<p>I will talk to her about the SAT 2’s. My d only took one and we decided that she would be best off just applying to schools that don’t require them; however for my niece it would be better to have all options open to her. I looked at the Questbridge website last night and many of the schools on the list require SAT 2. She is taking at least one AP course this year, so I will suggest that she take the SAT 2 test. I will also have her go to her GC and check on fee waivers for all the tests. Thanks for all your ideas!!! Will also try to investigate SAT or ACT prep courses in her area. The problem will be transportation to the site. (which I can’t help her with from NY!)</p>
<p>Since she will be talking to the guidance counselor, have her also ask if the school provides any SAT test prep. Some schools provide it.</p>
<p>Given the self-motivation she has shown, if the prep course is not readily available, she sounds able to benefit from working with a prep book and online resources.</p>
<p>In addition to UNC, Guilford, Queens of Charlotte, Washington College, Mary Washington, McDaniel, Goucher and Roanoke might be options.</p>
<p>yabeyabe2- computer access at home is kind of sketchy. lots of demand for the one computer they have. good suggestions on schools thanks.</p>
<p>There are prep books that come with DVDs. She could use those without internet access.</p>
<p>If they have just one computer in the house and she can’t get at it when she needs it, can you give her a computer? One that used to be used at your house? Or, a $498 desktop from WalMart would be really nice.
[Walmart.com:</a> Dell Inspiron 537 Desktop PC with Intel Celeron Processor, 17" LCD Monitor & Windows 7 Home Premium: Computers](<a href=“http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12554465]Walmart.com:”>http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12554465)</p>
<p>Smith was recommended above, and I would advise any “edgy” girl to read through the full list of women’s colleges at [The</a> Women’s College Coalition](<a href=“http://www.womenscolleges.org/]The”>http://www.womenscolleges.org/) Traditionally, these places have had excellent grad school and med school admissions results. If she is a candidate that they like, they will throw a bunch of money at her.</p>
<p>As for exam prep, she should be able to find some of the materials at a public library. Here is the link to Xiggi’s do-it-at-home test prep methodology <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggi-s-sat-prep-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggi-s-sat-prep-advice.html</a></p>
<p>Wishing both of you all the best!</p>
<p>Though I have never, in the history of my CC postings, dissuaded anyone from attending Smith, i think in this case I would counsel against it. Not because I think she’s not qualified, but just because even if she gets generous financial aid, the travelling may be a problem. </p>
<p>I would counsel, as people have done ahead of me, that she focus on schools within easy driving distance/bus ride of her home. Smith will give a lot of assistance for its own costs, and even for things like books and for students emergency needs, but the cost of travel to and from for school breaks would get prohibitively expensive. Also, if you can’t drive to school, that really limits what you can bring with you when you move into your dorm, whcih means you have to buy a lot of things there, which is another financial burden. </p>
<p>When there are great in-state flagships and great programs in nearby states, I think she should keep her focus there. She can always go to medical school further away from home if she wants, she can even take some time off and save some money before she starts, but I would keep the focus in North Carolina or neighboring states.</p>
<p>Also, strongly encourage her to take as many AP classes as she can. If she can get straight A’s in the toughest courses available to her that’s much more impressive to colleges than just straight A’s in regular or honors courses, and will make her much more attractive as a candidate for special scholarships or extra merit aid in addition to her financial aid. Even if she is likely to qualify for plenty of need-based aid from her institution (though if her mother jointly has a lot of assets with her step father that could put a twist in that), she should be thinking about merit aid both institutionally and from outside sources as an important source of her funding. </p>
<p>And if she goes to do interviews, you might remind her to tone down the “Edgy” a little bit in her dress. She can still be her usual edgy self in her answers, but remember that interviewers only have a brief amount of time to get to know a student, and if they’re blidned by the clothes or make up they might miss the actual person underneath. If she’s not a seasoned public speaker, you might think about coaching her on sample interview questions over the phone so she can practice her answers.</p>
<p>The school can work with her to get fee waivers for both the exams and the applications when it comes time to apply. If her scores and GPA are that good than she should apply to the schools with the big endowments (the Ivys and others). These will be more generous than state schools if she falls short in scoring high enough for full aid at the state school. Her acceptance at Ivys or other need blind schools will expect her to work in the summer to pay what is known as the summer expected contribution. This summer earnings start at about $2,200 and can reach about $4,000 by senior year. </p>
<p>Your niece sounds like a terrific kid and the top schools are looking for kids who have more than just the academics.</p>
<p>I should mention that I live in upstate NY , as well as her maternal grandparents, so it might be possible for her to go to school in the NE since we could pick her up and bring her to our area for breaks and holidays if she can’t get back to NC.</p>
<p>^^^^
Cornell may be an option if she has the scores,and GPA.</p>
<p>I was thinking that University of Rochester might be a good choice. They meet full need from what I have read and have a great pre-med program.</p>
<p>post #5 regarding cost of attendance is currently outdated…see the date at the bottom. Most of the schools have changed their need based policy since the date on that article.</p>
<p>holliesue, Rochester was my son’s safety school, and he received the LEAST amount of FA from them. It was a combination of a nice merit scholarship ($10K per year) and a ludicrously small “need-based” award. And I use the word ludicrous advisedly: the resulting gap we would have had to finance was larger than our annual income, much less our EFC. (His stats were at the top for them.)</p>
<p>That said, Rochester is a very good school and does have a fair number of merit scholarships, and it does have the “Renaissance” scholarships which are at least $30K (possibly a full ride) if memory serves. My understanding is that Rochester <em>really</em> likes you to interview, which S did not do, and which means either traveling there (we couldn’t) or catching one of their traveling admissions people (we didn’t–and they were in our area only in early October, at which point S was only focused on his SCEA application.) So if she is interested at taking a serious shot at Rochester and getting enough money to go, INTERVIEW and apply early!</p>
<p>Have her look at the Park Scholarship at NC State. It’s a competitive scholarship but is community service oriented. The scholarship pays all tuition and fees, room and board, books, supplies, computer stipend, and travel stipends for study abroad; valued at around $80,000. I think they award about 50 (out of about 1,300 applications). Criteria is based on scholarship, leadership, service and character.</p>
<p>Aside from the fact that it pays for everything, the thing I like most about this program is that the incoming Park Scholars are a cohort that receive leadership training and work on community service projects together as a group so it establishes a built in support system right away with mentor faculty as well.</p>
<p>I could be wrong but I thought that students with significant college-based FA, need-based, or from Questbridge, are also granted travel money for X number of airfare roundtrips per year to the college. It might also depend on the college, not sure.</p>
<p>Can anyone verify that? If she can get on a plane herself to anywhere (meaning, her parents drive her to the nearest airport a few times each year), that might be worth it for the total deal. Even if her parents can’t accompany her to freshman orientation/family day experiences with her which require them staying in motels and such, she might not expect that of them and prefer the distance if the opportunity is there.</p>
<p>The Park is pretty competitive but great opportunity if she could get it. Also, NC State has a program called the Pack Promise. It is a grant program for low income students guaranteeing that they will graduate from NCSU with no more than $10,000 debt.</p>
<p>I think UNC-CH has a similiar program called the Carolina Covenant.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What if you look at the above Questbridge match schools to evaluate their proximity to you in upstate NY or to her in NC? Vassar pops out at me, given your family location around Binghamton. It is so nice to have family nearby for vacations!</p>
<p>As well, consider airport locations between her home community and the nearest airport at the destination college, along with who has the direct flights. For example, if she can fly pretty directly from her part of NC to Philadelphia, or Cleveland…that opens up consideration for UPenn, Swarthmore (Phila) or Oberlin (Cleve). If she can get into Hartford CT, think of Amherst or Williams, etc. My personal experience flying kids to colleges is that one layover is acceptable; direct flights are gold; 2 layovers is too much. But that’s just me.</p>
<p>In her situation, it might be good to know if she’s up for a rural, suburban or urban experience. </p>
<p>As well, look on that Questbridge list for some safety, match and reach schools academically. Offhand, I see Trinity or Washington-and-Lee as more accessible academically than MIT or Yale. Like every student, she should build her list with a safety (or 2) she’d be happy to attend, several matches and some reaches.</p>
<p>Good luck and keep us updated. What an auntie YOU are!!</p>
<p>NC has excellent state schools. Look into the Carolina Covenent Program as was mentioned previously. Even if your neice doesn’t get into UNC Chapel Hill or NCState it is still possible to get a great education at UNC Asheville, Appalachian and UNC Wilmington.
I’m personally much more concerned about doors being closed for students with large debts than graduating from a state school, (even a second or third tier state school).</p>