Hi! I’m a rising senior in high school trying to make a list of colleges to apply into in the fall, and I have no idea where to start. I live in Kansas, & all I know for sure at this point is that I’m applying to KU as a safety since I have guaranteed admission. My parents are not able to take time off from work right now to take me to go visit colleges, so they said I will have to wait until I get admitted to a school before I can tour it next spring. This makes it hard for me to see if a particular school has all the “little things” that I find important. I have a 32 act & a 3.8 gpa. I’ve also done a lot of decent extracurriculars based & have quite a bit of leadership experience. Here is what I know (so far) that I want in a school:
located in a big city
-big or medium sized school
-“work hard play hard” kind of vibe (students are studious but also know when to have fun)
-vibrant campus with something always going on & lots of social interactiveness instead of everyone just doing there own things
clean campus (i feel like how clear the public areas on a campus are shows a lot about how much the students care about the school)
happy students
nice dorms
I don’t mind greek life, but it shouldn’t be the only way to get involved and make friends on campus
not too much drinking, drugs, etc
good school spirit
I understand if there is no college for someone with my somewhat average (for cc) stats that matches all this criteria, so it would be amazing if people could list some that match most or at least some of the things on my list. Thanks for reading!!
Two questions -
Do you know what you want to study? At least generally?
And …money… have your parents given you a budget? Are you full pay? Looking for financial aid? Looking for merit aid?
@washugrad oh man, I completely forgot to mention that! I want to major in psychology, & also be on the premed track. My parents make around $200K so I doubt we will qualify for any need based aid. My budget is $40K per year, so yes schools with merit aid would be nice.
If you have a lot of “leadership cred,” you might be a good candidate for this program at U of Denver. https://www.du.edu/leadership/ It’s quite a bit more competitive than DU in general, but your stats are top-quartile for admitted students, so you could potentially be accepted for this cohort and get enough merit aid to get the cost to (or very close to) your target. It strikes me as the kind of atmosphere you’re looking for (based on my never-having-actually-visited impressions, lol).
University of Utah has a very cool, collaborative Honors College with year-long “praxis labs.” https://honors.utah.edu/ The U’s Salt Lake City campus meets all of your urban, clean, spiffy, happy/spirited, etc. criteria. The OOS sticker price is aroung $42K and you’d get some merit off of that. There’s also an Honors College-specific track of the Psych major. https://psych.utah.edu/undergraduate/honors/index.
Both Arizona State (Tempe) and U of Arizona (Tucson) have honors colleges and merit scholarships, and could be good options. Also U of New Mexico (Albuquerque).
Case Western Reserve (Cleveland), Tulane (New Orleans) and U of Pittsburgh are all great urban schools that are terrific places for psych/premed and are fairly generous with merit. Your stats above-average for admission, but I’m not sure that they’re enough above average to get the merit you’d need. If you’re interested, maybe post on those school’s forums and ask people to gauge your merit chances. Squeezing out another point or two on the ACT would help the merit forecast for schools like this.
The west coast urban Catholic U’s - U of San Diego, Loyola Marymount (LA), U of San Francisco, U of Portland, and Seattle U - all give merit that might bring them into range cost-wise.
You can also check the list of Midwestern Exchange schools for possibilities. You’d get discounted tuition at all of these. Most of them aren’t the state flagships (except in more remote states like the Dakotas), but there are some good regional campuses on the list - I believe U of Wisconsin Eau Claire is urban-ish? https://msep.mhec.org/
For a $40K budget and "somewhat average (for cc) stats ", many of your best choices may be among state universities. Have you considered your own state flagship? If it doesn’t suit you, then many OOS public universities have non-resident sticker prices <= $40K. Check out the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), the SUNY schools, or public universities in Florida. The University of Pittsburgh’s sticker price is a bit over your budget, but otherwise might be a good choice. See if your stats qualify for merit money at the University of Alabama (which may be within budget even at full sticker price.) https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-public-colleges/index.php
Will you likely be National Merit Semifinalist? Fordham offers a NMSF full tuition scholarship, although it is not automatic. Fordham also offers other merit scholarships. The Rose Hill campus in the Bronx is a VERY nice traditional gated campus, and Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan has the total urban feel. No Greek life.
Tulane is also very nice, and while urban, the traditional campus is in a residential neighborhood. I’m not sure your stats are high enough for big merit at Tulane. You’d also need to show interest to have a shot at it.
Case Western is very urban without a traditional campus. Great school, but is not known for big time school spirit. Your stats will probably not get you merit there. CWRU was very selective this past year with several posters on CC either rejected or WL with 35 ACT and 4.0 GPA.
If you’ll consider a small school, Rhodes College in Memphis is urban, great for premed. and will likely offer merit money.
If you’ll consider a smaller city, University of Dayton will likely offer merit. Definitely has school spirit and engaged student body.