I am a current junior from MD. Im looking for a medium school (3,000-20,000) that is not too far away. I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA and around 4.3 weighted and am also enrolled in many AP classes. I am also top 10 in my class of 350 and should get an SAT score around a 1440. Im also in most of the honors societies, a community service club, mock trial, model UN, and SGA. One school that I found and really liked was the college of William and Mary. Being an out of state student from MD, I know that my chances may be low but do I have any chance at all? Also is the financial aid for out of state really as bad as I heard? Would any merit aid be possible with my stats? Finally I was wondering what schools are similar to William and Mary, maybe with a slightly higher acceptance rate and better financial aid. Thank you!
Beyond OOS considerations, whether you are male or female could be important. W&M recently accepted 42% of male applicants, but substantially less, 32%, of females who applied. Based on your excellent academic record, your chances might still be quite good, however, even if female. Your greater concern would seem to be financial aid. Why not consider some well-funded private colleges? You could apply freely on this basis, with good prospects at a range of schools, including those with even lower acceptance rates, should you so choose.
Johns Hopkins has 5400 undergrads and rigorous academics. Though most people know it for its biology, BME, and public health programs, it is exceptionally strong in the humanities and social sciences as well.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland is a great in-state safety, though smaller than you’d like.
What do you want to major in?
I’m not sure yet but probably either something business or science related
I think of William and Mary as strong in reading and writing, so perfect for pre law, and pre business,
is that what you are looking for? Or would you be OK with a more quantitative focused school?
Johns Hopkins on the other hand seems more medical, and engineering focused to me. William and Mary
does not offer engineering.
You might like the University of Richmond.
Highly ranked business school, beautiful campus-and similar climate to W&M. The financial aid package was pretty good for our family relative to other offers.
My daughter from CA is very happy there.
Richmond, Wake Forest, Rochester, Emory, Tufts. W&M is strong in science and business but as noted doesn’t have engineering other than a 3:2 engineering program with Columbia.
I was thinking of Richmond and Wake Forest too. Lehigh and Bucknell as well. Also, Miami of OH is another “public ivy” that has some of the same virtues as W&M but offers a lot more merit aid. (Ranges based on test scores are shown on the admissions website.) It’s a bit larger but still under 20K undergrads. It has a Honors program, and also an Honors cohort in the business school that might be a good fit.
Quinnipiac could be a safety type option with large merit aid being a good possibility.
“Similar” in what respect(s), other than size?
If all you want are alternatives that are a bit less expensive and selective, then the most obvious are among your own in-state public schools (UMCP, St. Mary’s College of MD, UMBC, etc). Of these, St. Mary’s may be the most similar to W&M (but smaller).
Many private schools might have lower net costs than W&M, but that would depend on your eligibility for need-based aid or merit scholarships. Run the online net price calculators for any schools that interest you. If you think you can’t cover the Expected Family Contributions, then you’ll need merit money (maybe a lot of it). Your stats are high enough to get full tuition at some schools. Depending on how much money you need, you may need to focus on schools outside the USNWR T100 and in locations many students consider (rightly or wrongly) less desirable.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
If you need less than full tuition, look for merit award opportunities in the Kiplinger listings:
https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php
https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts
Thank you! Mainly I’m looking for a school with a similar size, location (not too far from MD), and social scene to that of William and Mary
Lehigh University might interest you. So might Wake Forest. I think that both of these colleges check all your boxes.
Others here have recommended University of Richmond, which I agree might be a good choice.
Brandeis University has a lot of applicant overlap with C of W&M and is within the specified size range and strong in sciences. You may or may not consider the Boston area too far away; it is in a suburb of Boston. In terms of social scene, it depends what you mean; many different types of students attend W&M. There are fewer party oriented students at Brandeis than at W&M (Brandeis has no official frats), although there are some, but it will have plenty of bright, nerdy students.
Bucknell, Case, Northeastern?
It depends on what you mean by that. The majority of undergraduates are majoring in a STEM field, sure. It couldn’t be more wrong to say that all (or even most) of JHU’s strengths are in medicine and engineering, however. Its programs in creative writing, international relations, history, Near Eastern studies, archaeology, and art history are all top-notch, to name just a few.
Tufts
Brandeis
SUNY Geneseo
Vassar
Hamilton College (smaller)