@MYOS1634 Its simply a culture thing from where I live. I live in a very small town and the people here have always been here and will never leave. My parents and practically everyone else near me close their minds to moving away from this life and town. My parents really resist me moving further than 30 minutes. Perhaps If you thought that I would get full tuition at a college with my stats (I really don’t think they’re that impressive) then please suggest a college and I would apply without their knowledge and convince them somehow.
@edwards020 I know you are looking for answers, as you have several threads going. Your ACT is 22, which is going to be too low for a really prestigious college. You mention that ‘I would likely get lots of scholarships.’ That might be true at schools like William Peace and Greensboro College, who give these away to most students who will attend there. I live in NC and I would recommend almost any public—ECU, UNCC, UNCG, UNCA, UNCW, App State, Western Carolina—over those 2. Yes, they have more than 1500 students but are all easily more prestigious than Peace or Greensboro (or Chowan or Lees-McCrae or a dozen or more other non-select privates colleges in NC), and have much wider alumni nets.
Post # 13 says ‘I believe what OP meant is a non-selective tiny LAC. If that is the case, the school’s name recognition is certainly an issue.’ I totally agree with this, it is an issue. If you want to get an MBA, a Top 100 LAC would be great. Everybody in NC knows about Davidson. Any grad school will also know about Kalamazoo and Beloit and Hendrix, and many LACs are test-optional, if that ACT does not rise above 22. But you have a great GPA. Best fit in NC would be Guilford, but options open up if you are able to look out of state.
@PetulaClark … I suppose my question eventually comes to, when I graduate from a tiny LAC , and I apply to grad schools like UNCG, ECU, Elon, how will they view my degree?
@PetulaClark would you recommend anything in Virginia? Also, as you’re from NC, do you know if Guilford would offer scholarships if I applied test optional?
@edwards020 I don’t know about about Guilford, but see post #20 from MYOS1634, who says Guilford does offer merit. (MYOS1634 has over 23,000 posts and knows tons of stuff from what I’ve seen on other posts). And it is the case that being out-of-state actually helps with fin/merit aid, as colleges always want to expand their profile geographically. In Virginia, north of Greensboro, I can think of Roanoke and Radford.
HappyAlumnus puts it bluntly but honestly on post #18: recruiters won’t go to certain colleges. There is really a hierarchy. Some employers will go to UNC Chapel Hill, but not to ECU. Others will go to ECU but not Peace. Reason? New grads switch jobs so quickly that employers use colleges to screen their employees.
It sounds like you have family issues here, which is difficult for a 20 year-old to deal with. Do they think you need to live and work in your home town? What jobs are available with an MBA? I can feel that you are wanting to pull away, which is fine and normal.
Regarding getting an MBA at ECU, UNCG or Elon: I know nothing about them, except that they will be less picky about your undergrad college than UNC, Duke, etc. The most important thing here is perhaps obvious: finish the undergrad degree and have the highest GPA possible.
@PetulaClark gives good guidance.
I’d pay a premium to go to a UNC campus over Greensboro College or Peace, but go wherever is the cheapest. I’ve fallen “in love” with a school before (but went elsewhere, which was a tough decision), but make a decision about a college based on its cost vs. its outcome.
Greensboro and Peace have low endowments, which means their financial aid is very poor.
What’s your efc? Do your parents have a budget for your college?
I understand the issue: your parents are afraid that ifyou go away, you won’t come back, or, worse, you’ll leave them behind. They know their hometown, feel comfortable and safe there, and hope you too can feel comfortable there. On the other hand, surely they can see that there aren’t many well paid jobs in your hometown, and that people have to leave to find better jobs. It doesn’t mean that what they have is not good - it is… it’s just not accessible to your generation, and it’s become less stable and sure even for them. Going to college will help you get some stability - and going to a college that doesn’t require massive debt is one way. Surely they understand that you won’t be in danger if you live away from them, and you can assure them that you’ll stay in touch via Skype or facetime, and in the future when you havd a good job and a family you’ll always return for holidays.
Perhaps they don’t understand that not all colleges are the same, teach the same thing, have the same opportunities, the same quality career center, the same employers coming to recruit.
For example, while Peace relies on students taking enormous debt, Davidson promises to meet your full need and will not require ANY debt - not the Federal Student Loan, not parent loans, not private loans. Now, to have a shot out need to increase that act score, but the hours spent on Preparing would absolutely pay off if it resulted in debt -free college, right?
You have a very high GPA. You attended college for two years while in high school, which indicates maximum rigor - what’s your college GPA? 3.3 or higher I bet! In short, you’re an excellent student. There are excellent colleges with excellent financial aid that will admit you based on that academic record, such as Denison, Dickinson, Drake ( 
going for the D 's).
Are you first generation (neither parent got a 4-year degree)? Do you live in a rural area? Is your school considered high performing or low performing? Are a lot of students on free/reduced lunch? Are you Asian, African American, Hispanic, Native American?
All of these factors would also play into admissions and financial aid at the colleges I listed.
Do your know your efc? If not, google 'calculate efc ’ and come back to indicate what it is, as further information depends on it.
In the coming year, make sure our have one English class (composition, communication, literature…) one foreign language class (level 2 or 3), one math class (calculus if possible, or statistics), one social science class, one art/music class, one science class, and at least two others of our choice. Take the classes where you’re most likely to get good grades in the Fall (those grades will count for admission) and the classes you find harder in the Spring (all that will matter then is that you get a C or higher.)
@MYOS1634 my efc is around 20,000. College GPA of 3.8. Davidson won’t take my college credits and I won’t be able to get in anywhere like that with my test scores (I have a 22). I’m not first generation, my mom has a bachelors… I’m a white male… & places that are upper level haven’t seemed to offer me much aid… Peace and Greensboro are offering me around 1/2 tuition and 2/3’s.
Davidson won’t admit you with a 22, you’re absolutely right; if you get 27-28 it may be worth a shot due to their excellent financial aid policies.
(Note that few top colleges will take all your credits, because the quality of their classes is much higher than that at a cc; they still know it makes our coursework mist rigorous. In addition, college is not a race, and for some professions or graduate programs it’s better to take all 4 years in order to gain experiences and maturity. For an MBA the average age is 27 for instance, keeping in mind mist admitted students have 2-5 years experience in a good job.)
However, colleges of a similar quality that are test optional DO exist - Bowdoin and Wesleyan are famous ones, but Dickinson, Denison, and Drake which I cited earlier are all excellent and test optional too.
You could look at Rhodes, Sewanee, Hendrix, which offer merit. Bentley, Bryant if you’re interested in business.
Run the NPC on all of them: wouldn’t it be nice if you could afford to attend an excellent small college rather than a more lilieted/cash strapped small college?
Have you taken sat subjects? Since you took college-level classes you should have a pretty good mastery in a few subjects and some top colleges will look at those instead of our act. Depending on your strongest areas, you could
Do apply to Unc -A. It’s your state’s public LAC , it has an excellent reputation, and if nothing works out with your other colleges it should make an acceptable safety.
@MurphyBrown I am signed up for the September test… I do have bad testing anxiety & I am usually so stressed out I can’t focus. My second time I didn’t improve my composite score with a month of using a prep book and reviewing my incorrect answers. I am not able to perform very well under strict time constraints. I don’t have time to do much prep with my rigorous class schedule unfortunately so I believe I won’t see any improvement this September.
You’re exactly the kind of student who benefits from test-optional policies. Google 'top tier test optional colleges ’ for further suggestions.
Following on post#32 here is a link:
^^^ Lots of kids do it completely on their own, no classes or tutors ever needed. A dedicated schedule, determination and reviewing mistakes can often get you the same improvements.
@MurphyBrown , I have to agree with @carachel2 , kids from my son’s middle school typically scored in the 30-36 range by self studying by the time they were seniors. Some studied together drilling each other on test questions, some did it on their own, but few took classes. Most took the ACT or SAT 2-3 times before they achieved the score they wanted. Many also took the ACT throught the NUMATS program in 7th grade so they didn’t have much test anxiety.
Kids I knew who were in early college did not do as well. Perhaps they did not consider the ACT test as important, or their early college program did not emphasize it.
@PetulaClark I walk past the Bryan School of Business at UNCG everyday and the signs say best MBA program in NC. I have no idea if this is true, it’s just what my school has been telling me.
^Hmm, Unc ch and Duke would differ.
Are you sure there’s no little asterisk * and a tiny line on the side reading 'online’or ‘part time’ or 'regional schools ’ ?
@MYOS1634 I have no clue I just see a number on a sign. Probably better than Duke at least. No one should pay Duke’s horrendous tuition.
@MYOS1634 I passed the building again a few minutes ago. I didn’t see anything about an online program. I can take a picture if you like. Once again I’m just repeating what my school told me. UNCG beating UNC at any program besides music has me as confused as you.
For MBA programs at a national level, Forbes has Duke (Fuqua) as #12 and UNC (Kenan-Flagler) #13. USNews has Duke at #12 and UNC at #16. UNC-G was unranked in both. Not to say that means UNC-G (Bryan) is a bad program, but an MBA from Duke or UNC-Chapel Hill is going to open more doors and be recruited more highly. Billboard is just hype.
@PetulaClark I saw the sign on my way back today. It was from one source only. Bloomberg or something. At least the building here is pretty.