I’m looking for some safety schools to add to my list.
It’s important to me that I go to a medium or large school that has greek life and good sports, is well known, and has at least somewhat good academics. I would prefer the south but anywhere is fine.
My dream school is Vanderbilt, I’m also applying to the University of Alabama. The rest of my list isn’t set in stone, but that’s the type of school I’m looking for.
GPA: 3.6 UW/4.3 W
ACT: 30
SAT: 1370
Major: Education
My parents won’t tell me anything specific about our financial situation but the more merit aid I can get the better. What schools should I look at?
You sound like an excellent student, AND Vanderbilt is a tough nut to crack. I believe 25/75% ACT range is 33-35. (I believe it was something like 28-32 approximately a decade ago.)
I think you’ll find what you’re looking for, including a great education, at most of the southern/lower Midwest/mid-Atlantic state flagships and other large state universities. I think most would be accessible to you. I’ll highlight two:
University of Kansas: Lawrence is a great college town. It is beautifully sited on top of a hill. The basketball team would probably reach the Final Four while you were there.
Virginia Tech: Students LOVE the school and Blacksburg. Huge sports school. It is in mountains and cold in winter. I think you’d be less likely to get financial aid than at Kansas or some of the schools in the post above.
It’s important for you to have a good idea of what your parents will pay as you look at schools. That’s an important element in the equation. You don’t want to have several great choices that are not affordable.
Assuming that you need a full ride (since your parents appear to be evasive about budget), most of the automatic full rides for stats are in the south. But they tend to be lesser known schools. See the list in this link:
You’ve gotten a gazillion match and safety suggestions on your other thread. Is there a new way you want to frame the question, in order to spark ideas for different possibilities?
I’ll go back to the other thread then and look at those suggestions again.
I guess now what I’m looking for mostly is merit aid, and I’m open to hearing suggestions for schools from other areas besides the south as long as they’d give me good scholarships.
Otherwise I’ll just look at what’s already been suggested more. I don’t really have a way to reframe the question though, I was just kind of hoping for some more suggestions.
Kansas State, great merit with your statistics. Fun town, nice greek system, good sports, nice weather usually. Friendly atmosphere. Very good teachers.
Per your other thread, Bama is a good safety for you, and you will have your admission decision and merit award in hand just after labor day. At that point you can move ahead with more selective choices and a short list of other safeties.
Given the OP’s parents’ evasiveness about the price limit, the OP does not have assurance the Alabama with the automatic scholarship that s/he will earn by stats is affordable. Therefore s/he needs a safety with an automatic full ride or close to it for his/her stats.
Tuskegee University
Alcorn State University
Jackson State University
Mississippi Valley State University
Prairie View A&M University
Arkansas - Monticello
Some additional ones may be possible if a weighted GPA is used, depending on the weighting:
Alabama State University (3.76)
Alabama A&M University (3.75)