I’m building a college list and I’m still looking to add safeties due to my counsellor recommending it.
I will be majoring in either Real Estate, Finance, Business Administration or Economics depending on school offerings.
I’m taking the ACT again this fall and my expected range is 27-30.
I’m seeking large scholarships and some financial aid to cover most of the costs.
Geographically, I’d like to focus on the Northeast ( DC to Boston), California and Florida though all suggestions are more than welcome.
The cost can’t be higher than 20K total excluding travel expenses. Those aren’t a problem.
We haven’t run the NPCs because they’re very time consuming.
Yes, the total aid package including aid of all forms must bring the cost down to 20k.
Do you have any school names that come to mind?
You need to make time for NPCs, as you have financial constraints. No one out here can tell you what schools might work, as there is no evidence that what your parents want to pay is in the range of what some “meets need” schools expect.
I understand it’s a wide range so I suppose we should assume 28/29 instead.
Regardless of what I can pay, could anyone recommend schools? Then, I’ll run the NPCs and keep the ones that are feasible from a financially standpoint.
Are you considered in-state for any state even though you are abroad? That may be a good place to start.
Frankly, your expected stats are lower than my D’s and we haven’t found anywhere yet that would lower her cost to less than $20,000/yr based on merit scholarships alone.
What are your reaches so that we’ll know what kind of schools you’re looking for?
If you end up with an ACT 28/29 and you want to major in Business, Econ, Real estate, etc, then likely a state school would be best since they tend to have those Real Estate concentrations in the Bschools.
NE and Calif are expensive and tend to be bad places to look for good-sized scholarships unless stats are quite high.
Some of the lower-tier FL schools might work…look at FIU or FAU.
What do you like in a school?
big
small
quiet
rah rah with big sport and stadiums where student go and cheer on their teams?
Greek Life
rural
city
If you get an ACT 29, then The University of Alabama would give you a Half Tuition Merit scholarship IF you apply before Dec 15 and your GPA is at least a 3.5.
UAlabama has a well-developed Real Estate program within it’s Culverhouse School of Commerce and Business
The app is really fast and easy. No essays. Will take you like 5 minutes. You’ll have your acceptance in a few weeks, and if you get that 29 by Dec, you’ll get the award as well.
Thank you for the suggestion but I don’t think UA is worth the money. I’m targeting those area simply because that’s where I want to work and live and going to school there would facilitate the job finding process.
The size of the school doesn’t matter to me though the location does. I’m easily bored so at least suburban is a must.
My high reaches are Occidental College, the University of Miami and the University of Southern California. All three are quite unlikely, I know, but I don’t want to rule them out just yet.
Some low reaches include Babson College, Fordham University, Macaulay Honors at Baruch (CUNY) and Penn State Schreyer Honors.
Have you run NPCs for all schools on your list? Penn State is pricey – tuition alone for OOS is at least $30K, and that is without room & board. You won’t get need based aid as an OOS student.
U of A may turn out to be less expensive than some of your other choices, I wouldn’t be so quick to cast it aside until you have run NPCs for all your schools. You definitely have schools on your list that do not guarantee to meet need. Before you go any farther you should do that, as you may find several schools on your list are unaffordable.
@intparent I’ve already taken off USC and UMiami for that reason. I’m sure U of A will be less expensive but I just think getting a good job in NYC from it would be incredibly challenging. Also, to be honest I’d rather not go to school in the South.
I just re-read your initial post, and you said you are looking for some large scholarships and some FA to cover your costs. Are you aware that many colleges reduce their need based aid by the amount of any merit scholarships you receive, thus leaving you with the same cost of attendance? Penn State is simply out of the question financially for you. Babson meets 96% of need, but that is their definition of need, not yours. Fordham does not meet need. Occidental says they meet full need (but again, their definition). Do you have some idea of your family income? Are your parents divorced?
What I meant was total financial package, which is why I mentioned both.
Unfortunately, our family income is the range where you can’t afford full pay but you barely get any FA. It fluctuates between 160 and 220 though health issues have brought it towards the lower-end recently.
I’m not counting on them meeting full need with only FA which is why I meant total package + Federal Aid has to bring it down to 20K approximately.
Okay, I will preface this with saying that we really are trying to help you, but I know this information will not be welcome news.
If your family income minimum is $160,000 per year, I don’t think ANY of the schools on your list will give you any need based aid, but run some calculators to be sure. You won’t get any “federal aid”, but you can take out loans. However, your loan amounts are limited to $5,500 freshman year, $6,500 soph year, and $7,500 per year junior and senior year.
I honestly think you have to scrap most of your list and look at schools with guaranteed merit for your stats. Even if you get into Occidental, you will be expected to pay over $50K/year. You are probably going to have to be less picky about your location, and focus in on where the academics are decent in your proposed major and you get merit for your stats. You are hurt by the fact that you have no in-state residency, as that is where a lot of students in your situation would be looking. You need to spend some time on this website:
You have not said what your GPA is (I realize it can be a challenge to convert it to a 4.0 scale if you have been going to non-US schools, but there are people out here who have tips on doing that). But as you can see, GPA and test scores are critical. So study as hard as you can for the upcoming ACT, it is really important for you.
If your family can come closer to $30K with federal loans, and you working summers and during school, SUNY schools are worth looking at. As was noted in a post above, you will very likely be required to purchase the school’s health care package, so research that and include it when you consider costs (will be true at any school, I think).
