I have no earthly idea what you mean by the second statement.
@“Erin’s Dad” The statement is very general. The idea is: At school that has a good reputation for giving strong need based aid, my situation would be a situation similar to the situation of individuals who qualify for aid that meets all or almost all of their need. intentionally trying to avoid family income topics for privacy reasons.
I don’t know about their Math department but I would look at Pitt.
University of Wisconsin is always known as a strong math school.
“I prefer peers who are just as smart or smarter than I”
If you were to judge this only by your 34 ACT score, this would limit you to perhaps less than two dozen colleges (the approximate number of schools at which the 75th percentile score is greater than 33.)
@merc81 right, I realize how difficult this is, but of course ACT score primarily measures how much time you spent studying for the test ( at least in my experience )
The idea is, I don’t think I could be very enthusiastic about a school where, for example, the average act was 24 or something like that. Sure, I would certainly find a group of people that I would love to hang out with and talk to, but that group might be a bit smaller than I’d like.
Something about the atmosphere of intelligent individuals around every corner just really excites me. So many potential interesting conversations to have.
But, to be more specific about “way above average”, I am really just trying to avoid a situation similar to that at my high school. In my junior class, there were only 2 students to score a 29 or higher on the act (including me). Now, my class may be a measly 70-so kids, but that is besides the point ( my school’s act average is almost certainly below the state average). I think the point I would consider “way above average” to be applicable is if, by the metric of act, I was better than 90% of the students. Having, for example, 15% of a given college class ( again, only by the metric of act, just a generalization) equal to me or better than me is plenty.
Bryn Mawr is great for math if you’re female and OK with a tiny women’s college.
Based on your stated criteria, you may really like at least one school from this group: Carleton, Haverford, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Grinnell. All would be strong for math and all are more selective than your in-state option. You might find a relative deemphasis of sports at Carleton, Haverford and Grinnell. Grinnell would be close for you. Though the settings of these schools may not exactly match your personal preferences, some nonetheless are in decidedly beautiful settings.
@merc81 Thanks for the recs. They are now on my research list.
St. Olaf is also very well known for their math department
And OP, 2016-2017 fafsa is for students starting this fall and have already decided on a college. Your not starting this fall are you?
@elena3142 no, I will be applying this fall.
CWRU or Oberlin
Then you will fill out FAFSA this October.
@merc81 asking you again about the LACs you recommended for me. Specifically Carleton and Grinnel.
Is it fair to call Carleton a high match and Grinnel a match/high match?
Yes, that seems reasonable.