Northeast Matches and Safeties

College Search & Selection
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I’ve posted before, but I thought I’d post again with some updates and a particular request for matches and safeties.

I’m a current high school junior from Maine who would like to stay in the northeast for college.

GPA: 4.0 (unweighted)
SAT: 1550 (Math: 790, Reading: 760, Essay: all 8s), scores incoming for Math II and Latin subject tests
APs: 5 on the AP US exam, have taken the Euro, English Lang and Comp, Physics 1, and Calculus BC exams (waiting for scores), will take the Comp Sci, Physics 2, Chemistry, Latin, and Music Theory exams next year.

Activities: High school concert band and jazz band for 4 years, freshman class president, student council representative for three years (treasurer senior year), FIRST Robotics for 4 years, including Lead Programmer sophomore year on, Model UN for three years, Math Team for three years, NHS, track and cross-country freshman year, three years on a statewide youth ministry leadership and planning committee, and extensive volunteering at my church. I took Calc 1 and Calc 2 (due to a scheduling conflict) at a local college this year (4.0 GPA), and plan to take Calc 3 and Linear Algebra next year.

I am very interested in math/science fields, but I also love history, Latin, and writing, so I want a chance to either double major or take a variety of classes. I visited a wide range of schools over April break. I absolutely loved Brown: the campus setting is a perfect mix of isolated campus and urban environment and the open curriculum is awesome. Harvard, on the other hand, seemed full of tourists and very bustling. I was ambivalent toward Tufts, in part because the tour guide was annoying, and in part because of its location. Northeastern surprised me. Even though it was right in the city, there was definitely a cohesive campus feel, and the concept of co-ops is intriguing, if a little counter to my desire to take a variety of classes in a more liberal arts setting. I also liked Colby and could see myself going there, but part of me would like to branch out to a more populated area, having grown up in a small-ish town.

Financially, my family is fairly well off, but we definitely need aid (schools that meet full demonstrated aid are good, as are generous merit schools).

For reaches, I’m definitely looking at some Ivies and the selective LACs. What do you think for matches and safeties?

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bump

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You’re going to have to be more specific about how much money your parents are willing to pay. This will be critical since many of the schools you have listed do not offer merit aid. Have you run NPCs for your reach schools, the ives and LACs your are interested in? If your household income is too high to receive much financial aid from them you will definitely need to focus on schools that give merit aid.

If you are female, consider Smith and Mt Holyoke. A few other ideas for less reachy schools in the Northeast that offer merit aid include Clark, Wheaton (Norton, MA), Fordham, UVM, Skidmore (though can be very competitive for merit aid and is more selective lately), maybe Union. If you are willing to look farther south there are a number of excellent schools in Pennsylvania that offer decent merit aid including Dickinson, Bucknell, Gettysburg, Lafeyette and many more.

It’s pretty hard for us to identify matches and safeties for you. A true match is supposedly a place where your chances are 50/50. A true safety is somewhere you can easily get in, can definitely afford, and are willing to attend. Look at the recent Common Data Sets for schools that interest you. There you will find mid range test scores, number of applicants, acceptance rates, even a breakdown of financial aid awarded (both need based and merit if offered). This will give you a ball park idea of how you compare to the rest of the applicant pool. If your school uses Naviance it can be helpful as well since it specifically tracks results from your high school.

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Your stats seem like a good match for Tufts and Northeastern. Brown is a reach for everyone but if you love it there, keep it on your list and keep your fingers crossed. Have you considered Bowdoin, Middlebury, Bates, Vassar? All matches for your stats. If you want to be in a more populated area, Trinity in Hartford? Check out some of the PA schools like Bucknell as well.

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“Fairly well off” but “definitely need aid”? You need to discuss with your parents what that means. How much are they actually able and willing to pay for your college? That answer will help direct you to schools with the appropriate net cost. Academically you qualify for any school you want. You need to separate which ones are affordable.

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Schools that meet full demonstrated aid will be manageable if I take some loans (like $10,000 a year, based on net price calculators), but obviously no debt is optimal.

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So are your parents willing to cosign private loans then?

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Keep in mind that full demonstrated need is the school’s definition, not yours. Also, for most schools, the bulk of financial aid is in the form of loans. Loans are not aid. They’re just kicking the can down the road.

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Find out from your parents (actually discuss, not assume) how much they are willing to pay without borrowing. Then you can compare net costs and determine which schools require borrowing (and how much), and decide if those schools are worth it.

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Financially, my family is fairly well off, but we definitely need aid (schools that meet full demonstrated aid are good, as are generous merit schools).
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How much will your parents pay each year?

You need to be concerned with “net cost” after merit, since it sounds like you won’t qualify for need based aid. You can’t combine need-based with merit to cover parents’ EFC.

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EFC is probably between $15,000 and $25,000,
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that sounds like a BAD GUESS if your family is “fairly well off”. What is the family gross income? Any savings/assets/ home equity?

Fairly well-off folks generally have EFCs of $40k or more

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Also want to point out that the FAFSA EFC and what the school expects you to pay (even at schools that meet demonstrated need) will almost definitely be different. I’m attending Brown, which is 100% need met—our EFC on the FAFSA was $4400, but the total we’re expected to shell put per year by the school is $9300.

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Ok. So maybe fairly well off wasn’t the right choice of words—middle class is more like it. I’m pretty sure EFC is $15,000 or so, and annual income is a bit over 100k.

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Howard and Temple - safeties

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Why is someone suggesting Howard?

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^ Because they offer good merit aid to high stats students and the OP could definitely get in.