<p>I consider myself an above average student. I will have taken 10 AP Classes by graduation, and I have made all As. I'm 6th in my class of 294 people and I have a 32 on my ACT. </p>
<p>I do feel like my extra cirriculars are a little weak, though. I am captain of Quiz Bowl, vice president of Debate, I'm on the senior advisory board of my school's volunteering club, I have an internship with my mayor, ~100 hours of community service (in a variety of things- my internship is my only consistent source of hours, really), and I'm a member of a few other clubs, like Beta Club, Mu Alpha Theta, and my school's International Club. I haven't gotten any awards other than all A honor roll and a few class awards for best performance in the class. No sports. </p>
<p>I was wondering what schools I should be looking at? I'm currently focusing on getting as much money from my state school as possible, but I'm not sure what other schools I should be applying to. Are there any schools with 100% need-based aid I could get into? Any other schools I should apply to?</p>
<p>I want to major in Poli Sci or International Relations.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your work so far. Don’t worry about the ECs unless you’re intending to apply to ivies and near-ivies like Duke.</p>
<p>You’re wise to think of finances and their role in where you can go, but let’s come up with a list first. Definitely your state flagship could be one of the schools on the list. But go to the SuperMatch tab in the left-hand column of this page. Fill in your info, play around with it a little bit, and come up with a list of 10-20 schools. Then you can run the net price calculator at each school and see if there’s a good chance you can afford any of them. Then get back to us with that list.</p>
<p>There are several very good schools that offer 100% need-based aid (or close to it) that you have a reasonable shot at.</p>
<p>–I assume you qualify for women’s colleges, @mrsbutler. Is that correct?
–What APs have you taken so far, and what scores?
–What is your home state?
–How far do you want to travel for college?
–What is the approximate Expected Family Contribution (EFC) amount that your family can handle per year? (If it’s low-ish, then you’ll have to hunt for either the most generous of the generous schools, or schools where you can get merit aid, or both.)</p>
<p>Schools in DC would be great if you’re interested in studying Poli Sci or International Relations. George Washington comes to mind as a standout. Georgetown too if you have the stats. As far as I’m aware, University of Rochester might also be a good fit for you (though its not in DC).</p>
<p>I do qualify for women’s colleges, yes. My absolute dream school is Barnard. And GWU would be great if it wasn’t so expensive, as well as American. I sadly don’t think I have the stats for Georgetown, although it used to by my dream school.
Also, I’m from Mississippi, and I don’t mind how far I have to travel, although I’d like to stay in the South or Northeast. Low EFC. Around 3,000, I think. So far I’ve taken AP Human Geo (Freshman year, 3), AP Bio (Sophomore year, 3), APUSH (Junior year, 5, 760 on SAT exam), AP Euro (Junior year, 4), and AP English Comp (Junior year, 5, Lit SAT was 670.)</p>
<p>G’Town is a reach but not totally impossible since you bring socio-economic and geographical diversity - and they meet 100% need.
Barnard is a great match but look into the other women’s colleges too. Mount Holyoke would be a great match, it’s very international, and its financial aid is excellent.
You can try for Tufts as another reach.</p>
<p>You might look at Dickinson or Mount Holyoke. Run the net price calculators on each school’s website to see what your possible cost of attendance would be. You should do that for every school mentioned.</p>
<p>Some of your better options for financial aid will be the wealthier, more-selective LACs:
– Davidson, Haverford, Vassar, Wellesley (semi-reach).
– Bryn Mawr, Dickinson, Mount Holyoke, U Richmond, Smith (match).</p>
<p>Yes, run the NPCs alongside a parent or two. Be careful with the inputs.</p>
<p>American should not be a problem for you. They’re not usually generous with aid, however. My memory is suggesting that aid at Dickinson tops out at 20K. Richmond’s aid runs all the way upto full ride with some 45 or so offers of full tuition plus; after that their top award is only 15K as I recall. This was last year. Scholarship funds change from year to year, but most endowments have only increased in the last 12 months.</p>
<p>American is a match, but its need-based aid is fairly weak. Run the NPCs on a handful of schools to see what they’re spitting out for need-based aid and what they expect you to pay.</p>
<p>Vandy is getting into that area where it’s a reach-for-everybody. The cutoff last year seemed to be around a 33 and most of those students would have had better ECs than you. Emory and Rice are matches for you, but your ECs are a concern. Make sure you demonstrate interest at the latter two schools because they indicate it as “important.”</p>
<p>Any recommendations for schools near Boston? I am applying to Wellesley I think, and I’ve thought about Northeastern but idk if I could afford it. </p>