Background and stats
-US Citizen studying outside the USA,British A Level Curriculum
-We have no GPA but I have straight A’s so near perfect I think
Highest marks in the country in Maths and Environmental Management in O Level exams
-1520 SAT(760 each)
-Intended area of study: Chemistry or Biochemistry
-ECAs:
1)Won prizes at regional or national level in about every major science/math Olympiad
2)Leadership positions at my Science Club and Community service Club(also founding member of latter)
3)Avid graphics designer,won poster design competitions and stuff
School prefect(kinda like a student discipline manager
School Magazine writer
6)Volunteered in coronavirus ward
7)Started an educational blog recently
Now, with these stats and background, could someone please tell me the names of at least one reach school(where I would have at least a decent chance) and one match school for me?
A reach, by definition, is a competitive school with low acceptance rates. No one has a good chance of getting in unless your parents are huge donors or you are the next Michael Jordan.
There are thousands of schools that could be a match for you.
What’s your budget? Intended major? Geographic preference? School size? Urban or rural? Etc…
At your level of achievement, your academic match schools will tend toward reaches because of their low acceptance rates. Nonetheless, for potentially realistic reaches with top-level chemistry departments, research Colby, Swarthmore, Hamilton and Bowdoin.
I would recommend that your reach schools should be those that meet full demonstrated need. Schools like Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Davidson, Dartmouth, etc…
Since you will need aid, you should also look at lower ranked schools where you could get merit aid in addition to financial aid. Schools like St. Olaf, Denison, Wooster, Case Western, etc…
I’d recommend running the Net Price Calculator for every school you put on your list to make sure it’s affordable. Be sure that you and your parents sit down together so you know your yearly budget. If a school doesn’t look affordable, strike it and move on.
Does your family have any US state residency? If so, look at the public flagships and regional Us in that state for affordable options.
Once you start researching more and finding the type of school you like, posters can give you more recommendations. Hopefully this is a start.
Reaches: Colby, Bowdoin, Haverford, Grinnell… plus to 40 national universities
Matches: LACs ranked 30+, national universities ranked 40+. Add Lawrence university, uniquely strong for chemistry.
The key criterion will be cost, so run the NPC. You’re likely to get significant financial aid at meet need colleges but they calculate “need” with their own formula (none will be the same).
While Net Price Calculators are great, an easier way to start narrowing schools is to use COLLEGE NAVIGATOR and click on the NET PRICE tab, then find your family’s income level. That will give you an ON AVERAGE price. Then run NPCs for a more exact price. Beware that out of state (OOS) schools such as UMich or Berkeley for non Michigan people or Californians, will be much higher than College Navigator says.
Vassar
Haverford (a consortium school that includes Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, University of Pennsylvania) – also has a very good studio art department
Amherst
Williams
Wesleyan University
University of Rochester
Bates
Rice
Pomona (consortium with Harvey Mudd, Scripps, and other top schools)
Do you identify as female? If so, try
Barnard (consortium with Columbia),
Bryn Maw (Consortium with Haverford etc)r,
Mt. Holyoke (Consortium with Amherst, Smith, UMass Amherst),
Smith,
Wellesley (can take some classes at MIT)
Are you also applying in the UK? It sounds like you’d be a strong Oxbridge candidate. If so do you only want to go back to US for an equivalently high ranking option? Or do you want to return to the US anyway?
Also note that if your parents are separated/divorced (if that’s the implication of your statement that your dad lives in Houston) then the NPCs are likely to be inaccurate, so it will be hard to determine what US colleges are going to be affordable. Is the family income level you stated including both your mother and father?
Do apply to the UK to have safeties/back up. You dont have to attend.
Have your parents told you what each would be able to pay for college?
The fact theyre divorced will throw a wrench in NPC results - and if they remarried their spouse’s income will be added on, too. Is the 85-90k estimate solely your mother’s income, or does it encompass both parents’…?
Look into Texas rules for residency - see if your father living there migh5qualify you for instate tuition and admission.
@MYOS1634 yes both parents income, my mom’s is around $15000 only.
Also, are there any UK unis that offer good scholarships? I heard oxbridge gives very few to non-UK citizens
What’s your immigration and fee status in the UK? If you’ve been there for three years not purely for education and have a right to remain (is your mother a UK citizen or resident?) then you should get domestic freedom status and UK student loans plus possibly need-based grants based on your mother’s low income. That would be cheaper than all but a handful of US colleges which will be much more challenging to be admitted to.
Where in the UK do you live? If you’ve lived there for 3 years, you’d qualify for the domestic fee (free tuition in Scotland, reduced in Wales and NI depending on university, and £9,000 paid by the national loan in England). Bursaries and scholarships are few and far between, but do exist. They depend on the nation you are a resident of. If your mother is your custodial parent and your mother’s income is $15,000 only, then you would likely be part of “widening access schemes”.
Or are you a US citizen only, living in a non UK non US city that has a British school?
St Andrews has a special program for Physics AFAIK, might exist for chemistry, where working class kids get a big scholarship to help with living costs (replacing the “maintenance grant” that used to exist till 2015 I think). You’d need to reside in Scotland I think but it might be open to all UK residents, look into it.
Your mother likely can’t really help, so what can your father help with in terms of college costs?
@MYOS1634@Twoin18 Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I don’t live in the UK, but in Bangladesh attending a school that follows Cambridge curriculum.
And yeah my dad can help but not even that much. Say, $7-8K maybe.
Okay, then indeed you don’t qualify for UK tuition.
Check and see whether you might qualify for Texas instate tuition at UHouston. You might be able to commute and 7K+federal loan would cover tuition. You would likely be able to get into the Honors College which has generous scholarships that may allow you to live in the Honors Dorm
You would also be able to apply for AES at UT Dallas, hopefully you’d get a full tuition scholarship and your father’s budget+ federal loan would cover room&board.
Those would be your safeties. Application started in July I think.
Next, explore the colleges cited above. Look at the Midwest in particular, because they tend to have fewer applicants than the Northeast. Run the NPC on Grinnell, Carleton, Macalester, St Olaf, Lawrence. Perhaps Kenyon, Denison.
