Hi, I am planning on majoring in Finance/ Economics. I am looking into a ton of schools like UPenn, Cornell, WashU, and Emory. My current safeties are IU, UF, and PennState. My GPA is 5.0 (on 5.3 scale) and a 36 ACT/ 1550 SAT. I want to consider some other private schools that would offer me substantial merit scholarships (very important cause I don’t want to pay private school tuition for a safety) and somewhere I would be happy. I don’t like partying and Greek Life, but I like a nice campus and good classes where I won’t stress out and competition won’t be fierce. Some colleges I’ve seen are Southern Methodist University, Tulane University, etc. Thanks.
SMU offers excellent merit scholarships and has a well regarded business school. Greek life is there, but most students don’t belong to a fraternity/sorority. The campus is beautiful but there’s only housing for the first two years.
Davidson, Wash &Lee, URichmond some of the TX and FL LACs, are not safeties but they have money, and you’d be in the running
“I don’t like partying and Greek Life” than Washington & Lee is definitely not an option.
@eb23282 Lol thanks now I know… I looked it up and apparently the Greek Life is huge and its a small school…
Based on its strong programs in business and economics and relatively modest Greek presence, the University of Richmond would seem to be a school from the recommendations above that you should consider further.
https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html
https://robins.richmond.edu/undergraduate/finance/concentration.html
What total cost of attendance are you looking for? Without that, it is impossible to find you a true safety. U of Richmond is a good example. They give out 25 full COA merit scholarships. They are very competitive so they would still be a reach. In addition they give 75 1/3 tuition scholarships. That leaves a COA of ~$50k. Not sure if that satisfies your cost.Even if it does it is still likely a high match/low reach.
What about Fordham? You’d have a serious shot at a full tuition scholarship.
At PSu, look into Sapphire scholars and apply to Penn State.
@Eeyore123 @merc81 I think URichmond is a good idea now that many are mentioning it, but I don’t think I would pay $50k for COA. I am going to be National Merit Semi-Finalist and if I get finalist I can get full-tuition at Fordham, full-ride at UF, and half-tuition at USC (if I get in). I think I would be willing to pay something around my in-state tuition for PSU (about $25-30k).
@MYOS1634 I’ve consider those a ton too. I actually visited Fordham and I really liked the campus, not so much the preppy/religious feel of the students who go their, and I will get the full-tuition scholarship for national merit. PSU is pretty good too, but I doubt I’d get any scholarship except Shreyers, which makes the school still fairly expensive.
Have you run NPCs on your idea colleges?
SMU will offer you excellent scholarship with those stats. Apply early action. My daughter applied last year and received generous scholarship for business school. I was impressed with how they handled the process. She is attending elsewhere. Also have you researched Santa Clara? I have been super impressed with the business program. I attended admitted students day with several breakout sessions for business. They will move to national ranking this year. Job placement and starting salary is excellent. Again, apply early action. Northeastern was also on my daughter’s list for business. Attended admitted student day breakout sessions for business. Very impressed. Good luck!
Seconding Northeastern but not a safety for scholarships.
Sorry, above, meant " apply to *Schreyer".
The problem with merit aid is that short of a few schools like U Alabama, most super high awards are competitive - super competitive. This, by definition, means they aren’t safeties. You may, or may not, get the award. Some do, some don’t.
What is your EFC? Is that affordable? If so, then many need based schools come into play as well and that could help.
If you’re thinking Penn St, an obvious safety to also consider is Pitt. Pitt gives rolling admission and again has competitive merit that tends to beat Penn St. Pitt is urban. Penn St is not. I don’t know if that makes a difference for you, but both are well respected schools.
@Creekland my EFC is almost full-tuition, so I am only thinking about merit scholarships essentially. I’ve never visited PennState, but I have visited Pitt and liked it a good amount. I just have to check if I even want to attend the program.
@b4four Thanks for the advice. Santa Clara might be too far (my parents don’t like me going across the nation, USC is only on my list because of the scholarship and how good the program is). Northeastern is also one of my top schools (not in my safety though, more target/safety but I doubt I’ll be rejected. They give scholarship for national merit but hopefully I get more than just that). I’ll definitely add SMU (but is it very religious/ has enough diversity?) and URichmond to my list.