Recommend some financial safeties for a LA/sciences student

College Search & Selection
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<p>I'm a junior living in Rhode Island, and I find Rhode Island's state schools to be pretty much the opposite of the college environment I'm looking for. URI has fine academics, but I couldn't stand living in the middle of nowhere and being forced into getting a car, the fact that I'd be seeing everyone I hated in high school again, nor could I stand the total apathy of the populace. And RIC, our other public school is just a shade better than a community college. I've considered the TuitionBreak program, which offers near-in-state tuition for New England students who apply to a state school in New England that offers a major that their home state doesn't offer, but the majors I'd have available for that would be pretty weak. (The only ones I'd consider would be biological engineering and Russian, yet neither are in my top 10 list of "possible majors.") So I'm looking for recommendations on colleges I could apply to, get an affordable price to pay, and be reasonably happy once I get in. Here's some info about me, if it helps:</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: ~4.2
Unweighted GPA: (self-calculated) ~3.6
SATs: 780 Critical Reading, 710 Math, 670 Writing (retaking these in September)
SAT IIs: I'll find out May 20 - took Bio, US History, and Literature
Financial Aid Bracket: 60,000 - 80,000
Race: White
Gender: Male
Possible majors: English, Political Science, Bio/Molecular Bio, Biochemistry, Environmental Studies
Non-financial safety schools I'm interested in: Oberlin, Vassar, Reed, Occidental, Stanford (one can hope!), Macalester</p>

<p>I need my school environment to be reasonably liberal, and a school that's more than nominally Christian would not be a good match for me. State schools are fine, just as long as they aren't completely suitcase schools and there's stuff to do on campus/a surrounding area that doesn't require a car. I don't necessarily mind so-called party schools as long as the school has some kind of intellectual base.</p>

<p>I've considered the University of Washington, Beloit, and McGill as my main financial safeties, but I'm not sure how much each of them are as financial safety material. If any of you knowledgeable people could have any other suggestions, I'd be thrilled to hear them.</p>

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<p>Washington’s a financial safety only if you can afford $24,000 a year. The U. of Alabama would suit your safety needs. An out-of-state first-time freshman student there who meets the December 1st scholarship priority deadline, has a 32-36 ACT or 1400-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA is selected as a Presidential Scholar and receives the value of out-of-state tuition for four years.</p>

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<p>Without knowing what you can afford, how can we say? OOS publics and McGill certainly are not safe if you need any aid and beloit isn’t known as a top aid school.</p>

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<p>I truly doubt the University of Alabama provides a liberal environment. I’m looking for something where, after the financial aid package, I would pay less that 12K per year.</p>

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<p>I believe Beloit (like a number of other Midwestern LACs) has a fairly high level of merit scholarship aid, which is relevant if you do not qualify for need-based aid, yet your family is not wealthy enough to easily afford the costs, and your stats fall in the top quartile. Check the numbers in their Common Data Set.</p>

<p>Merit aid at Midwestern/ACM schools like Beloit tends to average about $10K or a little higher, bringing the total COA down to around $35K or so for typical merit scholarship recipients.</p>

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<p>Again, not enough info. Will you qualify for that much need based aid or is it merit aid you need?</p>

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<p>Rough estimates claim our expected financial contribution for yearly tuition without merit money would be roughly $13,000. Merit aid or exceptionally generous need-based aid would be appreciated.</p>

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<p>^

That’s going to be tough to meet. When you say your “financial aid bracket is 60-80K” does that mean your EFC or your family income?? Any chance you are a National Merit Semifinalist?</p>

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<p>That’s our family income. I’m commended for National Merit, but I’m really on the border: my PSAT was 215, and Rhode Island’s cutoff last year for semifinalists was 217, with the year before that being 214.</p>

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<p>Try this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html?highlight=assured[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html?highlight=assured&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Take a look at Grinnell, assuming a LAC in a rural location works for you. A huge endowment which means generous merit and financial aid, small class sizes, loads of free activities on campus for students and the surrounding community, great food, attractive, modern facilities, and lots of resources for research, study abroad, etc…Coming from the east coast, we have especially come to appreciate the unpretentious, self-deprecating, understated, mid-western vibe. Also excellent sciences-S is a Chem major and has loved all his science classes. Even the intro classes average less than 30 students and the faculty are amazingly available to students and active in on-campus activities. Finally, no distribution requirements-just one writing intensive freshman tutorial, with lots of topics to choose from.</p>