Which colleges to apply to?

<p>I'm a junior in a public Tennessee high school. My parents make just under $60k/yr, so many "no loan" schools would probably give me a good amount of need based aid. However, with my stats (30 ACT, 4.0), most of those schools are reaches. So I was hoping I could find a couple schools with great need based aid, and possible merit aid, that I would have a chance of getting in to. My parents' contribution can't exceed $10k/yr. I plan on majoring in nutrition (pre med path) during undergrad, and hopefully pursuing a career in medicine. </p>

<p>Forgot to add… I have no preference to size/region/weather. I would like a school close to, or in, a large city, but it doesn’t matter too much. Also, since nutrition is unavailable at some schools, I am interested in anything STEM related.</p>

<p>A lot of smaller private schools would probably be good for aid, look into the NEASC schools. I also know that Ohio State has a great nutrition program and with your stats you could probably get a decent scholarship there.
Is your 4.0 weighted or unweighted?</p>

<p>Among the very/highly/most selective colleges that meet 100% need, I think Gettysburg and St Olaf are the “easiest” (relatively speaking) to get into. You’re in luck since both are very strong in STEM fields and have strong premed programs.
30ACT/4.0 is nothing to sneeze at and if you have good EC’s many top schools may be interested.
Go to the financial aid forum, they have threads with automatic and competitive full tuition/full ride scholarships.</p>

<p>Have you run the net price calculators to check need-based financial aid at colleges of interest?</p>

<p>You can also look at merit scholarships:
<a href=“Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - #300 by BobWallace - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - #300 by BobWallace - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;
<a href=“Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - #50 by BobWallace - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - #50 by BobWallace - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;
<a href=“NMF Scholarships: An Updated Compilation - #833 by BobWallace - National Merit Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>NMF Scholarships: An Updated Compilation - #833 by BobWallace - National Merit Scholarships - College Confidential Forums; (if National Merit)</p>

<p>GPA is unweighted. I’ll look into all of these, thanks </p>

<p>a</p>

<p>Have a look at this list:
<a href=“List of Colleges That Meet 100% of Financial Need”>http://www.thecollegesolution.com/list-of-colleges-that-meet-100-of-financial-need/&lt;/a&gt;
The ones in bold cover a little less than 100% of demonstrated need, but also are less selective than most of the others.</p>

<p>If a college offers guaranteed large merit scholarships to students with your stats, that might be a good safety school choice.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-20.html#post16451378”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-20.html#post16451378&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Tennessee - Knoxville costs about $20K/year for state residents who get no aid. If your parents contribute $10K, the balance can almost be covered, at a stretch, from “self help” (federal student loans + work-study). So I’d say $20K is the highest net cost you should expect to pay at any college. Use the Net Price calculators on some of the less selective “full need” schools to see if you can’t do better.</p>

<p>MYOSIS1634, You must have missed his second post that stated he wanted to be in or near a large city. Gettysburg is smack dab in the middle of rural Adams County PA. Large cities nearby would be Phila or Baltimore both more than one hour or two away. Small city, Harrisburg is closer but still at least a 30 minute car ride … but Gettysburg is in a rural location. Great area, filled with history but not a city location…</p>