Hi! I’m currently a junior in high school beginning to seriously consider my college search. I want to study Political Science and maybe a double major with Journalism, so being in DC or a state capital would be nice. I would like a school that is Christian or Catholic in nature, but I’m not exclusively considering those kinds of schools.
Getting good scholarship money would also be nice. I know my test scores are much better than my GPA, so I’m hoping that can get me in/get me money some places.
Stats:
I don’t know my GPA exactly, but I’m estimating it’s around 3.6 UW/4.3 W
33 ACT/1490 SAT first tries for both (retaking both/waiting on scores to come in - I think I can get up to a 34 ACT, 35/36 if superscored)
EC’s (overview):
4 years of FCA (2 years as Club President), 3 years of Student Government, 3 years of Cross Country, 2 years of tennis, very involved in church youth group, etc
Looking for college suggestions!
Also, while we’re here, do you think I can get into Boston College with that?
American (apply EA)
Catholic University (safety, apply early)
Georgetown (run the NPC to see if your parents can afford it, if so, apply Ed.)
Loyola Chicago, LMU-LA
Dickinson
Tufts
Boston College, Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Villanova are all possibilities.
<<< Getting good scholarship money would also be nice. I know my test scores are much better than my GPA, so I’m hoping that can get me in/get me money some places.<<<
So, you’re looking for merit scholarships? If so, then G’town, Boston College, HC, Notre Dame won’t work…little/no merit, and your good stats wouldn’t net anything. Nova is also bad with merit.
Ask your parents what they need your net costs to be. Some of those schools might give you $15k or so per year, but the net costs would be $50k per year…is that ok with your parents? Or are they expecting to pay less? If so, how much will they pay?
Find out the money situation NOW. Too many kids don’t and then they end up with unaffordable schools and no place to go.
“Find out the money situation NOW. Too many kids don’t and then they end up with unaffordable schools and no place to go.”
So true! GTown came off of our list bc the NPC came out as $72,000. We are not taking my son (also a junior) to see any school that is beyond what we are willing to pay - despite what the EFC thinks about our financial ability to pay! There are plenty of good schools that give merit aid - American is one of the schools that NPC came back with aid for my son. None of the other schools are in a state capital ( Trinity U, TCU, SMU - all are Christian Texas schools) that came up with aid in their NPC. He plans to go to Law School so he needs to think wisely about what he spends for undergrad.
I know roughly what the money situation is, but I also know that I’ll be taking on some debt in most cases. Finding a nice school in a state capital that would give good scholarships for good test scores is ideal.
If I decide I’m willing to take on the debt, Boston College is my top choice. Right now I’m trying to find top options where I won’t have to take on that kind of debt for undergrad.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re willing to take on debt - freshmen are allowed to borrow 5.5k. That’s it. Total allowed for 4 years : 27k (including the 5.5k). This is what most college graduates are able to pay back over 10 years. At that point, you’ll be in your early 30’s, you’ll probably need to be out of debt in order to borrow toward a house etc.
Anything else would be borrowed by your parents.
Is there a chance you might qualify for National Merit consideration? If so, Fordham has scholarships for National Merit Finalists. Providence and Holy Cross have some merit-based scholarships.
You really need to find out: What is your family’s EFC? How much are your parents willing to pay out of pocket and does it correspond to the EFC or not? What mix of need-based and/or merit-based aid are you likely to expect based on your stats? Build your list from there.
You can and should estimate your monthly payments for loans over a 5 - 10 - 15 year period. There are on-line calculators that can help you do this. Think about what those numbers would mean for you before considering loans, especially above and beyond the limit for federal student loans.
I’m definitely in the running for National Merit, but I don’t want to depend on it, and I won’t know about Semifinalists until September and Finalist until late February, so by the time I know that, my college applications will be in/I’ll be starting to make decisions. So. I don’t know. My index is 219.
Yes, they are, but it all depends what you expect. 1/2 tuition, 2/3 tuition is common, full tuition is rare, and full rides are very very uncommon.
If you make NMSF in the Fall, you can look into universities offering good packages (such as USC Columbia, U Oklahoma, UAlabama, Ole Miss…) and apply by the Honors College deadline to those you like. If you’re admitted, you have the choice in the Spring to designate one of them as your first choice and you’re good - or to turn that down for whatever other university admitted you that you can afford and like better.
Some (like 'Bama) actually don’t hold you to the Honors deadline, I think, you can apply once you know whether you made NMF (@mom2collegekids ?)
D got a $23,000 merit scholarship from Willamette. I know of another student who got a $25,000 merit scholarship from Willamette, which I believe is their highest (according to their website).