Hi @lakeshorepath . Congratulations for doing a wonderful job in school so far.
I’ll allow others to focus on dream universities and extreme low-acceptance universities. There will be no shortage of great advice here at CC for you concerning those schools. I’ll discuss a few that may be off your radar. I know you said Northeast or West Coast, but I’ll include a few other places you may later open up to.
First, I’ll tell you about my family’s situation. I’m a single Black father with 3 kids and make significantly less than $100K/yr. My son was a high school student in the class of 2020, who wanted the option of attending an out-of-state university if he decided that was what he wanted to do. He was an average student with average grades and a slightly above average (but not extremely high) SAT. He applied to 70+ schools. My advice comes mostly from my son’s results and experience.
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Definitely apply to any in-state public university in which you think you might remotely be interested. In-state publics are usually (though not in every state) the safest bets when it comes to acceptance AND affordability. Non-Flagship Publics also often inform applicants very early if they’ve been accepted. It reduces stress to have a couple of these in the bag early in the process.
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Ignore most out-of-state public universities. The vast majority will not be affordable to low-income families. If you get a 1500+ on your SAT, you might get enough merit aid/scholarship money to make a few affordable. Otherwise, most will not be affordable.
One OOS system that was accessible to applicants with my son’s grades/scores AND was affordable to our family was New Mexico. Both University of NM and NM State University were just as affordable to my son as an out-of-state applicant as our in-state publics. On the other hand, travel to and from NM would have been a lot more expensive than attending an in-state school. But it was nice to know NM was an option.
- Private non-elite LACs (Liberal Arts Colleges) turned out to be surprisingly accessible. Many accepted my son, and more than expected awarded enough Financial Aid to cost the same as (or less than) our in-state publics.
Some of these include Wooster (rural Ohio), Ursinus (just outside Philadelphia), Stetson (near Dayton Beach FL), Allegheny (rural PA, 100 minutes from Cleveland and Pittsburgh), Guilford College (Greensboro NC), and others.
Some that did not accept my son but might accept you include Kenyon College (OH), Macalester (St Paul/Minneapolis), Oberlin (OH), St Johns (dual campuses in Annapolis MD and Santa Fe NM)
There are literally dozens of schools in this category that could conceivably be affordable for your family. For a few of the best options in this category, pick up “College That Change Lives”. You can probably check out a copy of the book at your local library.
I’ll also add Clark Atlanta University. It shares a campus with Spellman and Morehouse but is much easier to get accepted into. As a student at CAU, you’ll get the benefit of mingling with those students and can take some classes in their buildings. CAU isn’t guaranteed to be affordable, but if you want to be at an HBCU in Atlanta, it’s an intriguing option.
I’ll also add Wellesley near Boston. It’s an elite women’s college that is far from an easy acceptance. However, my niece was accepted a few years ago, was awarded an incredible amount of finaid that made it possible for her single mother to afford, and graduated after four incredible years.
- Mid-major private universities is what I call private universities with larger enrollments than small LACs, but smaller enrollments than major public universities. These schools will have between 3000-12000 students. Several accepted my son and were affordable. With your better grades, a larger amount might be accessible for you.
Marist College (Poughkeepsie NY), St Joseph’s (Philadelphia), Rollins (near Orlando), Holy Cross (outside Boston), Dayton (OH), SMU (Dallas), Loyola (Baltimore), Loyola (Chicago), American U (Washington DC), U of St Thomas (Minneapolis), U of Richmond (Richmond VA).
There are dozens and dozens of mid-enrollment like this. Some have much lower acceptance rates than others. None are guaranteed to be affordable. But there is a decent possibility each might offer enough aid.
I’m not recommending you apply to as many schools as my son. He had me to assist with a lot of the process, and not all parents will be able to assist to the degree I did. However, you should research these schools and see if any are especially attractive to you.
Overnight visits: Some of these schools offer overnight/2night visits to prospective applicants. A few will even pay travel expenses for low-income students. For instance U of St Thomas (in Minneapolis) offered to pay for my daughter to fly to and from Minneapolis to enable an overnight visit to see if she liked the campus. Furman in SC offered to pay my son’s travel expenses (and a hotel for me) for him to attend its weekend visit.
Summer programs: Many colleges offer (usually 1 to 3 weeks) summer experiences the summer between junior/senior year of HS. Long ago, I went to M.I.T. for such a program. My son went to one at an HBCU. Brown University has one. Howard University has a summer residency program for high school students interested in learning more about being an accountant. Aside from travel expenses, these (especially the ones targeting low-income and/or first-time applicants) are often free to attend or have scholarship finaid for needy families.
Best of luck to you!