If remaining close to home is a consideration, don’t limit your search to Illinois specifically. If you live in southern Illinois you might actually be closer to Vanderbilt than UChicago. North-western part of the state: think Grinnell. Both of those schools meet your criteria really well. Nashville is a fun city that’s not too big and don’t rule out Grinnell based on its ruralness if you haven’t seen it. A bit further afield, but a good match is Macalester (also a great city/area).
I’m PMing you some more info.
what can your mom afford to pay for college?
I’m gathering your instate public U’s / colleges will be your safeties?are they affordable?
What have the various NPC’s at private colleges indicate what your EFC will be?
Did you take the PSAT and score at or above Il cut off #?
and are you a guy or gal?
@otterman My family can contribute around 10k max per year. NPC’s are a little unreliable when your family owns businesses, but most npc’s from universities that offer need based aid come out to between 5-8 k.
I did not score in the top percentile on the psat. Male
“but most npc’s from universities that offer need based aid come out to between 5-8 k.”
Private U’s that use the profile financial aid application or public U’s that only use FAFSA?
what we here on CC have found [ and our own family experienced this first hand] is that family owned businesses REALLY gum up the NPC calculations at private colleges that use the Profile, and can produce highly inaccurate FA calculations. You may want to contact the admissions offices at any profile college you are interested in prior to submitting your application re how much FA you really CAN expect.
It will do you no good to not have a college that you know you can afford to go to on your list, come April.
So as much as you may NOT want to be one of the top dogs on campus, you SHOULD cast a wide net and apply to some of the colleges on the list I posted above, that guarantee full rides or at least full tuition scholarships based on your GPA/ ACT scores.
the U of Alabama is one such U and it has a LOT of really smart, but FA poor UG’s, who get a great education there.
here is a link to the private colleges that use the Profile for FA calculations
https://profileonline.collegeboard.org/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv
@menloparkmom oops, should have specified. Private universities.
well, like I said, you would be wise to contact the FA offices to enquire if having a family owned business would change the amount of FA showing on their website.
We have seen, time and time again that this happens.
The PUBLIC U’s are the most likely places for both high merit awards and acceptances.
So dont pack your list with private reach schools that have ultra low admissions rates, in part because they look like the most affordable.
@menloparkmom It sounded like you were going to make some recommendations since you asked for my college filter preferences. I am very open to looking at any suggestions you may have in mind given the information I have presented so far. In fact, I’m not just open to it, but would prefer if you posted recommendations.
there are lots of private colleges I could recommend to you as matches, but I recommend you start by doing on research on the public U’s that offer full ride/ full tuition scholarships mentioned on the link I posted above.
the research on ALL of full tuition scholarship colleges was done and complied by CC parents .
You need to find safeties FIRST that you can afford and which offer the programs and options you want. What you must realize is that with safeties, you may not get all that you want, but you DO get the security that you CAN go to college, at a price your MOM can afford.
I also recommend you contact Questbridge
https://www.questbridge.org/high-school-students/national-college-match/who-should-apply
as soon as possible, which has 39 top private college partners, and works ONLY with low income, highly capable HS students -offering them early acceptances with full tuition scholarships.
they have high financial barriers to meet, so contact them asap to see if you qualify.
In my experience, coming from a high school where most kids are not “high achieving” can be an advantage because
- Most schools that practice holistic admissions will judge you on the context of courses and activities available to you
- It's easier to have a high class rank
- Your teachers/GC may be impressed with you, and write a very good LOR because they don't often have "high achieving" students.
All of these things helped me get into a “top 20” school, and I’m the only one in my class of 300 to do that. However, it could also be a disadvantage to go to a low-performing high school, but it depends on the type of person you are and the motivation you have. For me, it was more difficult for me to get information about schools and the application processes because my GC knew nothing about getting into selective schools. I’m pretty self-motivated though, so it was easy for me to hunt down my GC when I needed him to send transcripts or submit things. It is possible to get into an elite school from a low-performing high school, it just takes a bit more work on your end.
OP, why dont you list the private colleges in which you have already run the NPC and obtained results in the 5-8K EFC range.
that will give us a place to start.
I will just agree with what others have said, especially @menloparkmom. People are judged within the context of what can be achieved in their considering the resources the school has. Many highly selective schools post something similar to this on their websites. What colleges want to see is that you are taking some of the most challenging courses that you could possibly take at your school.