<ol>
<li>Wants to go someplace that will absolutely maximize her job placement opportunities (or possibly ease entry to grad school).</li>
<li>Would like to go to school in IA (or adjacent state) or Carolinas. Other SouthEast = OK. West Coast = nogo. NorthEast = nogo.</li>
<li>Would like to go to a school where student body (and faculty) has moderate views (no Bob Jones and no Warren Wilson College).</li>
<li>Would like to go to school with size of about 1,000 - 3,000. A few more is OK. > 10,000 not preferred.</li>
<li>Is currently thinking about studying Psychology or Writing (writing moves up if she gets her novel published while still in high school this year).</li>
<li>Not at all interested in Greek life.</li>
<li>Wants at least one foreign study trip (if not one per year).</li>
<li>Urban school = nogo. Suburban with access to a city is probably preferred but rural is also fine (will probably have a beater to drive around).</li>
<li>No interest in participating in sports (have no idea if she will be much of a fan).</li>
</ol>
<p>Obviously, some of the above preferences negate other of the above preferences. However, ...
10. Finances is the deal breaker
The year BEFORE the base year, household income was basically zero due to layoffs and the college money was completely burned through. Long sob story.
During the base year, high-paying but TEMPORARY consulting jobs were secured (but will go away after initial base year and be replaced by who knows what) that will result in a solid middle class EFC of approximately $26 - $28K. Realistic available contribution is probably closer to $8k per year (rest of sob story goes here).</p>
<p>Schools that our D put on the initial research list:
Davidson
Carleton
Macalester
Grinnell
Simpson
Central
Kenyon
Centre
Furman
Sewanee
Beloit
Denison
Wake Forest
Yale
Elon
Emory
Rice
Vanderbilt
Washington U
U of KS
UNC-CH
UNC-A
U of VA</p>
<p>GPA = 4.2
ACT = 30
Rank = #12 or 13 out of 300-ish (fairly rigorous school but not absolute best-in-country level)
AP English = 5
AP Lit = this year
Did NOT take AP Bio, Chem, Physics, or Calc (not interested in math/science fields)
Did NOT take AP History (this was a mistake)
4 years of foreign language
A ton of EC including community service as well as school things (letter and all-state in Speech, founder and editor of lit magazine, etc.)
National Merit Semi-Finalist
Has been to Iowa Young Writers' Studio and is working on getting published
Loved her time at National Student Leadership Conference and is seriously interested in a career with FBI or CIA</p>
<p>ACT score probably eliminates some of these and it seems like $$ would eliminate most (but not all) of the rest. So, what are the real possibilities?</p>
<p>Probably right. Those schools are bigger than she would prefer. Not a total deal breaker, but clearly less preferred. And she probably cannot even get into UNC-CH. Maybe others too.</p>
<p>Davidson sounds like it was made for her. Kenyon and Denison are arguably the other two best fits on the list.</p>
<p>Is there a reason Knox was overlooked?</p>
<p>I agree with dionte about eliminating Wake (Greek life), UVA and UNC (too big), and Kansas (???). Despite its superb writing program, Sewanee might have to be eliminated if Greek life is a big issue for her.</p>
<p>I would keep Vandy because they’re loan-free, and she needs all the financial aid she can get.</p>
<p>I agree that Davidson is a great match. It meets every specification on your list, except that there is a presence of Greek life and sports activity, but I don’t think either dominates the scene.</p>
<p>But before she goes much further down this road, you should probably decide how you’re going to address that rather large gap between your estimated EFC and what you think you can realistically pay. Unfortunately, the fact that the base-year income was temporary isn’t going to matter to financial aid offices. You’re going to want to focus on schools that are known for significant merit aid; otherwise, you’re looking at loans of $20K per year – do you really want to go there?</p>
<p>Agree with Lasma, you should be focused on merit aid schools if you’re not prepared to pay your EFC. Give that, you need to be looking at schools where she is at the top of their applicant pool stats wise.</p>
<p>I think that we just did not run into Knox as we started to research. First child. Not really very good at this whole process. Started too late. Am not sure which things are critically important and which things can be skipped.<br>
I will run Knox by our D.</p>
<p>Take a look at Furman in Greenville SC. We visited last weekend and it suits her criteria. The campus is beautiful and is close to a fun downtown scene. They have great merit $$.</p>
<p>Finances are the most critically important thing of all, sad but true. I really would start looking at this before I’d add any more schools to the list.</p>
<p>You have a good list and many of the schools easily fulfill much of your criteria. I will put in a plug for Beloit which has a wonderful merit opportunity that your D would qualify for - it involves a weekend, I think called the Presidential scholarship weekend (how quickly I forget) - in itself a great experience but often results in significant merit aid. Of all my Ds offers Beloit was the most generous by far - after our sob story year, I did sob when I saw it - but out of happiness! Of course i was discreet until my D decided to accept.</p>
<p>If she would consider an all-women’s college, I would take a look at Agnes Scott. It’s a little smaller than she prefers (only about 900 kids), located about 6 miles from Atlanta (so there are good job and internship opportunities), with excellent academics. Almost 50% of the campus studies abroad. I took a quick look at the financial aid info and the college gives Dean’s Scholarships in the amount of $20,000 a year for students who have at least an ACT score of 28 and are in the top 5% of their class (I don’t know how many they give out though)</p>
<p>Another possibility is Cornell College (which you may be familiar with). Interesting school with a block schedule–unfortunately the website isn’t too informative about merit aid.</p>
<p>As a NMSF, with finances being such an important consideration, she should look at schools which automatically offer full tuition to NMFs. One or more could act as her financial safety in case FA at her other choices is inadequate.</p>
<p>[thread=649276]NMF Scholarships: An Updated Compilation[/thread]</p>
<p>From that thread, some schools to consider include Minnesota-Morris, Truman State, Bradley, and Evansville (not as familiar with the smaller listed schools out of the midwest). All have very good reputations regionally, and DS (a NMF) was impressed with the two he visited (now attending one of them). Evansville, for instance, was our best visit of the dozen or so we took, and they have their own campus overseas in England for study abroad.</p>
<p>Apply to some other places as well, such as Beloit, but keep a couple of these in your back pocket.</p>
<p>Davidson’s a good fit. No greek life for girls, only for guys. You would be a good competitor for merit money as well as Davidson gives great aid</p>
<p>My oldest son is a Davidson grad, younger son is at Furman. Both were also accepted at several schools on your list. I would suggest also looking at Rhodes in Memphis-good merit aid available there. Davidson is fantastic, but very competitive to get into-especially for girls. Furman’s campus is what GOD would have built if he had the money.</p>
We definitely do NOT want her to end up with $20K per year in loans. No place is worth that kind of overwhelming debt (obviously our opinion).
Which is why I was posting on here asking about the actual reasonable alternatives. I understand that she would be unlikely to get a big pile of merit $ at the absolute top-of-line schools. So, what are the best of the rest (where she might be at the top end of applicant pool) and from that group of schools, which give a ton of merit $$?</p>