<p>When I started off on my college search, I was initially looking primarily at schools pretty far away from home, but now I'm not so sure. I'm very scared of going somewhere too close to home and finding myself stuck there. It's not that I don't like my home--I live in a nice neighborhood, and I don't want to escape my family--but I want to explore the world. I want to go into foreign languages, and that field should provide me plenty of opportunities to travel, maybe move to a foreign country.</p>
<p>However, several things are making me hesitant. The cost of living somewhere far from home is pretty scary. My family does not have very much money, and several things over the past year (sister's surgery, my wisdom teeth removal, braces for both of us, etc.) combined with all my mom's debts is making it difficult to come up with even the money for our high school registration fees, let alone my AP exams and college applications. Also, no one I know seems to be looking at colleges more than one state over (I live in Illinois). I'm not choosing my college based on where my friends are going, but the atmosphere can be discouraging. When everyone around me wants to go to U of I, it feels almost elitist to say I'm looking at more schools in the northeast.</p>
<p>I should add that I am not a fantastic student. My test scores are pretty high (35 on the ACT, 2140 on the SAT but retaking in October), but my grades aren't great (I earned one D in AP Calculus BC last year, but generally get a mix of As and Bs), although I do have a fairly rigorous course load (five AP classes this year--earned three fives and one four on previous AP exams). I'm going to strongly emphasize my interest in languages, as I have earned As in all those classes and am currently taking French, Chinese, and German in school, and I took a Japanese course at Beloit college over the summer. I've got another scholarly award going for me as well, but I'm not supposed to talk about it.</p>
<p>tl;dr I don't want to limit myself, but I don't want to go chasing after far away schools if they won't be worth it. Any advice CCers?</p>
<p>Misc. notes: Although the tip-top schools are a reach for everyone, you might have a better shot than you think. And depending on how dire the financial situation is, you may be able to get application fee waivers - talk to your HS counselor. And check out Questbridge, which hooks up low-income, high-performing students with good schools. And if you DO get into a very top school, they have very generous financial aid.</p>
<p>You say you got one D in Calc last year (which is not normally a class taken by juniors btw). Is that a semester or year grade? When you apply to college, you don’t have to tell them intermediate grades - only semester and year grades. I imagine your semester or year grade wasn’t a D if you got a 4 or a 5 on the AP test.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for the link and advice! I am trying to look at some harder schools because I do have something else going for me (but I’m not allowed to say anything yet!), and I think my transcript shows that I am a very dedicated student in certain areas, even if I don’t do so well in math.</p>
<p>Sorry, I should have clarified: I did not take the Calculus AP exam. Given my progress in the class, I didn’t think it was worth it. The exams I got 5s in were Human Geography, World History, and English Language. I got a 4 in US History. As for Calc, I got a D both semesters. I really should have tried AB instead, but I can’t do anything about it now.</p>
<p>In some cases, the total out-of-pocket cost of attendance at an oos private school can be less than (or at least competitive with) the total coa at your state university. You have to compare total costs, and you have to account for aid. </p>
<p>Have you considered schools out of state but still in the Midwest? Including small colleges like Beloit, Lawrence, Earlham, Centre College, etc.? Centre College can be a relative bargain compared to LACs in the Northeast; admission is easier; you should be able to share rides back and forth, so you’d at least save on air fare.</p>
<p>Is there a reason you’re taking the SAT again? because that ACT is excellent and there honestly is very little preference. I’m in a near identical situation (2120 vs. 35) and all the information I’ve gathered about it is that everyone is being honest when they say they don’t care which test they get from you.</p>