<p>If you want a super-safety, your stats qualify you for a full ride at Coppin State, and they have urban studies …</p>
<p>That would be a super safety and I have never heard of it. I will have to keep it in mind. The good thing about them is the fact that their application date is so late, if I don’t get in anywhere else I wont have to go to junior college; I can just apply there!</p>
<p>Well, here is a list of schools with any of your three majors that have no more than 5,000 undergraduates (you can adjust the search parameters as you wish):
[College</a> Navigator - Search Results](<a href=“College Navigator - Search Results”>College Navigator - Search Results)</p>
<p>You may want to cross-reference it with the big merit scholarships for safeties:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>Note: make sure that you know the deadlines for the big scholarships. Some have earlier deadlines for the big scholarships, or stop awarding them after the scholarship pool has been used up.</p>
<p>Thank you so much ucbalumnus. with this I should be set 
this forum turned into something way different than what I expected but hopefully the outcome ends up good.</p>
<p>Is U of I Idaho, Indiana or Illinois? Need to be more specific for the midwestern schools.</p>
<p>@informative Sorry University of Illinois. That’s a really good point. And they are all practically right next to each other…</p>
<p>Are you a National Achievement Semi finalist? What was your PSAT?</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.5/4.6
SAT I: 750 reading, 650 Math, 590 Writing (never taking it again have NO idea what happened…)
SAT II: Lit: 700, Math II: 660
ACT: 34 composite: Science 36, English 35, Math 32, Reading 34, Writing 08
APs
-Human Geography 5
-World History 5
-Spanish Language 4
-US History 4
-Composition and Language 5 (See! I’m a good writer!)
-Physics 3
-Calc 2 (I prefer not to talk about it…)
Taking 3 more but I suppose those don’t matter. Only honors classes, with the exception of the APs. </p>
<p>Majors would be
- Urban Studies
- Geography (if Urban Studies isn’t there)
- Anthropology (major of last resort since EVERYONE has it)</p>
<p>Do you need and QUALIFY for need-based financial aid?</p>
<p>Since from another post it sounds like you’re a URM, if you are, then be sure to apply to schools that want more URMs and will be financially generous (if you QUALIFY for such aid).</p>
<p>How much will your family pay for college each year? If you don’t know, then ask.</p>
<p>I do need and qualify for financial aid, at least by Tulane’s standards (less than 70K a year for no loans, which seems reasonable). My mom is working on the FAFSA as we speak. I am a URM and, like the other post, I have no idea if I am a semi-finalist. I haven’t received a letter. I know I’m commended though since my scores are far lower than Illinois’s cut off for National Merit but I received the April letter. My mom wont tell me how much she will pay because she doesn’t want me to worry about it, but I have a feeling from her various reactions that it is around 10000 (which is only a bit less than our EFC). My parents were never married and due to medical circumstances my father will be unable to help with college at all. Whether that is a plus or a minus I have no idea.</p>
<p>As far as schools that want URMs I think I have a couple on my list. However it is honestly a bit hard for me to tell. I have been accepted to diversity fly in programs at Williams, Wellesley, and Bowdain but due to my volleyball schedule can only attend one of those. None of them have my top two majors, however I am applying anyway since I see grad school in my future.</p>
<p>emmy</p>
<p>Note for the private schools - many will require your Dad’s financial info as Non-Custodial parent. This fact altered my niece’s list 2 years ago. If you will have problems getting him to complete forms, talk to both your guidance office and the college financial aid office. 2 colleges that normally require NCP info waived the requirement for my niece after a letter from guidance office was sent detailing the family circumstances. Other schools my niece just had to drop b/c she couldn’t get the NCP.</p>
<p>Thanks to M2CK endless praise of Bama, my son did not apply to our state schools and opted for Bama as his safety. It is a larger school than the rest of his LAC heavy list, which is the biggest con to him. The Honors Programs, weather and geographic diversity of the students made it a much better fit for him than our state schools. Bonus - it is better money wise for us. Though not his dream school, he is very content with it. It is NOT a place he thought he’d like. It took some research and a visit for him to realize it had far more of what he wanted.</p>
<p>With a great deal of time in research, my son found some solid safety schools (admissions and financial), but opted to not apply to many because he really liked Bama and Bama’s process was easy. He was accepted before high school even started. </p>
<p>FINANCES - Really push your Mom to open up regarding the finances. This truly needs to be a family decision. 4 years is a long time. Even if she’ll take out loans, you need to be sure she can be approved for all 4 years. Too often I hear of students of students who had to drop out of school because parents were denied loans in the latter years due to the debt level from the first 2 years. It is a losing situation for all.</p>
<p>I disagree with @Beantown - transferring is not always the best option. Transfer students often do not qualify for merit aid at many 4 year schools. There are 3,000 colleges, with your stats you can find merit at a school you will like (maybe not love, but like).</p>
<p>@Longhaul Getting him to fill out that form shouldn’t be a problem. We are in contact. However thank you for telling me about this since, of course, my high school has been of no use so far.</p>
<p>I have actually just looked at University of Alabama and would definitely consider it if only for the money. I’m kinda miffed that so many other state schools like Ohio and Alabama have automatic merit aid and U of I has… well… nothing, since even though I don’t like it it is at least familiar. However money is money and I’m sure I will make the most of my education regardless. If all I have to do is apply, what am I losing I guess (other than one hundred dollars of my money from tests and app fees and transcripts…)</p>
<p>However I don’t think that my personality and style fit in with the southern schools (I’m trying to find the least controversial way to say this), but I have to get a college education so whatever it takes I suppose.</p>
<p>Check out the “Growth and Structure of Cities” program at Bryn Mawr College.
[Bryn</a> Mawr College: Growth and Structure of Cities Department](<a href=“http://www.brynmawr.edu/cities/]Bryn”>Growth and Structure of Cities | Bryn Mawr College)</p>
<p>You said you were interested in “something along the lines of a LAC, maybe a little bigger … in a relatively urban area”. Bryn Mawr is a LAC, but it is part of a 4-college consortium. BMC students can cross-register for classes at Haverford, Swarthmore, or UPenn. BMC, Haverford and Swarthmore are in the Philadelphia suburbs; UPenn is in Philadelphia.</p>
<p>BMC is a women’s college. If that’s a non-starter, you can apply to neighboring Haverford, but it is more selective. I believe that if you do go to Haverford, you can still major in “Growth and Structure of Cities”.</p>
<p>I looked at Bryn Mawr for a long time, and Haverford AND Swarthmore. My friend visited them and said it reminded her of our elementary school (in Montessori style, self governance education not like it was childish). While I tend to take what they say with a grain of salt, so far in the college search we’ve shared pretty much opposite ideas so the fact that she liked it makes me a bit wary. I suppose its just an application fee though, no harm, no foul.</p>
<p>I think Bryn Mawr is an excellent idea. Or Haverford, which has a curriculum fully integrated with Bryn Mawr, so you could actually major in the Cities program at Bryn Mawr and be a Haverford student, if you preferred that. The two schools are a mile apart and class schedules are staggered so you’ll have time to get from one campus to the other quite easily.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing: your grades are pretty good, your ACT score is outstanding–much better than your SAT score–and you’re a URM. I think that makes you potentially a pretty hot commodity among top LACs. And Bryn Mawr’s Cities program seems like it’s just up your alley. You’d have all sorts of opportunities to do both academic work and service projects in and around Philadelphia, an interesting, complicated, and important urban center. And you’d make lots of extraordinary connections. Apply. Make sure they know you’re a URM; they won’t offer you admission just on that basis, but it won’t hurt, and given that your stats are well within what they’re looking for–especially if you submit the ACT in lieu of the SAT–I think you’ve got a very strong shot. Then, once you’re admitted, make sure they know you want to come out and see the place before deciding. I expect they’ll have some kind of URM recruitment day already scheduled and will pay for you to visit; or if not, they might find it within their budget to make it happen.</p>
<p>Don’t sell yourself short. A lot of very good colleges are going to find you a very attractive candidate.</p>
<p>Definitely look at Alabama - you qualify for an automatic full tuition scholarship. You should also look at Miami (Ohio) since you qualify for an automatic scholarship of at least 1/2 tuition up to full tuition. (Exact amount is based upon the rigor of your academics.)</p>
<p>I believe Alabama is the highest rated national university in USNWR with “automatic” scholarships. On top of its national university rating, Miami (Ohio) was once again ranked 3rd in undergraduate teaching by USNWR. Either university, especially in their honors colleges, would provided a satisfying and challenging educational experience.</p>
<p>Both schools also have many, many students from Illinois. At Alabama, it was just announced that Illinois ranks 5th in the number of students in the freshman class. At Miami, Illinois has consisently ranked 2nd (after Ohio) in the number of students. You definitely would not be only person from the “Land of Lincoln” at either school. This also shows that many other Illinoisans have faced your situation and gone out of state.</p>
<p>@ChicagoBear Illinois infiltrates everywhere! Whoo! And for an automatic scholarship, I’m definitely applying to Alabama, especially since they have an honors college.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Don’t embarrass yourself, informative. No one ever calls Indiana University “U of I” since - well, it’s not the University of Indiana, it’s Indiana University. And Idaho isn’t anywhere near the midwest.</p>
<p>^
That’s overly harsh. I agree with informative that the original post was very vague. Add Iowa to the list of “I” public universities.</p>
<p>Informative has a history of not knowing anything outside the Boston area and of thinking that anything outside New England is all one big undifferentiated mass. If he’s never heard of a school in another area, it can’t possibly be worthwhile. Check his post history. </p>
<p>Indiana University is Indiana University, not University of Indiana - so it would NEVER be called “U of I.” Iowa wasn’t mentioned, but no one calls it “U of I” either - they call it “Iowa”. University of Illinois, however, does have the moniker “U of I.” The “blue and orange carpet downstate” was the other clue - that’s U of I’s colors and U of I is downstate from the major metropolitan area in the state.</p>
<p>Have you ever thought of Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs? You can receive quite a bit of scholarship to IU as a non-resident and the programs kind of match what you’re looking at without it being an exact fit – you can study an applied approach to econ, poli sci, sociology and look at urban studies from a policy perspective. </p>
<p>[School</a> of Public and Environmental Affairs | Indiana University Bloomington](<a href=“Indiana University Bloomington”>Indiana University Bloomington)</p>
<p>“However I don’t think that my personality and style fit in with the southern schools (I’m trying to find the least controversial way to say this), but I have to get a college education so whatever it takes I suppose.”</p>
<p>Curious what you mean more specifically?</p>