Apologies in advance for my cynicism, and I would love to be proved wrong, but I believe the legacy bump doesn’t exist at highly selective schools for those who need financial aid. I would only REA Yale if you are sure top nonhooked admits from your school get admitted there.
Princeton is a very tough admit for math. And an even rougher major if you do end up going there.
There is a preponderance of prospective CS major at most places. Be conservative with your list if that’s the priority.
You have an impressive record. Kudos to you.
Your school appears long on reaches and short on safeties (if there is such a thing as a safety these days). Ivies and other elite schools turn away 10 qualified students for every one that they accept, so as strong as your record is, admission to Yale, Princeton or any Ivy is a long shot. To make matters worse, CS is about the most competitive major at schools with strong programs.
Your list seems focused on the Northeast. Why aren’t other highly ranked math programs in the region like Brown and NYU on your list? Would you consider schools in other regions? Several Big10 schools - UofM, Purdue, UW Madison, Penn State and UIUC are strong in math/CS.
If budget is an issue, you may want to look at honors colleges within less prestigous schools - think top 100 vs top 20. Honors colleges offer several perqs: preference for class registration, greater access to professors for research, their own dorms (sometimes), healthy merit awards (usually), and prestige beyond their host universities. As others have mentioned, less prestigous schoos with strong programs like Alabama are buying top students with financial aid. We have friends whose kids were outstanding students (think Northwestern caliber) and they landed at THE Ohio State because of the generous packages offered.
I would recommend applying EA wherever it is available. Acceptance rates at most schools for EA applicants are higher than those for RD at most schools. You get the added bonus from hearing back early and being done with the stress of college admissions.
I know this sounds nuts, but your 780M score might still be low for top CS programs. For admitted CS students at CMU, the 75th percentile for math is 800 and the 25th percentile… wait for it… is 800. I would not be surprised if MIT is throwing up similar stats. And with your demographics you will need to be toward the top of the standardized test score range.
Good luck to you.
Top honors colleges don’t seem to give much additional aid; do you have any specific examples that offer close to full rides?
The Chancellor’s Scholarships at Pitt are one example. They are also extremely competitive, but that is sort of the point–they are competing for students with places like Yale.
I know a family who sent two children to Ohio State’s honors college because of the generous financial packages.
I just got my SAT retake score back and got a 1580 (780R, 800M) so I don’t have to worry about being below the 25th percentile for math anywhere anymore. Thanks for your guys’ insights!
Have you considered applying as a recruited sailor? There is still time to do that, i think. I would say that as such, you would be in anywhere. All the top schools would likely offer you fin aid to meet 30k a yr cost of attendance. Outside of that, you have a chance anywhere, but make sure you also apply to uconn as a safety, and for their highest merit scholarship, too.
I am definitely not good enough for that. 30k a year is too much because we have low assets. Is there anywhere that would give more aid most likely? Net price calculators are giving very varied results
If your budget is very low, consider 3rd tier LACs, and certain state schools like alabama and tulsa. But i think you should continue with T20 apps, since theyll likely require only 15k tuition plus living expenses.
U of Alabama will give you $30.5K off in CS or $28K in math/econ.
They show $53K including Summer or $48K without - so you can get down to $20K or so.
Western Carolina might be another to look at.
Yes, they’re not in the same league as Yale but they are reputable and perhaps affordable.
It seems like for International @ LACs - the $35-40K is the sweetspot.
I’m adding a link from the other day as well which may or may not help…you can see the messages from @andygp in the thread (near the end) which shows how much his kid was offered at various schools.
Required Funding & Estimated Expenses – International | The University of Alabama (ua.edu)
Feedback on colleges - Student Lounge / International Students - College Confidential Forums
my parents will disown me if I bring up any school outside of T20 or T5 LAC lmao. They think that every school outside of those ranges is terrible.
So you dont qualify for full tuition or full ride fin aid, you cannot afford the npc, and your parents wont let you apply to lesser schools that would give you merit money? I urge you to make yourself a fin safety, like bama, just in case.
So your parents want you to attend a tippy top school and want someone else to pay for most of it via financial aid that you might not qualify for? Better change their thinking. Your best best would be merit aid at some of the schools other posters have mentioned.
Then let them read the chain.
They are ill informed - and you will end up home at a community college - not that there’s anything wrong with that.
It’s time to be an adult - and share with them the reality of life.
That said, you’re a Junior - and you’ll have college counseling there - and you can’t afford to pay and not all, but many are need aware - so they take that into account.
You actually might be a candidate for Questbridge - if your family income is $65K or less.
I can afford the NPC at some places, like Williams, Yale, MIT, Harvard, and Princeton. Everywhere else basically no
except that those schools kinda suck (no offense)
my family income is closer to 165k than 65k so definitely no lol
Then I suggest YOU also change your thinking.
hmmmm - wow - You will be working with people from many colleges and for people from many colleges and I think you need to understand that. Your life will not be easy with this elitist attitude.
What happens when you graduate Harvard Law and work for Fairleigh Dickinson…my company has this example.
Or when you go to Yale and work for Central Connecticut State.
I’ve got an MBA from a top 40 school, was recruited for it, and had a boss who had a HS diploma and later earned a bachelor at U of Phoenix. My boss went to an HBCU and our home office leader to W Georgia, a public in Georgia I had never heard of.
Please change your line of thinking - because it’s not reflective of the reality of society.
There are few colleges that “suck”. And many and certainly most every state flagship, have students that are your academic equal.
Good luck.