<p>I am going into my senior year and need some help refining my college list (found below). Please suggest any schools that don't seem to fit with the others or my profile. Also, if you have something good to say about particular schools, please let me know, as it's helpful in crafting my final list. I'm trying to get it down to 9 colleges.</p>
<p>==My Profile
GPA: 3.95 in rigorous courseload
SAT I: 800 CR, 800 M, 760 W
SAT II: 800 Literature, 800 Math 2, 770 US History
Extracurriculars:
debate (awards, leadership)
own a web development company
started a private equity fund with over 5 investors and >30,000 under management
student council, etc. (the usual)</p>
<p>==My Criteria
I want to go to a school with similarly talented peers, so it should be relatively selective. I also want a smaller school, with less than 10,000 students. I also don't want to go to a school in the south. Also, having good teaching is important to me, so the colleges on my list should emphasize undergraduates.</p>
<p>==My List
1. Amherst College
2. Bates College
3. Bowdoin College
4. Brown University
5. Claremont McKenna College
6. Dartmouth College
7. Deep Springs College
8. Hamilton College
9. Haverford College
10. Middlebury College
11. New York University - Abu Dhabi
12. Pomona College
13. Princeton University
14. Swarthmore College
15. Tufts University
16. Union College
17. Wesleyan University
18. Williams College</p>
<p>What about money? Can your family afford these over $50,000/year schools?
have you calculated an EFC at one of the online calculators? the expected family contribution. Many families are shocked when they see their EFC & will usually have to pay above their EFC as the colleges did not meet 100% need or the FA office will adjust the numbers. </p>
<p>Forget about NYU, all they will offer is a bunch of loans, just cross that one off if you have an EFC of under $5,000.00. NYU is absolutely terrible with financial aid.</p>
<p>I believe you’re referring to NYU proper. From what I’ve heard, the Abu Dhabi program offers significantly better aid (I know a couple students going there), thanks to substantial area donations.</p>
<p>You do not seem to have any safety schools on your list. While you are a good candidate for many of these schools, your chances of getting accepted cannot be guaranteed so I suggest you come up with some realistic safety/match schools. In my d’s high school, any guidance counselor would insist on this from the initial meeting.</p>
<p>bookmama, do you have any suggestions for safeties?</p>
<p>I actually brought it up with my GC and he said that I’m probably a strong enough candidate that some of these (ex. Middlebury) should be relatively safe.</p>
<p>Ok I don’t know how much this helps, but if you want emphasis on undergrads, Princeton has ~5000 undergrads and only ~2000 postgrads (rough estimates but you can research it). More importantly, they have an excellent financial aid program and they’re finally starting to give away more money (they could pretty much give free tuition and still make money if they wanted to do so). For the last six or seven years, every graduating class has graduated with no debt. If you get in, they should take care of you. Of course, the hardest part is getting in first.</p>
<p>Maybe they don’t all graduate “debt free”, but every graduating class since the class of '05 has received only grants, no loans. The president started the new financial aid program when she came to the school in 2001. They’re also “need blind” but a lot of schools seem to be doing that.</p>
<p>You have an attractive and interesting profile–great stats and impressive personal achievements. Congrats!</p>
<p>With that said, and with deference to the advice of your counselor, who certainly has a much better picture of you than we do, I think it would be risky to treat Middlebury and the majority on your list as “relatively safe.” Thousands of applicants meet the qualifications of the top, most competitive schools in our country; by sheer math, not all can be given an offer. So it’s never about you. It simply comes down to the fact that each school is building a community based on current needs and wishes, and for whatever reason, you may not fit their needs and wishes as they build the class of 2012/2016.</p>
<p>Because you need money, I suggest you spend some time on the Financial Aid forum reading the stickies and various threads re: merit awards and financial aid. There are some very knowledgeable folks over there who will give you some great assistance re: strategic placement of apps to maximize your choices <em>with money</em> at the end. </p>
Really? The “expected family contribution” doesn’t measure what they will be expected to pay? Princeton, for example, must be quite dishonest if that’s exactly what they say on their calculators…</p>
<p>
My share is worth $2,000, which has appropriately been factored into EFC calculations.</p>
<p>
You are probably right, and I’ll be discussing this more in the fall. However, do keep in mind that I go to a very competitive school, so he is very used to elite college applications (~20% of the class goes Ivy+ every year) and probably has a fairly good idea. Still, I’ll be certain to apply across a spectrum of sensitivities. Though some suggestions for safeties would be helpful! :)</p>
Okay, I’m sorry to have used the proper terminology. According to the formula used by Princeton, I would have a very low EFC.</p>
<p>
What would this be? A state university? Or somewhere else? There’s not really anywhere we could afford without any financial aid, and I have very little interest in going to a state university.</p>
<p>My son who graduated from Williams considered most of the colleges on your list. Aside from NYU Abu Dhabi it seems cohesive. Quite a range across the political spectrum, though, which may or may not be okay for you. </p>
<p>My guess is that Union would be a safety for you, but my information may not be up to date. In that event, keep looking until you find a small-to-medium school that qualifies as a true safety. Although it’s likely that you’ll be admitted to several of the schools on your list, these are mostly highly selectives. Weird things happen and it’s a long time from December to April. You don’t want the stress. Maybe try to add a school with EA?</p>
Thanks. Glad to see it mostly makes sense. As for politics, I’m open to any sort of environment, and can thrive with people who have both very similar and very different views. (I’ve been to schools with each case.)</p>
<p>
Yea, I definitely want to find some good safeties. I plan to apply to Princeton EA.</p>
<p>Yale. Pretty much an LAC at heart, but bigger (around 6k undergrads). Similar to Princeton in undergrad focus.</p>
<p>It does have many more grad students than Princeton, but less grad students does not necessarily mean better undergrad focus. Undergrads dominate the resources and attention at Yale, by far.</p>