Finding some last minute safeties for someone who loves Yale

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hiya,</p>

<p>I’m posting on behalf of a good friend of mine who’s afraid of this website because of its tendency to shatter people’s confidence.</p>

<p>She applied REA to Yale and was deferred. Unfortunately, her only real safety is University of Maryland College Park which she doesn’t like at all. She is finally beginning to look beyond Yale (better late than never…) and I want to help her find some safeties/likelies that she would like before the Jan 1st deadline passes.</p>

<p>In her words, she likes Yale because of the:</p>

<p>sense of community, feeling like all the students seemed happy and were friendly, stress levels seemed manageable because people loved what they were doing (both times I visited), SO MANY MUSICIANS, people were busy always doing things they love, RESIDENTIAL COLLEGES, shopping period, distributional requirements, piano every you go, accapella big, beautiful campus+architecture, good food, good econ, cogsci, 100% FINANCIAL AID NEED MET (I NEED THIS MUST HAVE THIS)</p>

<p>Keep in mind that Maryland is extremely cheap for us as in state students, so places that would can match it with merit/financial aid are appreciated. </p>

<p>Here are her objective stats:</p>

<p>SAT: CR 690 M 770 W 790
WGPA: 4.74
GPA: 3.98
APs: APUSH, AP Chinese, AP Spanish Lang, AP NSL, AP Chem, AP BC Calc, AP English Lang - 5s, AP World - 4
SAT IIs: Chem 760, Chinese 790, Math II 800, US History 790</p>

<p>And here’s where she’s applying so far (all reaches, sadly):
Brown
Wash U
UPenn
Harvard
Cornell
Rice
UChicago</p>

<p>She would prefer to be on the east coast, and wants a real campus and a college-town feel. Not too much partying (she’s okay with some but doesn’t want it to overwhelm the school), and not too small - Yale sized, she says. She doesn’t want small and she doesn’t want overwhelmingly huge, but I think she might be persuaded to look past the lower limit for LACs if they fit everything else. </p>

<p>Does a college that fits her criteria exists? Any suggestions? I’m sorry this is so late. Really hoping it’s not too late.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>.She will be fine at UMCP, it is a good school. There aren’t any safety colleges like Yale. If she is serious about wanting a good education, there are tons of LACs that meet need and have a quality education. If she decides they aren’t perfect for her she can go to UMCP, no one is her to persuade anyone into things. Her loss. About 60 or more colleges meet need. But they don’t all define need the way the handful of ‘super aid’ colleges do. How will we know what will match her cost at UM without knowing her financials and running the NPC calculator like she can do. Don’t you guys have a Fisk Guide to flip through? Xref it with the ‘meets full need’ list. Or apply to BC. It is smaller, right?</p>

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<p>How much merit would she get at Maryland? Maryland isn’t “extremely cheap” unless you’re quite affluent. </p>

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<p>Maryland is 9.5k tuition + 15k other costs for about 24.5k total cost. She can afford her EFC (about 30k per year). Places like NYU that are stingy and expensive are obviously out of the picture.</p>

5

<p>Can she afford her everywhere EFC, or her Yale EFC? Extrapolating from our NPC results, $30k Yale EFC is pretty close to full pay at many meets full need schools. </p>

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<p>Might look at some LAC’s like Holy Cross-January 15th application date.</p>

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<p>I visited a number of LACs with my D a few years ago. I’d look into Franklin and Marshall in PA. They have a residential college program (although you may live in the house one or two years you retain your affiliation through your four years of college) and they have a strong music program, strong liberal arts, and an excellent science program. The school also has a nice campus and it is located in Lancaster, PA (Amish Country). Union College in upstate NY has a Manresa program – from what I remember people are affiliated with a house but not many people actually live there. Union is located in Schenectady, NY which may not be as appealing to your D but the campus was beautiful and the school is particularly good in the sciences. There are lots of other great LACs (ex. my D is a Lafayette College and absolutely loves it there) but none others that I know of have a residential college program. </p>

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<p>My thought is that Rice and Wash U might not be reaches. Stats are very good with a 2250 SAT and 3.98 GPA.</p>

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<p>Following the SO MANY MUSICIANS cue I’d suggest Smith. Other than size – though Smith seems larger because of the consortium – her other requirements are covered. </p>

10

<p>I don’t know a ton about the school, but if she already has the common app filled out she could easily add Colby to her list. Good small LAC, no application fee, and no supplementary essay. It’s worth a look :)</p>

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<p>Georgetown, Boston College, and Fordham come to mind. Good luck to your daughter.</p>

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<p>University of rochester. Beautiful campus. Top ranked sciences. Eastman school of music. We loved but didnt get quite enough financial aid. They do have merit and need though. Highly recommend she check it out and visit.</p>

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<p>I also second fordham. Gorgeous campus. Lots of music plus acces to nyc. They have an honors college which your fruend would be a candidate for. Believe theyre very generous for top students.</p>

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<p>Sticking with music…Vanderbilt may be an option (with it’s Blair School of Music) and town (Nashville). It does have a January 1’st deadline for EDII and RD.</p>

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<p>Northwestern </p>

16

<p>Among LACs, what about St. Mary’s College of Maryland, an in-state public LAC?</p>

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<p>^^yes, makes a lot of sense. I don’t know why you are getting so many suggestions for schools that aren’t safeties!</p>

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<p>I just cannot comprehend why cant you satisfied UMDCP with your financial requirement? All the above suggestions are just throw in more “financial reaches”. </p>

<p>I’d say Townsend State or UMBC will be the closest you can get for financial safety.</p>

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<p>Look at some financial safeties like University of Mary Washington in Virginia.</p>

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<p>of course there are low cost colleges that total COA is less than $30K</p>

<p><a href=“VERY LOW COST OOS COA universities......less than $25k COA for everything! - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>VERY LOW COST OOS COA universities......less than $25k COA for everything! - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

<p>And college is what you can make out of it. Get over with the prestige factor. If you are val. in either of those colleges you can excel in the graduate school or in the society.</p>