Narrowing down my college list/chances

pawood26 · 10-13-2012, 10:21 PM

So I'm a white, male VA resident with 33 ACT, 3.8 (unweighted) GPA, 10 APs and a decent amount of extracurriculars (V soccer, school play, internship, summer volunteer work, etc.) My school does not rank. I'm looking to major in engineering (probably mechanical, possibly civil or materials science) but I would also like a school that's not full of math/science nerds. I'd prefer a school in a bigger city with a decent campus. I'm also looking for a school with decent financial aid and I don't want to waste an application and I also don't want to apply to a school where I'll definitely get rejected.

My list:
Definitely applying to: Virginia Tech (safety), Grove City College (safety), UPenn, Columbia
Possibly applying to: Northeastern, Northwestern, Vandy, Duke, Michigan, WUSTL, Rice
Maybe (but probably not) applying to: MIT, Calvin College

Any info (general, engineering program, merit scholarship chances, financial aid, etc.) would be appreciated, thanks!

ucbalumnus · 10-13-2012, 11:12 PM

For "decent financial aid", have you tried the net price calculator at each school you are considering? Are your safeties definitely affordable?

sevmom · 10-13-2012, 11:37 PM

Why is UVa not on your list along with Virginia Tech , since you are instate? Never hurts to have instate options on the list. You have some privates on your list that are ranked similarly to UVa in engineering (like Vanderbilt,Washington University). I would not discount Virginia Tech either since it is instate . You may consider it a "safety" but it is actually better known in engineering and higher ranked than some of these other schools on your list. If you get good aid from privates that is great but you may want to keep at least a couple of instate options on your list until you see how the finances work out. Good luck!

pawood26 · 10-15-2012, 01:38 AM

I live in Charlottesville so there's just no way that I'm staying here for college. UVA's a great school but it's just not happening. And I know VT is good but I would just prefer a different atmosphere.

Ucbalumnus, as far as the financial aid calculators go, they don't really work 'cause the CSS Profile is way more advanced and my parents business is really complex. And yes, when I say safety I mean academically AND financially

Erin's Dad · 10-15-2012, 11:58 AM

Look here for some merit aid options: Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships

From the sounds of it a school with good FA won't help you because almost all those colleges use Profile.

sevmom · 10-15-2012, 12:09 PM

pawood26, That makes sense about UVa since you are actually from Charlottesville. It usually is nice to get away from home for college, even if you don't go that far. Your finances sound complicated. Have your parents told you how much a year they can contribute?

mitchklong · 10-15-2012, 12:16 PM

Penn Columbia Northwestern and MIT are most selective. Having lots of ECs wont matter..you will need to stand out in something to get in. Your odds are about 1 in 10 statistically speaking. So pick one of those, and consider Early Decision if you really want it.

Wordworker · 10-15-2012, 01:39 PM

Have you looked at Grove City's student life expectations? It's seriously faith-based in daily life as well as mission. Can you live with the conduct code?

pawood26 · 10-16-2012, 11:00 PM

Sevmom, I believe that my parents would like to keep it down to around $30k including room and board and all those costs.

Mitch, there's no one school that I could pick as ED so, because schools like have such low percentages, do you think it'd be better to try to apply to as many of those as possible (Penn, Columbia, MIT, Northwestern, Duke) or to just narrow it down to the top 2-3?

Wordworker, I actually just visited and interviewed Grove City a few weeks ago. I'm totally fine with the conduct code and and all that though I might be looking for a slightly different atmosphere (hence why I'm not applying there ED)

Also any scholarship info for esp. Michigan and Northeastern but also Calvin and Grove City would be greatly appreciated

Erin's Dad · 10-17-2012, 11:30 AM

I don't think your stats are competitive for scholarship $ at UMich. Google merit aid and the school's name.

BeanTownGirl · 10-17-2012, 11:35 AM

B.U., GWU, U. Rochester, Syracuse, Pitt

pawood26 · 10-18-2012, 10:22 PM

So my fin situation just totally change, looking a lot more for schools with merit aid and no CSS. You can see my new thread here Colleges with good merit aid and/or good aid with no PROFILE

Erin's Dad · 10-19-2012, 08:38 AM

In addition to the link in post #5 look at this thread: IMPORTANT: Links to AUTOMATIC/GUARANTEED Merit Scholarships

Longhaul · 10-19-2012, 12:41 PM

Consider Pitt.

In a city, park across the street from campus which enhances the campus, cross register with Carnegie, good merit with your stats