<p>lol…if you really thought she was “average” than you would have thought that she’s not smart enough to be a surgeon. ;)</p>
<p>*As far as financial aid…I don’t think we will qualify. SO looking for the BEST for merit aid. She would like to go to a school where she is in the top 25% of her class with job internship and research opportunities.</p>
<p>NO dancing in college. She loves it but does not want to be a ballerina. She wants to be a surgeon. So most likely majoring in Biology.*</p>
<p>If you want merit aid for her stats, then you need to tell us how much merit do you want? In other words, how much do you want to pay?</p>
<p>If your goal is to get a private down to the cost of a UC, then she needs to look at schools where her ACT 29 is well within the top 25% of the school. </p>
<p>St Mary’s in California gives nice merit for those stats. A number of the mentioned schools might give “some” merit, the remaining costs would probably still be over $40k per year. Is that OK? </p>
<p>USD might give some merit, but I think you need a 31+ to get a $20k per year award.</p>
<p>Does Seattle still have its merit scholarship grid on its website? IF so, what would she get. Edited to add…just checked…they no longer have assured merit and they don’t list what stats are needed to be considered for various awards.</p>
<p>If she wants to go to med school, then she should go where she’ll end up with the highest GPA. If she plans on going to med school in Calif, she needs to be aware that Calif SOMs are amongst the most competitive in the country because the state is loaded with applicants.</p>
<p>“The title of this thread is misleading…” Agree with maggiedog
Would not have opened this thread if I had known we were dealing with these stats.</p>
<p>Your D is not average and there are hundreds and hundreds of colleges where she could apply. You’ve got the size determined, you’ve got the type of area determined with urban. I would find an on-line choose-a-college, load in the info and see what pops up. Narrowing down a region would get you an even narrower list. </p>
<p>I am sorry if I mislead you. I did not intentionally do so. I get so overwhelmed with the CC posts about the kids with super high gpa’s and sat/act scores.</p>
<p>I do appreciate each response.</p>
<p>We do not want to pay more than 30K a year and would be much more comfortable paying 20K a year.</p>
<p>Mamos…there is a thread on the financial aid section of this forum for guaranteed merit awards, and another about other merit awards. Check those out.</p>
<p>Unless your daughter gets one of the highly competitive merit awards, you might find that $15,000 a year is the maximum merit at many schools. This will not bring the cost of a $50,000 private school, or OOS public down to $20,000 a year…or even $30,000 a year.</p>
<p>But for $30,000 a year, there are many options. You might want to check out the SUNY schools. Even as an OOS student, the prices are close to your price point.</p>
<p>Boston College gives precious little merit aid. They give need based aid primarily.</p>
<p>Your daughters list looks good to me! Is she wanting to ADD to her application list for some reason?</p>
<p>In our house, we let the kiddos choose the colleges to apply to…then we had ONE parent choice. However, in the case of our kids, the parent choice was also one of their choices.</p>
<p>I would let your daughter choose where she wants to apply to colleges. She needs to clearly understand any financial limitations, and understand she will have to walk away from any acceptance that is not affordable by YOUR definition. </p>
<p>See if you can convince her to apply to one “parent choice”. In our experience, the kids did a better application, essays, etc. for schools they were interested in attending.</p>
<p>I don’t know lots about the school, but I know several kids who have gone or transferred in. My next-door neighbor’s dd was a scholarship athlete there.</p>
<p>We do not want to pay more than 30K a year and would be much more comfortable paying 20K a year</p>
<p>Ok, to get THAT MUCH MERIT then your D needs to look at schools where her stats are WELL WITHIN the top 25% of the school. So, look at schools where the middle quartiles are around 22 - 26. If the school’s top quartile of students have a 28+, your D isn’t likely going to get much.</p>
<p>Did you look at:</p>
<p>St Mary’s (in Calif)
USF
USD
Redlands
Whittier College
Azusa Pacific
Since she likes Catholic schools with “service,” then she should look at: Spring Hill and the other good-but-lesser-known Jesuit schools. I know that at Spring Hill, she’d get a good sized award and it’s very close to a med school that gives preference to students who attend a univ in the state (always good to look ahead at med school chances since Calif students have such a rough time with admittance. Keep in mind that ALL US MD schools are EXCELLENT. We don’t have any so-so MD schools in this country.).</p>
<p>I am not familiar with all the school listed, but based on the few I know, that is an impressive list of schools. Without diminishing the others, I happen to think that Trinity and St Edwards in Texas are fabulous schools with great faculty and spirit. A lesser known school in the same area is in Georgetown: [Southwestern</a> University | Experience Paideia](<a href=“http://www.southwestern.edu/]Southwestern”>http://www.southwestern.edu/) </p>
<p>Austin is a vibrant city that has much to offer. St Edwards and Southwestern present an alternative to the huge UT at Austin. Trinity is a beautiful school in a nice part of a city that might be more of a hit or miss, depending on your personal taste. Some love it; others … not that much. </p>
<p>PS Very good basketball too in that list! ;)</p>
<p>Her 29 on her ACT will give her a full tuition scholarship at Nova Southeastern in Ft Lauderdale, FL and the potential for more toward room and board. They also have ALL small classes, no TAs (even for labs). Pre-med is big there. Their dorms and gym, etc, were superb - the dorms were the best of any college we’ve visited with all three of my boys.</p>
<p>We recently visited the campus and were rather impressed even though it’s not one of my guy’s choices (my guy wants Marine Bio and their Oceanographic center is a few miles from the main campus and mostly populated with grad students). If he had wanted any traditional major, he’d be very willingly applying there.</p>
<p>It’s really worth a look IMO. If you want a nice “on the beach” hotel to consider while visiting (about half an hour from campus), send me a pm and I’ll tell you where we stayed (no financial connection, but a nice oceanfront location). The airport is also roughly 30 minutes from campus and is super easy to negotiate.</p>
<p>If you’re looking at Loyola Chicago, you should look at DePaul University, too. It’s bigger than your target size, but like Loyola, it’s in Chicago and has an great big-city vibe. Lincoln Park is a great part of Chicago.</p>
<p>If you’re visiting Loyola, take a look at DePaul.</p>
<p>Your D would get some merit money with that GPA and test scores at both schools.</p>
<p>xiggi, I think Southwestern is too far from Austin to get the vibe it sounds like she’s looking for. I mean it’s driving distance from Austin, but what if you don’t have a car? It’s also quite a bit smaller than she’s wanting, though OP should know that only about 1,300 of St. Ed’s 5,000+ live on campus. I’m guessing there are lots of kids living at home to save money.</p>
<p>You had mentioned Wash, DC. Is that where she wants to live or go to college?
Good schools that might fit her are George Washington, American and Georgetown, which is a reach for just about anybody.
If you are looking for urban with good med schools right there check out University of Pittsburgh or Virginia Commonwealth University.</p>
The Freshman Net Price Calculator tells you which merit scholarship you qualify for. The NPC can be found in the “Tuition & Fees” section of Seattle U’s website.</p>
<p>Applying based on stats is a great mistake. There is so much to learn in UG, to grow as a person. Mine choose her UG very carefully, priamrily based on multiple visits, some overnights, talking to current students, walking campuses. Student has to be at the place that matches her personality and very wide range of interests (including outside of academics and academic goals) very well. It is not possible that any outsider/stranger will steer you in a right direction. Frankly, D.did not even listen that close to he HS college conselor, who knew her a bit better than people here on CC.</p>