great schools that aren't ivies?

HauckT
Sat, 08 Jul 2006 02:51:02 +0000

LOL i remember those days of thinking that taking out a big loan “wasn’t a big deal” as i was looking to attend an out of state public school. It’ll hit you when you get that financial aid package back and realize you’re looking at 20-30,000 a year in loans. You REALLY have to think about that: it means that you’re prolly gonna owe at least 80,000 dollars when you graduate. You’re not even gauranteed to find a JOB when you graduate so why would you want to leave school owing that much money. My advice, apply to a lot of different places (you should be eligable for some application fee waivers if you’re poor enough) and see what kind of aid you can come out with. I had a higher ACT than you (34) but lower grades (3.6 weighted at the time of applications). I, to my surprise, qualified for MERIT aid at a number of the schools I had applied to making them much more affordable. Case Western is one example- they offered me over 20,000 a year in merit aid alone. I was also given a hefty scholarship to the University of South Carolina AND at South Carolina if they give you a scholarship you are also given in-state rates making it SUPER affordable. I ended up chosing the University of Michigan as I was in-state and they provided me with sufficient aid and it was my DREAM school. I’d say you’re an accademic and social fit for michigan which is in a lively college town with a decent gay community and an accepting student body. Michigan, however, is notoriously stingy with aid for out of staters. GOOD LUCK WITH THE PROCESS!