Need help with western NY and Boston area schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

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) Ny
  • Type of high school (current college for transfers): public HS with good reputation
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): White
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): none

Intended Major(s) undecided but possibly Mathematics or psychology, also interested in theater but not as a major

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.89
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system):
  • College GPA (for transfers):
  • Class Rank: NA
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1480

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))

6 APs (score of 3 in AP LiT, 4 in AP physics and 5 in comp sci); most other academic classes taken are “honors” and this is the default.

Awards national award in community service; school awards for character and leadership

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience) president of earth science clubx 2, tennis camp counselor (paid) x 3 years, performance arts with leading roles, advocacy

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.) Likely strong, has a compelling personal story, generally indicative of natural leadership and strong character

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.) No particular constraints, merit aid would be great, but not a driving factor

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)

Colgate
Hamilton
Tufts
BC
Northeastern
Vassar
University of Rochester
Bucknell
Pitt
Likes Colgate more than Hamilton, visiting Boston at end of month. Will likely ED one of these to increase likelihood, but trying to understand likelihood at the top six in the list.

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)
    Not sure

  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be
    affordable)
    Not sure — Penn State? Syracuse?

  • Match

  • Reach

2

The majority of the schools on your list do not offer merit aid and focus on need-based aid. You should really run the NPC for some of the schools on your list and see if they are truly affordable. Colgate is almost $80K per year and if you are OK paying $320K for 4 years, great! If that is really not feasible, it is better to know that now.

If you are paying full fare, you may have some low reach options. If you need financial aid to attend, you have all reaches. Competitive schools with sub-25% acceptance rates are reach-y for all applicants.

3

Is there some reason why you don’t have a few SUNY schools on your list? They would be modest in cost and would totally meet your needs.

Agree….you need to know your annual budget and make sure these schools are affordable.

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Will also apply to Binghamton and maybe Geneseo. Thanks

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I think Pitt is likely, the rest of your list is low to high reach, and other than Northeastern and Rochester a little, you’re not getting aid.

You should be subbing in schools that offer merit aid - Wooster, Allegheny, Skidmore, Hobart, etc. After all, you say merit would be great…well it’s non existent when you apply to schools that don’t offer it.

You need some more “lower” level schools - but Syracuse will work as will SUNYs, UVM, Delaware, Miami Ohio - schools like that.

Good luck.

6

Withdrawn.

7

Thanks, these all sound like good additions.

Are there any Boston area substitutes that could work?

8

Wheaton College has some merit scholarships.
“ Academic scholarships were awarded to 39% of Wheaton’s enrolled first-year students for the Class of 2023.

No separate application is required for academic scholarship consideration at Wheaton. Students are selected from the pool of first-time freshman applicants at the time of admission to the college. If a financial aid applicant is an academic scholarship recipient, it will be included as part of the overall financial aid package and will reduce his/her eligibility for need-based financial aid.”

9

I’ll echo the others - you need to make sure you have some financial safeties on the list. The majority of schools on this list offer mostly need-based aid so you need to make sure you can afford them (will qualify for some need-based aid or can afford the full pay rate). I wouldn’t suggest ED if you aren’t certain you will be able to afford these schools as it is binding. In terms of a bump down in selectivity around Boston you can look into Bentley, Babson and Brandeis – all very good schools, but not as difficult to be admitted. Bentley and Babson both offer merit, although I am not sure how competitive or generous it is.

10

To echo the others, Brandeis for Tufts as they have merit…then Bentley/Babson are a bit more business oriented and math fits right in.

Since you have Pitt why not UMASS or UMASS Lowell to be closer to Boston. Not far area is UNH and then there’s Bryant.

You have both urban and rural - so not everything you have is Boston. Look at below your top 30 LACs (and not all offer) for merit aid. For example, Franklin & Marshall doesn’t offer merit.

If you want to pay, it’s not to say you won’t end up in your reach schools - you just need more options. You list the Cuse - so how about an American or Denver?

Boston is awesome - and you can intern/live there. You can still go to college there too - just give yourself alternatives is what people are saying - and find out what you can afford because saying no constraints but I’d like merit likely means you have constraints. Talk to your folks.

PS - take a look at Macalester - it’s not Boston…but it is urbanish, a LAC, and offers merit.

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11

My daughter with very similar stats got merit from Bentley, but not enough to get tuition under $40,000, I believe.

12

Wheaton awards very good merit aid. D was offered mid 30s as a potential transfer student (did not attend). Nice little school.

13

I’d also look into a school like SUNY Buffalo or SUNY New Paltz to serve as both a financial and academic safety.

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If you are looking at Wheaton, also look at Stonehill.

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Macalester is in an amazing location - urban but safe, quaint and lovely.

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