<p>Sorry, I'm going to be one of those annoying "please suggest schools for me" posters. Before anyone tells me to go to a college match/search site, I have. But I would like to hear some human opinions.</p>
<p>Stats:
Female
Asian
State: WA
UW: 3.95 (13 APs by the end of senior year but I can't calculate weighted)
Rank: Top 1% (if not 2%) of class size of 507
SAT: 2280 (CR: 710, M: 770, W: 800)
I may be getting NMSF possibly.</p>
<p>I do not know my EFC. But our current annual income is probably only around ~$70K? Honestly, I really don't know. But by the time I will be attending college, there will be 3 kids (including myself) in college. So I would like schools that give a lot of need/merit aid!</p>
<p>Other:
Good Computer Science program / Foreign Language (Spanish) program - IMPORTANT (not must have because I don't want to limit myself since I could easily change interests in college)
Relatively small school size - IMPORTANT
No/little Greek Life - IMPORTANT
Sub-urban - NOT AS IMPORTANT
Location: Northeast - IMPORTANT
Co-ed - RELATIVELY IMPORTANT (but open to all-female)</p>
<p>Some schools I'm currently looking at: Bowdoin (top choice), University of Washington (only school in-state that I want to apply to), University of Rochester, Boston College.
I DO really like LACs, but I don't really know which other ones besides Bowdoin (reach). I know Harvey Mudd is a good school for my interests, but I would prefer not to be in California.</p>
<p>Go to the FA forum and look at the pinned threads for assured merit aid. Also Denison U gives full tuition for NMFs. I have no idea how good their CS program is.</p>
<p>Thank you! I initially crossed out CMU because I thought it would be super selective (like less than 20% admittance rate), but now I see that it’s higher than that. That still doesn’t mean anything, but it gives me more assurance.</p>
<p>I’m concerned about some of the schools in the mid-west. But if it weren’t for the location, the schools do sound like something I’m looking for!</p>
<p>Small and good CS are not always easy to find together at generalized (i.e. not tech-emphasis) schools. However, small schools with convenient cross registration with a school with a good CS department may be worth considering (e.g. the LACs that have cross registration with UMass - Amherst, or Barnard with Columbia).</p>
<p>The northeast is not the best place to look for merit scholarships. Good need-based financial aid can be found at some highly selective schools, but they won’t be safeties for anyone.</p>
<p>CMU’s School of Computer Science is extremely selective, more so than other divisions.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus So for CMU, you have to apply directly to the college you want, right? Like School of Computer Science. So does that mean you cannot switch once you are in the school?</p>
<p>Are there other schools in the NE that give off the LAC feel that might fit some of my other requirements? I hope I’m not crossing out too many options by wanting a LAC. </p>
<p>Thank you for the information! If I do choose to apply to CMU, it will probably be a reach.</p>
<p>I think I may need some more safeties… University of Washington itself is likely my safety, but getting into CS is another story completely. Does anyone know of some out-of-state safeties for me? My assumption is that if it’s a school I’ve heard of, it’s probably not really a safety for me. </p>
<p>I think you’d better know your family’s EFC before you go any further. Many selective colleges in the Northeast only offer need based aid. If that works got you then you can put together a wide list. If your EFC is not workable then you should be concentrating on schools that offer merit. This is in most cases a different list. </p>
<p>I don’t know the relatve strengths of their CS departments, but if Bowdoin is your #1 choice then you might look at Williams, Amherst, Middlebury and Hamilton which are similar to Bowdoin in ambiance and culture. I believe all of these–including Bowdoin-- are need only, but they are generous with need based aid. </p>
<p>They are also quite reach-y but get fewer Asian applicants than some of the urban schools so being an Asian female will be a plus. </p>
<p>For merit look at Smith (all women’s) and Grinnell (Midwest). </p>
<p>Maybe not safeties, but solid matches --again in the same general feeling as Bowdoin-- Colby, Skidmore, Trinity, Conn College. </p>
<p>Thank you for your suggestions! I really do like Tufts after looking into it. It seems to fit a lot of what I’m looking for. If only it weren’t so selective…</p>
<p>Perhaps my brother or sister would know our EFC since they are in college already. Though I heard it goes down for every child that is in college? I’ll be sure to look into the schools you suggested!</p>
<p>Might look at Holy Cross-top25 LAC WITH NICE CAMPUS 1 hour from Boston. HC meets 100% of demonstrated financial aid. Holy Cross has great alumni network which helps for job placement and internships.</p>
<p>Because of your family income and your need for financial aid, I’d also consider applying to Princeton and Brown,( even though they’re extremely selective.) for their computer science and their compatibility with your preferences.</p>
<p>It appears that the main issue is finding safeties that meet your preferences and will be affordable. It is quite likely that there are very few or none. You may have to relax your restrictions.</p>
<p>@par72 I looked at the Holy Cross sub-forum on CC and it seemed like a lot of people were disappointed with the FA package they received. But maybe that’s not usually the case if what you say is true.</p>
<p>@moonchild Thank you for the suggestion! There’s a very, very high chance that I won’t be applying to any Ivy Leagues but I’ll look into it because I never considered either of those ever (my heart was always at Yale).</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I think that’s true. Which restrictions do you suggest I lower? I would be very content at UW (w/o Computer Science) and that is my safety right now. But do you think there’s more than a very low chance that I’ll be rejected? If that is the case, I should look at more safeties. I can relax a lot of my restrictions though for my safety schools. But I really do not want to go anywhere South. </p>
<p>Take a look at other Washington public schools to see if they are affordable and offer the academic programs that you want. I.e. relax the restriction of “UW is the only acceptable in-state school”. Also, avoiding all schools in the south eliminates many of the large automatic merit scholarship schools.</p>
<p>You should really start running net price calculators at various schools to get an idea of whether you have a chance at schools with good need-based financial aid, or whether you need to design your application list aiming for merit scholarships.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus Hm, it looks like a lot of the other majors I’m interested in (Applied and Computational Mathematical Sciences, Biochemistry, Chemistry, etc.) are all competitive. Sorry, I am pretty ignorant when it comes to actually applying. Am I not allowed to apply to UW without declaring (is that the right word in this case?) a major? My brother applied to ONE school this past year and that was UW (with lower stats also). I’m fairly certain he didn’t really know what he wanted to do. </p>
<p>I’ll definitely look at other WA schools and try to have more of an open mind. Both my older siblings are/will be attending UW so if I were to stay in-state, that would be most convenient though. I can probably come to really like a school if I tried, so as long as I don’t have to do any supplementary essays or pay a huge application fee for my safeties, I’ll be okay.</p>
<p>You can matriculate to UW as an undeclared student, but you will later have to face a competitive admission process to enter those majors where admission is competitive. I.e. you may get into UW easily, but you may have difficulty getting into the CS major later. Still, you can apply to UW as a CS major and hope for direct admission to the major, in which case you can matriculate without worrying about having to get into the CS major later. But there is the possibility of being admitted to UW without being directly admitted to the CS major, in which case if you matriculate, you will have to go through the CS competitive admissions process later.</p>
<p>Have your older siblings had trouble getting into desired majors at UW, or do they have high (enough) GPAs and/or are choosing open majors and/or were directly admitted to their majors as frosh?</p>
<p>Apply to Case Western Reserve. Potentially good merit aid; no extra essay, on the CommonApp… so, it’s quite painless. (and it’s in Ohio, not in the South :p)</p>
(and it’s in Ohio, not in the South :p)</p>