Hi guys, I’m in a bit of a dilemma. I’ve been unable to find good colleges that fit most of my requirements. I’m a junior right now I’m just trying to find a good list of schools to apply to at the end of the year.
My requirements are:
-Medium-Big school(I at least want that big school vibe)
-Out of state cost of attendance at 30k or below
-Out of state(I live in Texas)
-Preferably in a Northern state
-Nice atmosphere with welcoming students
-Diversity among the student population
-Preferably a public school
-Good dorms and nice school spirit
-Good college experience
The college MUST NOT be in Texas, and please make sure it fits my budgetary constraints. Doesn’t have to meet all my requirements, just most of them
Will your parents qualify for financial aid? What are your stats (GPA/ SAT scores if you have them)… (wondering if you’ll qualify for merit aid anywhere)? There will be different suggestions depending on the answers to those.
UMaine has a flagship match program where you can go for about what you’d pay instate for TX. The New England state unis would be more than 30K unless you received merit, which is possible. The SUNYs might come in close to that figure.
And why not look at some private schools . . . . ? They can offer maybe merit and/or need-based aid that may make make them affordable.
Syracuse
U of Rochester
Are two examples that come to mind.
I echo U of Maine at Orono with its flagship matching program. To my mind its the less expensive UVM --which is an extremely popular uni currently on the East Coast. It’s also fairly easy to get to because there’s an international airport in Bangor, right next door. U of Maine at orono also happens to be in a gorgeous location and it’s a pretty campus.
Many of the Canadian U’s would be within your budget, and fit your description (large/public/diverse/nice).
What you’re describing sounds very much like Miami of OH - a medium-large public U (17K undergrads) with a campus reminiscent of an east coast private U - one of the “public ivies.” http://miamioh.edu/publicivy/index.html It has the friendly/spirited vibe that you’re looking for, and very good academics. (Diversity is probably a weak point, but I fear that’s going to go with the territory among schools that will meet your other criteria.) The OOS “sticker price” is $49K/year, but there is automatic merit. Your 1440 is only 10 points below the highest merit range - if you could pull out a 1450/33, then you would almost certainly get enough merit to hit your price point. https://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-guarantee/ With your 1440, it’s still possible, but you’d have to get an award at the very top of the range for the second-tier merit category.
“Many of the Canadian U’s would be within your budget,”
This is what I was thinking as well. Pretty much any university in Canada that is not in Ontario and that you have not heard of would come in under $30k per year in US dollars. There are a lot of very good ones. Many of them also fit your other criteria, including most definitely not being in Texas. You might start with any of Dalhousie, U.Victoria, and Simon Fraser. Memorial University of Newfoundland would be a bit less expensive still, but would be a bit of a culture and weather shock coming from Texas (it is really not in Texas).
U.Maine is the only other one that I can think of in our corner of the US (northeast) that might fit your budget.
The University of Kansas has automatic scholarships for freshmen that would make the OOS cost in your range. So would Kansas State University. While not in a northern state, they are north of Texas? Both have tons of school spirit and students generally have a nice college experience.
I have to second Kansas State. My son from Texas is there and LOVES it. It is cool, he even went snowboarding last winter not too far away. Great school spirit, very happy students and faculty. Nice sports. Classes are challenging even though admissions rates are very high. Not as much diversity as a lot of schools but despite what you may read the students are very welcoming. Son’s fraternity is even pretty diverse. OOS tuition is good and if you have fairly decent grades you will get a good scholarship. Very nice dorms, particularly the newest one which you can get in to as a freshman. Great little college town. My son was just telling me what a great time he is having there (which is great since he has a 4.0 so far and is a Sophomore). University of Kansas is also very good.
taverngirl- I’ve always wanted to go to new york, I’ll look into it. Can you give me some recommendations if you have any?
gandalf78- Thanks, I’ll look into it
chercheur- I have no idea yet, and I want to go to an OOS college because I really want to leave my house and Texas. Looking for a fresh start and hoping to learn how to live completely independently. Also, I really want to live in a snowy, colder area to get that experience
Dustyfeathers- Thanks, I’ll look into it
aquapt and DadTwoGirls- Thanks I’m retaking the SAT and have been consistently getting 1500s on practice tests so I’ll probably get a 1450+ on the next real one. I wanted to go to Canada, the only reason I didn’t really look into it was because of the cost. If it fits my budget, I would love to go. I’m not a U.S. Citizen so do you know if that will affect anything? Also are there any tests I will have to take for admittance? I’ll also look into UMaine
college_query, momocarly, and MaineLonghorn- Thanks I’ll definitely look into Kansas State and University of Kansas. Only thing I’m a bit worried about is the prestige
To those who recommended Canadian Universities, I looked into the University of Toronto. It is at the very edge of my budget but I may be able to manage. Any other good Canadian Universities that are a bit cheaper?
“Any other good Canadian Universities that are a bit cheaper?”
There are many that are less expensive than Toronto. You can google “macleans university rankings” and get a list of very good universities in Canada.
Toronto, McGill, and UBC are the best known. Alberta, McMaster, and Queen’s are also well known. However, there are a lot of very good universities.
The Macleans rankings are split into three groups. One is “Medical / Doctoral” which are schools with medical schools. These tend to be large and well known. One category is “primarily undergraduate” which is the closest thing that Canada has to LACs. These are not well known in the US but we liked pretty much all of the ones that we visited.
In between are “Comprehensive” which are relatively large schools without a medical school. You will see Simon Fraser and U.Victoria at the top of this list. They are very good and quite a bit less expensive than Toronto for international students.
Feel free to ask about other schools on the Maclean’s listings if you have any questions.
For most schools in Canada your high school grades plus the SAT scores plus references are the main things that you will need. For some majors some schools may require SAT subject tests. The fact that you are neither a Canadian nor US citizen will not be a problem. You will need to get a visa, but when you get your acceptance from Canadian universities they will also send information regarding how to apply for a visa.
A lot. You will not be offered loans, federal aid, or some other scholarships as some require citizenship. It is very expensive to go to college with those extra funds, so how are you going to pay $30k without them?