I’m a junior this year, so I don’t have to start applying to colleges yet, but I’m thinking about which ones to apply to.
My grades are okay, my GPA is a 3.6 unweighted or a 4.2 weighted.
I scored a 30 on the ACT, which I thought was good but apparently it’s not great, and i haven’t taken the SAT yet but on the PSAT I got a 1330 so I should get that score or higher when I take it.
I am hoping to go to big college in a large city or suburb, or just not out in the middle of nowhere, and I live in Illinois, but I probably want to go to college out of state.
I would really appreciate it if anyone could give me any suggestions about colleges.
Costs will be a factor eventually, but for right now I’m just finding colleges and not really focusing on the costs. I’ve asked my mom, and she doesn’t know how much we’ll be able to pay yet, so I have no idea, but we’re a middle class family.
You really need to nail down what your parents can pay each year for college. There is no sense in building a list of colleges that are not affordable. The schools that you just listed are all going to be very expensive, assuming that the public ones are out of state for you.
My parents pretty much want me to figure out which college I want to go to then find a way to pay for it instead of limiting my options because of costs. Right now my family’s basically assuming we can afford any college.
That is the path to disaster. Show your parents your preliminary list, along with the cost of attendance for 4 years (and this doesn’t include any year-to-year tuition increases). Assuming you are not a resident of any of the state schools:
U of Illinois: $189,344
UCLA: $251,432
Boston U: $281,208
NYU: $273,600
Purdue: $166,456
Georgia: $182,752
Find out NOW if they are willing to pay those types of prices.
I’ll do that. The probably wouldn’t pay that much. Honestly I’m just trying to figure which schools I should be looking at, so I don’t end up getting rejected at all of the schools I apply to or end up going to a college that I hate, I didn’t realize that price was supposed to be the main factor in choosing a college.
Ok, that makes sense, but the truth is I really have no clue what my family can pay and my parents won’t tell me. My older brother was thinking about going to an in state public school last year and I didn’t hear my parents mention anything about having problems paying for it, so I doubt going to a school in state will be a problem, but I don’t know about out of state.
@KateLynna Purdue so far is the cheapest on your list and for an OOS school generally gives decent merit aid and they haven’t raised tuition in 6 years which is helpful. That being said you said you didn’t want a school that is in the middle of nowhere and Purdue is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Great school but an hour away from any city.
NYU is extremely expensive and when we toured there last summer they said multiple times on the tour how they don’t give financial aid. I would also add that your scores/GPA are a little on the low side for NYU & Boston & UCLA.
Its ok to have some financial reaches on the list if they offer aid to OOS students. There are threads here on CC that show schools that have a history of good aid for OOS students, maybe look at those.
Others have probably made the point that on your list, UCLA, NYU and BU are probably financially not practical, and also probably not worth the cost (assuming OOS for UCLA).
Since you live in Illinois, you have some very good in-state public options. You need to run the NPC and compare the costs of your in-state options with anything else that you would like to consider.
A couple of comments above may be missing the point that you are in-state for UIUC. It is a great school.
UIUC is an amazing school! I used to live in Illinois… I moved my sophomore year to Nevada. But if I was still in IL, I would definitely take advantage of the amazing program with in-state tuition!
Definitely look into UIUC. Other schools to consider are University of Maryland, George Washington University, University of South Carolina, University of Georgia, and University of Miami.
Cost shouldn’t have to be the main factor, but in reality it is often the limiting factor. It makes sense that you want to find colleges where you are likely to be accepted and you will thrive in the environment. However, if you don’t factor in cost and have at least some affordable schools on your list, you could end up getting accepted at schools - but not being able to afford any of them. Getting accepted is only one part of the battle - being able to pay the costs is another.
Ideally you wouldn’t apply to colleges you would hate - you should look to have a mix of colleges where you are comfortable you will be accepted and also can afford, as well as a few other schools that might be a stretch as far as acceptance or affordability (if you like - some students don’t bother with “reach” schools).
It’s good you’re thinking about this now - if you haven’t, you should try to visit some colleges near you to get a feel for what you’re really looking for in a school.
Also, if you’re looking for a school that you would most definitely get into with a good scholarship, consider the University of Delaware. It’s big and has a nice college town atmosphere, only 45 mins- 1 hr from PA. You would get a good OOS merit scholarship with even the 30 on the ACT because of your weighted GPA.