Hi, I’m just a stressed out senior, haha. So far I’m applying to eight schools, which are: Yale SCEA, Columbia, UPenn, Boston U, Northeastern, Brandeis, NYU, and Hofstra. I live in Long Island, NY and I want to stay in between Boston and Washington DC. One of the main things in my search for colleges is non “middle of nowhere” schools. I love nature and all that but I need for there to be stuff to do, so I’m mostly looking at schools in or near cities. I feel like I should apply to one or two more schools that are gonna give me merit aid (I don’t qualify for financial aid) and one or two more schools that are highly ranked but non Ivy League (so that it could be a bit more within my reach). Here’s some of my stats by the way!
I’m the salutatorian of a very competitive public school in LI. Thing is, it’s highly ranked, but there are other schools in the area that are EVEN BETTER so they tend to send more kids to highly ranked schools than our school.
I have a 100.5 weighted GPA.
My highest ACT composite is a 34, 35 superscored.
I’ve taken the hardest courses offered (so lots of AP’s, haha).
700 SAT bio (from ninth grade), 770 world history and 800 U.S history.
As for extracurriculars, I do every kind of creating and performing art with the exception of visual art and dance. I have leadership roles, community service but not a huge amount, and my few awards include national merit commended student and national Spanish exam gold medal for three consecutive years. Also AP scholar with honor but that’s like eh. Thanks for your responses!
I’m also considering applying to Tufts, Georgetown, and Macaulay Honors but I’m not sure if I am yet.
Highly ranked but meeting your geography requirements: Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Haverford, Wesleyan, Wellesley.
Places you might get Merit Aid in the same area: Muhlenberg, Lafayette, Trinity, Franklin & Marshall, Sarah Lawrence.
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
How much merit do you need? In other words what is your budget?
You will probably get merit from Hofstra, your safety.
@nw2this I don’t really NEED merit, but I’d like to have that as an option if I want to save my parents some money.
You have all these great schools on your list and then Hofstra. You may want to find some middle of the road schools that aren’t as compettive to get into, but far better than Hofstra.
I like your list a lot. Tufts and Georgetown are also excellent. I’d also suggest University of Rochester and perhaps University of Wisconsin-Madison as a safety (large urban public). What about Cornell? It’s kind of “in the middle of nowhere” but there is a critical mass of 22,000 students there so you won’t feel isolated at all. What would you like to study?
If you’re applying to Yale SCEA, why not UChicago regular decision. It’s an urban elite private school that is an unqualified academic peer of Yale.
I can’t imagine you not getting into Northeastern and really can’t see you not getting merit aid there (maybe only $15,000 or so though), so I’d suggest getting rid of Hofstra. If Northeastern with a $15,000-25,000 scholarship is well within your family’s financial limit, then you don’t need other merit schools. Otherwise, I’d consider adding SUNY Stony Brook or Binghamton (if you’d like to get away from Long Island). They’re still better reputed than Hofstra. I’d say you’re in the running for merit at Brandeis as well.
If you still need more merit-friendly schools with strong academics, I’d look at
Tufts, Boston College, CUNY
@citymama9 thank you for your input! I already applied to Hofstra, as I used it primarily as an emergency commuting school, in case there is a family emergency. This has happened before, and I know I wouldn’t want to be far if God forbid something happened.
@frontpage thank you so much for your response!! It’s really helpful.
I’m applying to schools with intended majors International Relations and English. I’m much more of a humanities person, and I love history and poly sci and literature and languages. I’m not sure exactly what career I want yet, possibly law, something in the government, or journalism. So yeah, no STEM for me. My thing with Cornell is that it’s in the middle of nowhere, I’ve heard that it’s very tense there, and about half the kids in my AP classes end up going there, haha.
Do you know anything about Brown? I haven’t visited so I’ve based my judgment solely on what people have said. I really don’t want a school that’s overwhelmingly liberal.
I’m also worried I won’t get merit from Northeastern because I applied RD and not EA.
@rebecca12345
I wouldn’t worry too much about that. EA has advantages but most schools expect lots of RD applications as well and don’t allocate all their aid and scholarships (LOL!) to EA students. Northeastern is looking to improve their prestige nationally and I think they would give out a fair amount of merit to attract a strong student like you.
To odannyboySF: Franklin & Marshall College doesn’t give merit aid anymore. It’s trying to climb the prestige ladder and join the club of the higher ranked national liberal arts colleges (and Ivies) which don’t offer merit aid.