I’m looking forward to applying to the Ivy League, Stanford etc. I highly doubt I’ll even get in so I need a good list of safety top schools other than the Ivy League that I can afford in or out of state and need to plan early since I’m a sophomore right now. I’ll give a bit of background about myself so that you guys can sort of recommend me to a top public or private school that can be affordable for me. I’m in a rural area in NC and am very low income (<35,000), I have a 4.0 UW and a 4.375 W GPA, I’m a URM since my parents are immigrants from Guatemala (if this even helps for any schools that value race alot), I’m also currently interested in the medical field but don’t have a definite major I want. I sort of have an intrest in surgery or pharmacy but they’re just things I find sort of interesting. Preferably maybe schools as top as UNC or Wake Forest in or out of NC
Usually your state flagships are the most economical. UNC is a great school. Once you have SAT/ACT scores, repost your question. It’s impossible to give you match and safety schools without standardized test scores. For the time being, focus on enjoying high school.
Sophomore year is too early to start planning. You just have one year of a GPA and you have no standardized testing.
But in general your in-state public options (UNC, NC State) will be a good bet. When the time comes and you have more information you can see if you meet the standards for large scholarship at a school like UAlabama.
You are off to a great start. Keep up the good work! The other comments are correct; it’s a little early for answers, but not too early to plan and set goals. If you keep your grades up and achieve good standardized scores, you’ll be a great candidate. Grades and scores are table stakes for the top schools, so if you have those, then you need to think about other things that differentiate you as a candidate. Also, don’t forget about private schools that are needs based. With low income, those schools would most likely be cheaper than your state schools.
Agree with all of the above. I would add one thing to keep in the back of your mind for when you are looking up schools or posting here to ask about them a year from now. It is easy to only think of instate schools or large out-of-state schools that are known even in rural areas of NC. But if you maintain really strong grades, there are many (probably 25 or more) smaller liberal arts colleges (LACs) of about 1500 to 3000 students that could have enough financial aid for you to go there. And that would possibly give you some advantage for being a first-generation, low-income student from somewhere they don’t get many applications from. I suggest looking for a few of those schools to eventually apply to.
Congratulations on your hard work and success!
You get great advice above. I’ll just add a couple of things.
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Enjoy high school as high school, not pre-college. People grow and develop A LOT from ages 14-18 (and after). you may have very different interests in a few years. Work hard. Try to think about who you are–what interests you, what inspires you, who makes you your best person. Having answers to those questions will be most important to having a great college experience, and great everything after. And have fun too. Do (responsible) things that just seem fun or interesting. That’s part of learning who you are. And youth is a gift, embrace it, enjoy it.
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There are many, many great schools . . . not just Stanford, Harvard, etc. The next time you bump into a college ranking, go to #75. I promise you that school will have students just as bright as Harvard students, professors just as talented and inspiring, and excellent, hard-working staff. Finding a great place for YOU is a great way to look at the process.
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You’ll need financial aid. That’s fine, most students do. Here are a couple of ways to approach it.
a) Look to NC schools. The state has several truly outstanding public universities. They will have the lowest “sticker prices” (full tuition, room, board, etc.). And you might very well get aid.
b) You mention OOS public universities. Some are very good and offer generous aid to OOS students. I’ll use the University of Kansas as an example. Major research university. It attracts many of the tip-top students in the state. It has big-time basketball. Lawrence is a GREAT college town (though Chapel Hill is my personal favorite). It offers generous financial aid to top OOS students. Here’s a link on that:
https://admissions.ku.edu/tuition-scholarship/freshman
c) Google “colleges that meet full financial need.” These colleges claim to meet full financial need, so theoretically they should be affordable for all accepted students. There are a few things to keep in mind though. These include many of the most competitive schools, like Harvard, so admission is difficult at many of them. Also, they may be “need blind” or “need aware.” For example, Williams College, which is often ranked as the #1 liberal arts college (LAC), claims to be need blind–it accepts students without considering how much they can pay. Then fully meets their financial need, so money is not an issue. It even says it will pay for travel to and from the school if students cannot afford that. Other schools might be need aware–so they consider how much a student can pay. Williams is very rich and afford to offer aid to every student it wants. Not every school can do that. Also, a school that promises to meet full financial need and costs $70,000 a year, for example, might calculate a student can pay $20,000 a year and offer $50,000, but the student and family feel like they can pay only $5000, so it might not work.
Let me use the College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, MA) as an example. It’s an LAC. Excellent reputation. Competitive admissions certainly, but not insanely so, like a Stanford or Harvard. Academics are as strong as anywhere. Students do great. Holy Cross claims to meet full financial need, though I could imagine it not working out. But a school like that could be worth pursuing, if it’s a fit for you. But there are others as well.
Good luck!
- 1 on @TTG’s post. Spot-on advice, particularly the first point.
@curethevoid17 Since you are of Hispanic ethnicity, be sure to check ‘Hispanic’ when taking the PSAT your Junior year (PSAT - not the SAT.) College Board has the National Hispanic Recognition Program for the top 2.5% of Hispanic PSAT test takers / Junior year only. They will notify you if your score falls in this range. (Approx 250,000 Hispanic juniors take the PSAT each year and roughly 5,000 become NHRP Scholars.) **Many colleges give scholarships for this, and some give full-tuition scholarships - I believe Arizona State, Mississippi State, University of Kentucky are a few of those that give full tuition. You can Google ‘National Hispanic Recognition Program’ to learn more. Also, there are threads on this site dedicated to NHRP so you can follow those conversations also. (And…knowing this… you may want to get a jump start by studying for the PSAT as you would the SAT.)
I wouldn’t count on this being a huge factor.
If you’re only a sophomore, then by the time your application comes up, some race-based affirmative action policies may change (at least at some colleges where they now exist). Until then, it can give you an edge against other well-qualified applicants.
UNC-CH (in-state) may be the school to beat for the best balance of quality and net price, among schools that aren’t extremely selective (Ivies, Stanford etc.) Out-of-state public schools typically are not among the best net price values for high stats/ low income students (unless, perhaps, they make big merit scholarships available to OOS students.)
@curethevoid17 I would strongly consider Wake Forest. They are need-blind and guarantee to meet 100% of financial need.
With your income below 35K, your EFC won’t be high (unless your family has sizeable savings and / or assets.) My son is at Wake (our income is higher, though) but we have a friend there in a similar financial situation as yours. (Roughly same income as yours.) This young lady has a fantastic aid package and is paying $11,000 a year total to attend - including room and board. At $35,000 income, her family EFC was determined to be $3500. (Wake and most other private schools will use both the FAFSA and the CSS Profile to determine your EFC.) The school requires her to take a nominal loan (around $4500 yr) and to contribute approx $3000 through work study (or summer earnings, if preferred.) So her cost is roughly $3500 EFC from the family, approx $4500 student loan, and approx $3000 student earnings = $11,000 / year TOTAL for tuition, room and board, books, everything. Wake gives her a scholarship / grant for the remainder. At a total Cost of Attendance at $71,000 / year, she is getting approx $60,000 in scholarships / grants (free money.) Also, students qualifying for Financial Aid get a new laptop that includes all repairs / loaners / service for 4 years.
At your income level, attending one of the schools that meets 100% of need may be less expensive than your state schools (unless your state schools have similar programs for low income students - and NC may have that.) It’s certainly worth checking As mentioned in the previous comment from TTG, the schools that can meet full need are highly selective and will want to see that you’ve taken the most challenging coursework offered at your school. (Very impt at Wake.) If you can keep a high GPA in top-level courses and show strong community service / extracurricular / leadership - and have strong essays - you could have a good chance. (Also, Wake is test optional. But if you can score highly on the SAT / ACT, then definitely submit it!) Wake prefers to interview their applicants and you’ll want to make a strong impression. Since you are starting your search early, you have the next couple of years to work on becoming a well-rounded applicant. Being a URM may help a bit (although things may be changing….) but it’s not an ‘easy in’. You still have to show that you can handle the demands of a selective school.
If you do end up with truly exceptional SAT test scores and GPA and actually become a possible candidate for the ‘super elite’ schools, many of them will be completely free at your income level, incl room and board. For example, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Rice offer a full-ride for incomes below $65K. For Brown, Cornell, Columbia, and Duke, it’s 60K or less. Other elite schools offer similar packages.
I tried to post the links to two articles listing the schools that meet full need, but the CC site won’t let me. To find them, do an online search for the following phrases: “Prep Scholar colleges that offer complete financial aid” and also “College Green Light colleges that meet 100 of student financial need”.
(Not sure why, but Wake Forest is only listed in one of the article. They definitely are need-blind and meet 100% of need, however.)
Good for you for thinking this through so early in the game. Best wishes in your journey!
@wakedeac2022
Emory’s acceptance rate is 18%.
@emorynavy I actually edited that out of the comment right after I posted it, after checking it (before seeing your comment. ) I don’t see it still in my post - but perhaps you do? That was my error. My son had also applied at Emory last year before choosing Wake, and I was thinking the acceptance rate was closer but you’re right - Wake is 29% and Emory 18% - that’s a definite spread. We loved Emory - great school!