This might not be the right place to post, but here goes…
My senior daughter has a list of mostly safeties and matches (a couple reaches, but they aren’t super reachy). Essays are written, everything is ready to go for Nov EA schools. A couple are Dec 1 or Jan 1.
But she wants to make sure we’ve covered all the bases and didn’t miss a school that might be a good fit.
Stats:
Top public high school (2000 kids)
Does not rank but she would be maybe top 10-20%
GPA 3.86/4.0
ACT 30 (31 super score)
Strong ECs and Recs
Her list has all size schools, and she is open to all, but the sweet spot is 4,000-10,000. Mostly suburban/small town or urban. No rural.
Undecided, but has talked about psychology, sustainability/environmental policy, global health, and even pre-med etc. Yes, she is all over the place. But she knows that grad school is most likely in the picture, and she also would combine some of these with a business minor. So I would like the school to have some sort of business program, or if a liberal arts school, at least management type classes.
Open to any region, although we are Midwest and I prefer she stay within an 8 hour drive of southern MI. She would go far, and I will consider it. She is laid back, wants good academics but also collaboration and “happy students”.
I would love to play the merit game and go for schools where she is in the top 25% and they give merit. She is a bit hung up on name recognition, but gets that it is not the only thing that makes a school great. Would like to keep tuition /room/board under $40k, but realize that is tough if we go for higher ranked schools. We won’t qualify for FA.
Any ideas? I want to get the thoughts of you experts before I mention any schools on her list!
I remember reading here that many Jesuit schools fall into that size you mention 4-10k, If that interests you let people here know and you’ll get recs.
Beloit has, oh, 40-50k population and is under an hour from Madison, about 90 minutes from downtown Chicago and a healthy hour from Milwaukee.
Lawrence is in Appleton, which is in the Fox River Valley – basically a string of suburb-sized small cities. Close to Green Bay. Not too far from Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago.
She may get merit at both. (worth a shot)
UW-Madison (big but right at or under $40k, tons of majors, very good rep, very fun atmosphere/vibe)
Kalamazoo (MI) & Earlham (IN) – $55k but with merit, who knows?
IU and Purdue in Indiana – also fairly low OOS cost
Pitt – ~$45k OOS CoA
West Virginia U – under $40k CoA
U of Kentucky
Marquette U – ~$52k CoA, merit possible
Cornell College (IA), Gustavus Adolphus (MN), Luther College (IA), Knox and Wabash are additional quality LACs around $50k CoA. Merit could bring them down. Small towns, but pretty close to cities.
And, of course, U of Michigan and MSU.
The bigger schools miss on size but are fun and affordable, have a slew of majors, and everyone has heard of them.
The smaller schools give you the small private school advantages and could become affordable with merit.
Denison
Miami Ohio
Butler
All on the list. Kzoo should be but she wasn’t super thrilled with it.
I did not think she would be competitive at Case with a 30 ACT. I will look at that one again.
UMICH and UW Madison on the list, both (sadly) reaches with the 30. But worth a shot for sure.
IU a match/safety and on list. I know less about Purdue and will take a look. She loves the city of Pittsburgh, so she thinks she loves the school. I hope it’s a match.
I did not think of Beloit, but will check it out.
Jesuit/Catholic schools are fine.
Thanks!
Ah – one more big school with fairly affordable OOS tuition: U of Minnesota. A bit of a hike from Michigan, but at least it’s still in the Midwest and a good school in a vibrant city.
I think they are still under $40k per year for OOS students
UW, Michigan and Minnesota are all outstanding in Psych and most other majors. Pretty much any avenue she pursued at those three would be top-shelf.
IU is known for its Humanities and Soc Sci/Business and Purdue obviously for STEM.
Tulane is in HER preferred geographic range, lol. On her list but I’ve cautioned her that this is a big reach, both test score wise and financially. Does anyone have insight on if they are more holistic in admissions? Or focused more on test scores?
They are holistic and extremely heavy on demonstrated interest. That doesn’t mean you have to make a trip to the campus if that is not practical, but she should show interest in other ways - by attending a local presentation, following their social media, and above all by writing an essay that clearly shows she has done her research and has specific reasons for wanting to attend. Applying EA is also helpful. They do offer merit and there are a couple of scholarships she can apply for that would also show interest (the scholarship applications are pretty involved, however.)
University of Puget Sound Lewis and Clark-both smaller but in urban areas or near urban areas, College of Wooster a bit bigger, town has an urban feel. Gonzaga (Catholic).
Duquesne, Xavier, Dayton? All Catholic and she should get enough merit at the first two to come in around $33,000 (Dayton may be closer to $40,000). Very good business programs.
Tulane of course, retake the ACT’s and try to get the score up. Same for William and Mary.
U Vermont & James Madison (JMU) might be good lower cost options.