I am looking at several OOS schools, including Washington and Lee, Gettysburg, Bama, and Texas. I live in Nebraska, by the way. I have always been told that I need to visit the schools before I make any sort of decision, and I agree with that. But how am I supposed to visit these schools when they are so far away? My parents are always very busy working on the farm, and I have a lot of responsibilities and can’t really just leave whenever I want.
Look at their web sites for any pics/video/info. There are also some other public sites that show you around the campus.
I would do the following…
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Look online at the common data set for each school and you will find out if “demonstrated interest” is even a factor in admission at the school. Typically for the large state schools it isn’t a factor but it is easy to check.
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Schools will absolutely understand if you are far away and cannot visit but there are some things you can do if you want to show interest including (to name a few).
-get on the school mailing list (generally done online)
-if the school gives a presentation or attends a college fair near you try to attend.
-if available, ask if the school offers alumni interviews and if you can arrange one near where you live.
-if there are online admission chat sessions (some schools offer them, some don’t) you can participate,
-If you have any school specific questions that are not answered on the website, you can email your regional rep with the question.
Gook luck!
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I am looking at several OOS schools, including Washington and Lee, Gettysburg, Bama, and Texas. I l
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Since you’ve indicated that you won’t qualify for aid and your parents won’t pay ANY costs…
First eliminate schools that won’t be affordable. If Texas is UTexas, that won’t be affordable, so no need to visit.
or did you mean another school??
What is the aid/merit situation for your situation at W&L or Gettysburg?
You really don’t have to worry about visiting a school until you know whether the school will be affordable after aid pkgs.
Your parents will be really annoyed if they spend a much of money visiting schools that will not even be close to being affordable. Traveling to visit schools that aren’t close together can easily cost your family a few hundred dollars per school…hotel, restaurants, and transportation costs…even more if air travel is needed.
Use a school’s virtual campus tour for some idea. It won’t be perfect, but will give you some idea.
Plus visit the school’s forum here on CC.
here is Bama’s: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/
I guess I misread the article. I was thinking it was UTexas – Austin, but it’s actually UTexas – Dallas. I think I might be competitive for the Johnson Scholarship at W&L. The most I could get from Gettysburg is 25,000. And that’s at the most. But will looking at pictures/videos really help at all? I hear so many students talking about how the campus atmosphere can affect your thought immensely.
I agree that visiting the actual campus will make a huge difference. Pics aren’t enough.
ok…so Gettysburg is out. $25k isn’t even close to being enough.
Does the W&L scholarship require a campus interview? If so, then that will be your tour.
UTexas Dallas is a good school for people interested in a health-related career. Does any of that interest you?
Oh, and I misread…I would suggest that once you are accepted and get into a school that is affordable that you do try to visit before accepting an offer of admissions. If visiting is completely out of the question, then make the best decision you can from the information you have available. Try to get hold of some books like Fiske, Insiders Guide, Princeton Review that may help to give you a sense of the different schools.
I was thinking that Gettysburg might be an option if I get the $25k in conjunction with private scholarships. I’ve been doing research intermittently throughout the school day and noticed that UT – Dallas doesn’t really have a good program for any of my interests. But Texas A&M looks like a decent fit in either engineering or political science. The Johnson Scholarship does require an interview if I happen to be one of the 200 finalists, I think.
This is what we did, not sure if a similar approach will work for you. We lived in a different state in your vicinity (fly-over country).
My H, S, and his 2 best friends with similar stats did an out of state tour and they managed to visit an incredible number of colleges. H drove. S and his friends figured out the route, which schools they planned to visit, and made appointments in advance for schools that required an interview or pre-registration for tours. They stayed at inexpensive hotels (one room/2 beds) and were usually able to fit in 2 tours in a day if the schools weren’t too far apart, they also did some “drive bys.” The friends chipped in for gas/hotel costs. Two of the three boys ended up at schools they visited on this trip, which were schools they had never seen before. My S had never even visited the state of his college before.
If you don’t have a parent who can drive/help out, is there any other adult you can approach? A relative? Do you have any friends who are also considering out of state schools? They might have a parent willing to drive/share costs.
This trip took place over 9 days in August right before the start of their senior year. I think they crammed in 17 colleges. They had a blast.
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was thinking that Gettysburg might be an option if I get the $25k in conjunction with private scholarships
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You can try, but it’s not reasonable to expect $25k per year in private scholarships. Private scholarships are usually small and only for Freshman year (not multi-year). You’d be lucky to get $5k-7k in private awards for ONE year.
I was just informed about the great financial aid at WashU. They apparently are more apt to exclude farm assets when it comes to need-based aid than other schools are. The school itself seems incredible. I had my mom run the net price calculator, and it said that I would only need to pay about $5,000 myself. However, we aren’t sure how accurate it is because of some confusion on the tax returns. I sent an email to the financial aid office to seek clarification, and hopefully I hear good news!
I don’t know what type of engineering you are thinking of but UTD is ABET accredited in the most popular engineering programs.
http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramsDetails.aspx?OrganizationID=479&ProgramIDs=
^^^
I don’t know if that’s true about WashU and farms. Maybe it is. Their own FA forms clearly ask about farms and their value. But, maybe they are lenient because they’re a midwest school?
Apply. I think you should apply ED, because it is a Reach for you… your ACT 33 is in the middle of the middle quartiles.
but ALSO apply to all your HUGE scholarship schools which have merit deadlines in Nov/Dec…
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ACT Composite Score: 33 • Math: 30 • Science: 32 • English: 35 • Reading: 34
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are you now considering eng’g?
Does WashU require you to apply for eng’g? or can you apply as undeclared and later choose eng’g?
^indeed, your odds would be greater if you applied ED Undecided at Wash U, than if you apply for Engineering. However, because you’ll need to compare packages, email Admissions to know whether ED applicants have to wait till March to hear about their financial aid package, or if it’s provided (even in estimate) with the admission decision.
I’ve thought about engineering, but I would probably be more apt to study poli-sci, law, or psychology at WashU. Do I have to choose a major right away?
Not unless the school requires for eng’g. Some top schools do. You’ll have to find out.
It is tough to delay the decision long for an engineering major because there are a lot of prereqs for the advanced classes and long math sequences.