son’s stats? If so, then there is likely some other factor besides stats involved that can make the school not a safety. Examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>Holistic admission practices that strongly consider stuff like essays and other non-stats criteria.</li>
<li>“Level of interest”.</li>
<li>Admission standards vary by division or major, and your son is applying for a more popular division or major.</li>
</ul>
<p>Sorry to be confusing on IN merit money – they look at the higher of weighted/unweighted for merit money. My son’s high school did not use weighted grading so his 3.5 (if they did weight, with AP/IB would have been about 4.1 or higher) put him in the lower end for admissions. He did get in, but we did not feel it was a safety. </p>
<p>If Naviance and your guidance office says Bloomington is a sure thing, then I am sure you are in good shape. Just want to convey that there are many in-state students who assumed was a sure thing and were disappointed.</p>
<p>2kidz… one thing to take with a grain of salt…but may not be true in all cases…people aften say their child got a “scholarship” when in fact it was need based aid…you will read posts about people getting 'scholarships" to the ivies etc…but those schools dont give merit aid.</p>
<p>*I am surprised to learn that Indiana bases merit on UW GPA. They must make exceptions as we know another boy with similiar GPA to my DS who got a merit award there. He did have a higher SAT though. Around 1300 if I remember correctly. *</p>
<p>They may make exceptions.</p>
<p>They may have changed their policies from previous years (schools do this all the time…they review/adjust scholarships on an annual basis.)</p>
<p>The kid may have gotten a departmental scholarship…or an honors college scholarship. </p>
<p>you may not know for sure what that kid’s GPA was.</p>
<p>As you said, his Math + CR SAT was higher. 1300 can be a benchmark for some awards. </p>
<p>or maybe IU does use weighted GPA and their website is misleading. </p>
<p>If IU does use weighted GPA, then with his 1260 M+CR, he’d get about $4k per year. Right now, the COA for OOS at IU is about $45k. So, that would make the cost about $41k (rising a bit each year.)</p>
<p>Of course, it’s unknown if/when IU changes its scholarships for this next fall’s app cycle. Summertime is often the time for changes.</p>
<p>University of Oklahoma is surprisingly cheap for out of staters.</p>
<p>Also, Univeristy of Minnesota is reasonably priced (but their football team leaves a little to be desired)</p>
<p>Florida and Florida State are the obvious choices, given that his stats, while decent, are not amazingly high, like some kids on College Confidential.</p>
<p>Yes there is alot to think about. I agree Midwestmomofboys, nothing is a sure thing so need a couple of each, safeties, matches and reaches. It seems everything can change year to year so who knows what they will be looking for in the fall? So here is what I am thinking. </p>
<p>TBH, I am over the whole reach thing. UNC is the dream school. I think I will call the admissions office before wiping it off completely. UF makes the most sense for cost and major but he is in the bottom 25-40% for in-state admissions. Not great odds of being admitted if based soley on numbers. </p>
<p>FSU will hopefully be an option and a good one if he does pre-dental path as he will be above average there. Not sure what to do about broadcasting. If naviance is correct (there are no x’s near or above him), he should be a solid match at FSU. </p>
<p>If neither of those work, Indiana, Auburn and Clemson, should be in range so he should have a shot at those. University of Georgia is a bit of a reach but not too far off. My son would love UT but no shot of Merit and may be too expensive if he has other options, so will probably come off list.</p>
<p>Next in line as a true safety is U of Arizona. Great sports, beautiful campus, great weather. I still need to check out Ohio and U of Alabama to see where he fits on. I just found a list online that has admit percentages by stats, so I can see if he is above the 75% range for merit at any schools. I hope we can keep the app’s down to 8 or so.</p>
<p>The 25% guideline generally applies to merit at private schools. Public schools are quite often different and specifically list the grades and scores needed for merit.</p>
<p>Clemson doesn’t exactly have a journalism program but it is a concentration within the English department. There certainly are a few television anchors/hosts (Nancy O’Dell - Access Hollywood for example) who went to Clemson but on a whole the program still isn’t as recognized as maybe some other schools.</p>