Something a little more realistic

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello~</p>

<p>I'm looking for a list of possible colleges to apply to that are realistic for me not only academically, but financially as well. Any sort of input is helpful :)</p>

<p>Currently a Junior
Location: **Honolulu, HI
**Ethnicity: **Asian. Sigh.
**School: **Really small private girls' school.
**GPA: **So far I've got just around a 3.8-3.9 unweighted.
**Rank: Our school doesn't rank, but I'm pretty sure I'm 2/25. Yeah, really small school.
Tests: SAT: 2080 (W:710, R:720, M:650) - definitely retaking. Planning on taking the US History, World History, and Japanese SATII's. Also going to take the ACT.
Course load: I've taken the most rigorous classes available to me up until now, APs haven't been available to me before this year (and only one - APUSH). I'm also self-studying for AP World (but I already have a good foundation in the subject from two years of study) and possibly AP English lang. My senior APs will most likely be AP US Gov, AP Euro, AP Japanese, and AP English Lit. Our school has a limit on how many APs you can take during Senior year. Usually it's three, but they make exceptions for certain students, and I'm hoping I'll be one of them. Oh, we only have 7-8 APs offered. I've taking one dual enrollment course at a local university and plan to do 2-3 more before graduation.</p>

<p>EC's:
Leadership: Student Council President (9th and 11th, hoping for 12th also), Student Council VP (10th), Recording Secretary for Serteens (11th, hoping to be President in 12th)
Service: **Serteens club, Girl Scouts (will complete Gold Award before application), assisting with a children's aikido class (throughout high school and eighth grade).
**Other: Aikido (A Japanese martial art - 7 years, will be 9 by graduation), Paddling (will be 3 years by graduation), Debate (will be 2 years by graduation), NHS (will be for 2 years)</p>

<p>Other Info: I have no hooks. I'm positive I'll have excellent teacher recs as long as my favorite teachers don't decide to quit. I'll have done National History Day at least twice (I made it to states last year and hope to go further this year). I've done a school year-long internship with an organization that brings in foreign exchange students from around the world and have also hosted a few times. Our school's Japan Wizards (a competition sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Hawaii that quizzes you on things like Japanese culture, language, government, etc.) team, of which I was captain, won one of four trips to Japan in Freshman year.</p>

<p>I'm like every other kid who aims for the top schools, but I'm not sure of my family's financial capabilities for paying for college. So I'm looking into state schools maybe that have good honors programs and merit scholarships just in case. If it makes any difference, I'm planning on either going to law or graduate school immediately after my undergrad with the possibility of pursuing a doctorate. </p>

<p>Geographically, I really want to go to the East Coast, mid-Atlantic/New England area.</p>

<p>And I think I'm going to be studying history. :)</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Can you say a little more about what you want?</p>

<p>What does financially realistic mean? Have you estimated your Expected Family Contribution? If so, are your parents able and willing to contribute that much?
Would you prefer a large school or a small one? Urban or rural/small town? Do you care about cold weather? Would you like a big Greek and intercollegiate sports scene? etc.</p>

<p>From your qualifications, I suppose your sweet spot (for “match” schools) would be in the US News top 26-50 national university and LAC lists. A few to consider (from more to less selective in each group):
LACs
Barnard (women only, but associated with Columbia)
Colgate
Colby
Bates
Holy Cross
Bryn Mawr (women only, but in a consortium with Haverford & Swarthmore)
Connecticut College</p>

<p>Universities
Brandeis
Boston College
NYU (reputation for poor aid)
U. Rochester</p>

<p>Being an Asian from Hawaii, you’d probably be considered a URM at most LACs in the east and midwest. So you may get a bump-up in your chances at schools like Middlebury and Bowdoin (both top 10 LACs, both test optional). The midwestern schools (such as Grinnell and Oberlin) usually have the added advantage of offering merit aid.</p>

3

<p>*but I’m not sure of my family’s financial capabilities for paying for college. So I’m looking into state schools maybe that have good honors programs and merit scholarships just in case. If it makes any difference, I’m planning on either going to law or graduate school immediately after my undergrad with the possibility of pursuing a doctorate.</p>

<p>Geographically, I really want to go to the East Coast, mid-Atlantic/New England area.</p>

<p>And I think I’m going to be studying history. *</p>

<p>Did you take the PSAT in October? Do you think you did well? You might make National Merit if you scored high enough. that can mean big scholarships at many schools.</p>

<p>How much will your parents pay each year? If you don’t know, ask. </p>

<p>tk2 asks good questions about the “type” of college you want, that will help us with suggestions.</p>

<p>Since you’re in Hawai’i, it may be hard for you to visit colleges, so we do need to know what kind of campus do you want?</p>

<p>Big?
Small?
Quiet?
Rah rah with big sports to watch?
Rural area?
City area?
Greek systems?
Catholic schools ok?</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the replies, </p>

<p>I can’t really ask my parents atm, but I’m estimating somewhere around 25k/year is doable.</p>

<p>I took the PSAT and am hoping to have made NMSF cutoff, but we’ll see in a couple weeks.</p>

<p>As for the type of school, I guess I’d want something more urban/suburban, but if there’s good campus life, rural is fine as well.
Medium-sized.
Not so heavy on the Greek.
Cold weather is great.
Sports aren’t a deciding factor.
Any religious affiliation is okay.</p>

5

<p>buuummmpppp? :)</p>

6

<p>if you want state school, those are big schools
smaller schools are usually more expensive</p>

<p>You might be able to try lower Ivy like Brown but they are expensive
Penn State at University Park is a big state school but will be good finanically and it has a strong honors program
try Holy Cross, Lehigh, Bowdoin, Colby
McGill is in Montreal but it is a very good acedemic school that is cheap for Americans</p>

7

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<p>What your family thinks is doable is not always nearly as much as what the school thinks. This is why it is important to calculate your EFC and whether your family can cover it. Then plan an application strategy with this in mind. Soon.</p>

<p>Private schools in the east typically run $50K or more. Public universities for out of state students? About $35K-$40K. Need based aid will cover, at best, only up to the college-calculated EFC regardless of what your parents think they are able and willing to pay.</p>

8

<p>When you get a chance have your parents do the below link</p>

<p>Quick EFC - this is a rough estimate<br>
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | QuickEFC](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Quick EFC - Finaid) </p>

<p>This is just an estimate and can be rather meaningless for OOS publics. But, it can give you an idea for schools that “meet need” (if you have need.)</p>

<p>Your family may think it can only pay $25k, but schools may say that their income is too high for any aid. So, you need to find that out, now.</p>