Hi, this is my first crack at this so be gentle if I’ve forgotten anything. My son is a rising senior and is having some difficulty with his college list. So I thought I’d reach out for opinions.
State of Residence: Tennessee
GPA 3.62 UW 3.76 W (Basically B+ student at competitive private school). School doesn’t rank.
Course rigor: Medium. Basically half of the APs available
Race: White male
ACT: 33 (one sitting)
SAT: 1300 (R+M) Taking again for sure.
Potential Majors: (Micro)biology. Possibly Computer Science. Definitely STEM interests.
Extracurriculars: Not much. 4 years XC and Track. Good deal of school required community service hours. Some club memberships. Not particularly outgoing. Not looking for an academically cutthroat environment.
College Stats:
Size is important to him. Wants medium “goldilocks” size ~5000 to ~13000. Not interested in small LACs at all (the term “liberal arts” makes him cringe ). Nor large state schools
Within roughly 7 hour drive from Nashville, TN.
Has decent basketball/football program.
He would like a college that has some national name recognition.
Costs: We as parents can pay approx $27000/yr. We will get no need based aid, but looking for solid merit aid.
Reach schools: Need help here. Vanderbilt, Tulane? Not sure we can afford these.
Matches: Based on SuperMatch et al, we’ve come up with these matches in no particular order:
Bradley University - visited and thought it was OK, nothing special
University of Dayton - visited and liked
Elon University - visited and liked
Saint Louis University - visited and liked
Miami (OH) - He felt was a little too big
Clemson - He felt was a too big
TCU - Like this a lot but concerned it is too far away
Baylor - Same feeling as TCU.
Safeties: Need help here.
State flagship UTK is much too big for his liking.
Any additions and/or comments appreciated. Thanks!
Maybe he doesn’t really understand what “Liberal Arts” means. Excluding them altogether really takes a lot of wonderful options off the table. Does he think people who attend LAC’s end up working as baristas or something?
You must have run the Net Price Calculators to be positive that you are not eligible for any financial aid? If your family AGI is below $200K for the wealthier private universities there will be some financial aid. Rose Hulman, Cooper Union, Franklin W.Olin will fit your financial objectives and provide strong academics given your son’s interests. They are not big schools but both Olin and Cooper Union are in major metropolitan areas. I think Grinnell, Kenyon and Davidson are very good schools but they are LAC’s. D is going to Notre Dame in the fall. It would fit all your criteria except cost. His UW GPA Is a bit low relative to his ACT score. Have you looked at his high school’s profile and where this puts him in terms of class rank?
@FrothyShake The schools you have as matches are actually safety schools. He is way up in the top 25% in those schools.
His GPA equates to an A/A- and his ACT score is the 99% percentile. He really doesn’t need to take any more tests.
The term Liberal Arts College means the school only teaches undergraduates.
Just for fun, run the financial aid calculator for Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Davidson, Washington & Lee and Boston College. When you do them don’t include IRAs, 401ks or any other retirement assets. This is a common mistake.
“The next great American scientists will not graduate from Harvard,” says Harold Wilde in TIME.
“Small classes, intense mentoring, and hands-on research make #LiberalArts colleges scientific breeding grounds.”
Thanks for the responses. Yes, when he hears “LAC” he thinks of a bunch of English and Philosophy majors discussing the meaning of life. Of course we know that’s not true. We’ve shown him a few good ones - Rhodes, Sewanee, etc. and will continue to do so. He just feels they are too small and also wants a bigger sports atmosphere. Who knows, he may change. I appreciate your takes though.
If that’s the case, then LACs have a serious public relations problem.
This is how universities typically compare to LACs in terms of their most popular majors:
Vanderbilt (from your list)
Economics
Social Sciences
Mult-/Interdisciplinary Studies
Political Science and Government
Mathematics
A top-20 LAC (USNWR)
Economics
Mathematics
Political Science and Government
Psychology
History
They’d really be hard to distinguish on this basis at least.
However, you did say you know the preconception is unfounded, @FrothyShake, so this is just a reinforcement of your own understanding.
More immediately pertinent to you, I’m not sure what your son’s SAT score is doing for his profile. His ACT has already given him a very strong standardized test result. An SAT retake seems like it would at best only approach the level of his ACT score.
Thanks for that info. Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t have even mentioned the LAC comment at all. It’s really not pertinent. If you want to suggest additional LACs that’s fine. I’d love to research them. But for him, he just wants something a bit larger so I’d prefer suggestions in OP size range.
Actually, because of his size preference (5K - 13K students), I don’t think a traditional LAC would appeal to him at this stage. Larger schools attract great numbers of applicants every year, and I’d hope most of those applicants have a clear undestanding regarding their own preferences. Though I’d also think a few students reach various schools as a result of incomplete understandings, so this is probably something worth being on guard against.
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Costs: We as parents can pay approx $27000/yr. We will get no need based aid, but looking for solid merit aid.
Reach schools: Need help here. Vanderbilt, Tulane? Not sure we can afford these.
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Well, if what you wrote is true, (can pay $27k, won’t get need based aid), then you clearly can’t afford Vandy (won’t get merit there), and merit at Tulane may or may not happen. I don’t know if Tulane would expect a higher UW GPA for merit. @fallenchemist may know, and would likely know amounts of merit for those stats, and if a net cost of $27k is possible.
What about UDayton? (may be more than 7 hours) He’d get a good bit of assured merit there. Look at their scholarship grid and see if the net cost would be about $27k. This last year, UDayton was awarding towards the top end of their ranges. We saw kids with lower stats getting the top range of merit. I could see your son getting the Trustee award. https://www.udayton.edu/apply/undergraduate/affordability.php
St. Louis Univ?
edited to add…I see that you already have those two…lol
The 7 hour limit and no big state schools plus wanting rah rah is limiting the choices.
Ole Miss is a smaller state school with big merit.
Tulane is definitely worth applying to and seems like a good fit overall. Very hard to guess on merit aid in his case but I will venture around $25K. If so, then you are at $52K and so are still about $13K short. But as someone else mentioned, apply for FA anyway. The worst that can happen is that you are right and get nothing. He should apply EA as soon as the applications are available. He could hear back as early as mid-October, including merit aid. At least then he would know something. If he decides to go that direction, PM me and I can provide some advice to maximize his application chances.
@Wje9164be - Not sure where he fits in his school’s profile. In class of 75 I would guess top 20%. He does better on standard tests that classroom performance. @mom2collegekids - No NMF, his PSAT was 200. He did like SLU and Dayton. Will visit again for overnight and prof meetings. If we took away the rah rah, what would you suggest? @fallenchemist - Thanks for your info. Tulane is intriguing.
Too bad on Vandy, we are double legacies and he loves it. I just don’t see it working out academically or financially.
What about Emory-- not sure if it’s a reach or high match. Of course, no rah, rah sports there but about the right size for him. I know they give some merit but maybe not enough to make it work financially.
TCU is a great school meeting many of his/your criteria. With his stats, he may get merit aid from 10-50% of tuition. T Depending upon where you live it’s 7-10 hours driving but the air travel is much faster – obviously. You should plan a visit.
). Nor large state schools