<p>Hey students, parents, and others fumbling around on CC!</p>
<p>I was wondering if you could give some advice on my college list. Are there enough safeties? Which schools should I weed out? Any other schools that you think I should consider? etc. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Hampshire
Hiram
Lake Forest
Kalamazoo
Wellesley
Kenyon (Thinking about taking off because of the setting being so rural & limited internships b/c of location)
Hamilton
New College of Florida
Oberlin
Amherst
Barnard (Might take off because the location is VERY urban in that part of New York)
Bryn Mawr
Brown- very very high reach
Yale- very very high reach</p>
<p>Some info about me:
32 ACT (Will retake in fall)
4.4 gpa W; I think about a 3.7 UW
very strong, layered ECs in both English/Writing/Speaking and Music
tons of community service in the areas I'm interested in
IB Diploma candidate
all honors/IB classes
will take 5 additional AP exams
(arguably) best high school in my state
fluent Spanish
love reading and literature analysis
Most Interested in Philosophy (have taken 2 courses in my high school, one of them Theory of Knowledge, the teacher loves me and I fell in love with the subject), but will probably double major & take an internship to be more appealing to employers.</p>
<p>My ideal school should not be as interested in competition as it is discussion and collaboration. I like learning for the sake of learning, not just to get a good grade and pass the class. A fan of small schools (6,000 and below).</p>
<p>Cost and financial aid constraints? State of residency?</p>
<p>These may help others suggest schools (and are essential for suggesting safety candidates, which must be affordable – it is not a safety if you cannot afford to attend).</p>
<p>@ ucbalumnus: I’m in Michigan, but I don’t really care where I go to school as far as location is concerned. Financial aid shouldn’t be a problem because my parents have pretty low income, so FASFA will be a big help. Otherwise, I will be paying for my college costs, and some debt is expected. (As long as it’s under $50,000 a year board included, I will be good. That covers each school on my list).</p>
<p>@M’s Mom: I have checked out Reed and like the school a lot, but ended up knocking it off the list. I haven’t yet heard of The Philosophical Gourmet Report- looks interesting. I will surely check it out! </p>
<p>Do not assume that all colleges will give non-loan financial aid that covers your need. Many do not, particularly most out of state public schools and private schools that are not richly endowed (and most of the richly endowed private schools are very selective).</p>
<p>Consider Michigan public schools, since public schools’ mission often includes being affordable for in-state students, including low income ones.</p>
<p>Run the net price calculators at each school to check financial aid estimates.</p>
<p>All of New York is “very urban”. Morningside Heights isn’t really any more “urban” than any other parts - actually, there are more trees and more of a suburbanish feel here than there is in, say, Midtown or Greenwich Village.</p>
<p>Obviously you should apply to some public Michigan universities just in case. Especially if your family is low-income. Some of the tippy-top schools will meet full need if you get into them, but the school determines full-need and your family may decide that they actually can’t pay the difference. (Wellesley in particular is extremely generous, as are Yale and Amherst. But they are the most competitive.)</p>
<p>Since you have women’s colleges on your list, you also may consider Smith College - less competitive than Wellesley and Barnard; more on the order of Bryn Mawr. If you are interested in women’s colleges more broody, you may also be interested in Agnes Scott College (has good financial aid), Scripps College (probably about as competitive as Barnard) and Simmons College. Sweet Briar College could be a safety for you.</p>
<p>You may also be interested in some of the Colleges That Change Lives:</p>
<p>Allegheny College ¶
Beloit College (MN, I think)
Birmingham-Southern College (AL)
Eckerd College (FL)
Emory & Henry College
Goucher College (MD; emphasizes interdisciplinary learning)
Guilford College (NC)
Juniata College ¶
Millsaps College (MS)
Knox College
Rhodes College (TN)
Reed College (OR)
Whitman College (WA)
Ursinus College ¶</p>
<p>Some of these colleges are a little less competitive than some of the others on your list, so you may get some merit aid there. Rhodes admits 50% of their applicants; Eckerd, 53%; Birmingham-Southern, 64%; Juniata, 71%; Ursinus, 70%; Goucher, 73%. They’re still all great colleges. Reed is probably the most selective; they admit 40% of their applicants.</p>
<p>I went to Ursinus College and if you want a school that supports learning both in and outside of your major and supports discussion then you NEED to check it out. Not only that, but the professors are amazing. It is competitive in that everyone there is a top notch student but it is not a cut-throat environment. I know the percentage given of admitted applicants is 70%, but I worked in the admissions office and they go every applicant with a fine-toothed comb. So every student there deserves to be there and is an amazing asset to the school.</p>
<p>I would apply to larger privates including the lower Ivies (they have a larger endowment to give financial aid than LACs and other smaller privates) and Michigan because of in-state tuition.</p>
Move on over to the FA forum so you can learn about how FA works. As UCBAlumnus stated don’t assume you’ll get grants or scholarships. FAFSA doesn’t give you anything. It is a way for the federal gov’t to see what you may be entitled to (loans and/or grants). But that amount is essentially limited to $11K total for freshmen. YOU cannot take out an additional $40K in loans, but your parents can. Talk to them about what they can pay. Some of the schools on your list (at least Brown and Yale) use the CSS Profile to also look at assets and non-custodial parent income.</p>