<p>I haven't taken any AP classes, though I've taken some 'accelerated' science courses.</p>
<p>I have a lot of EC's in music/orchestra.</p>
<p>If cost weren't an issue, my instincts tell me that St. Olaf College would be a good fit for me... but the tuition is 35k plus room and board!! Compare that to the University of Minnesota-twin cities at just under 10k....</p>
<p>I'm not sure if I'd qualify for financial aid... but I discussed the cost of a private college with my parents and my dad... wasn't thrilled :).</p>
<p>Would a state school be best for me? </p>
<p>And since MN has reciprocity with Wisconsin, what would my chances be at Madison?</p>
<p>though I don't know UofM and UW have the college 'feel' I'm looking for. Any advice is very much appreciated!!</p>
<p>
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I'm not sure if I'd qualify for financial aid...
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<p>Well, that's the first step: find out what you would qualify for. Financial aid can either be need based (they give you what they think your family needs) or merit based (you get an award based on your accomplishments). </p>
<p>Ask your parents to use one of those on-line calculators to get a rough idea of how much need based aid you could could expect. It varies from school to school, but this will give you a general guideline, at least enough to know if it's workable.</p>
<p>If you qualify for need based aid, then you can put together a fairly wide list of schools. If you require merit based aid, then your list of privates will be shorter. St. Olaf's and many other fine colleges do offer merit aid, but not all do.</p>
<p>John, good advice by Momrath. Also, three schools to possibly look into are Wooster (OH), Oklahoma City University and University of Rochester. All have excellent music programs and they are all supposed to be good with merit aid. BU and Lawrence have very strong music programs also, but I'm not sure how good they are with aid.</p>