Hi College Confidentialers, I am going to be applying to colleges in a few months and would like some suggestions.
Here are my stats:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1550
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 790 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Weighted GPA: We don’t weigh classes
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school doesn’t rank either
AP (place score in parentheses): APUSH (5), AP Psych (5), taking AP Lang, AP Physics C, AP BC Calc, will take a few more next year
State: NJ
School: Tiny, not competitive public school
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Male
Income: Middle class
Hooks: URM
Achievements:
-Have done physics research at a top physics research U (t20)
-Did extremely well in USAPhO
-Created my own program at a local school to introduce underserved kids to physics
Budget: My family will not qualify for need based financial aid, but I at least need a full-tuition/full-ride merit scholarship to go to college.
As far as my preferences here they are:
-Any environment works
-Happy student body
-The best physics I can possibly get
Some colleges with competitive large enough scholarships (should be considered reaches):
Rutgers University in-state (Presidential)
Duke University (Robertson)
University of Maryland (Banneker Key)
University of North Carolina (Morehead-Cain, Robertson)
North Carolina State University (Park)
University of Utah (Eccles)
Do you take the PSAT and make the National Merit SemiFinalist threshold for your state? If so, that may open up more big scholarship opportunities, like several Florida public universities (Benacquisto).
Unfortunately, the number of automatic full rides for GPA and test scores that you can use for safeties has been shrinking over the years. Prairie View A&M still has one, but its upper level physics offerings seem to be rather thin in the schedules, probably due to low enrollment (seems like it has 0-4 physics majors per year). Automatic full tuition or close to it for stats is somewhat more common (e.g. University of Arizona or University of Alabama), but those still leave remaining costs over $10,000 per year.
Are you 100% certain that you will not qualify for financial aid? You should run the Net Price Calculator at some of the top schools. Your profile will very attractive top schools. If the top schools really don’t get your price in your range, then after you find a good safety, you should go hunting some of the big merit schools. UChicago, Vandy, or Duke may get you there with merit only. You will likely have to apply to many schools if you have to merit hunt.
@Eeyore123 My family and I have filled out the NPC calculators and we have found that most colleges are not giving us under the $10,000 line. The problem is that I have a few younger siblings but they will only be in college 4 years after me so it won’t reduce the price for me. Nonetheless, I am thinking of taking on loans for maybe HYPMS or other similar schools. Also, I didn’t know that UChicago gives merit scholarships. Could you share more about that?
Make sure to advance to National Merit Finalist, since there are more colleges that offer big scholarships for National Merit Finalist.
Florida public universities (Benacquisto)
Arizona public universities (full tuition -- but remaining costs are more than $10k; see question below)
various others
Is the $10k the limit of your parents’ contribution (so that you could extend the net price to about $15k if you take federal direct loans or contribute some part time work earnings, or a few thousand more if you do both), or is it the limit of the total net price (implying a parent contribution of $0, so that you would need federal direct loans and some part time work earnings for the $10k)?
You may find it interesting, though you may want to be aware of the differences:
Your price limit of $10k appears somewhat lower.
You have NMSF and should be able to advance to NMF, opening more scholarship opportunities.
You intend to major in physics, which is different from the other student’s interest in an engineering major (good colleges for physics are not necessarily the same as good colleges for engineering).
UChicago displays on their website merit awards upto $10k. However, they will go above that level (I have seen a letter above that amount). Also, they stack merit awards on top of financial aid awards including the parent contribution. This is very important for students that could get some FA but that will not get them down to what their family can actually pay.
If you are an NSF, I would strongly suggest using University of Alabama as a safety school. If their NMF award stays the same, you will below $10k ( close to $0). Apply early September and you will have an acceptance in hand a few weeks later. Also apply for their Randell Research Scholar Program. That program really change the experience at UA. I believe there is a poster on this site that had a son in Physics at UA that did really well in grad school admissions. Was it @Mom2aphysicsgeek ?
Hey @baeria I was recently looking at GA Tech’s website and noticed they give out a few full ride merit scholarships. It would be really hard to get but your qualifications are strong so I think you should apply. Gl!
@ucbalumnus Thanks for the thread link! I have gone through a few pages of the thread before but there are around 80 pages so lots more to go through! What are your tips for going from NMSF to NMF?
Based on my personality type (INTP) and other things, UChicago seems like a great fit. I will definitely apply there. UAlabama seems really good for a safety, but I have heard really good things about UArizona’s physics department.
Rutgers New Brunswick is good college to have as a nearby commutable college. However, it looks like in-state tuition and fees are about $15k, plus $1-2k books. That may be doable if your parents will pretend that your live-at-home (food and utilities) and commuting costs are $0, but would be an issue if those costs are added for the purpose of determining affordability. Of course, it could be more affordable if you earn a scholarship (if you have the option of commuting, you may not need as big a scholarship than if you did not have the commuting option).
RVCC would be about $10k cheaper than Rutgers for the first two years, but you appear to be quite advanced in several subjects, so it may not be a particularly good option from an academic standpoint (seems like if you have already completed calculus BC, you may be taking college sophomore math like multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations at RVCC during 12th grade).
An hour commute is doable, but generally considered undesirable.
15/16 students who make NMSF also make NMF. Those who don’t generally have behavior or other types of issues or don’t fill out all the supporting documentation as required in the links @ucbalumnus reported.