<p>I think I need to stop visiting CC so much because I’m becoming unbearably jealous of everyone on here who can apply to Harvard or Princeton or UPenn or any other outrageously expensive school without worrying about money. Everyone here seems to be either rich, and needing no financial aid, or exceptionally brilliant (at least in terms of SAT scores, GPAs, and ECs), capable of winning a full ride to whatever school they choose. </p>
<p>Well, I have a 4.0 UW GPA, plenty of ECs and academic awards, but I made a 2060 on my SAT. When compared to other CC users’ scores, that’s quite average. When broken down, my score is a 760 in writing, a 720 in reading, and a 580 in math. I’m an excellent writer (despite the probably crummy writing of this post), but I’m not so good at math. In fact, I couldn’t care less about math. I’m going to major in English and minor in creative writing. And when the majority of my ECs and academic awards are centered around writing, why should it matter what I made on the math section of a standardized test? </p>
<p>While my math SAT score pretty much ruined any hope of me going to any top schools, that dream was never plausible to begin with- I have six siblings. My dad makes just enough for us to get by comfortably, but not enough to send us all to college one after the other (there will three of us in college at the same time in a few years). My brother is in his freshman year at a small state school, and our FAFSA qualified him for absolutely NO financial aid, and since he wasn’t exactly a straight A student, he doesn’t have any scholarship money, either. Which puts it on me to use my super student skills to produce a full ride, somehow. Except I recently discovered that there’s very little chance I’ll get a full scholarship to any of the schools I actually want to attend, so I’ll probably be stuck going to some no-name state school that accepts any kid who can at least make a 900 combined score on the math and reading sections of the SAT.</p>
<p>But what’s wrong with that? Is it really so bad to attend a school that’s close to home, that isn’t so prestigious? When you’re smart and everyone’s told you throughout high school that you could get into any college you wanted- even your teachers- it’s kind of hard to accept attending a school no one outside of your state has ever heard of. But is it so bad? Does it really make it harder to find a job? Will I really earn less? (Well, I’m an English major, so I probably won’t make much regardless of where I study.) But most important, will there be a noticeable difference in the quality of the education? I think that’s what worries me the most. That, or watching all my friends post Facebook statuses about being accepted by their dream schools.</p>
<p>Larger schools do have a recruiting advantage, since recruiters do have more an incentive to go places where there are hundreds or thousands of potential candidates than places where there are tens or fewer.</p>
<p>As far as the academic quality and suitability of the school, it depends on which school you are referring to. One small, lesser known school may be an excellent fit for your academic goals, while another may be a very poor fit for your academic goals. Because small schools have fewer faculty, it is more important to check carefully whether they have enough academic offerings in your major to keep you interested (check faculty rosters, course catalogs, and schedules on their web sites).</p>
<p>How much can your family pay? Something? Nothing?</p>
<p>Have you run the Net Price Calculators to see what your family would be expected to pay at each place. Use the search function at each website to find the NPC.</p>
<p>Granted, your math score isn’t so hot, but your verbal and writing are excellent. From your username, I take it you are a girl. Look at the women’s colleges. Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mt Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley have good fin aid policies. The next tier down tend to have merit money. You might especially like Hollins for the writing program.</p>
<p>It also is not a crime to take a gap year and reconsider your college list if you aren’t finding anything you like. Your guidance counselor and teachers have useful ideas too. Talk with them.</p>
<p>Your brother’s experience doesn’t necessarily represent what you could expect at a need-blind, full-need private school (like the ones ClassicRockerDad mentions above).</p>
<p>What is your Expected Family Contribution based on these calculations?
How much of the EFC is your family actually able and willing to cover?
(What’s your college budget?)</p>
<p>If you share your EFC and budget numbers, along with more information about what you’re looking for in a school (other than name-recognition), you might get some good suggestions back.</p>
<p>look at college of wooster, u of evansville ,butler and drake…all amazing. wherever you go…go with a positive attitude and stop obsessing on the harvard/yale/princeton brand names. they are no better then 1000x of other schools out there!</p>
<p>First, both you and all your siblings should qualify for additional financial aid when multiple children in a family are in college, we calculated ours for next year when I start college and both my older brother and mine goes up significantly.
As for schools, is staying close to your family important? If so, what state do you live in?
Many people on here have listed great more affordable schools so check into all of them!
In terms of the last part of your post, my friends, teachers, family, community have always counted me as the only one from my grade that will go to an ivy. Everyone always asks “so when are you leaving for Harvard/Yale/Princeton etc…” And it does add a lot of pressure. But, I don’t want any debt going out of college so I will probably end up attending whichever university offers me the best merit aid and there is nothing wrong with that. Try to find a cheaper school that you could see yourself at for four years that actually makes you happy!
Keep looking and I guarantee you will end up at the college that is right for you
Good luck!</p>
<p>Since I work in our local high school I see many of the alumni who return to relate their experiences. It really doesn’t matter too much where they go - almost all say they absolutely love their school. Friday we had kids return from Rutgers and Franklin & Marshall… their positive reactions to their undergrad were the same even though the schools are totally different. We’ve had state schools, small privates, prestigious schools, etc. Your experience in college is what you make of it.</p>
<p>That said, don’t sell yourself short. Plug your stats and desires in on the College Search feature here and add the “looking for merit aid” option and see what comes up. One never knows… State schools often have low aid compared to many privates, but only once you get your financial packages in will you know what you get. Consider schools farther away from home too (private school states away) as geographical diversity can be an asset at some of them.</p>
<p>There have been many schools I’ve learned about due to a graduate going there. They’ve been happy…</p>
<p>Pretty much the only “unhappy” students are those who end up with a ton of debt, those who overmatch themselves academically (or maybe who choose to major/minor in partying), or those who weren’t comfortable leaving home once they left. The specific school really is never a factor. Most love where they go even if they weren’t sure they would when they chose it.</p>
<p>See if they have a college fair near you and listen to their rap.</p>
<p>I know a kid who is graduating this year from Goucher, where he got significant merit aid without 2400/36/5.0 and without siblings or stepsiblings in college.</p>
<p>Good luck, and don’t believe all the CC hype!</p>
<p>Seconding Knox as a great choice for your interests. Also University of Iowa. Even if you are not instate I have heard that they do their best to make it affordable for OOS students.</p>
I second aiming for some of the top LACs. Colleges like Knox and Butler are good, but the quality of financial aid declines sharply as one moves down in selectivity, and merit money often isn’t much help; the typical $10-15K scholarships do relatively little toward a $50K price tag these days, and institutional merit scholarships often replace financial aid grants rather than loans or self-help portion. </p>
<p>For example, Knox meets the full need of only 25% of its needy students, and 50% of Knox students are more than $27-30K in debt at graduation. Conspicuously Butler fills out every section of the CDS except financial aid. Evansville, also suggested by zobroward, meets the full need of a mere 20% of its needy students. These are hardly what I would call “amazing” options. </p>
<p>Considering the OP has such a good record (except for the M SAT) and needs a lot of financial aid, I think she would be much better off at some of the [SAT</a> optional colleges](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest) – Bowdoin particularly comes to mind (generous and loan-free), but also places like Conn College, Bryn Mawr, Trinity (CT), Hamilton, etc., all of which have great financial aid. Though it’s not test-optional, I think she’d stand a fighting chance at Davidson also, which like Bowdoin is rather generous with financial aid and loan-free.</p>
<p>Does the OP want suggestions or is he or she hoping to start the next neverending thread? I’m curious because there are no details about the real options he or she has considered, only the hackneyed comparison of “no-name state school” and “Harvard or Princeton or UPenn.” What actual options is the OP considering? I’m happy to help, but it would be a lot easier if the OP supplied some details. Or is it venting he or she wants to do? That’s cool, but then I won’t play.</p>
<p>absweetmarie, I think it’s worth making suggestions to the OP. Sometimes looking through the threads on CC, one would think that not only are all the children here above average, but that they are in the profoundly gifted category. Certainly it helps to reassure that just because the posters who strut their stats here are extremely high achievers, it’s not at all the norm among applicants to college in general. </p>
<p>Yes, it would be helpful to know a little more about the OP. If s/he needs more from those of us trying to help, I am sure s/he will tell us more. But maybe s/he had a few things to do (like sleep! have breakfast! maybe go to church!) since last night when s/he started the thread.</p>
<p>I totally get that kids could be susceptible to insecurity and anxiety when it seems everyone around here are “above average,” oldmom4896. It’s just that there are SO MANY incredibly good options for someone in the OP’s situation, it would be helpful to have some parameters. What schools were on the OP’s list to begin with? I assume the no-name school was the safety. What else was he or she considering?</p>
<p>This is from an earlier post by the OP. For all we know she (I think it’s a “she”) has evolved her list by now. She also posted a lot in the Emory forum.</p>
<p>I agree with the above posters. Just because your brother didn’t get financial aid, doesn’t mean you won’t. Maybe your family’s EFC was more than the tuition at a small public college, but still a good deal smaller than the cost of a private college. Or maybe the public school didn’t meet full financial need, while other colleges do. There is a very good chance that your family will end up paying less for your education than for your brother’s even if you attend a private college with a very high “sticker price”.</p>
<p>There might still be time to retake the SAT and focus intensely on improving your math score. Or, you could look at schools that don’t require the SAT. In the Fiske Guide to Colleges, there is a list of such schools.</p>
<p>If you have three SAT Subject Tests, try Middlebury, which lets you submit them instead of SATs and guarantees to meet demonstrated need. </p>
<p>If you don’t have other test scores, try Bard, Bates, Bowdoin, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Pitzer, and Sarah Lawrence.</p>
<p>I just read all these and I guess I should have posted what schools I’m considering…it was late and I was tired, sorry.
But uh, I only applied to Georgia Southern, Mercer University, and Emory (and the Oxford campus for Oxford Scholars, if you want to count that as a fourth school). I’m from Georgia, which I guess is obvious by my school choices. I recently went to Georgia Southern for a scholarship/ honors program interview. There were about 160 kids there, and only around 20 were interviewed for a full ride, and since I was one of those 20 I thought I had a real shot, but I didn’t get the full ride. This sort of freaked me out because I feel like if I can’t get a full ride to Georgia Southern, then there’s no way I’m going to get one to Mercer, or especially Emory. </p>
<p>Oh, and my dad only did the Net Price Calculator for Emory, and he told me we wouldn’t get any extra financial aid because they have a a cutoff at $100,000 income and he makes probably not even 10 or 20 thousand over that.</p>
<p>OH, and I am considering applying to Troy University in Alabama because I have to go there in February for honor band anyways, and they have scholarship auditions for seniors. According to a thread someone linked on here, I could get full tuition automatically, which would be kind of nice.</p>
<p>I also was considering SCAD at one point, because I think I could easily get an academic scholarship there (and possibly a portfolio one for writing as well), but I’ve heard mostly negative things about that school, so I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not.</p>
