Trying to help my daughter narrow her focus

College Search & Selection
1

<p>As my D, a rising senior, is away for the summer studying in a language immersion program in France, I am trying to think about what our priorities will need to be in terms of visiting colleges when she returns since we have lost the summer for college visits. </p>

<p>Attends large public high school
in IB program
Weighted GPA 5.1; unweighted 4.3
Class rank: 2/740
ACT: 31, taking it again in fall along with SAT.
Senior class schedule includes all AP/IB classes except one which is her newspaper class as she is editor-in-chief. (Jr class schedule was same make up of classes)</p>

<p>cross country team, swim team, tennis team
Editor-in-Chief of school newspaper jr and sr year
4 years speech team - state finalist sophomore and jr year
Academic Super Bowl Captain
Brain Game
President National Honor Society
Class President Sophomore year
Wind Ensemble
Quill and Scroll
French Honor Society
Received numerous awards for journalism, speech and academics
Tutors elementary students
Currently participating in the IU Honors Foreign Language Program
Has applied for a grant to start a "Happiness Club" at her school to combat teen depression.
Will be volunteering twice a week during the school year at local children's hospital.</p>

<p>She is interested in neuroscience. Looking at smaller schools (IU is 40 miles away but she is not interested due to size). So far of the schools visited, she likes Davidson a lot, also Colorado College (likes the block plan), UNC Chapel Hill, Northwestern, GWU. Did not like Duke, Wake Forest, Kenyon, U of Chicago, William and Mary, Georgetown. She would like to visit Amherst, Middlebury, Pomona, Stanford, Brown, Columbia, Carleton and more. We would most likely not be candidates for much financial aid so merit scholarships are very important. </p>

<p>Having a lot of trouble narrowing down the list and separating the reaches, matches, safeties. Guidance counselors at our school are overworked and not very knowledgeable about schools outside our midwest region and so I can't count on them for advice.</p>

<p>This is my first post on here, so I apologize if it's not as concise as it should be. Any advice and guidance appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Go to either collegeboard.com or princetonreview.com make an account in either one and then on college options just put all the things you just said and other preferences such as size and location and it will automatically create a list for you. also in princetonreview it tells you whether its a safety, target, or reach school</p>

3

<p>Other potential schools to consider: Grinnell and Case Western. Have you started looking at the cost?</p>

4

<p>I know she doesn’t like the size but your best “deal” will be IU. I always found IU to be an under-appreciated gem of a school and I think she’d qualify for some automatic merit scholarships. The Claremont Colleges in California are a possibility. USC in Los Angeles in known for merit aid for Natl Merit Finalists and Semi-Finalists. For merit aid she’s going to have to position herself at the high end of the admissions range - University of Miami (Coral Gables) could be a possibility.</p>

5

<p>Most of the schools on your list do not provide merit aid. Among the top 20 LACs, Grinnell is probably one of the few exceptions. But the location is decidedly rural (small college town about an hour from both Des Moines and Iowa City).<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>dpsjss, If you truly must have merit based aid (as opposed to wanting it) then your daughter should tailor her list accordingly. She’s an outstanding candidate, but the fact remains that many of the colleges on her list only offer need based aid no matter how qualified the student is so there’s no point in pursuing them if you already know the money won’t work.</p>

<p>As far as I know financial aid at Amherst, Middlebury, Pomona, Stanford, Brown, and Columbia is need based only. I believe Carlton does offer merit, htough. I’m not sure about Davidson and Colorado. The more selective colleges are, however, generous with need based aid so use an online calculator to see if it works for you. If yes, I’d add Williams to the mix.</p>

<p>There are some fine schools that offer merit aid, but you have to ferret them out. Often they are in the midwest, south or are all womens. To start I would look at some of the merit aid threads on the Parents board. Smith, Grinnell and Rhodes come to mind, but there are others.</p>

7

<p>how does she feel about frats?</p>

8

<p>If OP’s DD is away studying in France the it’s entirely possible only merit aid will do.</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>Carleton offers very little. Colorado College offers a fair amount. Davidson offers more, but is a little more selective.</p>

<p>This information is easy to look up for many colleges.
Download each school’s Common Data Set file and go to section H2A.
You can also find information for some schools on the Kiplinger college site.
[url=<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/privatecolleges/]Best”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts]Best</a> Values in Private Colleges, 2011-12<a href=“Universities”>/url</a>
[url=<a href=“Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts]Best</a> Values in Private Colleges, 2011-12<a href=“LACs”>/url</a></p>

10

<p>A great match/safety for your daughter would be Hendrix. It has an excellent reputation for preparing students for med school (as well as other graduate programs). Hendrix is very generous with merit aid, and if your daughter were able to bring her ACT score up a point she would be eligible to compete for the Hays Scholarship (full ride–I think they give out four a year). Even without that, though, she would likely receive a very generous package that would allow you to save money for med school.</p>

<p>vinceh is right: if merit aid is important to you, pay close attention to her stats versus other admitted students at the schools she is considering, and focus on those where she is near the top of the range. At many of the colleges you and others have suggested she would be right in the middle. Remember that colleges are always looking to improve THEIR stats with more and more accomplished kids (and unfortunately, standardized tests and GPAs serve as a more objective benchmark than all the great subjective stuff). Also, before she starts applying I would strongly encourage you to have a family discussion about what you are willing to pay every year. “Can” and “want to” are very different things, and if she is planning on going into medicine she will probably need your assistance for some time.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

11

<p>Your D seems to have similar likes/dislikes to our S – i.e. likes UNCH, NU; dislikes Duke, U of C, etc.) </p>

<p>We just visited a set of schools on the east coast (Middlebury, Dartmouth and Cornell) and he seemed to like those. I also thought they were all great, and they are easy to visit together due to geographic proximity. </p>

<p>If your D likes California, I’d consider UCLA and the Claremont schools. If your D likes UNCH, she will probably like UCLA. </p>

<p>FWIW, I have visited IU for our older kiddo and really liked it, but it is huge as you know, and she opted for a smaller B10 school (Iowa).</p>

12

<p>We would most likely not be candidates for much financial aid so merit scholarships are very important</p>

<p>If merit aid is important, than it doesn’t seem like your list will work. Many of your schools don’t give merit, or won’t give much merit without much higher test scores.</p>

<p>We need more info since you won’t qualify for much/any aid…</p>

<p>How much can you pay each year? Based on that, we can determine how much merit you need.</p>

<p>For instance, if you can pay $20k per year, then your D would need nearly a full tuition scholarship, so that your $20k can pay for fees, room, board, books, travel, and personal expenses.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that merit money FIRST gets applied to need, so it won’t reduce your EFC unless the merit is SO BIG that it covers need, and then cuts into merit. </p>

<p>For instance, if you have a $40k EFC, and a school costs $60k, then you’d have $20k of “need”.</p>

<p>If you can’t pay $40k, then your D would need a huge scholarship…enough to cover the $20k of need PLUS an amount that cuts into your EFC to the amount that you can afford.</p>

<p>I know that this must be frustrating, but without much higher test scores (like ACT 34+), your D isn’t likely going to get much/any merit from the schools on her list that give merit. </p>

<p>There are lower ranked schools that would give her merit.</p>

<p>The UCs are not going to work…they won’t give you merit and you won’t qualify for aid there. They cost over $50k per year for an OOS student.</p>

13

<p>sally305 I completely agree with you…
hendrix college is 100% on target!</p>

14

<p>Neuroscience…will your D be pre-med or is she interested in research? </p>

<p>Frankly, since 'merit scholarships are very important", you really need a different strategy. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Determine how much you can pay each year. That will tell you how much merit you need at the various schools depending on COAs. </p></li>
<li><p>Identify schools that will give the needed amount of merit scholarships for your D’s stats (and maybe assume a point or two increase in the ACT, but no guarantees with that.)</p></li>
<li><p>While it’s ok to apply to a couple of schools that won’t likely be affordable (don’t give merit or need higher stats), but don’t waste time and energy on too many of these. Apps, essays, etc, take a LOT of time and money, so don’t waste resources on too many schools that won’t likely be affordable. </p></li>
<li><p>Don’t let your D “fall in love” with schools that won’t likely be affordable. That can cause all kinds of problems ranging from stress in the household to not being open to looking at affordable schools.</p></li>
</ol>

15

<p>Middle son will be starting this fall at the U of Rochester with neuroscience in mind. We were very pleased with their aid.</p>

<p>Other schools he considered (with neuroscience) were:</p>

<p>Pittsburgh - perhaps larger than you are looking for - larger and more urban than my guy preferred - seems to need a 33 recently on the ACT for merit aid, but then offers good aid if you apply early.</p>

<p>Case Western - more urban and seemed to have less neuro offerings than UR. Well known for decent merit aid opportunities.</p>

<p>WUSTL - has some merit aid, but very competitive - higher than her current stats.</p>

<p>Lafayette - smaller school with decent merit aid, but he found it too late to really consider it. He didn’t feel like a last minute expensive app since he already had affordable acceptances.</p>

<p>Why URochester? My guy loved the research opportunities there. He spent the night and talked research (and life) with 6 other undergrads (who were doing the research) and felt he had found his niche. One other bonus is their hospital is literally right across the street - with opportunities to research there. Since he is debating between pre-med and research this seemed ideal and much better than places with hospitals a couple of miles (or more) away. He also got merit aid, but had higher stats than your d. Your d’s stats would fit the school into a match. If she gets higher, “ever better!” (Their motto.)</p>

16

<p>Lafayette College offers a $20k/yr merit scholarship for top students. Their neuroscience program is supposed to be very good.</p>

17

<p>Might try Holy Cross-very strong in sciences and pre-med. HC has fantastic alumni network and campus is very nice-1 hour from Boston.</p>

18

<p>Love Davidson, but merit aid is slim there. Maybe look at Furman</p>

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<p>^ That depends on what you mean by “slim”. For 2011-12, the average amount of merit aid to Davidson students who received it was $18,812. For 2010-11, it was $24,259. Among the USNWR top 20 “national” LACs, Davidson seems to be second only to Washington & Lee in the amount of merit aid it grants. </p>

<p>On the other hand, Davidson seems to be drawing down the numbers of students who get it. For 2007-08, Davidson granted merit aid to 92 students ($15,900 on average). For 2011-12, Davidson granted it to only 20 students.</p>

<p>Furman’s average merit grants are about the same as Davidson. However, a higher percentage of Furman students get them (53% according to Kiplinger).</p>

<p>Holy Cross does not grant merit aid to more than a token number of students (fewer than 10).</p>

<p>According to US News, the average merit grant from Hendrix College in one recent year was $19,297 (“based on 2010 data”). US News does not indicate the percent of students who received merit aid; Hendrix apparently does not post Common Data Set files. ([Hendrix</a> College | Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.hendrix.edu/scholarships/]Hendrix”>Scholarships | Hendrix College))</p>

20

<p>OP here… thank you so much for some great information and recommendations. Just to clarify a few questions/ points that came up:</p>

<p>D will apply to IU as safety even though this would not be a first choice right now. My son is a 2011 IU grad (BS Environmental Science) who didn’t think he wanted to attend IU and after deciding at the last minute that he no longer wanted to pursue art school, ended up at IU so we know that things can change. (My husband and I are both Kelley SOB grads.) D’s major turnoff to IU is listening to her brother talk about how large and impersonal many of the classes are – taking attendance and answering questions via the clicker, things like that. Discussion based classes and personal relationships with professors are important to her. </p>

<p>On the financial front, I have filled out the net price calculators on various schools and the answer for need based aid is always a big fat “0”. We own our own business and apparently look better on paper. We have also just come off of paying for our son’s college at IU and covering his living expenses as he pursued his MS in Environmental Engineering at Colorado School of Mines (degree completed this summer). We are in a position to cover an equivalent amount of college expenses as we did with our son but are hopeful for some merit aid to cover some of the cost as well, as she is looking at schools with higher price tags than IU. </p>

<p>Our D is extremely goal driven and focused and truly the hardest working kid that I know and she has put up with a lot of adversity in an urban public school setting and continues to have a love of learning that has nothing to do with getting the “best” grade or gaining recognition. She simply loves to go to school and learn new things. I want to see her in a college environment where that attitude is embraced and appreciated, not ridiculed as it often is in her current environment. She is looking for a school environment of collaboration rather than competition, and where people are more interested in discussing last night’s reading assignment than where tonight’s party will be.</p>

<p>She is undecided on what path she will take with the neuroscience major - research or pre med; starting to lean a little more toward pre med, but had been 100% for the research route. </p>

<p>Thanks again for some great feedback.</p>