<p>Go Bucks! TBDBITL</p>
<p>Seems to meet all your criteria.
Great school, reasonably priced.
Huge campus, located in Columbus OH.</p>
<p>One should really try the NPC at UMich before saying it is not affordable to OOS students. If you have a low family income, you will be surprised by their generous aids even for OOS students. In addition, Music schools offer scholarships to highly talented musicians. I personally know a few students who get significant amount there even an international student with full ride.</p>
<p>One poster’s kids could thrive at several diverse schools listed. Many students can’t. Florida is way too hot, climate can matter a lot. Also- the liberalness varies among state schools as does the student demographic. I can see many reasons to stick to a region, and not all schools within a region are the same. </p>
<p>That gpa is weighted, wonder how it translates into the unweighted one UW uses… Good stats but there are many in the same pool of top students (eg 20% perhaps). Those stats would garner admission to many schools but not merit money, if available, I expect.</p>
<p>Like many students he may end up at one of his state schools like so many do. There are Honors programs to accommodate these top students.</p>
<p>Looks like Florida International U. in Miami would give the OP’s friend’s kid full tuition plus books and fees. It’s one of the largest universities in the country now and has Div. 1 sports. </p>
<p><a href=“Cost & Aid | Admissions | Florida International University”>http://admissions.fiu.edu/costs-and-aid/scholarships/</a></p>
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@mom2collegekid ACT aside, he has so many AP courses and a great GPA to back it up… most students would crumble under that courseload.</p>
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<p>Yes, he has a very good background. That won’t result in a free ride to IU…not even free tuition. </p>
<p>AP courses don’t figure into merit awards. the truth is, test scores are what drives up merit amounts. </p>
<p>I wonder why his exam average is only a 3.8? that suggests a lot of 3’s.</p>
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<p>No, it won’t…because Nov 1 is the scholarship deadline. Getting in by the deadline just allows you to be considered. Missing the deadline means that you won’t be considered. You’re not getting it in early. You’re just meeting the deadline. </p>
<p>that said, your test scores suggest that you’ll get one of their best awards. how much merit do you need?</p>
<p>A 3.8 average on AP exams and a 32 ACT is not going to rock anyone’s world at the most selective schools. The former smacks of grade inflation at his school. I think he would be at about the 25% mark at Vanderbildt, and therefore probably at Northwestern too. So I’d say both would be definite reaches, despite his course rigor, class rank, GPA (what’s the unweighted, I wonder), and other accomplishments.</p>
<p>Pitt sounds like a good idea, and they do give merit money to top OOS students, I believe. OSU or Indiana, if the finances work.</p>
<p>I guess much depends on what the home state is.</p>
<p>It seems his state flagship university or the University of Alabama would be the best bet if finances are an issue. </p>
<p>The kids mom is a personal banker and his dad a teacher. I doubt that he is considered low income.</p>
<p>The family should run the net price calculators on the college websites for each school considered. Seems to me, that income might be such that need based aid will be limited. </p>
<p>How,about UMD-CP? I know it’s not in the Midwest, but it has everything else. It might be costly for OOS, however.</p>
<p>If he is instate for Iowa, why not University of Iowa?</p>
<p>Oops, I just noticed that the OP said he lived in Iowa. It seems that Iowa doesn’t participate in the MSEP, and no longer has tuition reciprocity with any state. That’s unfortunate.</p>
<p>According to what I read, Personal Banker salaries run around $34K-$39K per year, and the average teaching salary in Iowa is about $50K per year. So if he could get into one of the true deep pockets schools, he could get FA. Really substantial FA in some cases. I don’t think his chances of doing to are great, though. </p>
<p>Op,
The University of Southern California (USC) may fit the bill. May get a great merit scholarship with his stats. Great marching band. Excellent music and business programs. And private school, so would have good advising and attention. My impression is that public schools can’t compete with the amount of scholarship money that private schools (with large endowments) can give out. May qualify for financial aid in California.</p>
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The University of Southern California (USC) may fit the bill. May get a great merit scholarship with his stats
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<p>USC may be a good option for his interests, but no way would he get much/any merit for his stats. USC is test-score-crazy, and a 32 is average there. It’s in the middle of the middle quartiles. </p>
<p>Even an ACT 35 often gets NOTHING…and that’s within the upper quartile.</p>
<p>Agree with the above. Definitely not likely for merit at USC (Southern California.) That would be a reach school for this student. The other USC-- University of South Carolina on the other hand… Great honors program and may give merit aid? Not sure.</p>
<p>^California is not Midwest, is it?</p>
<p>“Go Bucks!” - Very very stingy on Merit awards, even for in-state. D. got such a small Merit award at OSU (in-state for us) that we did not even think of it as any kind of Merit. It is a good school with great spirit that would fit all other criteria on the list, but not financial side. The same goes for most in-state publics in OH whith exception of Miami (it is NOT a fit. Miami has great business school, strong music program, but it is in a middle of nowhere, not in a city), maybe others that I am not familiar. But private Case has great reputation for Merit awards (again NOT a fit because it is great for engineers / pre-meds, not business). That is why I think that if OOS is in a picture, then pirvates that have more resources per student maybe financially more affordable (with Merit award)</p>
<p>Many top New England schools are interested in “rural” kids from the Midwest with ACT 28+. His stats are really excellent if he’s from rural Iowa and his course rigor is exceptional. If he’s from DesMoines, Cedar Rapids, or Ames, it’ll seem less exceptional but it’s still very impressive. Only on CC would this profile not seem great.</p>
<p>However be aware that over 8 APs, their value “decreases” (less return on investment) as far as elite admissions go. It’s important, however, that he has one of each category (English, History, Foreign Language, Calculus, Science) OR that he has 4 categories and doubles up in the other. Since we’re talking top AP school in the state and large AP load: APs such as Human Geography, Statistics, Psychology are seen as having less “rigor” than AP’s in the other subjects; the “every AP under the sun” strategy isn’t always effective and show reflect genuine interests rather than simply “take them all” - this can be displayed by taking a non-AP “fun” class that shows the student really loves learning even if the class is not weighted or isn’t going to “impress colleges”. </p>
<p>It’s also true that for Top 25 schools (universities and LACs) he’s a “typical applicant”. Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t apply, especially since these schools would likely provide excellent financial aid. But he should keep expectations in check and work on his essays.</p>
<p>The issue is that many of the universities that would be looking for kids like him won’t have the big D1/marching band experience he’s looking for. I would recommend he and his family widen a bit his requirements or decie what matters most.
What is MOST important to him? What is a “want”, not a “need”? Is the marching band more important, or the university’s size, or the city’s size? Does he want a university where sports are essential or an after-thought? What does he want to do with his music education - is it because he loves it, or because he wants to teach it, or because he hopes to become a professional musician/composer? What universities has he visited and what were his thoughts? What does he think about Drake, Butler, Iowa State, Grinnell (all very good, very different schools)?</p>
<p>This is an important essay to read, too - as well as the comments:
<a href=“Only Connect | Parke Muth, consultant: Essay Test: The Order of Things: love, location, background and testing”>http://onlyconnectparke.blogspot.fr/2014/07/essay-test-order-of-things-love.html</a></p>
<p>Keep the dialog going! This will be helpful for so many Midwestern students. I’m assuming the income someone listed above of parents is correct, as they are very service to others minded. (Usually service and high incomes aren’t in the same sentence.) In answer to the OOS tuition at UMich, I had a student who went to UMich with in-state tuition who had similar stats. Perhaps he can do the same, but even with in-state, it is not low-cost.</p>
<p>In answer to the AP Question, he has taken or is enrolled in the following:
Grade is listed after the course
AP U.S. Government & Politics, 9
AP Microeconomics, 10
AP Macroeconomics, 10
AP English Language & Composition, 10
AP Biology, 10
AP European History, 10
AP Spanish, 11
AP Calculus AB, 11
AP U.S. History, 11
AP Music Theory, 11
AP English Literature, 12
AP Physics C, 12
AP Psychology, 12</p>
<p>For most top students in the Midwest there is no searching for financial deals. One goes to state flagship U and is in the Honors program. Academics superior to many elite privates in many majors. An average of less than 4 on AP exams- like a B-, not impressive at all. This student is average for good college students, not even likely to get into many schools. Iowa is an excellent choice for Iowa residents. </p>
<p>APs at selective schools - be warned. They don’t care much.
I personally know of 2 kids who had less than 40% of their AP credits accepted by top selective schools and they got 4’s and 5’s on all tests. That was a nasty little surprise after the initial joy of being accepted to their dream schools. The admissions folks told both kids that everyone with their test scores had APs, so they barely even looked at them, and didn’t accept many for credit because they didn’t have to.</p>
<p>With that many APs, I would definitely steer this kid toward a school that would actually accept the credits. That’s not to say all top selective schools don’t accept much AP, but add this to your checklist when performing your due diligence. The same goes for any community college courses taken.</p>
<p>(MYOS1634)
I strongly disagree that top scores coming from a rural student in Iowa are somehow more significant than top scores from a suburban or city kid in Iowa. That kind of parochial thinking reveals a disturbing assumption that teaching in rural schools is somehow deficient, or that the rigor is somehow always lower. While I know from personal experience that a few folks on the coasts like to think that way about flyover states and rural areas, the data do not support such a conclusion. There is no weighting for course rigor in the ACT or SAT. Scores are scores.</p>
<p>Drake, Butler and Grinnell - great LACs. (but the OP said LARGE schools desired, so ???)</p>
<p>Employment prospects for a top trumpet player coming out of a small LAC with an Econ degree are likely to be disappointing.</p>
<p>Given that the kids parents don’t appear to be in the 1%, I suspect snagging a job at the end of 4 years is going to be important.</p>
<p>@wis75 but is this student under any obligation to submit the AP scores to colleges prior to admission? The AP nature of the course (rigor) and the grade received in the course in high school is what is going to matter for admission. The scores can be submitted after acceptance, no? </p>
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<p>Only on CC will people honestly impart accurate information to help form realistic expectations.</p>
<p>Sure, he’s a great kid with lots of outstanding credentials. But fair words butter no parsnips.</p>