Small town girl seeking big city college experience

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello! I am a parent and new to the forum. I have found this site so useful and thought I would give my first posting a go. My daughter will be a senior this Fall and is desperately looking to get away from small town living. She is looking for good schools in big cities in the Northeast. Here are her stats:</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA 3.83
Currently first in her class, will most likely graduate in top 1-3.
SAT: reading 690, math 650, writing 630 (will be re-taking in the fall)
ACT: 33
AP Bio (5), AP USHistory (5), AP Physics her senior year and will be self teaching two AP classes as her school offers a limited selection. All other classes Honors/Advanced.
Band, jazz band, marching band, tennis, Rotary, 4H, Drug Quiz Team captain, National Honor society, various awards, variety of volunteer/community involvement, etc.</p>

<p>She is leaning toward biology/sciences, but is undecided.
Financial aid and scholarships are a high need.
Any information on cities/schools that would meet her academic standing and desire for city living would be much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>University of chicagon is right in the city, but is quite competitive and known for grade deflation.</p>

3

<p>Northeastern is a match for her stats and gives lots of merit aid.</p>

4

<p>My recommendation would be George Washington University for several reasons.</p>

<h1>1: It’s situated right in downtown D.C. (big city), however D.C. is really easy to maneuver so there wouldn’t be much of a learning curve</h1>

<h1>2: Your daughter’s stats line up with most students at GW</h1>

<h1>3: GW generously gives out copious amounts of financial aid</h1>

5

<p>I would get some college guide books and look for schools in or near major cities. Also give consideration to the size of the school she would like, the type of campus (some urban schools have a distinct campus, others just meld into the city). A few suggestions offhand:</p>

<p>NYC: NYU (not always great with aid), Barnard (slight reach), Fordham (there are two choices, a small campus at Lincoln Center in the heart of Manhattan or Rose Hill, a traditional campus in the Bronx with easy access to Manhattan (for fully disclosure, my S went to Fordham-Rose Hill and loved it.))</p>

<p>Philadelphia - Drexel, St. Joes. Villanova (outside Philadelphia), Haverford (outside Phila)</p>

<p>DC - Georgetown (reach), GW, American</p>

<p>Baltimore - Johns Hopkins, Loyola (MD), Goucher</p>

<p>Boston: BU, BC, Northeastern</p>

6

<p>Would you qualify for significant financial aid?</p>

7

<p>Chicago95, copious amounts? The average merit award for GW is <$18K when tuition alone is $47K.</p>

<p>Barrk has a good question. Needing aid is not the same thing as qualifying. OP, are you from a low income family or is it more accurate to state you won’t qualify but can’t afford your EFC? If so you should be looking at merit aid options.</p>

8

<p>A few public choices:</p>

<p>University of Pittsburgh (great for bio, right in city, would be a match, some merit aid possible - can SATs be raised?)</p>

<p>University of Maryland (right outside DC in College Park, MD with Metro station to city)</p>

<p>If Midwest is ok - Ohio State (Columbus).</p>

9

<p>Does she want a big “rah rah” school in a big city? Or would a smaller school in a large city work too?</p>

10

<p>If you are in the top 5% of your class and have at least a 33 on the ACT, you might get full tuition from Pitt. Decent chance at full ride.</p>

11

<p>Well, I guess I’m just basing it off my personal experience. However, I do know some people who were given generous amounts of aid like me.</p>

12

<p>Definitely look into Hunter. Hunter is within the CUNY system, they usually do give lots of financial aid & do have MANY majors for science. Wonderful reputation all-around. Located in near East Midtown, NYC. Out-of-state tuition, with room and board maybe 20K, if not cheaper. Macaulay is definitely a great option. Look into it, you get a full tuition including room & board, a laptop, and money to study aboard. May need a higher GPA but they would consider course-load, and the fact that she is currently #1 in her class. Good luck!</p>

13

<p>In regards to financial aid, my answer to whether we would qualify is honestly I don’t know. This is my first child going to college. We are divorced, father makes about $65K and has custodial custody, I make about $50K, and there is one other child (I have custody) who has three more years before college. So based on what little I have read on this site regarding financial aid, it sounds like need based aid will be hard to come by, but again I am a novice at this :slight_smile: So I guess my final answer would be that merit aid is what we should focus on.</p>

14

<p>JoBenny:
No rah rah required, a small school in a big city would be fine.</p>

15

<p>Here are some great schools for your daughter to consider:</p>

<p>NYU
Fordham
Boston College
Northeastern University
George Washington
Georgetown University
American University
Univ of Chicago
Northwestern
Loyola (Chicago)
Depaul
UPenn
Temple
Drexel
UCLA
USC
Loyola (LA)
University of Miami
Univ of Minnesota </p>

<p>If you’re willing to look into secondary markets, schools like Pitt, Johns Hopkins, and Marquette are also urban schools. Maybe Ohio State if you consider Columbus a “big city”, which in that case you should also add UT Austin.</p>

16

<p>Boston College (Great fin aid)
<a href=“Net Price Calculator”>Net Price Calculator;

<p>Northeastern (chance at large merit scholarship)
<a href=“Undergraduate - Applying for Aid | Student Financial Services”>Undergraduate - Applying for Aid | Student Financial Services;

<p>UPenn (Good aid)
[Financial</a> Aid Calculator](<a href=“Submit My Documents | Penn Student Registration & Financial Services| Penn Srfs”>Submit My Documents | Penn Student Registration & Financial Services| Penn Srfs)</p>

<p>Georgetown (good aid, not quite in the northeast)
<a href=“Net Price Calculator”>Net Price Calculator;

<p>Tufts (good aid)
<a href=“Net Price Calculator”>Net Price Calculator;

<p>Not sure how the divorce will affect the numbers or how much you will qualify for.</p>

17

<p>Remember, OP asked for cities in the northeast.</p>

<p>I would think NYU is the obvious choice here. She’d be jumping right into the heart of the biggest city in the country and living in Greenwich Village. How city is that?! I don’t think aid is great though. For reaches she could try Columbia and Cooper Union, also right in NYC but aid would be better.</p>

<p>In Boston, BU is the most urban experience with its campus blending in to Commonwealth Ave near Kenmore Square and Fenway Park. Not great aid here either. Harvard (a reach for everyone) is in Harvard Square which is a great spot too and fairly urban but retains its own sub-culture. It’d be my personal fave but really, who gets in there without some special hook, but if somehow you can, they are very generous with aid.</p>

18

<p>Emerson College would be a great safety. It is located in Boston and I have a friend with lower stats than your daughter who got fantastic aid and scholarship there. </p>

<p>Some good matches would be Boston College, Georgetown, Brandeis, New York University, Northeastern, and Boston University (although notorious for giving poor aid).</p>

19

<p>Consider Pitt. Especially if she can raise her SAT scores for merit money.</p>

20

<p>Oy. Recommending NYU at $65K/year to a family in which the Custodial parent makes that much per year? Really?</p>

<p>OP, what is your home state? Someone else recommended the UCs which would be a similar cost out of state.</p>