Needing a bit of advice as to which schools to apply to...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, so I'm class of 2013 and obviously starting the college admissions process. The problem is that I'm really unsure as to where to apply to. I know there's a wealth of information out there but that's the problem really, there's just too much to sift through and I have found myself jumping from college to college and now I don't really have a list of schools. </p>

<p>I live in Atlanta, Ga and am looking for a school somewhere on the east coast / southeast. Just not west coast, southwest, etc. I don't have the best knowledge of colleges and I find myself kind of going off what others tell me. Basically I just need some advice on which schools may be a good fit for me. </p>

<p>My few certainties are UGA, which I'm applying ED to as a back up school,Tulane. That's really it. I'd say I have pretty good stats, briefly: 33 act, rigorous (but not all AP schedule), ranked in top 5% out of 430+ at a very competitive public high school, uhh pretty good EC's and sports, community service, 800 USH SAT II, </p>

<p>I'm not entirely sure of a major, although I'm interested in environmental policies, maybe environmental engineering, etc. Also linguistics/audiology or some sort of psych major is a definite possibility. </p>

<p>I'm upper middle class so I'm really looking for schools that will provide merit based aid and pretty generous ones at that. This is because UGA would be only about 9k a year and it's hard to turn that down, especially with a sister who will be starting college in 2 years.</p>

<p>What are some universities you know of that generally offer good financial aid based on merit? I'm looking for a somewhat selective school that's not super sized. I just need some ideas here because I'm really lost and feel like I'm missing out on a lot of opportunities just because I can't think of schools off the top of my head since I'm so unfamiliar with US colleges. I know I've been pretty cryptic but any suggestion would help! thanks</p>

<p>Also I need at least 1 or 2 schools to apply to ED that's not binding, if that's even a real thing..haha</p>

2

<p>Typically, ED or Early Decision means that you commit to attend if accepted early; it is only appropriate for a school that is your clear first choice regardless of what financial aid or scholarships it or other schools offer. EA or Early Action refers to the school evaluating your application early (though you could be deferred to the regular round) without you needing to commit to attend; if accepted with enough financial aid and/or scholarships, that school becomes a safety.</p>

3

<p>Gotcha! thanks for clarifying :)</p>

4

<p>This is what the search engines are for - try the one on CC and see which colleges come up. And check out the threads on schools that offer good financial aid - there are a number of them on here. Some of those are bound to be worth further exploration.</p>

5

<p>What is your GPA (unweighted)?</p>

6

<p>my weighted GPA: 4.4
unweighted: 4.0
I took 2 AP’s junior year (USH & psych, 5s on both) and am taking 5 this year. I know that’s not as impressive as many other students but my courseload was still very difficult. I took 6 academic classes this year, forgoing a lunch to take a yearbook class so in actuality it was 7</p>

<p>My goal in posting on here was to find out from you all about any schools I may be overlooking because they just aren’t as widely known. Also, if you’ve ever had a personal experience with the school and know that for example, this school gives great merit based aid to those who would never qualify for any need based at all, then I’d really like to hear about it. I know many schools do so yet don’t advertise it so openly for obvious reasons.</p>

7

<p>S2 with similar stats to yours…applied fairly early to tulane and got merit aid of 25K 2 years ago, at that time it still left about 25K out of pocket per year as we didnt qualify for any need based aid.</p>

8

<p>Here’s a list of schools with automatic merit scholarships based on stats only. You would qualify for many of these:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14675705-post98.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14675705-post98.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You would be a good candidate for merit aid at many of these schools:
<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/[/url]”>http://www.ctcl.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>What was your PSAT score?</p>

9

<p>thanks to everyone who has replied, and thanks for the links. I’m sorry to hear about Tulane…25k per year is definitely too much for undergrad in my opinion and Tulane was a definite good fit for me…hmm. </p>

<p>And psat I think 192 so nothing special</p>

10

<p>sofiyatr…check out bobwallace’s post…as i said S2 had similar stats and in most cases with careful selection was able to get full tuition with merit aid at those that he applied to…but that still left quite a chunk in some cases…sometimes you need to look a little lower in the rankings go get more. rankings arent everything.</p>

11

<p>another thread that is good: maybe cross reference against automatic scholarships</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1294383-less-expensive-list-price-less-obvious-schools-attract-good-students.html?highlight=uab[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1294383-less-expensive-list-price-less-obvious-schools-attract-good-students.html?highlight=uab&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

12

<p>As it’s been said, ED is binding. EA (early action) is the non-binding one. Though EA can sometimes be REA (restricted early action) which limits the number of schools you can apply to early. </p>

<p>If you apply ED it should be to your absolute certain top choice school that also will work financially.</p>

13

<p>Oh goodness, I feel your pain. I’m in the same boat as you right now. I have no idea at all where to go or what to do, it’s driving me insane!</p>