WI Resident
Latina
3.2 w. Will have 1, maybe 2 APs or advanced courses. She’s my solid average B student.
Test Optional (21 ACT)
ECs:
Year round Dance (hs team and competition all star studio that have both won many awards). Youth dance coach. Works food service job. Has experience with living on a farm/caring for animals.
Major:
Initially wanted Criminal Justice and to be a cop but realistically, she just wants to help people. She is opening more to doing something like Human Development and Family Services majors, maybe social work. May have interest in working with youth in the foster care system, being a guidance counselor, or paralegal type jobs. I could see her as a Child Life Specialist too. She doesn’t mind gore but does not want a medical career. She would prefer to not do plain Psychology as a major. Added bonus if has culinary arts type classes.
Dance:
Would prefer a minor if possible. Although her team is highly ranked, she is not (she is realistic) so unsure if she would make a college team but she isn’t opposed to auditions. Her worst style of dance is hip hop (she’s seriously bad) but she is good at pom,jazz/lyrical, even kick.
Other wants:
Diversity matters to her. Her current high school is about 90% white so she isn’t sure what percentage to be aiming for as almost anywhere will be more diverse than what she is used to.
She prefers a campus that feels homey or smaller. ASU was way too huge for her. She didn’t think Syra cuse was the right fit or feel either. She did like LeMoyne and Jacksonville U in Florida.
Nice mix of more modern looking and older buildings.
Prefers non communal bathrooms and good food dining options.
Cost: Tuition Exchange schools, MSEP schools, or potential for under 30k/yr total COA.
On her list now:
Wayne State U (MI)
Iowa State
U of Louisiana Lafayette
U of Southern Mississippi
Lindenwood
Maryville U (MO)
Stockton
Rider
Western Carolina
Southeast Missouri (SEMO)
Shenandoah
Creighton
LeMoyne
Adelphi
U of Nebraska-Omaha
Minnesota State-Mankato
Wayne State College (NE)
University of North Texas
Anywhere else to add? I feel like we haven’t found the perfect fit yet. We have plans for visits in summer and fall to some.
So this is a tough one - because I don’t know who is on the list for Tuition Exchange.
Some schools you list may not be overly diverse allthough moreso than where she goes.
Your geographies are all over - but K State would be a likely but may not have enough merit.
I’ve heard great things about criminal science at Ga Southern and FAU. I’m sure they have related fields as well.
I believe Southern Illiniois and Central Michigan have no out of state tuition. How about Marshall - it’d come in about $30K b4 merit (a bit higher) Troy in Alabama? Kent State?
York College is one of the more inexpensive privates.
Community college?
Sorry I can’t be of more help - but perhaps a name or two might strike in a positive manner to research.
For those who are looking for the TE schools, follow the link (i.e. ignore that it says “Meet the Staff”)
These were some TE schools that I mentioned previously.
St. Mary’s? It’s in San Antonio and it has a sizable population of minority students (60% Hispanic). It has about 2k undergrads and from Google Maps it looks to be a fairly self-contained campus. (It is also bordered by Fordham Ave, and 1 block beyond that is Marquette Dr. ). It also looks like there are options to study either criminal justice or criminology, and has other options which seem as though they could suit your D. Under clubs it mentions a Code Blue Dance Team as well as a K-Pop dance club. And it does full tuition TE awards…to 91-100% of its students, leaving about $12k/year for room & board.
Fairleigh Dickinson - Florham Campus (NJ): About 2100 undergrads at this campus (94% full-time, 52% white, 25% Hispanic). It offers a lot of the fields your D is interested in, including a minor in dance. 61-90% of TE applicants receive the award, which is full tuition, leaving room and board costs of a bit over $16k.
Lycoming (PA ): Aboug 1100 undergrads and offers a lot of the fields your D is interested in. Their Pom & Dance club sport offers a pom squad, a dance squad, and a step squad (source). It’s 61% white with 14% Hispanic. 61-90% of TE appicants receive the award, which is full tuition, leaving R&B costs of $15k/year.
Marymount (VA): About 2300 undergrads attend this school outside of D.C. There is a dance team listed on the club sports page and it offers a variety of majors that may interest your D. 28% of students are white, with 34% Hispanic. 61-90% of TE applicants receive TE which is a full tuition award, leaving R&B costs of a little over $16k/year.
Schools in the Philly area I suggested as possibilities previously:
DeSales: About 2200 undergrads, 6% black, 15% Hispanic. It offers a fairly popular dance major and its criminal justice major makes several mentions of forensics. It’s a Catholic college and you can read more about its mission and vision.
Eastern U: About 2k undergrads, 28% black, 15% Hispanic. It offers both a BA in dance (and a minor) as well as major in criminal justice. It also offer a major in social work, which I think was another field you indicated that might be a possibility for your D. It appears to have strong religious ties, which you’d want to make sure your family was comfortable with.
Rowan: I think your D has been aiming for small to medium schools, but if she’s interested in going a bit bigger, Rowan has about 14k undergrads, 11% black, 14% Hispanic. Several people on CC have reported about how happy their kids have been at Rowan. Has a dance major and its human services major might be of interest, which also contains a concentration in criminal justice. The university’s homepage says that its average class size is 20.
Texas Woman’s: About 10k undergrads at this school (12% male). It has a dance major and minor as well as a Child Development major with an emphasis on Child Life, a Family Studies major, and offers culinary possibilities, too. Enrollment is 33% white, 34% Hispanic, 17% black, 9% Asian, so quite diverse. Sticker price is right around $30k. Easy to visit with UNT as they’re both in Denton.
U. of North Carolina - Greensboro: It has a well-reputed Human Development & Family Studies major as well as numerous dance opportunities (BA & BFA, and I suspect a minor as well). There are about 14k undergrads here with 40% white, 29% black, and 15% Hispanic. Sticker is around $34k, so over budget, but perhaps they would offer something to attract a student from Wisconsin?
I’ll continue to dig and will spitball some more later.
I feel like this student should have some of the smaller University of Wisconsin campuses as possible safer and affordable options. University of Wisconsin Stevens Point comes to mind. Has dance team options and vibrant music and theater community. Maybe Milwaukee campus, that campus has more diversity.
U. of New Mexico: About 16k undergrads and she would qualify for in-state tuition, bringing costs to about $20k/year (source). 50% Hispanic and 29% white. It offers dance (including a minor) and a major in Family & Child Studies.
Has she considered Kansas State which is part of MSEP and seems to offer a lot of the majors under consideration? ETA: And yes, you have added K-State!
If she’s open to a women’s school she should check out Agnes Scott in Atlanta. Might be a reach for her but it is super diverse. I think it’s about 40% white.
Hollins University in Roanoke VA is another women’s school to consider. It’s got a good dance program.
Both of those are private schools but the kind of private schools that give a lot of money. Should easily come in about $30k or less.
UNC-Greensboro is an interesting suggestion. I like it but it will be about 95% North Carolinians. Otherwise pretty diverse. OOS tuition won’t be super cheap. WCU will be cheaper but in a small mountain town and the surrounding area is not diverse.
I think Montclair State is supposed to have a good dance program. Don’t know much else about it.
LOL I mean that’s fine. aT 16 and 17 year old, my kids had a lot of preconcieved notions and thoughts about where they’d be attending. Neither attended a school they first imagined because we let the process play out, kept an open mind, and waited to see where the money would land. As a parent, I would require pragmatic thought and one of those on the list just in case. And we’d go visit too.
I do think there is a difference depending on how this family’s finances play here. If they can get some NPC at maybe some rural LACs without sky high average stats that value diversity in the right spot, those might be good options. But for straight merit for a lower stat student, it can be hard to get to a 20K price point at many schools. Unless you can maybe find a school generous to auditioned dancers.
I think she would be an automatic admit at EITHER KState or KU. Generally, all that is required for an auto-admit for those two is a 3.25 GPA OR a 21 on the ACT. Cost of attendance may be a factor, but admission would be assured.
Unfortunately, it seems like many parents (me included) face the - I refuse to go to college in state - even though states are big and colleges varied.
Fortunately, the student will have options.
It does seem that OP has cultivated and unique and affordable list - many schools we don’t normally hear about.
One side note - If they decide they want to go into social work, make sure the college offers the required classes towards certification in that field for various states. I have had a few former students “surprised” they are not qualified for DSS caseworkers openings or other openings with sociology degrees their colleges offered.
They may also be interested in being a school counselor or school social worker.
That doesn’t always take “wealth”, and can often be achieved by careful and thorough planning.
I might be mistaken, but I think this family has a tight budget and may even qualify for need-based aid at some schools. And with previous children the non-custodial parent was non-committal about helping with college.
Like our family, this one also has access to the tuition exchange parent employer benefit. We also had a very tight budget, and our kid was excited to leave our state (though willing to stay). He was able to get great merit scholarships with careful planning – only some of the packages included tuition exchange awards.
I have great respect for our instate schools. In fact between her dad and I we have earned 3 degrees from WI schools (plus 1 additional degree in Illinois and another in Massachusetts).
She is not likely to get into the state flagship of Madison due to grades. While we have many other fine state schools, she wants a more diverse population as most of them have around 90% white students. I respect her wishes.
Our state schools would cost us around $17-25k/year total COA with minimal scholarship opportunities due to gpa and ACT score. We found with S23 that out of state schools can often come in around the same price or cheaper. Some colleges are looking for a Latina from the midwest.
I work at a college. I have had my salary frozen for 3 years and now just given a 2% raise. I am divorced and her fathers financial assistance can vary. Not wealthy here by any means. Just trying my best to offer my children as much as I can.
Not sure if you are also looking for suggestions on majors; based on her interests and a google search, how about Dance Therapy? Masters degree is ultimately required; Some of the schools on your list have programs that can lead to it. See this link from the ADTA if she may be interested: https://adta.memberclicks.net/undergraduate-preparation
). It also looks like there are options to study either criminal justice or criminology, and has other options which seem as though they could suit your D. Under clubs it mentions a Code Blue Dance Team as well as a K-Pop dance club. And it does full tuition TE awards…to 91-100% of its students, leaving about $12k/year for room & board.