Please Suggest Schools in Texas, near TX

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I will be a senior next year in a duel enrollment, college/high school program. Most students apply as freshman to private schools, and transfers to public schools.</p>

<p>I don't have a class ranking and I'm not sure about my GPA. I spent high school bouncing around to many different schools, but here are my scores:</p>

<p>New SAT -
Critical Reading: 730
Writing: 650
Essay: 12
Math: 570</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure my GPA is about a 3.1, kind of low, the first two years were not good ones for me. I only have one honors course in History on my transcript. Math up to Algebra II, Physics, Chem and Biology - standard college prep.</p>

<p>Could someone give me my chances at schools in TX and perhaps give suggest other schools outside of TX? </p>

<p>Would I be eligible for any merit aid at schools in TX?</p>

<p>Schools I'm currently interested in:
Austin College
Southwestern University
Trinity University
Southern Methodist University
Texas Christian University</p>

<p>I'm not sure about the size of the school I want, I just know I don't want to attend a behometh like UT-Austin.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You could also look at:
Univ. of North Texas - Denton
UTD - Dallas
any number of other UT and A&M branch campuses
Letourneau - Longview
I wouldn't bet on merit aid with those scores and GPA.</p>

3

<p>Why would I not get merit aid anywhere?
I got a <em>perfect score</em> on the essay and a 730 Reading. That's nothing to sneeze at. </p>

<p>My first two years of high school I got A's and B's in math, history, and english, but C's in french and science brought down my GPA. Ditto my sophomore year. My junior year I recieved straight A's, and my senior year will be spent at a highly selective early college program.</p>

4

<p>You should be able to tell easily if you qualify for merit aid at Southwestern - check their scholarship calculator on their website.</p>

<p>What is your rank?</p>

<p>Edited to add: I just checked, and you need at least a 3.4 GPA to receive merit aid at Southwestern.</p>

5

<p>alw007,</p>

<p>You may want to check out sites that allow you to perform college searches based on criteria you are interested in. It sounds like size is an important one as is location.</p>

<p>Some sites where you can do this include:
<a href="http://www.Lunch-Money.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.Lunch-Money.com&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.Review.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.Review.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

6

<p>alw007,
How'd you do on the PSAT? If you make National Merit Finalist, you'll get half tuition plus $2,000 at SMU and full at North Texas and Baylor.</p>

7

<p>how about Rice...?</p>

8

<p>I was homeschooled during my Junior year and didn't take the PSAT - I don't think I have the grades for Rice, collegekid1988.</p>

9

<p>University of St. Thomas is a pretty good. It's a small catholic school in Houston, and it's strong in the sciences. Check it out, I think it's a good match for you.</p>

10

<p>"Why would I not get merit aid anywhere?
I got a <em>perfect score</em> on the essay and a 730 Reading. That's nothing to sneeze at."</p>

<p>Most of the merit aid will go to NMS Finalist, high SAT scores (2100+ at most schools), vals, etc. A single score isn't going to sway scholarship boards. You need a package of test scores, GPA, and something like leadership or great ECs. Merit money is relatively scarce. Need based money is more common. If you want to chase the money, go to fastweb and get started. Many require an essay, so you might do well.</p>

11

<p>How about St. Edwards? It's close to Austin and I have a friend going there in the fall.</p>

12

<p>There are many kids who are very happy at Texas Tech. It is not as huge as UT or A&M and you might have a shot at Honors there. It is in Lubbock, which has plusses and minuses. There is a Dad on this site (TexDad, I think) who has a son at Tech in Honors. Don't rule it out.</p>

13

<p>alw007 - I second the recommendation by MomofWildChild to consider Texas Tech. (I'll add a several other schools in a mment.) Before you say, "Lubbock, no way!", my son initially had the same reaction before we visited Tech. I asked him to hold his final judgement until we had a chance to visit Tech and Lubbock in general. The Tech campus will, I believe, sell itself. As to Lubbock, it is a city of 200,000 that is the hub for that part of West Texas so it has all the amenities of any mid-sized city - the mall, restaurants, etc. Once my son saw this as we drove around, he said it reminded him of the suburb in which we live. Second, we drove by a sign advertising an upcoming show for the rock group, "Metallica", at the United Spirit Arena - the 15,000 seat basketball arena at Tech. I said that podunk towns don't get major rock groups to perform on a regular basis. He agreed. Well, part 2 of the story is that my son is a rising sophomore at Tech's Honors College and he loves it.</p>

<p>If you do consider Tech, also consider its Honors College. As my son's case can attest, the Admissions Committee for the Honors College does consider the "whole person" and not just the test scores and grades. Essays, extracurriculars, and teacher recommendations help fill out the picture. The Honors College students generally average 1330 -1340 on the old SAT so you would be amongst a group of motivated students academically as well.</p>

<p>Now to the other recommendations - consider University of Tulsa as well - a mid-size university with 2700 undergraduates (and 1300 grad and law students); a large endowment where merit aid could be possible; and a location in the dynamic city of Tulsa. Also, TU has one of the lowest private college tuitions in the country.</p>

<p>Also, take the ACT; you might do considerably better on it vs. the SAT. The majority of applicants at University of Tulsa and many midwestern colleges submit the ACT as the main college entrance test. The ACT gets you in the door just as well as the SAT at most schools.</p>

<p>Also consider University of Oklahoma (beautiful campus, great school spirit, and some excellent academic programs in a real "college town") and Texas Christian Univeristy in dynamic Fort Worth. Definitely consider TCU if you are also considering SMU. TCU's tuition is lower that SMU and Fort Worth has lots of possibilities. TCU also has a very large endowment where you might qualify for merit aid.</p>

<p>Not too far from Texas, consider Hendrix College outside of Little Rock. It is a high quality LAC very similar to Austin College and offers excellent merit aid. </p>

<p>Happy hunting!</p>

14

<p>alw007 - Another thought or two - Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana is also a solid liberal arts college with a large endowment (over $100 million and merit aid possibilities) and less than 1,000 students. University of Dallas in Irving, Texas (close to Texas Stadium) is another well-regarded liberal arts college (Roman Catholic affiliation) with a handsome campus on rolling hills right in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.</p>