I’ve come up with a list of 8 schools and just want to see if there are schools that don’t fit, or schools that I am overlooking that I should be adding. Money isn’t a large issue, but my parents are hoping to pay ~30K or less per year, I’ll also be retaking my SAT in October to improve my chance at scholarships. I’m likely pre-law.
School Criteria:
Mid Sized (~5K-10K)
Not Extremely Frat Dominated
Intellectual Focus
Decent School Spirit
Southeast/DMV (flexible)
Moderate to Liberal
Stats:
GPA: (4.0 UW / 99 Avg)
Rank: 3/310
SAT1: 2160 (700-690-770, 11 Essay)
SAT2: Just took, waiting on scores. Anticipating mid-low 700s on Lit and US
Course Rigor: Will graduate with 8 honors classes & 7 APs.
Hooks: Black Male
EC’s:
Debate Team Captain (10th-12th grade)
Academic Team Captain (9th-12th grade)
Beta Club VP (10th-12th grade)
National Honor Society (11-12)
International Festival (11-12)
Senate Campaign Volunteer
HS Science Olympiad (10th-12), MS Science Olympiad Captain (9th)
Volunteer Tutor (11th-12)
Yearbook (12th)
etc.
I have some decent state-level awards, but nothing shocking
Schools:
Ga. Tech (ECON - in state)
Emory
William & Mary
Howard
American
GWU
Tulane
Wake Forest
I know none of these schools perfectly fit the standards, but if anything is extremely uncharacteristic I’d like some input. I’d also like to know if I’m definitely overlooking certain schools.
It seems like money is an issue. Take American for example. Tuition, room&aboard, fees plus some likely incidentals translates to 62,000+. That’s quite a bit more than 30,000. Do you qualify for financial aid and if so how much?
You may need to consider need blind colleges. Two such (high reach) are Georgetwon and Vanderbilt. Your stats are in range. Emory, already on your list, is need blind.
Out of State publics, such as William and Mary, are very expensive and generally not need blind.
@fogcity No money isn’t a major issue. My parents are fine with paying, they’d just be able to afford 30K without adjustments. My dad works independently, and usually chooses not to work most of the year. No scholarships would just make him have to work year round.
Yeah that’s something I was thinking about. I was also thinking about fogcity’s W&M comment. Their merit aid is extremely limited. Is there a school you would recommend?
I’m looking into Miami and Richmond at the moment.
You want to go to law school…you need a real major. Pre-law is not really a major. English or a science or economics are all good. If your CR +M go up to 1400 plus you will be in better shape for merit money. If SAT goes up a bit more, maybe add a top tier school that is generous with financial aid to upper income families (but this just depends on your family’s income). I sense that your parents’ EFC is in excess of $30k but they are comfortable with paying $30k and you won’t qualify for financial aid at most schools. Try the ACT.
Consider Duke, WashU, Vandy and Rice if your SAT goes up enough to be competitive for their limited merit scholarships. Theses schools are very pricey without a merit award. You just might get accepted with your current stats. Your GPA is excellent.
GTech
Emory
William & Mary- expensive
Howard-apply early and you can receive major merit money (money runs out). Look at the website!
American-will end up more than $30k probably
GWU-will end up more than $30k probably
Tulane- Run the NPC. NPC estimates merit aid. Look at difference between 1390 and 1400 CR +M
Wake
@txstella I probably will end up as an econ major at most of my projected schools. My parents are getting around ~30K on the NPCs that they’ve done, but the way my dad works is not conventional so we aren’t sure how accurate it is.
I’m planning to take the October SAT so hopefully I get improvement, would you recommend taking the September ACT too? Everything I’ve taken so far has been on one attempt.
@cbrand Yeah, I think you were the person I talked to a few month ago about diversity at Wake. My only concern is that I’m not sure if their scholarship is limited to National Circuit teams, but I may just email them.
Your current stats give you the (Capstone) full tuition + room scholarship at Howard if you apply early enough (first come first served): http://www.howard.edu/financialaid/grants_scholarships.htm#Freshman . If you get a 1400 SAT CR+M or 32 ACT, you would get the (Founders) full ride scholarship.
So that can be a safety, since either of the above scholarships will bring the net price down to far below $30,000 per year.
@ucbalumnus UGA probably wouldn’t be a bad choice but the size is a bit of a negative.
Im familiar with the Automatic Scholarship thread (which is how I came across Howard) and I’ve been pretty familiar with the one on competitive scholarships
@merc81 Yeah, I’m pretty interested in GTown but I left it off because I know they only do need based aid and it’s more of a pipe dream for us (so a very conditional choice)
As a general question, do you all think it’d be wise to take the ACT, and if I did better than my SAT (33+) would I still need to retake my SAT?
If you are interested in law school you’ll want to minimize the debt or money you spend on tuition. There are many schools, particularly in the south, that would give you merit scholarships for a student of your stats. You may want to check out the financial aid and scholarships forum. There they have a list of schools that give with half, full, and automatic scholarships that you may qualify for
After talking with parents this is the updated list. I think it has a good number of financial safeties, as well as academic matches/safeties with Emory/Duke as the higher-ups.
UGA (Zell Miller Scholar)
Emory
Duke
Howard (Capstone scholar)
Mercer
Tulane
Wake Forest