I am a junior from Michigan getting ready to fill out college apps. I would like to know what others think about my list.
I am looking to major in something business related.
GPA: UW: 3.92 W: 4.06 (my school only weights APs)
List of AP classes taken/taking/will take
AP US History 5
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
AP Stats
AP Calc AB (senior year)
AP Spanish (senior year)
ACT: 33 (E 34, S 34, M 33, R 31)
SAT US HISTORY subject test: 740
ECs:
Student Congress fresh-senior years (Chair of school improvements and co-chair of student fundraising for Make A Wish, conference Rep)
Key Club fresh-junior years
Unified Sports (help disabled kids play sports) fresh-sophomore year
Tennis (varsity starting sophomore year)
Golf (varsity starting sophomore year) Voted most improved sophomore year (hopefully captain senior year)
National Honors society junior and senior year
300+ hours of community service
Attended the state leadership conference 3 years and attended the summer leadership camp this past year
I was a counselor at a camp for kids with Muscular Dystrophy for a week last summer. (7 days/overnight camp)
School List:
University of Michigan Ann Arbor (instate)
University of Wisconsin
University of California Berkeley
Indiana University
University of South Carolina
University of North Carolina
University of Florida
Florida State University
Thanks!
In general, I (with ties to Midwest and FL) would think you would get into UM, UW, IU and both FL schools with your GPA and ACT scores, with Indiana and FSU being more safety schools. All of these seem attainable for you, though, but I don’t know much about the others or the reputation for business majors. UM has received so many good reviews lately, but I don’t know about it’s in-state tuition. UW is also a really good school, but they may not give much $ to OOS students. Florida is also a great school, but again, not much $ for OOS. FSU on the surface may not seem as prestigious academically as the others, but I was impressed when I dug deeper. It also offers OOS waivers, and you would probably qualify based on GPA/ACT. You don’t mention scholarship needs, but there seemed to be a thread not too long ago that listed colleges and potential grants for students with 33 ACT scores. Recent ratings suggest that UNC is good for OOS.
So, you are looking for a large public university with solid academics (as is my son). Some other things you may want to think about: if there is a limit of AP credit accepted and how it is accepted (actual credit, adv placement, both or not recommended in areas of your major), possibility of getting into honors programs, potential cost difference in room & board (his choices ranged from $9500-$16,000???), how many gen eds are required for your potential major, physical size of campus (his ranged from 350 acres to 1800 acres, so quite a difference even for large enrollments) and whether your classes will be concentrated in one area or scattered.
Some non-academic things we checked out were % students living on-campus, recommendations for freshman having cars, % students with cars, ease of bus system, ease of travel home, and student discounts for sporting events. The Florida campuses are beautiful, as was University of Georgia. You should check UGA out, as their business program seemed to have some interesting activities (our tour guide was a business major), and everyone was very personable.
University of Michigan Ann Arbor (reach if you apply to ross, closer to target if applying to L&S)
University of Wisconsin target
University of California Berkeley reach
Indiana University safety
University of South Carolina safety
University of North Carolina reach
University of Florida target
Florida State University safety
Just my opinion (and worth at least twice what you paid for it):
I think that the University of Michigan is a really great choice, and a likely match. Since you are in-state it is likely to be much more affordable than others. Definitely go ahead and apply to others. However, you are a very strong student, this is a very strong school.
The only one on your list which is higher ranked (UC Berkeley) is going to be a lot more expensive unless you get a great scholarship (which you might get). Given how strong Michigan is, Berkeley is not worth spending significantly more money than Michigan.
You have a lot of other very good universities on your list. Personally I wouldn’t choose any of them over Michigan. If Berkeley gives you a great scholarship, then I wouldn’t choose any of the others over Berkeley either.
I might add another in-state university as a safety.
quote is going to be a lot more expensive unless you get a great scholarship (which you might get).
[/quote]
The UC’s do not provide any aid to non-residents. NONE. They are public universities funded by the State of California. California cannot afford to fund non-residents.
That means no scholarships, grants, anything.
Any federal dollars that you are eligible for would be available, but they do not begin to cover the larger part of the tuition, fees, room and board. ($62K per year)
The UC’s do have a Regents Scholarship but your ACT/GPA are very average when compared to current applicants. This grant would not be enough to cover the cost of attendance.
I haven’t read through all of the posts, but I’m hoping that someone has told you that you need to get some private schools on your list rather than all out of state publics. Unless your family can afford full pay at these schools.
U chicago
U of Rochester
U of Richmond
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
Emory
Duke
Rice
etc.
^ Agreed.
If your family income is below ~$150K or so, then your net cost (after need-based aid) to attend a selective private school like URichmond may be competitive with your net costs to attend many OOS public universities. It may be significantly less than what you’d pay for one of the more expensive OOS public universities (like Berkeley).
Of course, financial aid depends on many factors besides family income (such as family size and assets) so you need to run the online net price calculators for any schools that interest you.
At any rate, Michigan-AA is the school to beat.
Reach: UCBerkeley, UNC & Safe- IU with FSU & USC likely safe but show them love, they could reject to protect yield. Everything else in the middle. Like someone said consider UGA as well. Apply early action for any school that has it. If costs matter it gets more complicated…
Most of these OOS public universities will be two to three times the cost of UMichigan with no discernible advantage. Express interest and work on your essays.
Indiana and usc Columbia would be good too, especially with usc’s topnotch honors college and Indiana Kelley.
RUN THE NPC on all of them.
Look into URichmond, Colgate, Middlebury, Penn Wharton, nyu stern, Amherst.
“The UC’s do not provide any aid to non-residents. NONE. They are public universities funded by the State of California. California cannot afford to fund non-residents.”
In that case while Berkeley is a great university, I don’t see any point in considering it over Michigan (assuming that the OP is at least as likely to get into Michigan).
How about Michigan State as a safety, or maybe an additional in-state match? I realize that a student has to be exceeding strong to call this a “safety”, but OP is.
I would just like everyone to know that I know many of these out of state institutions would cost much more, and that is something that I am definitely taking into consideration. I know schools like USC and FSU give great oos scholarships, and that is a main reason why those are viable options for me. I also believe they have good business schools. I am definitely considering them, as I have visited USC and it is my favorite so far.
Does anyone know if UNC gives any scholarships?
@DadTwoGirls I was interested in MSU for a while as it is instate, and I have visited. I did not love the campus, and many students from my high school go there. I would prefer out of state to instate, and I know that schools like USC and FSU, which are of similar caliber to MSU, give great scholarships that I would have a shot at. I toured USC and liked it much more than MSU, so I am not sure about MSU anymore.
And does UGA give scholarships?
It looks like you would qualify for many of the UGA scholarships, and most offer waiver of OOS portion of tuition. Some are for Georgia residents only.
https://www.admissions.uga.edu/prospective-students/tuition-fees/scholarships
UNC gives very little merit to OOS students.