thoughts on my list?

College Search & Selection
21

<p>Thanks Inquire, it’s really going to be an adventure for me. I was very nervous to post on this site after reading threads like this one:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/802410-chance-elite-schools-elite-student-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/802410-chance-elite-schools-elite-student-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I was afraid that on this site, I wouldn’t relate to anyone’s perspective on college. You encourage me.</p>

22

<p>You have a strong chance at Pitzer. It isn’t quite a Safety, but its somewhere around a Low Match / Match.</p>

<p>I still think CMC is a little easier to get into than Pomona. It is in no way a worse school, and its my top choice (not even applying to Pomona), but I’d say its a tad bit easier to get into. Still difficult, however, but sorry if I over-embellished the ease of getting in there. If you like the Claremont Schools then I’d recommend applying to all three of Pomona/CMC/Pitzer and choosing which one you like. I will throw the caveat out that Pitzer isn’t quite as good with Need-Based Financial aid as the others, so if you need it then it might end up falling short on your expectations.</p>

23

<p>I just applied to Grinnell, cheap and fast application, good school too. Descriptions of Pitzer are scaring me, I might just stick with Pomona.</p>

24

<p>lol what do you mean, “scaring” you?</p>

25

<p>I think it’s good you’re “throwing around” Whitman–in the Forbes top 20 radio stations for LACs, good merit aid, and rigorous academics - challenging but not competitive, very very friendly campus. Fits a kid who calls college a four year learning and self discovery vacation!</p>

26

<p>Am I confused, or did you say that Forbes ranks the top 20 college radio stations? Because that would be an awesome list. I can’t find it. Coincidentally, my friend went to Whitman, and he talked about sketches that he did with his friends on the radio. He also said that there was a show about otters, where the hosts would have you imagine that you were blissfully drifting on your back, just having broken a clam with a stone on your belly. What a weird show.</p>

<p>But yeah, I hear Whitman is fun. Their ultimate frisbee team is known as the “Walla Walla sweet onions”. I’ll probably apply.</p>

27

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<p>Haha. All that marketing goes to waste…</p>

28

<p>Great stats.</p>

<p>Is money no object? If money is a concern, how much can your family contribute and what is your EFC? If money is not a concern, then you’ll have lots of choices. :)</p>

<p>What do you want out of a school beside academics? Do you want large, small, quiet, rah rah sports, Greeks, warm weather, cold/snowy weather, lots of clubs, big city, rural, college town, night life, ???</p>

29

<p>Interesting- yeah I know right? They sent me at least two dozen advertisements. </p>

<p>Mom- My parents are hoping to contribute 10k a year, they make about 90k a year. I love them. Also, they are willing to lend me money to help me avoid interest rates. I will feel uncomfortable about that, but it’s only if I need it. </p>

<p>I want tough coursework, because I will be lazy if it is easy. I don’t care about size, but I prefer small classes, which probably means a small school. If they have great sports I’ll take em, but it doesn’t matter if there are other things to do. I don’t care about Greek life. I don’t want the average temp over 90 during the school year, and cold is fine. I would like a good sized city within an hour, but really as long as there are a few big parties every week I’m okay. I want to elude pretentious, competitive, or ridiculously preppy students, and on the flip side I don’t want everyone to try their hardest to be different and weird. You know, just nice interesting people. </p>

<p>Basically, I’m really open, yet I’m having a hard time narrowing down my Jan. 15 schools.</p>

30

<p>Come to emory :d :d</p>

31

<p>Harris, I’m almost certain that I will apply there. I just looked up the student-faculty ratio because Emory is a big school, and it’s 7:1! That’s amazing. I hope the admissions board thinks I can handle it.</p>

32

<p>*Mom- My parents are hoping to contribute 10k a year, they make about 90k a year. I love them. Also, they are willing to lend me money to help me avoid interest rates. I will feel uncomfortable about that, but it’s only if I need it.</p>

<p>I don’t care about size, but I prefer small classes, which probably means a small school. If they have great sports I’ll take em, but it doesn’t matter if there are other things to do. I don’t care about Greek life. I don’t want the average temp over 90 during the school year, and cold is fine. I would like a good sized city within an hour, but really as long as there are a few big parties every week I’m okay.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>The issue that you’ll likely face is that if your parents are earning about $90k per year, they will likely have an EFC of around $25k or more. So, if they can only contribute around $10k per year, you will have a big shortfall - in addition to whatever loans are in your FA package. </p>

<p>How does Emory meet need in it’s FA packages? Does it have gaps? Does it include big loans? Even if it meets 100% of determined need without loans, you’ll have about $15k per year shortfall because of your EFC (which isn’t covered in FA packages)</p>

<p>edited to add: from Emory’s website: The Loan Cap Program (LCP) caps cumulative need-based debt at $15,000 for dependent undergraduate students whose families’ annual total incomes are between $50,000 and $100,000.</p>

<p>Therefore, at a school like Emory, you could have a $15k loan (per year) in your package PLUS you’d have to get loans for each annual shortfall in your EFC (that amount of your EFC that your parents can’t afford.) </p>

<p>Since your parents cannot afford their possibly high EFC, you need to apply to a couple of schools that will award BIG merit for your ACT 34 and strong GPA. Those schools can be your financial safeties. With an ACT 34, there are schools like UMiami that would give you big merit. :)</p>

<p>It’s nice that your parents have offered to lend you some money, but have they said what the maximum that they will lend over a 4 year period? If you have a $15k+ shortfall every year PLUS loans in your FA package, that could mean that they could have to lend you over $60k-80k+. Are they prepared to loan you that much money? Actually, it’s not a good idea for any undergrad to be borrowing that much money anyway - even if it’s from parents who won’t change much/any interest.</p>

<p>Here’s an online EFC calculator to give you an idea as to what your family’s EFC is. [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml)</p>

33

<p>I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go for sure if I was accepted somewhere, but wow, I don’t think my parents can pay 25k. My brother is four years behind me, so that might not help either. Well, I’ll still apply to my favorite schools, but I’m interested in a few merit scholarship heavy options. Do you know of any others besides Miami?</p>

<p>If I can get four years of education with under $100k debt, I’ll definitely consider it.</p>

<p>Bowdoin and Pomona replaced their loans with grants, does that help me if I get in?</p>

34

<p>hey funk–my mistake. it wasn’t Forbes. It’s the Princeton Review that lists all those top 20 categories, and one of them is best college radio station. Whitman’s been on that list consistently, along with best college theatre, intramural sports, professors etc.</p>

35

<p>My buddy went to Whitman with the same financial situation as me. He wanted to go but didn’t think that he could afford it and started to back out, but Whitman magically produced more money for him. He ended up with 28k debt, which is very reasonable. The moral of the story is that hesitation saves money.</p>

36

<p>what are other good merit aid schools?</p>

37

<p>If I can get four years of education with under $100k debt, I’ll definitely consider it.</p>

<p>Do NOT borrow anywhere close to $100k for undergrad. That would be life-altering. Would your parents really lend you that much??? </p>

<p>Umich does give merit scholarships to OOS students, but I don’t know their deadline. </p>

<p>However, if you don’t get a scholarship, it’s not worth the $50k per year. :(</p>

<p>Try UPitt and U Rochester for scholarships (you don’t like UMiami?)</p>

<p>How much do you think you’ll be earning during the early years of your career?</p>

<p>Did you mention your major and likely career? (I’ve forgotten :frowning: )</p>

38

<p>haha, I was trying to say that I would “consider” anything, but I’m aiming for around 30k. I think I might apply to Miami, but U of Minnesota and Wisconsin will also be a solid financial safeties when my parents will almost completely cover the in-state cost.</p>

<p>I don’t know what I want to major in or how I will make a living. At the moment I’m interested in journalism, international relations, spanish, and english, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t apply for med school anyway with the right courses. It’s up in the air, but I’m not worried.</p>

39

<p>Is Occidental a good fit?</p>