What do you think of my list?

College Search & Selection
1

Loooooooong post ;:wink:

I’m a senior in high school and my list for colleges is rather close to being finalized. I had some trouble getting started on the college search but I’m a lot more confident now that I’ve visited a decent variety of campuses and figured out what I like about each style. I would like some advice, though, as I’m still a bit uncertain about which schools are better than others. What do you know about each of these schools that might affect my decision?

A bit about me: Homeschooled with most of my classes taken through an accredited diploma correspondence program (American School in Illinois), GPA isn’t really accurate as I’ve got a really unique high school experience but I believe it falls around 3.5, 1930 SAT (640 CR 620 M 670 W with 8 essay b/c the topic sucked that day), decent and unique ECs (2500+ paid work hours, created websites, written articles, rescued animals, amateur photographer, amateur mountain biker, been to around 40 concerts since I started keeping track in 2012), relatively strong essays (writing has always been a passion of mine).

Interested in becoming an occupational therapist with a concentration in developmental psychology or similar. I want to attend a liberal arts college and I lean more toward small-medium private universities but there are some aspects of huge schools that I really appreciate, as with tiny ones (so I think the school’s size isn’t a huge deal to me). I do not want to be surrounded by athletes or dominant Greek life. I do not want to attend a notorious party school, though some partying is fine. I prefer a more left-leaning environment though politics aren’t a huge deal to me, and I will NOT attend a religious or largely conservative school. I want to go to a rather diverse school with a large LGBT community and no more than 50% male student body. I don’t think I qualify for a lot of need-based aid but my dad doesn’t want to pay a lot so I’d like to qualify for at least an okay amount of merit money. Finally, I’m only looking for schools in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, southern Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. I really favor the Boston area as the whole college-town vibe is my dream, as is living near a big city.

Schools I’ve visited (in order):

  • SUNY New Paltz (medium public)
    -Ithaca College (medium private)
    -NYU (large private)
    -Lesley University (small private)
    -Salem State University (medium public)
    -University of New Hampshire (large public)

Reach:
-NYU (not sure about the lack of a traditional campus feeling but I love the psychology department, the diversity, NYC, and the name recognition would be a big plus)
-Boston U (pretty much everything I said about NYU is the same here, and they have an excellent OT department)
-Northeastern U (very interested in their behavioral neuroscience program, also love that it has the traditional campus feeling while being in the center of Boston)
-Brandeis (top-notch academics, has some interesting minors available in things like sexuality studies, women’s studies, peace and coexistence studies, and it’s in a nice collegetown)

Target:
-Ithaca College (right now it’s my favorite school that I’ve visited; there’s a decent amount of diversity and huge LGBT community, lots of unique ways to get involved, beautiful campus in #1 collegetown in America, exchange program with Cornell, amazing OT department, no Greek and not an obnoxious party school, I’m just concerned that it’s 4 hours from home while being nowhere really near any big cities)
-Simmons College (love that it’s a women’s college in Boston, has a major in neuroscience and behavior, very feminist environment and LGBT-friendly, no Greek or obnoxious parties, but I’m unsure if I like the fact that it’s so small)
-Lesley University (awesome collegetown in Cambridge/Harvard Square with easy access to Boston, beautiful campus, hugely female student body with tons of LGBT representation, excellent psychology department with very unique focuses, not sure if I like the small size and the fact that it’s split up into tiny campuses across 3 blocks, or the fact that it’s relatively low-residency)
-Sarah Lawrence College (very similar to Lesley but it’s in a small upper class town 30 minutes from Manhattan, campus is walking distance from the train station, has an incredibly unique approach to learning with the most personal relationships you could really have with your professors, but its tiny size and hardcore academics scare me a bit. has some surprisingly notable alumni)

Safety:
-SUNY New Paltz (I have a friend there and she showed me around. I like the traditional campus feeling as well as the collegetown and the decently easy access to Manhattan, lots of LGBT representation and a very relaxed vibe from many of the students)
-UNH (I’m in awe over the beautiful campus, all of the buildings are huge, old, and well-kept, the library is stunning and the dining halls are phenomenal, the academics are good and they have a good OT department, my problem is the student body consists largely of upper class straight white athletes from New England, it’s very sports-oriented and Greek is evident, but I like the collegetown and the proximity to Boston and Portland. Just don’t think I’d thrive socially here and the students remind me a LOT of the students at the high school I suffered in for a year before leaving and opting for homeschool)
-Salem State (Salem is the most incredible city in the world and it’d be my dream to live there, however I was very disappointed by the presentation and the tour, and the student body reeked of high school. The buildings were nice and the campus was alright, the dorms were spectacular, however the campus is a bit spread out around the block, and the academic quality seems subpar. The only reason I applied is because as a rock-bottom safety, it’s alright, and the application was free for October and easy-peasy to fill out)

Sorry for so many details. I really am. I just wanted to include as much info as possible so that anyone willing to offer advice would have a great basis for doing so. If you have any suggestions for schools I should check out or personal experience with any of my criteria (something like “I thought I’d like a small campus too but then I got there and felt claustrophobic” or “I also craved the traditional campus but then I went to NYU and I easily got used to it” etc would REALLY help) then feel free to reply! Thank you so much!

2

My first and strongest opinion is that you should replace UNH. From what I have read, you won’t be happy there.

Are you from Illinoise? How much is your family annual income? Exactly how much your father is willing to pay? Also, why did you say that you want to attend a liberal art college, and your list comprises of a lot (if not all) huge universities?

If you don’t qualify for Financial Aid, then you should have a different approach in reach and target schools. Provided that you get into Northeastern University, as your stats is a bit below its average, you are not likely to receive any merit aid there. How could you afford the pricey private-school tuition? This notion applies to all of your reach-es, including NYU which is notorious for its high COA and its poor FA. However, if you are willing to pay the $70k price tag at your reach schools, feel very free to apply.

I don’t know much about any of your target school, so I won’t give any comment. And excuse me for my lack of knowledge, I can’t really recommend many good schools that will fit your criteria.

One school that I suggest is Clark University. Medium-sized school in Massachusetts, very reputable Psychology department, very laid-back atmosphere (I guess), kinda diverse. You will receive some merit aid and a liberal art feel in a research university. Also, look into its free 5th year of Master degree if you do well there. Target of safety, you decide for yourself.

Another school I think you should look into is Susquehanna University. Pennsylvania, small rural school with solid Psychology department. This can totally be your safety.

Hope this help!

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http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest

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@lhtanh98 Thanks for the advice!

I meant liberal arts as in schools that are more undergraduate focused and provide a broad, general education. For example, NYU’s college of arts and sciences is, by definition, a liberal arts college. By stereotype, I guess it’s really not, because most people think of a liberal arts school being a tiny, relaxed art school. Anyways, I guess I should have been more clear in the beginning as to what I meant by liberal arts, so sorry about that.

I totally see what you mean about financial aid. I might just sort of give up on NYU and BU altogether because of that issue. Northeastern is kind of a dream for me, though, so I’d hate myself forever if I didn’t at least try :slight_smile: With UNH, you’re probably right. My parents were in awe over it and I really like the campus so I guess that’s why I was still hanging on. However, I doubt I’d be happy there in the slightest.

Clark is a school that I have heard a bit about. My friend’s brother is a junior there and he’s never looked back. I’ll check it out, thank you for your suggestions.

I’m not from IL by the way. I’m from upstate NY; the school I take classes from is based in Illinois but it’s an international distance education school. I don’t know my family income exactly (my dad likes to keep that info private) but my dad is my only parent with an on-the-books job. He does well, I believe we fall somewhere in the $90-110k range. He has a lot of debt though, I’m not sure how the FAFSA looks at that. Financial aid is still something we’re figuring out but my guess is that I won’t get a lot of it based on need.

5

If Northeastern is ‘the school’ to you, then totally go for it. But please don’t hold your hope to high because in case you get in, you may not be able to afford it. But totally consider its co-op program which allows you to work full-time, paid job for a semester without paying any tuition fee. That may reduce the cost, and you can choose to finish college in 5 years with 3 co-ops.

Somewhat similar to Northeastern is Drexel University. In the middle of Philadelphia, co-op program. You can qualify for some merit aid there too. I cannot comment on its Psychology department or Neuroscience department though. Also look into other SUNY schools like Stony Brook (a little too big) and Binghamton.

On the very bright side, if your annual income is around $110k and your dad is in some kind of debt, you may qualify for some financial aid. Run the Net Price Calculator at each school to see what it says. Northeastern is a little notorious in FA though. Just an anecdote, I ran Hamilton’s NPC with $120k income and $50k in the bank, it said that I would have to contribute around $23k annually. Hamilton, however, is very generous. You should check for yourself.

Lastly, you should ask your father the exact number that he is willing to pay, and work from there.

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In terms of undergraduates, Stony Brook has roughly 16700 and Binghamton has roughly 13,400 but my understanding it that Binghamton plans to grow the number of college students. Not sure about SB.

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As was already suggested for Hamilton, you might want to look at the list of full need met colleges if financial aid would be a factor, and run their net price calculators. Many of these colleges do have a strong Greek presence though.

SUNY schools end up costing around 22K or so per year with all expenses figured into the mix. SUNY Oneonta offers some full tuition scholarships every year, and a few other SUNYs also offer some scholarships.

By the way, Sarah Lawrence has a great reputation if the financials work out.

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Sarah Lawrence has a rep for being one of the most expensive schools in the country. Is that still the case? Also, in terms of SUNY Binghamton’s size, “We knew that we would be able to accommodate a significant number of additional students and maintain our quality,” Nieman said." Not really! And not without increasing resources and staff. And they haven’t.

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I think you should remove UNH, it doesn’t sound like you’d love it there. I’d say remove Salem, but you’ve already applied.

Run the NPCs, & figure out how much your dad’s willing to pay. Remove NYU & Boston U if he won’t pay much, to avoid going into debt yourself.