Help creating a college list [4.0 GPA in IBDP, top 5%, 1520 SAT superscore, <$50k; undecided possibly psychology, neuroscience, public health]

Applying to College
1

Our family could really use some help with creating a college list for our D25. Here are the stats:

  • GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.563 W
  • Class Rank: ~15/350
  • IBDP
  • SAT: 1520 super score: 790 RW / 730 M
  • ECs: 4 years varsity soccer, 4 years other school sports in different seasons, but not at varsity level; NHS president, 4 years choir (incl leadership), 2 years theater, founded and directs an a cappella group, ambassador for exchange program to Mexico, 3 years volunteering for local hospital, serves on city’s youth advisory board, school’s athletic leadership council, has a part time job

Here is D25’s somewhat vague criteria, hence the ask:

  • East coast, from GA to ME; would also consider upper midwest states such as WI, MN, MI, OH
  • Academic culture: students who genuinely care about learning and enjoy “social studying” in addition to parties, outings, etc.
  • Doesn’t think she will want Greek life and therefore has concerns about attending a school at which it is dominant
  • Aesthetic is very important: old buildings, trees, above average food, dorms, “cozy vibe”
  • Major preferences (though truly undecided): Psychology or Neuroscience or Public Health
  • Student population under 20k
  • Charming surrounding area: I think this is negotiable. She would like to be able to access a city (within ~2 hours) and is not wholly opposed to a college / university in a city, as long as the campus is unified, charming.

Colleges we’ve visited and she’s liked:

  • Dartmouth
  • Emory
  • Smith (LOVED it, but insists that she will not go to a women’s college)
  • American University
  • William & Mary
  • University of Richmond

Cost needs to be under $50k. She will always have one sibling in college concurrently and will have one year with two siblings in college, so she may qualify for some financial aid in addition to merit aid.

We live in a mountain state so traveling to explore more east coast colleges is not feasible, due to both expense and time. We would really love to get some recommendations for safety schools (maybe target too) that match her criteria. Thank you!

2

Have you used the NPC for the colleges she likes?

I think she might get merit aid to the University of Delaware, and the campus is very pretty.

5 Likes
3

What is your home state ? Please be specific.

Unless you have need and you need to run a NPC to determine so you’ve developed a list of schools you won’t be able to attend. Don’t expect a public to come through with need aid and Emory, while possible, isn’t likely. But if you like Emory check out Vandy and WUSTL - unlikely for aid but not impossible.

Mine looked at all these except Dartmouth because they offer no merit. AU under enrolled so maybe they are desperate. But it won’t get there.

SUNYs will - check Bing and Geneseo.

The huge overlap to AU is U of Denver which will make budget. Not in your geographic area.

Mine loved American but loved Charleston more - different vibe but you’d be close $$ wise. But she could apply to Honors and maybe get invited to be a Fellow with these stats. It’s an urban school but has a campus.

It’s always important to understand budget b4 traveling - I know you know now but for future visits.

I don’t think Rochester, Case, or Brandeis will get you there.

CNU is very regional but like a small W&M. Miami of Ohio is like a big W&M. Has Greek but no sorority houses. It’s in the dorms. It will make cost.

Good luck.

1 Like
4

My daughter with very similar stats/EC’s went to UD honors, beautiful campus, nice Main Street, new honors dorm with a/c, 2 hours to DC and NYC, 1 hour to Philadelphia, Amtrak station on campus. My daughter received $17,000 a year and graduated in 3 years (9 AP classes plus DE). She was an exercise science major and is currently in her 3rd year of DPT at BU. FAFSA changes no longer have a multiple student benefit (although we’ve had 1/2/3 is college for the last 10 years with no FA). Greek life is there but certainly not mandatory, my daughter and her 5 roommates were in different sororities, a couple not in any. Happy students.

5 Likes
5

We have done NPCs for some of them and they are all over the place. Dartmouth financial aid was double or triple other schools’, but it’s such a long shot. Emory showed 0 aid. We know that there won’t be aid to W&M since it’s public. Haven’t run it for AU or University of Richmond (I don’t that this is actually a top choice).

I would like to learn more about University of Delaware. I’ll dig into that. Thank you!

1 Like
6

I would like to learn more about University of Delaware. I’ll dig into that. Thank you!

7

University of Chicago

1 Like
8

Really? Re: COA? I hadn’t considered that one.

9

sticker price is in the low $90K but VERY generous with aid.

1 Like
10

It doesn’t qualify as “East Coast” but since you are in a mountain state, I would highly suggest considering & visiting Rice. It ticks all of your other boxes, and they are generous with FA.

4 Likes
11

Re: UChicago But unless you are willing to apply ED, the acceptance rate is below 2%.

1 Like
12

I honestly think the 2% acceptance rate for anything other than ED is exaggerated. My kid with no hooks did not apply ED (my first kid, could not commit to a theoretical COA). They took about half the class of 2028 in the EA/ED round with a 5% acceptance rate - they did not break down the EA/ED percentages.

In any case, I would say apply… one could get lucky. Like my kid did.

1 Like
13

(emphasis added)

It is not unheard of for need-based aid and merit aid to “stack,” but it is also very common that they will not. So, for example, if you attend a 90K/year college and get a 25K merit scholarship, but also you qualify for 15K in need-based aid, you might think that this would get you to 50K… but more often than not, it won’t. Because what that 15K really means is, “We have calculated that your family can pay 75K/year.” Since the 25K merit already gets your price point below the amount they deem you able to pay, the need-based aid won’t be dispensed.

Sometimes awards will “stack” but you can’t count on it; you have to ask.

I agree with the advice to consider public honors colleges that are likely to hit your price point, and privates that could make budget with merit alone.

Since you mentioned WI, I’d look at both Beloit and Lawrence, which can be quite generous with merit. Lawrence can be a great place for non-major musicians, more so than many other schools with conservatory-level music programs.

URochester seems like a fit both academically and socially, as well as being music-rich. Not sure that there’s a path to affordability, though - she’d get merit, but likely not enough.

Richmond may have the merit potential, and it’s good that she liked the campus, but it’s quite Greek-heavy.

Some of the SUNY’s may be worth a look - Binghamton, Geneseo, New Paltz.

Not sure how Dartmouth or Emory could be affordable, but if no-merit schools like these could work, I’d look at Vassar. Their Cognitive Science department was the first in the nation and could be a good fit for psych+neuroscience interests, plus performing arts are excellent and NYC is only a little over 2 hrs away.

5 Likes
14

Maybe. But OP asked for more safety and target schools. UChicago is a high reach.

5 Likes
15

Other schools that are on our radar are:

  • Elon University
  • Clark University
  • Lehigh
  • Lafayette
  • Denison
  • Macalester
  • St. Olaf
  • Bates
  • Colby
  • Colgate

I know that half of those are long shots financially, but if anyone has first hand experience with any of these schools, and with financial or merit aid offers, I would be grateful to hear about them. I’ve visited St. Olaf with another kid, but otherwise we have not seen any of them.

1 Like
16

ah I missed that part (target/safety).

2 Likes
17

I think that there are lots and lots of colleges and universities that would fit your criteria. Picking a handful to apply to might be a tough job, and limiting it to one to attend might be even tougher.

Wellesley College comes to mind. It is of course a woman’s college and a reach, but students can take classes at MIT and Harvard. It will only fit the budget if you qualify for significant need based aid. I am pretty sure that Wellesley does not have merit nor athletic scholarships. I would expect the same budget issue to be true for Dartmouth College (and top east coast LACs such as Amherst and Bowdoin and Williams Colleges)

UVM also comes to mind. It would only fit the budget with merit based aid, but given your daughters stats both admissions and sufficient merit aid might be close to a safety. For us the NPC did predict merit aid, and was spot on.

I agree with looking at the SUNY’s.

Some smaller universities in eastern Canada would fit the criteria, except for being either slightly further north or slightly further east. Given your daughter’s excellent stats they would be safeties for admissions and would almost certainly fit the budget. However, the smaller universities in Canada although very good are almost completely unknown in the US, and the larger schools in Canada are in most cases over the size limitation.

2 Likes
18

My S24 had similar preferences regarding the aesthetic and social vibe of the colleges he was drawn to. He ended up at UChicago but also considered UMich, UW Madison, Boston College, Claremont McKenna among others. UChicago’s campus is stunning and has that Ivy League Gothic aesthetic. My son’s dorm (he has a 4-person suite with a private bathroom) is spacious yet cozy and located adjacent to the library and just a couple minutes from a huge gym, the main quad and dining halls. Within his first week on campus, he found study groups, intramural sports groups, and also discovered a vibrant party scene. There is Greek life but it doesn’t dominate. Boston College is another medium-sized school that has a friendly social vibe, beautiful campus. Not much of an adjacent town, although Boston is not far from the BC campus. No Greek life at BC. If your daughter is open to the West Coast, Claremont McKenna and Pomona have gorgeous campuses with one of the most charming adjacent towns we saw on our college tours across the US. The five-school consortium makes these small LACs feel larger and the dorms we saw were quite nice. The students at CMC seemed to be happy and active, sociable yet studious. UMich and UW Madison meet a lot of your daughter’s criteria but they definitely have big Greek life and are larger student bodies than she may be seeking. But those schools may nevertheless be target schools to consider. Georgetown has the right size, social vibe, no real Greek life, and has an amazing neighborhood adjacent to the college but the dorms and dining halls are not good. In fact, the dorms were a huge turnoff for our son. And Georgetown is not big on offering merit.

1 Like
19

Clark- just the nicest kids around. Can’t speak to the financial angle, but Worcester (while up and coming right now) is neither a classic college town nor a “happening” city although I think it has a lot to offer a college kid. But the combination of very committed professors and kind and not cliquey kids might be right up her alley.

2 Likes
20

I’d definitely second the suggestions to check out Delaware and Vassar (have to check the NPC on Vassar, but it seems so on point!). Same with Miami (Ohio), which has nice GPA-based merit.

St Olaf is a forum favorite for good reasons, also seems like a very strong fit in this particular case. I don’t want to guarantee anything, but with her numbers I think it is certainly a reasonable hope they would get under budget.

Another college I think well worth checking out would be Kalamazoo. Classic-style campus, strong academically in relevant areas with a very cool curriculum structure called the K Plan, and is in a fun small city of the same name (which is a sort of mini life sciences hub), and also right in between Chicago and Detroit. Again, I think a realistic shot of getting on budget with merit.

3 Likes