My D is a rising Junior and we need some ideas of colleges within our budget. She does not know what she wants to do or where she wants to go to school. She does struggle in school so I am hoping that motivating her a bit by looking at schools might help. She does have ADD and is on meds and they have helped tremendously. She is not going to be taking any AP classes as it stands Junior/Senior year. I do not see her entering a career in STEM or math so we would look at a LAC type school and one that has a very pretty campus with a good social/greek life (not crazy though). She does not want to be cold. She did mention ASU Tempe a couple of times and we could probably swing that if she got an OOS merit money. She also mentioned not wanting to go deep south but I don’t want to rule that out.
She enjoys drawing up contracts and would like to be a lawyer but that is too much work! She is a great writer and considered journalism but I got the hand when I suggested that. She does enjoy working with animals. That is all I have to go on : )
GPA: 3.7
10th grade took Honors: Spanish, Math, Chemistry, Global
11th grade upcoming Honors will take: Math, Spanish
PSAT: 1130 --she took this last year with no studying, didn’t finish and had unmedicated ADD
She has a weekly math tutor that we are continuing throught the summer. He is a teacher and also will tutor her for ACT/SAT. Hoping she can get a decent score on one of those two tests.
Budget: 529 110k-- plus 27k fed loan.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Susquehanna? Not sure about Greek life. Pretty and pristine campus. Definitely have her take both SAT and ACT. Several of the CTCL schools might work, such as Juniata and Ursinus, Allegheny.
She would have a shot at Penn State or Pitt for a Liberal Arts major. West Chester is a good safety as would Lycoming or Elizabethtown.
Seconding Susquehanna, Juniata, Allegheny. Look into Muhlenberg, Goucher, Ursinus.
I think the suggested schools all sound good.
Does she have a 504 for her ADD? If she gets extended time for tests at school, you and her counselor can put in a request for extended time on the SAT and ACT. Something definitely worth looking in to. If she doesn’t have a 504 and also struggles with test completion at school, you might want to talk to her counselor about getting a 504.
Good news is that a whole lot of maturing will be going on over the next 3-4 years 
The challenge is…when it actually happens! Based on your description of your daughter now, I would not be happy sending her off to ASU: really easy for a kid with shaky motivation who struggles with school to get lost or sidetracked there. Of course, in 2 years from now she could be very different- but it might take 3 or 4 years- and the external push that going away to college can bring- for the maturity leap to happen.
The CTCL colleges (and their peers) would be where I would look, if a small school would be happy for her- and if your budget will stretch that far. Have you run any NPCs?
ps, LAC schools are good for STEM kids also…
Roanoke College in Salem, VA.
Try Roanoke college in VA. Good merit aid and a bit warmer than PA. Very supportive atmosphere.
Thank you for the replies. Roanoke College looks great! I was just looking at the website and I really like the vibe I got. That would be in our budget with the merit money!
@Tenzimom , my son is a rising senior at Roanoke College. Received a very generous merit scholarship. 3.35 GPA 1280 SAT. Beautiful campus. He has done very well there as a double major in computer science and business. He isn’t into Greek life but it is there. Very good fit for him.
Coming back with an update. We have made progress over the summer. We have worked to get a 504 established for the upcoming school year. The school GC will reference the old IEP that she had (closed at the end of 8th grade) when they ask the college board for approval for extra time to take the ACT/SAT. She has a reading disability in addition to ADHD. It just takes her longer to read now so that in combo with the ADHD sure does make test taking hard! What do you want to do? I want to make a lot of money lol. Ok. I want to own my own business. Ok. I don’t want a desk job. She went out and got two afterschool jobs one of which is working for a woman who started/owns an upscale clothing boutique and she wants to learn the biz. I think she might be interested in business?! She is uping the rigor and added AP Econ which she said is the “easiest” AP. She has maintained her summer math tutoring. Any thoughts on good affortable colleges with business schools? How is LSU? She wanted to go to Tulane but that is too expensive. She likes NOLA. I think LSU if she could get some kind of Merit $?
Budget: 529 110k-- plus 27k fed loan.