Moving to the NE for senior year, need help with college list! [RI resident, 3.9 GPA, 35 ACT, will be NMF, parent contribution <$40k, no need-based FA]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Hello all you helpful CC minds!

I have a lovely D24 who is high stats but has been jerked around the country for her junior and senior years of high school by her parents. Freshman year of high school virtual with Covid, sophomore year in school with all her childhood buddies in the upper midwest, junior year in the south in an enormous and unwelcoming “highly rated school”, and now we are headed to Rhode Island for her senior year. Smaller but well regarded school and more promising community. D24 is being a good sport, but is definitely overwhelmed by the move and a new plethora of regional choices. Her older brothers attended huge public universities (30k+ undergrad). She would like smaller. A big priority after all the change is finding “her people” and a home away from home. She hasn’t developed the leadership that she might have by staying in one place, and she has just changed her mind from health/nursing which her extra curriculars focused on. Now thinking business/pre-law.

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student
    US
  • State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities)
    Rhode Island
  • Type of high school (current college for transfers): public
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): caucasian
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): Will be a NMF (not official yet, but her score is well above the usual cutoff of current state and RI)

Intended Major(s) ?? Business??

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.9
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): too messy to figure with 3 schools
  • College GPA (for transfers):
  • Class Rank: unknown
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 35 one try

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
First high school did not allow 9th and 10th graders to take AP. She was advanced in math and finished 4 years of high school math (through pre calc/trig) by sophomore year.
Second school had a weird block schedule which limited her to AP Biology and AP Chem (she was still planning a health sciences major). She will score well. She took honors health sciences classes, honors english, honors american history. Could not take APUSH because of the schedule which was a disappointment. Will take AP Calc BC and hopefully at least 2 other AP classes senior year.

Awards
won at state HOSA, couldn’t attend International (we were moving ugh)
Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Merit award at first high school, student council leadership camp middle school through sophomore year, mock trial, HOSA, choir and school musical.

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
She will have LORs from her Honors English teacher (who was previously a college professor and offered) and her AP Chemistry teacher who she has a good relationship with. She is a funny, smart, mature kid. I think the letters will be pretty good. We are coordinating with her high school counselor here to get those to the next school. They do not both use Naviance. That would be too easy…

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)
We will not qualify for aid. We can swing $40k COA, but of course would prefer less :wink: Willing to cast a wide net to chase some merit $$

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)
    She will apply to Alabama. Full ride with NMF and could maybe even get a year of law school in. But she does not like the heat and Alabama is big. We will visit. It is also far. But FREE.
  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
    She is VERY interested in Fordham. Loves NYC, has already done a tour. Would want Rose Hill campus, business school. We would need NMF tuition scholarship to make this work.
  • Match
    This is where we need the CC brains!
    We are new to this part of the country and there are a lot of colleges!!! Ideally 4 hours or less from Rhode Island. I am thinking around 10k students would be great, but a residential honors college could make a large campus feel smaller. Want her to be challenged, want her to be able to explore and change majors. She likes the classical education component…“so I have to learn about lots of things, not just a narrow list”. Open to public, private, women only, etc. We are really not clear on what would be a match or a reach with her good scores but thin ECs. We are concerned URI will be too much of a commuter school and honors college is not residential.
  • Reach

If you have read this far, thank you so much! Looking forward to suggestions and happy to answer questions.

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On the UMass website:

Students from the other New England states may also be eligible for regional or proximity tuition programs.

Maybe check that out?

Boston and Cambridge are not far and that opens up a lot of possibilities.

She might want business but also stated she wanted to learn about a lot of things. Is she hoping to major in something directly related to a career like business (or nursing), or does she want a broader liberal arts education?

She can take APUSH online vhslearning.org (our school not only accepted classes there but joined the organization)

BU, Northeastern, Simmons, Babson (business), Brandeis (and others ) in Boston; Smith or Mt. Holyoke women’s colleges (Wellesley?), Clark U. in Worcester. Others will have ideas.

The financial constraints are tough. I would definitely see what UMass Amherst would cost for a RI resident. The honors college would be a good fit.

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Wouldn’t NMF be based on the state in which you were living when she took the test, not on Rhode Island’s cutoff?

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My S22 is at Fordham (LC campus in his case) and having a great experience. In the past, ~70% of eligible students got the full tuition scholarship. From reading CC and Reddit, my impression is that they might have lowered that % in the last year, although I don’t have the official data. So anyway, best to demonstrate a lot of interest, write a great essay, do any “optional” essays etc.

Another National Merit full ride school that might interest your student is the University of Tulsa. Their new president is extremely responsive and helpful, and is working hard to nurture a community of smart and engaged students. There seems to be a ton of mentoring and other opportunities. An estimated 20% of the incoming class will be National Merit, so your student would find a community of peers. It is a small university. I think it will attract National Merit students who might also be looking at Rice and Washington University in St. Louis. Tulsa is a fun and young city.

UMaine is another full ride NMS school. It is closer to RI, and hot weather won’t be a concern. There is a poster on here who has a nursing student there who is loving her experience.

UT Dallas is another National Merit school. Best known for STEM, but my understanding is that business is also solid. Bigger school but not with a typical Southern big school vibe (it only has DIII sports, and almost no frat/sorority involvement.) One of my kid’s good friends from high school (we are upper Midwest) is a NMS there and having a great experience. Lots of easy direct flights to Dallas (fun city!) because it is a hub.

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Have her look at Blount Program at Alabama, an LLC (living learning community) focusing on liberal arts core. Can be any major incl business. Will help make the school seem smaller.

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She will be NMF either way. As long as she didn’t take the test in DC she’s good :+1:t2:

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Thank you for the responses so far.

@CollegeMamb0 I always hear great things from NMF and their parents who make it to Alabama and tour. Since she is undecided about a major, a residential honors college and financial freedom makes it worth a visit.

@fiftyfifty1 Yes, we have wondered about the Fordham full tuition scholarship availability. She will definitely work to show interest and complete optional essays. Thank you for the reminder about UMaine! We will look into it. We actually lived in OKC for awhile and culturally and intellectually it left a very bad impression. My husband is reluctant to have D24 apply to Tulsa, Dallas, or Alabama, but I think we need to visit at least one. One of my sons had the Benacquisto at UF when it was still offered to OOS. UCF has dropped off our list because of the current politics affecting higher ed there.

@compmom We will research the New England Tuition Break program. It looks like it is only for certain majors, but if D24 went pre-law she could possibly make that work. I also think the honors college at UMass Amherst would be an excellent fit. Maybe UConn too?
I think Clark, Mt. Holyoke and Simmons might be in the ballpark with merit. We have some tours to plan!

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Check Tulsa. Smaller. Free for nmsf. The President comes on here and says 20% of this year’s class will be. Great school. Not four hours close but.

Otherwise - you might find schools like Hofstra or Manhattan College …whether you’d get that sense of community I can’t say as they are close to society. Or a school where people can’t go home like St Lawrence but could you hit the price point I don’t know.

Btw UAH will be a much smaller Bama so if you visit one go to both. It’s more engineering types and it’s still a public so I won’t say you’d get that sense of community or mentoring etc but it might be a good sub. Cheaper tuition.

But other than location Tulsa seems a winner.

https://utulsa.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/nmsf/

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Distances are time from Providence, RI.

I would take a good look at several of the New York publics which are fairly “reasonably” priced for out-of-state students anyway, and campuses (apart from Binghamton) have been offering an out-of-state flagship match program for some states, so I would look into that, too.

  • Binghamton (NY): 4h44m, About 14k undergrads

  • SUNY Albany: 2h41m, about 13k undergrads

  • SUNY New Paltz: 3h24m, about 6300 undergrads

  • SUNY Oneonta: 3h50m, about 5400 undergrads

The schools below are schools that your daughter could get really good merit for (sufficient to bring it in within budget), but that have no guarantee of doing so. Thus, they’re mostly all extremely likely admits, but lower probability in order to get the price where it needs to be.

Boston area schools (1h4m away)

  • Emmanuel (MA): About 1900 students in the heart of Boston and part of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium where students participate in extracurriculars and classes with other area universities.

  • Simmons (MA): About 1700 undergrads at this women’s college that is also part of the Colleges of the Fenway.

Other private schools

  • Clark (MA): About 2300 undergrads, 50m away

  • Fairfield (CT): About 4600 undergrads at this Jesuit institution. Jesuits tend to have broader curriculum requirements which seems as though it would appeal to your D. 2h4m away.

  • Monmouth (NJ): About 4100 undergrads here. 4h7m away.

  • Providence (RI): About 4200 undergrads at this Jesuit school. This school has a reputation of being a bit more Catholic-y/overtly religious than some other Jesuit universities. In-town.

  • Saint Joseph’s (PA ): About 4200 undergrads at this Jesuit institution in Philadelphia that is particularly known for its business programs. 4h34m away from Providence.

  • Seton Hall (NJ): About 6100 undergrads and just a few miles from NYC. 3h26m away.

  • Siena (NY): About 3500 undergrads, 2h41m away.

  • Syracuse (NY): About 15k undergrads, though your daughter will want to demonstrate interest if she wants them to take her application seriously. 4h45m away.

U. of Kentucky (about 22k undergrads) and U. of Louisville (about 16k undergrads) have both been giving pretty good NMF packages out, too.

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UMaine mom here… yes it’s only hot for a few weeks of the fall semester… :joy: :snowflake: and yes she’s very happy there.

Sorry if you already mentioned this - but is there a waiting period required to qualify for in-state tuition at URI? Although so close and fairly commuter-heavy, it’s a really lovely option, one my daughter seriously considered!

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Welcome to the NE and the college donut hole! UMASS Amherst and UCONN should come in under budget (I’m basing this on my 2019 and 2021 HS graduates). Many matches will be over budget. My kids got merit at Pitt and UMD but not enough. My daughter ended up at UDel with good merit, same gpa but a 34 act, a 35 might put her in a pool of 100 who are offered additional scholarships.

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I understand your husband’s concerns. That said, college campuses often offer a cultural and intellectual vibe different from other areas of a state. My S22’s friend at UT Dallas is a liberal woman and thriving. And Tulsa’s president has an interesting and appealing background: Brad Carson - Wikipedia

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I would avoid rush period at Bama for your visit or your husbands head might explode and could bias your impression…

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If you all are going to stay in RI for the next 5-10 years, she might want to go to a school in car driving distance (3 to 5 hrs) if she is wanting to make and maintain connections with her current HS classmates and their families, she will be able to go home for holidays, and catch up with other friends going home for holidays well into adulthood. Also it is more likely that her new college friends will also be more geographically close, to maintain and grow the new college friendships. Also first jobs often come from companies that are near the school. And even those who work far away will come home to visit their parents now and then.

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Check out honors colleges at UMass, URI, UConn, and UNH. Privates that offer good merit aid include Conn College, Mount Holyoke, Sarah Lawrence, and Bard. Don’t know if those are too small? Also check out Fairfield University, Clark, and Marist.

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She might want to look at McGill in Montreal, which has a great international reputation, loves high-stats kids, doesn’t care about ECs and is a super-easy application (no essays, no LOR). And don’t be fooled by their high acceptance rates – there are minimum grades and (in the past) scores to apply, and Canadian students self-select and don’t apply if they don’t meet the requirements.

Interestingly, they have different tuition costs depending on the degree, so if she is looking at a BA degree as pre-law, it should definitely come in within your budget. Other degrees are more expensive. Also, they tend to let students know fairly early after the application is submitted (at least the strongest students, as they admit in order of strength of the application) and there are also merit scholarships she can apply for (they will require an essay or two). And Montreal is considered a great city to be a college student in. But…it is not a small school and there isn’t much hand-holding (students are expected to navigate things themselves, I’ve heard), so it might not be exactly what she is looking for.

Here is the link to the tuition. Make sure to convert to US dollars – that will make it a lot cheaper!

| Student Accounts - McGill University

Here is a link to their room and board options. I have heard that off-campus apartments and groceries are quite affordable, but it’s been a while since I checked that out. Again, all costs are in Canadian dollars, so be sure to convert them!

Undergraduate Fees 2023-2024 | Student Housing - McGill University

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Depending on size of school she is interested in and distance she wants to go from RI she may want to look at

University of Delaware
Miami University (Ohio)
James Madison University
Muhlenberg
Washington and Lee
University of Richmond
Elon
William and Mary
Syracuse University
University of New Hampshire
University of Vermont

These are all very different schools, and some would only come within budget with merit (or need if you qualify).

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FWIW, we live fairly close to UT-Dallas and know several students and alums, and I would say it is significantly less “Southern” than Tulsa or Alabama. The student body is very ethnically diverse (less than 25% White), and the surrounding area is more “generic 1980s-era suburb” than “Deep South.” In fact, there are actually several large Asian and Middle Eastern ethnic communities just to the east in the adjacent suburb of Richardson, so to the extent there’s any meaningful cultural vibe in the area, it’s more hookah bar/Indian restaurant/Vietnamese market than Southern.

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UCONN is known for giving merit to OOS students. My D23 with high, but not highest stats, and who applied TO, received a $22k scholarship, which brought her COA to their in-state cost and wound up being her least expensive option, other than our in-state SUNY schools.

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Bama is geographically diverse - but not necessarily ethnically - but well over half the students are from OOS…over 1K from California alone (I believe).

Tulsa, as a city and it’s hard to find data on the university, but I believe it is diverse. Now that they are squarely focused on NMSF, it will become more diverse.

And colleges often don’t reflect the outlying area. And the tradeoff is cost and size vs.location.

If there’s a budget in mind, it’s hard to ignore these schools. Since the size fits what OP wants vs. a Bama, that’s why it might get a hard look from me.

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