<p>Hi, so I have been looking at practically every college in the United States and have not found the right one yet. To be honest, every time I find the "perfect" school I learn information which is horrifying. Personally, I would love to find a school that is intellectually challenging, not competitive, not big into partying or alcohol consumption, research oriented, small classes, nerdy student body, and vegetarian friendly in the dining hall. I plan to major in biology. Although I know that some nicer schools are out of reach as my act score is too low, I still hope that I am able to find a great college or university. Any suggestions or information on the schools I am considering would be well appreciated. Thank you </p>
<p>schools considering
Michigan state
college of Wooster
rice
university of Alabama
mount Holyoke
Texas A&M
Grand Valley
Bryn Mawr
Bowdoin</p>
<p>Act = 29
psat=184
g.p.a= 4.14 (on a 4.0 scale)
Taken 4 honors courses
AP's = U.S. history (5), world history (5), environmental science (5), and language and composition (5)
volunteer at the library for 3 summers
leader in environmental club
marching band/concert band
national honors society
tutor at local school </p>
<p>in what would you like to major?</p>
<p>have you run the net price calculators on these schools? what amount have your parents committed to giving you for 4 yrs?</p>
<p>I want to major in biology, my parents and I haven’t discussed that, they said they would like to pay for all four years, but that would only be possible if the college cost around $20,000 a year</p>
<p>Have you run the net price calculators at any of the schools on your list? They are on the financial aid website page for the college. Have your parents help. This will tell you what kind of aid you might get from the college, and help you figure out if your list is affordable. Also, are you in-state in Michigan?</p>
<p>Yep I am from Michigan</p>
<p>Have you run the net price calculators? Telling us that your family can afford $20K doesn’t help too much if we don’t know whether you are eligible for need based aid, and what those calculators are showing as your cost of attendance.</p>
<p>Is it possible for you to take the ACT again? As is, your ACT score of 29 would earn you a significant amount of merit aid at Alabama. If you could bump that up by just one point to a 30, you would get almost 17K more in merit aid (over four years).</p>
<p>Rice and Bowdoin have an admission rate around 16% so it high competitive to get into these schools.</p>
<p>There are still many nice colleges that can meet your college criteria. For example, Wooster and Kalamazoo. these two colleges should be solid matches for you. Check here for the FA info at Kalamazoo:
<a href=“Office of Financial Aid – | Kalamazoo College”>Office of Financial Aid – | Kalamazoo College;
<p>Not sure how the large schools like Michigan State and Texas A&M will meet your criteria.</p>
<p>With Grand Valley as your safety, you can look for more matches like those schools in Colleges That Change Lives. But you have to make sure that they are affordable. Run the NPCs first. You can compromise on other things since there is no perfect college but how much you can pay cannot be compromised.</p>
<p>New College of Florida sounds perfect for you, and it is surprisingly affordable. They guaranteed an automatic $15k scholarship to almost all out-of-state students for coming year, exclusive of need, and so it’s approximately $25k before any loans or need-based grants. You match up statistically, also. PM with additional questions (my son is entering there next month).</p>
<p>Well, you certainly described Mount Holyoke in your “I would love to find a school that is…” sentence! Did you run the NPC for it to see if it’s affordable for your parents? The do, also, give some merit aid.</p>
<p>I’m just going to throw in my two cents for Bryn Mawr. It’s a perfect fit for the kind of college you’re describing. Very small, close-knit community, and the complete opposite of a party school, yet at the same time very social and energetic. Pretty much all BMC girls are super nerdy and we’re a pretty quirky bunch, but while it’s a very academically rigorous school, the honor code and general sense of togetherness on campus prevents it from being competitive. We don’t talk about grades (the most one would typically say is “I flunked that test” or “I think I did pretty good on that paper”) and we work hard to satisfy our own demands, not to beat others. Also, as a vegetarian, I can assure you that the dining halls are extremely vegetarian-friendly and they offer delicious options for pretty much every dietary need. The biology department is fantastic, with plenty of opportunities for you to individualize your academic experience, and the major is extremely popular. They’ve also just added the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major, if that’s something you would be interested in.
I got into BMC with a 30 composite and a much lower GPA than you, and they also gave me extremely generous financial aid, twice as much as Mount Holyoke. It’s not as common to receive merit-based aid, but if you communicate with the financial aid office and be honest with them about what’s feasible for your family, they’re very understanding and willing to help.</p>