I have twins – my D19 is all of a sudden getting cold feet about going “too far” from home for college. Half of the schools on her list are a plane ride away and we have visited many of them. Every time now when I mention working on her essays/applications she starts to cry. I am now trying to perhaps add a few schools to her list that are driveable. We are in Metro NY area. Here are basic stats:
GPA 4.3W/3.98UW - all As and just one B+; school doesn’t rank but I’d say she is in top 25 students out of 450
ACT: 35C in one sitting (36E, 34M, 36R, 35S)
7APs by the time she graduates - her school only allows APs starting in junior year
Interests are in science (biology), psychology, exercise science, health
ECs
Not going into them all but strong ECs
cross country/track teams all thru high school
Assistant coach for youth track team
Editor of school paper
Camp counselor
Volunteer/tutor - works with special needs kids playing soccer and tutors kids from lower income families
LOR
Will be strong - AP Bio and Honors English teachers plus journalism teacher that shows another side of her
Says she wants Medium-Big schools with lots of activitities/opportunities that are easy to get involved in
Wants big school spirit; sense of pride
Does not want small liberal arts colleges
Does not want to be in big city but wants smaller city/town or access to get somewhere – nothing rural
No hooks
Her list so far
Wash U in St Louis (visited and interviewed )
University of Michigan (legacy)
University of Wisconsin (visited)
Tulane (visited)
UNC Chapel Hill
University of Maryland (safety)
Syracuse (safety)
University of Rochester
UCLA
Tufts (going to visit next weekend)
Can anyone recommend some other schools that we should consider that her in Northeast/MidAtlantic)?
We ruled out UVA and William and Mary - just don’t seem like the right place for her.
We visited Lehigh - should have mentioned that. She didn’t really care for the school - the way it was built into a mountain - she felt it was too small/closed in for her.
What can you afford to pay? No financial aid and minimal merit aid at the UC’s for out of state students. Have you run the NPC’s for each school? While Tufts is classified as “suburban” it is in fact in a very urban area, same for Tulane.
We are full pay - that being said, merit at any school will be nice. However, we will not qualify for any financial aid. We visited Tulane and while technically in a city - it has its own distinct campus, green space and is far from the center/touristy area of New Orleans. She is OK with that kind of “city” school.
University of Pittsburgh: She would receive merit, it’s urban but not NYC urban, with rolling admission which is a huge perk. Have you looked at Villa Nova and Boston College -both suburban schools with easy access to the city.
She may like the University of Delaware… and would very likely make the honors program. I was going to say UConn but then remembered that it’s rural. Another one would be UMass Amherst… she would likely make honors.
@twogirls Thank you - - Delaware was on her initial list and I think that we will add that back on. I think it has Jan 15th applicaton date so we have some time to perhaps visit and write some thoughtful essays! She did visit Binghamton and did not care for it.
@twocollegekids thank you – we had Pitt on her initial list too! She thought maybe too urban though we have not visited so I think maybe we should take a look. As for BC/Villanova, the religious bent is not a fit for us
Pitt is a great school… it’s urban… but there is a campus and it’s not like NYC urban. The drive from NYC and the surrounding suburbs is not easy… it’s a 7 ± hour drive, depending.
D1 thought she only wanted urban school and Columbia was her ED school. She ended up at Cornell and loved her 4 years there. Most people think Cornell is rural, but it is in a really nice college town. It has a lot of good restaurants and Syracuse is close by.
She has very good stats. I would put many top 20 schools on her list. If she is considering Michigan, why not NU or Chicago. What about all of those great schools in Boston? Princeton?
Not sure why she would consider out of state public schools if she is a full pay.
I wonder if your D consider a 4-6 hr drive closer than 1-2 hr flight.
Does she equate school pride with enthusiasm for sports teams?
In that case, Syracuse seems like a good choice, as would UConn.
I checked out a couple of “top schools for school pride” lists, and it is was interesting to see that most are not within driving distance of suburban NYC.
@fendrock – yes, I think she does equate school pride with enthusiasm for sports teams though I am trying to see if I can get her to think a bit differently. Tufts doesn’t really fit that bill but I am trying to add some schools to her list that are driveable. It is hard to find med/large schools in the 'area" with school pride, sports etc. Thank you for your input!
UNC… an OOS public… will meet full need based on the FAFSA EFC… but will require the profile for the first year. With two in college… that might get them some aid ( emphasis on “might” as we don’t know the financial details). Maryland may give a little merit.