<p>Anyone know of any schools that fit the criteria below?</p>
<ul>
<li>Rural or urban location no farther west than Colorado. It may be strange, but I would rather live in the middle of nowhere or a bustling urban metropolis than suburbia.</li>
<li>Less than 10,000 students (grad + undergrad).</li>
<li>Four seasons with snowy winters.</li>
<li>Top-notch but not completely consuming academics. I'm as intellectually curious as the next person, but I also thoroughly enjoy downtime, sleep, the occasional party, and my hobbies as well as debate and intelligent discussion.</li>
<li>No hardcore party schools. Although I'm sure I'll find my group wherever I end up, I'm a bit on the nerdy side myself and probably wouldn't be very happy surrounded by Barbie and Ken or drowning in a very strong drinking culture.</li>
<li>Affordable price tag. My parents are divorced so I'm unsure how it would work, but their combined income is in the 100k area. I've been told this is the worst bracket because of financial aid stinginess/EFC on paper and EFC in reality, but if this is untrue, feel free to debunk these myths for me. I guess what I'm saying is merit would be nice, or schools that meet 100% of need.</li>
<li>It would also be preferable if the core was nonexistant or flexible and there was some way for me to do horseback riding, but these are less important qualifications.</li>
</ul>
<p>Ultimately, I want to be a museum curator/archivist, a librarian, or a professor, so my major is most likely going to be something like history. However, I also would like to double major or minor in something along the lines of equestrian studies, which I realize is not as readily available.</p>
<p>Anyway, I attend a top 20 high school in NC. 3.8 unweighted GPA, unsure of weighted; school does not rank. All honors/AP classes; I'm currently a junior, and at my school, this means I take classes at the college my school is affiliated with for both junior and senior years. PSAT was 2300, but I've also taken the SAT and scored a 2330. My ECs are good (job, internship, random contests, NHS, another club, extensive horse related stuff, ~700 volunteer hours).</p>
<p>Likely NMSF (and NMF)
parents divorced - total income around $100k
SAT 2330
GPA 3.8 UW
NC -resident</p>
<p>I want to be a museum curator/archivist, a librarian, or a professor, so my major is most likely going to be something like history. However, I also would like to double major or minor in something along the lines of equestrian studies, which I realize is not as readily available.</p>
<p>Yes, your parents income will likely be a problem with aid. Do you know how much each will contribute towards your education? If you don’t know, ask…this is vital info!!!</p>
<p>BTW…have your parents’ remarried? if so, their new spouses incomes could get counted, too.</p>
<p>Your scores are awesome and you’re a likely NMF (be sure to do the paperwork when you get it in Sept)</p>
<p>It sounds like LACs are best for you. They can cost about $50k+ per year. If your parents can only contribute an amount that is lower than their EFC (which could be highish), then an LAC that would give you huge merit aid for your stats and/or NMF status would be great.</p>
<p>I don’t know of which schools have the equestrian minor that you desire, but hopefully some will know and post!!! :)</p>
<p>What do you think of Skidmore? Great museum right on campus which gives hands on opportunities. If one loves horses and snowy winters, Saratoga Springs is not a bad place to be. A lot of interesting people (in many fields) are brought to campus to both educate and entertain. . .maybe a bit small.</p>
<p>Look at Grinell in Iowa. Vibrant campus, lower cost plus good merit aid, study abroad is almost a given, good accept rate to grad school. Don’t know horsey schools.</p>
<p>cachotterie, I think you first need to get clarity on your parents’ financial situation. $100K is very difficult to predict. You may be eligible for need based aid, or may not. </p>
<p>Hopefully your parents are cordial enough with each other to collaborate on this process so that you can get a clear idea of what your family contribution might be. That done, the next step would be to make sure that one or both are willing to contribute the same. </p>
<p>Many selective schools which might be good fits do not offer merit aid. The good news is that many do meet guaranteed need; however, they define that as what they determine that you need which may not be the case. In any event, you still have to get your parents’ confirmation that they’ll make up the difference.</p>
<p>Please put the financial first. If you truly need merit aid, your list will be very different that if you can get by with need based aid alone.</p>
<p>Money aside some schools that I think would be of interest would be Smith (assuming you are female), Hamilton, Bowdoin and Williams. Williams is an excellent choice for art history; despite its mountain location it has three worldclass museums on or near campus. Many American museum curators and directors attended Williams.</p>
<p>I’d also second the suggestions of Skidmore and Grinnell.</p>
<p>I believe riding would be available at all of these (not 100% sure, though). Some of them have distribution requirements, some do not, but none has a core curriculum.</p>