<p>carolyn--do you know anything more specific about Clark--academic quality (outside the psychology major) and campus atmosphere?</p>
<p>Well, I live in Florida, but I want to GO to the NE/Mid-Atlantic, pretty much Boston, D.C., N.C. or nearby, i.e., Maryland, etc. Tulane I've looked at, and is pretty nice, but don't know about how strong politics could be with it so far removed from the mainstream politics. So yeah, NE/Mid-Atlantic would be good, I'm just so sick of Florida!!! heh</p>
<p>Any other ideas?</p>
<p>Actually, I do know a little bit about Clark. Clark is in Worcester. The neighborhood is not the prettiest. The campus is nice. They are supposed to be generous with aid. They have smaller class sizes which is wonderful. They're psychology department is very strong and I think they have a government major and it is supposed to be excellent as well.</p>
<p>Any medium-large good schools where I would be in the top 50-75% so I would get good merit aid in the northeast?</p>
<p>^ Above questions, I just don't feel as though 5 schools is enough, I need 6 for whatever reason, is Northeastern any good for me?</p>
<p>I do not know how NE is for poly sci, sorry. It is good for pharmacy, pt/ot, business, sciences, I think. It is a city school. The coop idea is fascinating. I would pick a true safety financially and academically that you can be happy with, and you might want to consider whether 10,000 merit aid out of a 35,000-42,000 pricetag will do it for you. You may really want to look into your Fla. state schools as financial safeties if you can live with that (should you have to). Lastly, I would check out College of Charleston and see if they have a poly sci major and investigate how it is. I have heard very nice things about that school in general, and it would be a little closer to home for you, but you are right that for poly sci there is nothing like being near Washington, D.C. I know nothing about this school, but since it is near where you want to be what about Catholic University? It just makes your 5,000 student minimum and it looks like it is somewhat generous with aid according to nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool.</p>
<p>Thanks, I really do want to get further away though, no closer than North Carolina, along the east coast. Charleston looks nice, but I don't think South Carolina's right for me, I've never liked it, and as for Catholic, I'm not sure, I always hear mixed reviews of it. However, definitely getting out of state, can't stand it here and don't want to even bother applying to a Florida state school, hence the want for a school that will give me good merit/need aid, but is also a strong school, Any other ideas?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>~Ben</p>
<p>Anyone else?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Your welcome, Ben. Good luck searching and if I can think of another school that meets your requirementsI will let you know.</p>
<p>Thanks again, anyone else out there have any more ideas?</p>
<p>Anyoooooooooooooooooooooone? lol</p>
<p>So, I guess not, hehe.</p>
<p>Ben....for your own sake, you really need to do a financial appraisal of what you can afford, and what you <em>realistically</em> are going to receive from the schools on your list.</p>
<p>Rog, I can't afford anything, I'm just going to be paying off loans....I really don't mind, just going to apply for PELL grants, and various other grants through the government that no one ever applies for because they don't know they're there, after that, I'll get need-aid from the colleges, and some merit-aid from some, and then take out loans, I'd rather pay back loans and go to the school of my choice than have to pay back only a tiny amount of loans and go to a school that I will not be happy at.</p>
<p>Ahhh...to be young and idealistic. Ben, be careful....you could end up 50 or even 100K in debt. And what about grad school? And how much to poly-sci majors make these days? What will your quality-of-life be like in this situation? Please.....just make sure you have one or two financial fall-backs.</p>
<p>Ben, I think rogracer is right. You want to pick a place that will be affordable, where you are going to get in, and where you can enjoy your undergraduate years.</p>
<p>I understand, but you guys have to realize, I cannot afford ANYTHING. It doesn't matter where I go, the ludicrous amount of loans that I will have to pay back will not change. 28,000 v. 40,000 a year, doesn't matter as I can pay like 1-2,000 of it.</p>
<p>I would think that you would then want to choose an instate college/university that gives you the instate tuition, and you might consider one that you could commute to if you need to. I know this is not what you want to hear, but you do not want to go too far into debt (you won't be happy with that either). You may be unhappy at the 40,000 school too bcs of all of the unknowns: ie: roomate issues. Apply to the $40,000 school and see what package you get, but apply instate so you have somewhere to go. There are kids that get into places that they feel they cannot go to bcs of financial considerations. I think you may need to be practical too.</p>
<p>There are no instate colleges that I can commute to(with the exception of FAU i.e, "Find Another University") and the only decent instate school is University of Florida, which I cannot stand, as it's in a swamp basically. I never have enjoyed Florida, and cannot wait to leave, roomate and other unknowns are non-issues for me, I love people, love meeting people and only know 2-3 people going to UF anyway, so it wouldn't really help anything. I'm looking into applying to University of Maryland - College Park since I can apply for residency after 6months-1year and get in-state price, which is very low, so I am considering my safety options, just not here in Florida.</p>