<p>Ok. As I have said before, my D. Is off and running with a late start. I can't relax while she is taking her sat so I have compiled a list of colleges to apply to based upon results of sat and act. She has a 4.0, takes honors. Etc etc... so assuming that is competitive what so you think of the following schools</p>
<p>Sat > 1800, act>30
Ohio wesleyan
Heidelberg
Oberlin
Denison
College of wooster
Kenyon
Bard
St Lawrence
Bucknell
Marietta
Oh. State
American
George Washington
Miami oh
Mt. Union
Akron</p>
<p>Act 27-29, sat 1600-1800
Oh wesleyan
Wooster
Denison
Kenyon
Oberlin
St. Lawrence
Bucknell
Bard
Marietta
Defiance
Oh state
Miami oh
Nyu
American
Gwu
Akron
Mt union
Heidelberg</p>
<p>There are, imho, safety, match and reach schools in each of these schools. She is looking at international studies/foreign language/English/ political sci. What are your thoughts on the above? What schools should be added for our initial research. Out of state would need to be Pennsylvania, new York Or Indiana, d.c. only.
This is a very beginning list and I need help I'm identifying better matches! Merit scholarships are a must. Sorry nyu is in top list! And the reach schools are more abundant in the second group with lower scores</p>
<p>Does she want to be in a city or a town?
liberal or conservative or in the middle?
school size small college or university?
frats or no frats</p>
<p>Answering these questions and knowing her SAT scores (or PSAT scores) would help narrow down this list. Reading about schools in college books (The Best 373 Colleges, Fiske Guide to Colleges) will also give her more of an idea about these schools.</p>
<p>I don’t understand your lists – why are schools in both lists in different orders?</p>
<p>I seem to recall that you need financial safeties, so I would take NYU off the list. I would also add DePauw to the list for Midwest schools that give good aid. I really love Ohio Wesleyan and Denison as well. My S has similar stats and is looking seriously at them.</p>
<p>I assume you are in-state for Ohio State? That would be a good financial safety and offers lots of opportunities, if she’s open to/suited for a bigger school.</p>
<p>If a flagship is appealing, and if your daughter does well on SAT or ACT, consider Indiana U in Bloomington. They have some automatic scholarships for high-scoring, high-GPA kids; she’d likely get into the honors college and have a chance to compete for additional scholarship money.</p>
<p>They have a FANTASTIC foreign languages department–really quite amazing. English also very good.</p>
<p>What language(s) in particular is she interested in? That could help you narrow down the LACs–unless she is interested in a more commonly-offered language.</p>
<p>My D decided she would hate a small LAC in the middle of nowhere. That eliminated a lot of them! So, have your daughter think about that. Many kids LOVE the small community of a LAC. Others might want a bigger scene.</p>
<p>I agree NYU should be deleted if you need FA.</p>
<p>Have you done any estimating of what you can pay vs what you will be expected to pay? What you think you can afford and what colleges think you can afford can be quite different.</p>
<p>If you won’t qualify for any needs-based aid, but yet can’t afford full-pay (and cost of attendance at many LACs is 45k-55k/year!)–focusing on attainable merit is very important .</p>
<p>(ie, schools that GIVE merit aid --some don’t–and also schools where your D will be in the top 10-20% of the applicant pool). A hard look at financial reality can also help you focus your list.</p>
<p>Your D would have a better chance for some merit aid at some of the other state schools (Wright, Kent, etc) and they would be less expensive than Miami or OSU.</p>
<p>We have found the Fiske Guide to Colleges very helpful in narrowing down our list. You can see strength of majors, score ranges, campus environment, whether they offer merit aid, etc. You might get a copy and mark each of these colleges, then have your D read about them and see what she thinks. We were able to eliminate some through this process and get down to a managable list (and even identify a few others we hadn’t considered – which in fact is how D1 found her current well-loved college!).</p>
<p>I would not invest too much effort until she gets her scores back in a few weeks. That will really make a difference, particularly if she needs financial aid and/or merit aid.</p>
<p>Actually, I don’t think Kent, akron, some more inexpensive schools offer that much merit aid. Like I said, this is a very early list but still these are definite schools she is interested in. And we actually want to apply to different types of schools because we want to see the difference I’m financial aid. D is fairly open to many possibilities and doesn’t have her heart set on one school. She would feel ok at OSU if it comes down to all we can afford. So i guess our list might seem scattered yo some people and thats cool. But i feel like right now it works for us. And they are in different order for no real reasons. I want to take nyu off the list but,she doesn’t. So yeah, we do have some differing opinions but that is ok. She gets her sat scores in 19 days and is taking it again in June and taking act in June. And of course, that will give us a better idea! </p>
<p>And I do need to add while this sight has given me a good dose of reality, I feel like many people think if you come from a small rural high-school you are automatically screwed, and that her gpa, which is a 4.0 doesn’t count because she didn’t go a an expensive private school Or ultra competitive public high-school. She has taken the hardest subjects available to her and that should count. We live in a poor area and while we aren’t impoverished ourselves, we dont have money for pricey summer programs Or private tutors or endless resume padding. But I think she has overcome many obstacles in her life and community. She is not a cookie cutter girl and I would surly hope that means something. And I want to say there are some awesome people here that have given,me wonderful advice but there are some posts I have read where there is such an elitist snooty attitude. I am not speaking of anyone in this thread but they are out prowling! Certainly there have been instantes in this great land where someone from a rural district with limites means has gotten lnto a good school.</p>
<p>And I posted hypothetical scores atop each list because we just need to know if those scores match those schools.</p>
<p>Just make sure she does understand your financial limits… because if she does, she probably will agree to take NYU off your list. It is always really painful to see kids out here cling to a dream school that their family just can’t afford (esp. one like NYU that has a reputation for not providing enough need for many students to attend).</p>
<p>Agree that you want a range of schools to see the financial aid results, but if you do your homework ahead of time you should have a pretty good idea what to expect. You should know your EFC, and what the merit aid profile of the school is. Good luck to your D!</p>
<p>So the sat scores seem low for the schools I know on your list. Look at college board at a glance for these schools to see the 25th%-75th% SAT and ACT scores. Here’s a link for Kenyon. [College</a> Search - Kenyon College - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>To get significant merit aid, a student generally needs to have stats that are better than 90% of the admitted students.</p>
<p>If the tests don’t turn out so well, consider score optional schools [Optional</a> List | FairTest](<a href=“http://fairtest.org/university/optional]Optional”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>
<p>mspearl, I am in a very similar situation. DS has 4.0, but school only offers 5 APs and the kids do not get all 5s. DS just took his first two tests, so we will see. He has a 30 on ACT so far, and we live in an area that is not an ultra-competitive high school area either. I thought he was in line for some great options until I read through the results of many very talented kids that were heartbroken this year. That is why we call the process “the lottery”</p>
<p>You will find on this site a bit of a bias toward East-coast schools (and east coast test scores). You will find lots of opprortunities in Midwest colleges, and there are lots of great choices in your home state. We have the advantage of lots of “hidden gems” from COW to Earlham to Lawrence in our region. I encourage you to look at a variety of schools, and to help your D find a place that she loves. </p>
<p>With our current financial situation, my S is primarily applying to schools that give good financial aid and schools that have strong science background. His first choice school is an all-male school, known for great education and aid. If he attends he will be in the top 10% of the applicant pool. His friends with similar scores in the past have gotten close to full rides. You might want to add some women’s colleges to the list. They often give great aid and have been known to give an ivy-league education without the selectivity. I also suggest the schools from the Colleges that Change Lives site.</p>
<p>I also want to second the idea of IU if she likes that “big school” feel. The language depatrments are wonderful, and the honors college is fantastic. Of course, with Ohio State in the mix, she has a world-class state option already available. </p>
<p>Sorry this post is so ling, but I wanted to respond to so much and give you a virtual hug, from a fellow class of 2012 parent. I promise that we are a nice bunch there, and will never tell you that your DD is doomed to failure)</p>
<p>*Merit scholarships are a must. *</p>
<p>Can you clarify?</p>
<p>Are you saying that you’ll likely have an EFC that will be unaffordable?</p>
<p>Also, if you do qualify for aid, then be aware that most schools don’t meet need.</p>
<p>How much do you think you can afford to contribute each year.</p>
<p>If you need merit scholarships because that’s really the only way to afford college, then once your D has her scores, start a list of schools that give good-sized merit where your D’s stats are in the upper 10% of the school. </p>
<p>If you need merit scholarships, then you need a strategy that will assure that you’ll have a couple of schools where you know FOR SURE that your D will be awarded enough for the school to be affordable. There are schools that give assured scholarships for stats.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships-7.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships-7.html</a></p>
<p>Can you clarify the situation? :)</p>
<p>mspearl: My son went to a rural Virginia HS (87 in his graduating class), and I can assure you that he never thought that it would be a negative when it came to college admission. If anything, he thought it may help him. You do not need expensive private schools to offer special programs or opportunities. You learn to make your own. Colleges want kids who are independent thinkers and leaders. So if your student is smart, driven and independent, there will be a good fit for her.</p>