<p>I’m a senior in the middle of the college selection/application process and I thought I would ask for some outside opinions on a particular question I have.</p>
<p>GPA: 4.0/5.05
SAT: 2330 (800 writing, 800 reading 730 math)
AP: US History 5, English Lang and Comp 5, World History 5 (English Lit, French and Calculus this year)
IB: SL Bio 6, SL Math 7. I am currently on track to receive my IB diploma upon graduation.
Activities: NHS, Academic Olympics, 4 years volunteering at local library, 8 years of flute lessons, 6 years of participation in school wind ensemble and marching band, regional youth orchestra, honor band and solo and ensemble competitions, 2 years All-State band.
I am also a National Merit Semifinalist, likely (hopefully!) to be a finalist. </p>
<p>Right now my top choice is Pomona College. I’ve visited, interviewed and done lots of research, and I’ve fallen in love. It seems like an incredible school where I would fit in really well and be very happy. Of course, like most elite LACs, it’s very expensive, around $58,000. My family’s income is about $98,000 a year and we have about $16,000 saved for my college tuition. Pomona offers a lot of financial aid but none of it is merit based. I’m trying not to panic until I see if I get accepted and learn what kind of need-based aid they’ll offer me, but I’m terrified that there will be a pretty large gap between what the school will expect us to pay based on the FAFSA etc. and what my parents will actually be willing/able to pay. Cost is a really big concern, and the only real downside I can see to attending.
I’m also applying to my local school, University of Nevada, Reno. What with in-state tuition, my dad being non-teaching faculty (grant in aid) and the huge merit scholarships they offer, my education at UNR will be free. I know that a free university education is amazing, and that if I went there I would work really hard and make the most of the opportunities available to me. UNR is a pretty good school, but it’s not really great and I’d like to get out of Reno.
Would it be stupid and selfish of me to consider a really expensive school like Pomona when I know that I could get a solid undergraduate degree for free at UNR, or would it be stupid to “settle” for an average school like UNR for financial reasons when I could attend my dream school?
(Of course UNR and Pomona are not my only options and I am certainly planning to apply to a number of other schools, but Pomona is by far my number one choice and my parents are highly in favor of/kind of pushing for UNR.) Thanks in advance for any opinions!</p>
<p>You should run the net price calculator for Pomona, it might not be as expensive as you think. However, a free undergraduate education would be amazing, especially if grad school or med school is in your future. Good luck!</p>
<p>UNR should NOT be your only “huge scholarship safety”. It’s one of the worst flagships, if not the worst flagship, in the nation.</p>
<p>Yes, you’re applying to other schools, but it sounds like Reno is your only “huge scholarship” financial safety. That not right.</p>
<p>With your stats and likely NMF status, there are other schools, better schools, that will offer you full or near full rides for your NMF status.</p>
<p>it sounds like your parents are pushing Reno because they won’t have to pay much/anything. You can still go OTHER places where your parents won’t have to pay much/anything.</p>
<p>With a $100k income, your parents will likely be expected to pay about $25k per year for Pomona. With $4k per year from college savings, that means that they’d have to come up with another $20k per year…which is probably the big issue for them.</p>
<p>Respect their concern AND FIND other schools that will also give you huge merit for your stats.</p>
<p>One of my good friends was a national merit finalist whose mom teaches at UNR in one of its strongest departments (well probably the only strong department). She told her under no conditions did she want her to go to Reno since she could go to much better schools for almost nothing. She took one of the offers and to date, has had a much better experience in almost all respects than her sister who studied engineering at Reno. </p>
<p>I agree with M2CK on this. Look at the universities which offer big scholarships for NMFs. Almost all of the state flagships listed will be much stronger than UNR, and will offer you far more opportunities.</p>
<p>Read through the threads on Guaranteed Merit Scholarships and on Competitive Merit Scholarships that are at the top of this forum. Your GPA and SAT scores would guarantee you a full ride at a number of places, and make you competitive for equivalent money elsewhere.</p>
<p>Just get those applications in SOON. Some have very early cut-offs or are first-come-first served.</p>
<p>Net price calculator for Pomona said that grants would cover about $38,000 out of the $58,000. So my parents would have to pay $16,000 a year. That’s better, but still a lot.
Yikes, I knew UNR wasn’t the greatest but I had no idea it was quite so bad. D: Thanks so much for the links to the NMF threads!</p>
<p>Just curious how you managed to take so many APs if your are a full IB diploma candidate. To earn an IB diploma, don’t you need to be in at least five IB classes this year?</p>
<p>World history was sophomore year when the IB program hadn’t started yet, the first year of IB History of the Americas HL doubles with AP US history at my school, I got my IB math out of the way last year so I can do AP this year; AP French and both English tests are just kind of on the side. :)</p>
<p>Remember, this is only an estimate. The less complicated your family’s financial situation, the closer the estimate is likely to be, but the NPC is not a guarantee of FA. While P is pretty good with FA, there are schools that are as generous or more so. And with your stats, there are merit scholarships outside of NMS that are within your range.</p>
<p>So what does “GPA 4.0/5.05” mean? You may want to specify your unweighted GPA if you want others to give you a good idea of what colleges and scholarships are realistic for you to look at.</p>
<p>Does it have to be Pomona or UNR, and that’s it? Why don’t you apply to some other LACs like Denison, Hobart/WM Smith, Wash & Lee, Smith, Dickinson, just to name a few, just out of the air. And see what they come up with. Getting into Pomona is no slam dunk, you know. It’s one of the most selective schools in the country. An app to Pitzer and Scripps might be a good idea too, as they have merit money and the admissions numbers aren’t so low. I have a friend whose 2 DDs went to Pitzer on some nice merit money. </p>
<p>Also some schools like Fordham, Tulane, Rhodes, Stetson, Rollins, Marquette, Pitt, UAlabama could come up with some very nice merit money for you. Do some shopping around.</p>
<p>My son was accepted with a full tuition award at a local school, and at the time he put his nose up to it. NOw nearly3 years later, he sees a lot of peers who took who are doing very well, and have enjoyed the experience. Though it is very nice he was able to go away for college, it is not the be all to end all. His list included some reach schools that were just too expensive when it came down to to choosing, all the way down to free when in came to prices. With a lot in between. It’s nice to weigh those choices. You are have two extremes down as choices. Get some variety in your list.</p>
<p>4.0/5.05 is unweighted/ weighted
Thank you all for your input. I’m going to find a better safety school than UNR (which it sounds like it won’t be too hard to do, hopefully) and keep researching other schools with a much more positive outlook/open mind. I guess I found this one school that I decided would be absolutely perfect and I got tunnel vision. There is still probably a chance that it could work out with Pomona, but I definitely need to make sure I have other, less risky options ready too!</p>
<p>You’re wise to find other large scholarship schools. The fact that your parents are pushing UNR & its big merit suggests that they’re concerned that they can’t afford what a Pomona-like school would expect them to pay. They may be preparing for retirement or have other concerns.</p>
<p>There are plenty of much better U’s where you can get a free education than UNR.
With your stats, GPA, accomplishments and extensive EC’s, you should apply no later than Dec 1[ their scholarship deadline] to USC, as they offer 150 Full Tuition scholarships to exceptional students who show a strong interest in going there.
Getting one of those scholarships is competitive, but its worth a try. </p>
<p>I want to strongly second the cpthouse post. Pomona is not the only school where you would be happy. Is it an amazing school? Yes. Does it have a below 20% acceptance rate? Yes. Please, please with your scores and GPA give yourself more options.</p>
<p>If you are female the women’s colleges would be wonderful options. Scripps, Smith, etc.</p>
<p>Try to figure out what it is about Pomona that you love, then look for other schools that can approximate these criteria. And definitely run the net price calcs at each one.</p>
<p>The automatic scholarship link is very helpful. But with your scores you might also look at top schools which are generous with financial aid. These schools tend to be need-based. Your EFC is high so the net price calcs will give you an idea what to expect.</p>
<p>If you can figure out what you like so much about Pomona, and can find an honors program somewhere, that is another option.</p>
