Should I add these colleges to my list?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I posted a thread in the chances forum a little while ago, and I got some advice that said I should be applying to more colleges. At the time, I was only applying to four:
Towson University,
UMD-College Park,
Virginia Tech,
and UMBC.
I've sent in all those applications, but I was wondering if I should apply to more private universities since there's still a good amount of time before the RD deadline.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:
Intended Major: History (possibly a double major with Polisci)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Hispanic (1/2 White; 1/2 Mexican)
State: Maryland</p>

<p>I go to a magnet school in Maryland, very competitive.
3.76 UW GPA
4.62 W GPA
17/285 UW (Top 10%), 39/285 W (Top 20%)</p>

<p>SAT:
2140/2400 and 1420/1600 (superscore) 760 CR 660 M 720 W;
2130/2400 and 1410/1600 (best single sitting) 750 CR 660 M 720 W.</p>

<p>ECs (kinda weak):
National Social Studies Honor Society (11,12 - Historian); National Spanish Honor Society (9, 10); USHYEE (10,11); Freethinkers Club (11,12); Environmental Club (12); Pennies for Peace (12); National Art Honor Society (12);
Sole produce/editor for a weekly segment, "On This Day In History", which runs on our schools news broadcast.
Also an anchor for our school's daily announcements. Nominee for the Maryland Student Page Program.</p>

<p>I was thinking about adding these colleges to my list:
Penn State (EA - Nov 30th).
American University (RD - Jan 15th) Legacy.
Bucknell University (RD - Jan 15th)
George Washington University (RD - Jan 15th)
Gettysburg College (RD - Jan 15th)</p>

<p>I was also thinking about applying for two reaches, William & Mary + Brandeis, just for the heck of it, since I'm interested in both schools. I know that they are probably reaches. </p>

<p>Does this college list look well balanced? Should I add a college to the list, take a college off? Also, I'm kind of looking to get a little bit of merit aid - do you think I would get any kind of merit aid at any of these colleges (excluding WM & B because admission would be a stretch there)?</p>

2

<p>I see no harm in adding some reaches, since you have some solid academic and financial matches and safeties. W & M and Brandeis are not impossible with your credentials. </p>

3

<p>what has your family said it can provide each year? you need to know if you can afford any of these colleges. towson and the UMD’s can probably be safeties, if your family can afford them and you would definitely go to them if all else failed. Run the net price calculator for each of these schools. You will find that you will pay close to full price at PSU or any OOS public except perhaps Pitt (which is and isn’t a public), which would likely give you merit and costs about what PSU costs. My D just started there in the Honors College and likes it, and she had scores like yours. I think UMDCP is also a very good school, esp for someone interested in politics and social sciences. Learn more about the money issue.</p>

4

<p>Thank you both for the advice!</p>

<p>@jkeil911: My parents have maintained that they can pay up to 20k a year for me to go to school, but I’d like to come out of college with as little of a financial burden on them as possible, especially since I’ve been considering going to graduate school for my law degree after, which means more tuition costs.</p>

<p>I’m actually really interested in UMD-CP, I’m just not sure I’d get any merit aid there because the applicant pool is so competitive. We’re doing a unit about student loans in my Economics class, and I guess I’ve been scared straight, aha. 1000 dollars a month? Geez. I wouldn’t want me on my parents to have to deal with that, especially for a BA. Still I definitely think it’s a great value and I loved the campus when I visited the first time, I just wish I was a stronger applicant. Thank you for the advice about PSU, I might take that one off my list and put Pitt instead. </p>

5

<p>I have a son who is graduating from CP and we looked at it for my D. Great school. My D had scores similar to yours, and I suspect that adding your ethnicity to those scores would mean some merit of 5-10K, altho merit is very hard to predict. In any event, your costs would be no more than 23K/yr at CP. You may not find anything less expensive, but I encourage you to look at Pitt, which might cost you as little as 28 or 30K. I’m glad to hear of your fear of loans. The other schools on your list probably cannot provide enough aid to get you down below 30K. Still, your ethnicity can be a wild card and complicates our predictions.</p>

6

<p>Thanks so much for the advice, I guess I better buckle down and start applying for more private scholarships. I’ve seen acceptances and aid at UMD and other colleges that are given to applicants who are all over the map statistically speaking, so who knows. Sometimes I go on the results threads and I get a little nervous, haha. All I can do is hope for the best. :)</p>

7

<p>Definitely add Penn State to your list, considering that it’s still EA,</p>

8

<p>Keep in mind that many private scholarships are for first year only. It’s best to find institutions where you are likely to give you merit scholarships or ones that are inherently affordable. I see no advantages of adding Penn State to your list as it would be considered OOS and does not offer significant merit scholarships to bring down the cost to what your family would be able to contribute each year.</p>

9

<p>Penn State isn’t likely affordable for the OP, it doesn’t make sense.</p>

<p>What kind of numbers do you get when you run net price calculators for the schools on your list? I do think you should apply to W&M and Brandeis, assuming the net price calculator numbers look okay. </p>

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<p>I agree with the possibilities at Brandeis, but W&M, I just don’t know. I’d suggest Ohio State but the deadline for merit apps was 11/1.</p>

11

<p>i think that this is well balanced. i don’t know a whole bunch about many of these schools, but i think the best course of action would be to apply and see, in terms of scholarships and merit, where you can most afford to go</p>

12

<p>@empanada: there are NetPrice Calculators which often allow students to have an idea of universities that are likely to be within range or out of range. Unless merit scholarships aren’t counted on the Net Price Calculator, students should not just “wait and see”, but target mostly universities within budget.
I agree that Penn State is too expensive. Definitely add UMD-CP (perhaps St Mary’s of Maryland, the state’s honors college, if you like Gettysburg and Bucknell, ie., smaller schools).</p>

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<p>I think you are a good candidate for Brandeis. Your scores are very good. Grades pretty good. You have diversity and they seem diversity seeking. I have seen some very substantial aid from them reported here. Run those net price calculators. Forget Penn State the money will never work out. Wm and Mary may give some if you have need by their calculations.</p>

14

<p>Are you a National Hispanic Recognition Program recipient? If so, how about Fordham?</p>

15

<p>Thanks to everyone for taking the time to give me some great advice! I used the net price calculator to calculate the cost for the colleges I was thinking about and here were the results:</p>

<p>INSTATE COLLEGES:
Towson University: (on campus) - $10,290, (off campus) - $-248.
UMD College Park: (on campus) - $11,994
UMBC - (on campus) - $13,449, (off campus) - $5,705.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland - (on campus) - $16,118
These numbers almost seem too good to be true, haha. How accurate is the NPC for these colleges? It only made me answer 7 or 8 questions, but the others has a lot more parts to them…</p>

<p>OUT OF STATE COLLEGES:
Brandeis - $18,620
Virginia Tech - $30,280 (holy crap)
William and Mary - $37,775 (holy crap x2)
Gettysburg College - $18,745
Bucknell University - $14,020
American University - $22,303
George Washington University - $18,580
Penn State - $43,168 (well, I’m crossing that one off my list, haha!)
I didn’t include the self-help portion, so it’s w/out the loans and the work study - just the basic net price.</p>

<p>@bopper: Nope, I wish! Unfortunately I think my PSAT scores were too low. If I remember correctly I missed the cutoff by around 10pts. For some reason the PSAT was much harder for me than the actual SAT.</p>

<p>It seems like most of these colleges would be within my reach (with the exception of VTech, WM, and PSU), especially if I do a work study…</p>

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<p>Bucknell at that price is a pretty sweet deal. It seems a bit low to me but it’s within the ballpark. It’s probably the best of the really cheap schools. Small; beautiful campus; good facilities; good, attentive faculty; quite a bit of drinking; good alumni networking. Brandeis is to be preferred over any of the other schools above $14K; it has the resources of a university and the size of an LAC; the focus on undergrads is genuine, altho you will have some grad student instruction and TAs; strong history and polisci majors, probably stronger than Bucknell’s. </p>

17

<p>For your major, UMD-CP would be the best at that cost, and for a bit more, Brandeis (excellent in your areas of interest + well-located). I’d remove UMD-BC since it’s strong in the sciences but not in your area of interest (it’s sort of a specialized university).
W&M, VTech, and Penn State are all public universities that are OOS for you - they do not offer financial aid to OOS applicants, hence the higher costs. Your list without these 3 is very good.</p>

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<p>@jkiel911: I was really surprised at the Bucknell numbers too, considering I’m an OOS applicant. I ran the NPC twice, though. I read that Bucknell usually meets 100% of need? I qualify for a lot of need-based aid, so that may be why. Either way, I will definitely be applying there, and Brandeis too. Both campuses seem beautiful, and they seem to have the type of academic atmosphere I would do well in.</p>

<p>@MYOS1634: Yeah, I really think UMD is a great value considering I would be staying on campus + getting my education for close to the price it usually costs just for room and board. I already applied for priority there on Nov. 1st so fingers crossed I get some good news in January. I didn’t realize UMBC was so STEM-focused (though, now that I think about it, that was kind of the vibe they gave off at them open house). I’ve already applied there EA so I won’t take it off my list, but I’ll definitely consider that specialization when it comes down to actually choosing a college. </p>

<p>Thanks you guys! I think I’ve managed to narrow down my college list:

  • UMD (early action, already applied)
  • UMBC (early action, already applied)
  • Towson University (rolling admission, already applied)
  • Brandeis University (regular decision, Jan 1st)
  • George Washington University (regular decision, Jan 15th)
  • Bucknell University (regular decision, Jan 15th)
  • Gettysburg College (regular decision, Jan 15th)
  • American University (regular decision, Jan 15th)</p>

<p>I’m open to other suggestions, though. I figure I have a lot of time left until the RD deadlines so might as well make the most of it. I’m not really a fan of straying too far away from Maryland, to be honest. I think the distance between Brandeis and Baltimore is probably the farthest I’d travel…</p>

19

<p>@nuhsgrad - Before you take UMBC out of consideration look into the Sondheim Scholars Program.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.umbc.edu/sondheim/”>http://www.umbc.edu/sondheim/&lt;/a&gt;
It is a public affairs honors program with scholarships and other benefits, the application is not due until Jan 15 and you will qualify for merit aid since you met the early action application date.</p>

<p>The school is generally STEM focused, but this program is a nice little gem.</p>

20

<p>@nuhsgrad - Since you qualify for a lot of need based aid, you may want to choose some other schools from this list to apply to.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2014/09/15/colleges-and-universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2014/09/15/colleges-and-universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Fanklin and Marshall would probably be a match. University of Richmond would probably a low reach. And for reaches you should consider Tufts and Johns Hopkins.</p>