Suggestions for some colleges that fit my criteria?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Size:
-Basically, I am more into the LAC types of colleges but size could be small to medium, and focused on undergraduate education.</p>

<p>Major:
-I'm not sure what I want to major in, but it could be anything from history to neuroscience to engineering, or something completely different. I would like to go to graduate school, so graduate placement is important. I would like a lot of majors to choose from in case I change my mind. I want a good liberal arts education, and writing is one of my passions.</p>

<p>Location:
-Location is very important to me, either only on the West Coast (Washington, Oregon, or CA- I live in CA) or East Coast (New England). Weather is really important, I can't go somewhere where it is continually hot, and prefer rain and overcast skies. I don't want to go somewhere completely isolated, but want to have a nice campus (one with a gothic, Hogwartsy-feel). I really can't stand ugly campuses. Having a nearby major city, or good college town is a must.</p>

<p>Quality of Life:
Not really into partying Greek systems, or big sports (I play sports myself, but don't want to go to a football crazed school) I want to be somewhere where students are happy and can interact with professors. I want very diverse, intelligent classmates who learn for the joy of it. Also, I don't want cutthroat competition. </p>

<p>VERY IMPORTANT: very, very good financial aid and or/ merit based scholarships. I'm upper middle class, but my parents have already put two of my sisters through college and are really feeling the strain, so ideally we would pay for college for $10,000-$15,000, $20,000 is streching it. </p>

<p>I want to go to a top college, and I think I have the grades(4.0 UW) and EC's to apply and have a good chance at most schools.</p>

<p>So far I have:
Pomona
Scripps
Harvey Mudd
UCLA
UCB
Olin</p>

<p>Not really sure about these schools:
UMICH (only because my parents are alums)
Swarthmore (might be to intense?)
UPenn (perfect location, but it's huge)
Stanford (don't really know much about it)
Reed (pot-smoking, hippie reputation?)</p>

<p>Could you recommend another UC (not Riverside or Merced) as a safety? Any other LAC's that sound like what I might like? Any Ivys fit the criteria? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>bump? any suggestions would be much appreciated:)</p>

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<p>How about Tufts University? Or Lafayette College? I think that Brown University also may fit your criteria.</p>

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<p>Perhaps UCSD if you’re looking for another UC? And I second Tufts.</p>

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<p>So far I have:
Pomona
Scripps
Harvey Mudd
UCLA
UCB
Olin</p>

<p>Not really sure about these schools:
UMICH (only because my parents are alums)
Swarthmore (might be to intense?)
UPenn (perfect location, but it’s huge)
Stanford (don’t really know much about it)
Reed (pot-smoking, hippie reputation?)"</p>

<p>You can take Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore, UPenn, Stanford, and Reed off your list. And you can forget Brown as well. They offer only need-based aid (and you said you are upper-middle class) - there is no way they are going to offer you $30k plus in aid. You can cross off all the Ivies (as well as Tufts, I think - no merit aid.) You said this was VERY important.</p>

<p>Scripps has a very small number of scholarships that might work - though I don’t know whether, even with them, you will get enough aid to make it work. </p>

<p>UMichigan isn’t “only” on the west or east coasts, and far too large. And not near a city.</p>

<p>I think you need to junk your list, and start again.</p>

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<p>Yeah, the FA thing makes it hard…I was going to suggest Wesleyan, though…</p>

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<p>Nope. (10 char.)</p>

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<p>First you have to run financial aid calculators. If you don’t qualify for need based aid or much of it, Mini is correct, your list is all wrong financially.</p>

<p>On top of the parents board is a good thread on merit aid. To get significant merit aid you’re looking at a different caliber of college than those on your list. You need to be at the top of the pool for your colleges.</p>

<p>Bottom line–most of the merit aid schools are not top schools. The few that do offer some such as Duke and WashU give it to kids Harvard is fighting for.</p>

<p>OOS publics rarely work for merit aid as well. At UC’s, the upper middle class pay the full $25K plus in state unless you get a Regents ($6K) and $45K plus OOS.</p>

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<p>Rice possibly?</p>

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<p>On the west coast, the only ones I can think of that come close are Lewis & Clark, U of Puget Sound, Mills College, Occidental, Santa Clara, and Univ. of San Diego.</p>

<p>On the east coast, maybe Dickinson, Gettysburg, Lafayette, Wheaton (though I don’t think their merit aid scholarships are large enough for you) Mount Holyoke (same as Wheaton, but meets virtually all your other critieria - and VERY Gothic), Goucher, Furman, Univ. of Richmond, and (though I don’t know about merit aid), Davidson. Note - I don’t know about the Greek scene at any of them, and it might disqualify several.</p>

<p>Rice isn’t “only” on the west or east coast. “I can’t go where it is continually hot.”</p>

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<p>If you’re looking into Swarthmore, you might want to check out bryn mawr and haverford as well. They have a less cut-throat vibe all three are in a consortium together. Bryn Mawr is often said to look a lot like hogwarts and they have a policy where it is frowned upon to discuss grades. I think Haverford has something similar. All three schools are right outside of philly and have gorgeous campuses. I don’t think any of them offer merit based aid, but I’m middle class with no other siblings in college and bmc gave me a great package.</p>

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<p>Bowdoin, Holy Cross, Colby.</p>

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<p>You want LACs and significant merit aid. First off, you need to adjust your expectations. You will probably attend a school with zero prestige.</p>

<p>Big merit reaches: WashU, Rice, Davidson, Scripps (only half-tuition merit but rumored to do need-in-merit, which may be a stretch depending on your situation), possibly Mudd
Merit reach/matches: Goucher, Furman, Richmond, Lewis & Clark
Merit safeties: Are you NMF? Consider University of Minnesota-Morris, which has in-state tuition for everyone below 20k–regionally well-regarded public LAC.</p>

<p>NOT ENOUGH MERIT (I know this very well because my own merit price limits are about the same): Dickinson, Gettysburg, Lafayette, Wheaton, Holyoke, Smith, Occidental, Mills, Puget Sound. As well as all Ivies, etc.</p>

<p>ETA: Bryn Mawr is known to treat middle-class people well. However, given that my own EFC is ~20k with 70k income and 100k home equity, I doubt it will be doable for you.</p>

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<p>mini- I was just recommending it. I know where it is, and I know what the OP said. I think if OP were to reconsider their strict location limits, than Rice would be one of the schools where they would probably fit in quite well. I thought I only wanted schools in warm places, but I still applied to some northeastern places anyway.</p>

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<p>Merit aid possibilities: Macalester, Skidmore, Beloit ???</p>

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<p>What about UCSC? I know someone on this board got pretty decent scholarship aid there. They have a residential college system, too.</p>

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<p>If you are willing to consider universities, Yale fits many of the criteria you desire, especially the Gothic architecture and financial aid quality.</p>

<p>You need to give a better indication of what you define as upper middle class, though. If your income is somewhere in the $120,000 to $180,000 range, it should be sufficient for your family, especially if your assets are feeling the strain as indicated. It would be the same for Harvard, although Harvard is not really what you want from a college in regards to undergraduate focus.</p>

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<p>I think I would get some need based aid at an private university that charges $50,000 a year. How much I’m not sure (my parents make ~100k–sorry if I was unlear about this in my first post). The reason the merit aid is so important is because my sisters have already gone to college–one with around total cost of ~20k at UCI, another with total cost of around ~25k a yr at one of the Claremont Colleges. My parents could probably afford up to $25k a year, but I would feel absolutely horrible if it was more than that. I mean, they’re putting me through college, so I might as well make it as easy as possible for them and I would be pleased if I could find just one school that I got into costs~$15k, to weigh against the other schools that will probably cost $25-30k</p>

<p>Sorry if I was unclear in my orginial post but I can include some schools that don’t offer as great merit aid, just as long as my whole entire list isn’t full of schools like that. I just need a few schools that are affordable so I have options. I’m pretty sure though, that if I got into a really good college, for example an Ivy, and I had to pay around $25k (I don’t know how much finaid I would get for real), compared to a state school where I had to pay $10k, my parents would probably be willing to pay the difference.</p>

<p>@mini the only reason UMICH is on there is because of my parents being alums, but I really am otherwise set on only attending on college on West or East Coast (weather & aesthetics of things affect me way too much)</p>

<p>I am willing to revamp pretty much all my criteria except location. I just thought I would start off pretty strict because I feel like if college is going to be so expensive I might as well go to the place that will be absolutely perfect for me. But then again, you never know.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the suggestions, I’m going to look more into them. Any more? I’m not sure about UCSD (to close for comfort), so out of UCSC and UCI, which seems more in my criteria?
Any more suggestions are welcome. I’m just starting to compile a tentative list so I can be aware of possible colleges later on. Basically any suggestions are helpful :)</p>

<p>Wow some of these colleges sound great!</p>

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<p>You’d get at least 30k in grants from Yale at that income level, and I’d be be willing to wager 37-41k, dependent on your assets. It would definitely be affordable for you.</p>

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<p>^ Really? that’s wonderful…if I can actually get in. So out of ivys Yale and Brown sound the most like a fit? I’m not sure if I will apply to any Ivys but if they offer really good finaid, then I probably will. I can’t believe I would get that much finaid from anywhere. If schools offer that much then I don’t have to worry as much about merit aid.</p>

<p>I also really liked the suggestions of LACs like Tufts, Bryn Mawr, Holyoke, and Smith, Wesleyan, and Bowdoin. They seem to be along the lines of what I’m looking for.
And yeah, I guess if I want merit aid I will have to compromise quite a bit.</p>