Safety Schools Help!

College Search & Selection
1

Hello, I’m a current junior looking for some possible safety schools next year! Below are some of my stats.

GPA: UW: 3.97 W: 4.66
Rank: N/A
ACT: 35, 9 on writing
SAT: N/A
Race: ORM
Gender: Female
Intended Major: Marketing
Notable achievements: Started my own nonprofit, got a couple internships, captain/president of a couple clubs and sports

Ideal college location: Preferably nothing in the Midwest, no rural areas, medium to big student body

Obviously, I’m looking to go into business. Any help is appreciated!

2

How much can your family pay for college and how much do colleges think your family can pay?

3

My family makes a decent amount of money and tuition isn’t really that much of an issue, but we would like some financial aid still! Right now, I think we barely qualify for FAFSA and won’t receive too much money if we do.

4

As other people can explain better, a school is only a true “safety” if you can afford to attend. That’s why figuring out the financial aspect is so important. I recommend that you talk to your family soon and find out what amount can be budgeted for you for college.

5

“Preferably nothing in the Midwest, no rural areas, medium to big student body”

That’s where the safeties are.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinesimon/2017/08/02/super-safety-schools-25-top-colleges-you-can-actually-get-into/#4ac3b6d35954

6

You don’t “qualify for FAFSA”. FAFSA is the application used to assess whether you/your family are eligible for any Federal FA (in the form of loans, work study, what have you). What is “a decent amount of money”? If you won’t qualify for need based aid, look into schools where your stats will likely gain you merit aid. There are threads here on CC with lists of auto-admit schools. Take a look.

7

That post isn’t really internally constant. It is very difficult to be at the edge of the Pell Grant range and not have an issue with cost.

8

@Eeyore123 - I think she is trying to say they are at the higher end and would barely qualify for any FA. I could be wrong, but thats how I read it

9

Are you a US citizen or resident? If so, then what is your home state?

As others have said, we can’t suggest safeties without knowing what your budget is.

10

Some safeties would be large state public flagship universities which offer merit scholarships based primarily on one’s numbers (SAT/ACT & GPA & class rank).

Consider the University of Alabama & the University of South Carolina. As a business major, Indiana University-Kelley School should be considered as well.

11

Many kids with your stats and desires in my area would use Pitt as a safety, esp since they are rolling admission + basic merit aid (“basic merit aid” notification is rolling - some big scholarships come later). Check them out. If you like them, run the NPC to see if it would be affordable.

FWIW, some kids start off with them as a safety and end up liking them so much they vault to #1 or #2 even when they have other acceptances that would be affordable.

12

If I recall correctly, the University of Pittsburgh has a healthy endowment.

13

@jym626 Yes, thank you, that’s what I meant!
@DadTwoGirls I am a US citizen and reside in Kansas.
@Eeyore123 Refer to @jym626 ‘s comment. I can’t really give exact numbers since we haven’t gone through the whole process yet, sorry!

14

Hve you looked at the thread on Automatic Merit scholarships at the top of the financial aid forum? If you haven’t go read through that. Some of the scholarships listed will have changed by the time you apply, but certainly some will still be there.

15

Fordham in NYC (Rose Hill campus) has a fine business school and you would likely qualify for merit aid. You can apply non binding early action.

16

“FAFSA4caster gives you a free early estimate of your eligibility for federal student aid. This information helps families plan ahead for college. You must use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form to apply for aid once you’ve decided to apply for admission and attend college.”

“FAFSA4caster indicates your estimated Federal Pell Grant amount (if any), Federal Work-Study amount (based on the average nationally), and maximum Direct Subsidized Loan and Direct Unsubsidized Loan eligibility.”

from https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/estimate

Colleges also have ‘net price calculators’ that you can run your estimates through. Many will include likely or automatic merit awards when the calculator includes gpa and SAT/ACT scores. Some colleges only provide need-based aid.

edit: “Your estimated Expected Family Contribution (EFC) also appears.” on the FAFSA4caster. That is the most important number, can your family pay the EFC? Is it a number that they can pay and you would be happy to attend a college in that price range? Or is it zero and you need a school that meets full need?

17

“reside in Kansas.”

I don’t know much about Kansas, but I would certainly hope that with your stats the University of Kansas would be a safety.

McGill, or probably anything in Canada, would also be a safety.

I doubt that WUSTL would be a safety for anyone, but it looks very likely for you, is not that far from Kansas, and is a great university. You would probably want to run the NPC to see whether it is likely to be affordable for you.

18

SMU has a good business school, is located in Dallas, and would be a safety for you. SMU gives a lot of merit money to high stat students like you. https://www.smu.edu/cox/Learning-Culture/Academic-Departments/Marketing

19

JMU would likely be a good safety for those stats and they have a great business/marketing program.

20

JMU= James Madison University? OOS tuition makes it unlikely to be a safety