Can you calculate your EFC? Just based on your parent’s salary it looks like to will be between six to nine thousand a year depending on the number of dependent siblings. Can’t factor in that this is a recent boon.
Great job on your ACT.
Congrats on your hard work and success! I think your list is thoughtful. I would’ve recommended Bowdoin and Williams, and Williams is generous with aid (don’t know about Bowdoin). Chicago seems perfect, except for the nature part of it, which I think is important.
What about Rhodes College and Belmont University in TN? It seems like those would be good fits. You’d probably get a lot of aid, just not sure if it would be enough.
Wake Forest would probably be a good fit. Check out its Wake the Vote program, which really does an amazing job encouraging students of divergent beliefs to engage with one another. You might not receive sufficient aid, but there’s one way to find out. The school has very strong science programs, including a new home for a range of biosciences programs at the brand new Wake Downtown in Winston-Salem. (Hint: if interested, try to visit, and interview)
The financial component will be large for you. Generally, I think the whole admissions process would be more stable and predictable if students applied to fewer schools. However, in your case, you might want to cast a wide net to try to find one that works financially. It is nice that you have some likely options that will work financially.
I don’t think Miami of Ohio is the best fit, and you might reasonably prefer UK or UL, but you would be in line for substantial merit aid, and it’s probably not too far from home, making transportation more reasonable. Here’s a concise table that shows the range of merit aid that you might expect:
http://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-grid/
A final bit of advice, if I may: Your ACT score is exceptional. That’s fantastic. Congrats. Just don’t rest on that. I’ve known students with similar scores who’ve been disappointed with results. Continue to work hard, continue to grow, continue to contribute, continue to learn about yourself. That will help in admissions and life. And have some fun.
Good luck!
@@DashtiBarchi
Ivy-equivalents (ranking based on alumni outcomes)
4 metrics:
- Percentage entering elite professional schools (for MBA/JD/MD).
- Production of “American Leaders”, who are mostly leaders in business, government, and the arts.
- Percentage winning prestigious national student awards.
- Percentage getting PhDs.
[quote]
Ivies & equivalents (16 RU’s and 14 LAC’s):
8: HYPSM + WAS LACs and Brown
7: Chicago, Cornell, Rice, Pomona, Haverford
6: Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Northwestern, Bowdoin, Wesleyan
5: Caltech, Georgetown, UPenn, Bryn Mawr, Carleton, CMC, Oberlin, Reed, Smith, Wellesley
Near-Ivies (8 RU’s, 2 service academies and 7 LACs):
4: Cal, UMich, UVa, ND, West Point, Naval Academy, Barnard, Grinnell, Middlebury, Vassar
3: NYU, Tufts, UCLA, Wisconsin-Madison, Harvey Mudd, Macalester,
Other good schools:
2: Johns Hopkins, UNC, USC, UT-Austin, Rochester, UIUC, Indiana, Colorado, Bates, Bennington, Davidson, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Occidental, Pitzer, Scripps, Trinity, W&M, W&L[/quote
Who is close-minded?!
Have you looked at Hope College in Michigan? From the suggestions above I like St Olaf and Rhodes for you.
Does anyone know if Rice would be a good idea?
edited to add that I know it is more urban
Hillsdale College
Thanks so much for all the help!
@mamaedefamilia St. Olaf looks like a good option for a match, I’ll look into it
@gearmom Thank you, my EFC changes for each college but its usually just right for colleges that meet 100% of aid, under $6,000 a year for many schools. I have seen that Reed is a bit more as well as a couple other schools I can’t think of right now
@TTG Yeah I’ve looked at Rhodes as a possible match, haven’t considered Wake Forest yet. Thanks for the encouragement, I’m working hard next year taking 6 APs so I’m not done yet. I’m also taking the Chemistry SAT in a few weeks. Miami looks like a good option, I basically chose UK because of how close it is and its decent Chem program, but I don’t like how huge it is.
@CrewDad Thanks for the list. Also, I have looked at Hillsdale a bit but it seems too safe for me. I really do want to be challenged in a diverse school, but I don’t want to be alone, hence that comment.
@csdad If we were really close minded I would be looking at only Wheaton or Liberty, etc. Refer to the post above
@“Snowball City” I haven’t looked at Hope yet, Rice was considered but for various reasons I don’t think I’ll apply
So far I’ve added Amherst to my original list and am considering adding Rhodes, St. Olaf, possibly Wake Forest as matches. 10 colleges is definitely my limit as my essay quality will suffer and I won’t be able to pay fees with larger lists. I like to take a long time on essays and I’ll be working all summer though I am going to Ky’s Governor Scholars program for 5 weeks.
There are two free website tools that will help you find matches to the type of school you are looking for. US news has a search however you need to pay for it.
This one is configurable: http://www.collegeview.com/search/100b95
This one is hard coded: http://universitybenchmarks.com/schools/pomona_college.html
Swarthmore
Amherst
Washington Lee
Hamilton
Kenyon
Davidson
Bowdoin
Grinnell
Whitman
Williams
William and Mary
Good luck
@DashtiBarchi An EFC of around 6K with your parents contributing 4k and you working. That’s great. 100% meets need options will truly be an option for you. Very happy for you.
I didn’t fit the stereotypes at Miami, but chose it because I understood it to be “a good school” and they had an interesting, if difficult sounding major.
Many years later, I remain glad for the overall experience and deeply grateful for the quality of instruction.
The profs define any school far more than the campus or other students.
One thing to keep in mind about Chicago - the lake shore is just a short walk from campus. While it is not wilderness, the lake is beautiful and the lake shore trail runs for 16+ miles and is great for running, skating, biking, etc. In nice weather, you can even swim in the lake.
I don’t think Hilsdale participates in fed aid, so not likely affordable.
Most schools have Christian fellowships. My son is involved in the one at Oberlin, a very left-leaning school. Since the makeup of these groups changes depending on who is on campus, it’s hard to say whether you will find like-minded peers any given year, but at some schools, there is more than one Christian group. My daughter went through 3 of them at Wellesley, before converting to Catholicism and finding her people there. But if your parents are conservative protestants, they probably don’t want to hear this. 
Hillsdale doesn’t participate in government aid programs.The COA is only $34,000 and the college offers need-based grants and merit awards. Student loans are available directly from the college and other institutions.
D#1 and I met an admission officer at a Seattle college fair. My D wasn’t interested in applying, but he was by far the most pleasant individual we spoke with that day.
I second Princeton.
Your ACT score, school record, and location in relatively out-of-the-way (by Ivy demographic standards) Kentucky would all work together to give you a fighting chance.
There are a number of very active Christian student groups at Princeton. My sense is that it is the most Christian-friendly of the Ivies–though, as others have noted, even a militantly secular campus will host a Christian group or two.
To top things off, the financial aid at Princeton is as good as it gets.
consider liberty university
Take a look at Trinity University in San Antonio. Small school, strong in Sciences, and gives very generous merit aid.
@sharebear111 Thanks, though Liberty is huge
@ShrimpBurrito I’ve looked at it a bit, seems intriguing
I’m still not sure if/ how many match schools I should apply to. I’m talking 30-40% acceptance range. I can’t afford to apply to too many schools so do I have a good enough chance of getting into my reaches to not apply to many matches?
Also, what are some key differences between Williams and Amherst, should I apply to both?
Williams meets full financial need, including transportation costs. Amherst is also very wealthy. I’m sure aid is good, but I’m not sure of school policy.
I’ve been to both schools a few times. Williams is fairly isolated, in a small town in the Berkshires. Albany, NY is not close, but not too far away, and that’s where you fly into. Campus is very nice. Everything is top notch. Students are incredible. One thing to think about at small LACs is that a fairly large % of the students are varsity athletes. Especially at these quality New England LACs, there are almost as many sports teams as at a large university (often including football). Since the student body is much smaller, a higher % are athletes. That’s not a negative, just something one might not anticipate. There are lots of outdoorsy things to do, weather permitting.
Amherst is in Amherst, which is also home to U Mass-Amherst, the school’s flagship campus. Basically it’s a small New England town with Amherst on one side and U Mass on the other. U Mass is much larger but not a massive school like Michigan or Wisconsin. So there are more students around Amherst than Williamstown. The view from the Amherst campus is beautiful.
Amherst is not far from Northampton and Springfield. Northampton is home to Smith College and seems like a very cool, larger college town with a fair amount for students to do. Both Amherst and U Mass, together with Mount Holyoke (women’s college), Smith College (women’s college), and Hampshire College, belong to a five-school consortium. Students can take classes at the other schools, though I don’t know the rules and how often they do so. It seems like a potentially good opportunity. I know a U Mass student who does a lot of extracurricular stuff at Smith.
The Albany area (which includes Saratoga Springs) and some Vermont skiing in the Green Mountains are reachable from Williams, but Amherst probably offers better access to more. Hartford, CT (good airport) is not far. Boston is not close but is not too bad of a drive.
Hamilton has a beautiful campus.
@DashtiBarchi i - You sound like a very thoughtful student. Good luck to you. Since you want to limit how many applications you submit to 10, I would recommend that you focus on matches, and only choose your top 2 reaches. And I would put Williams and Amherst as “reaches” for just about anyone, since their admission rates are 14% and 17%. You are smart to focus on schools with strong academics but admission rates closer to the 30% range.
Here is a brief comparison of Williams and Amherst:
http://colleges.startclass.com/compare/1874-2014/Amherst-College-vs-Williams-College
(You can compare the stats on any colleges you want from the StartClass website.
Here is a list of schools that do not charge application fees:
https://www.niche.com/colleges/rankings/colleges-with-no-application-fee/
This is a great website for college search and financial need information. The woman who created the website offers tons of information, for free, and I found her to be a great resource as I helped my S16 and S17 with their college search. Both of them attend, or will attend schools that meet need: St Olaf (obviously) and Grinnell.
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/list-of-colleges-that-meet-100-of-financial-need/
One thing to consider since you are on a budget and seem to prefer a more rural type setting - It is very easy to NOT spend money, unnecessarily, when you go to school in the countryside. There are way more temptations and ways to spend $$, off campus, when you attend school in a city or large suburb. My S at Grinnell has had a year full of fun weekends, and they are all included in his student activities fee. His only temptation is an occasional Jimmy Johns sandwich, from the location the street from campus. He is very happy to just eat the wide variety of food provided in the dining hall. So maybe consider cross checking your list with the Princeton Review’s list of great campus food!
https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=best-campus-food
Last bit of advice. For any school that seems to fit a lot of your criteria, complete the Net Price Calculator, with your parents’ help, and see what they come up with. Through both my sons, we found that they were pretty accurate, as long as the calculator asked a lot of questions, making it as specific to my son and our situations, as possible. Many will ask for your GPA and test scores, and will let you know what amount of Merit (versus Need based Financial Aid) you might qualify. It is guaranteed for 4 years, assuming grades are decent, and that is a nice addition to Financial aid.
Since you seem to prefer smaller schools, I would only apply to one (or no) larger state type schools. With your stats and income level you should qualify for a good amount of aid at “meets need” type schools. BUT be aware any school will expect you, as the student, to contribute to the cost of your education, in the form of Federal loans ($3,500 to $5,500 per year), Federal Work Study (about $2,500 per year) and some summer job income (usually for books and personal expenses during the school year, which is on top of the COA Cost of Attendance, at most schools.