Help with college list

MAB222
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 11:29:22 +0000

JJ:

“Southern” PA covers a lot of territory - it would be more helpful if you said eastern or western part of the state.

Some observations:

1. W& M, Georgetown and Rice are not reasonable options with you current SAT, unless you have a hook you haven’t mentioned. Applications to these schools would not be worth your time or money. Richmond would be possible but not guaranteed. Don’t know much about W & L.

2. You would not be a contender for the largest full-ride award at Villanova and there is not much merit aid there. They do give most students a small tuition discount in the form of a few thousand dollar “scholarship”. Your parents would need to pay close to $60,000/year unless you were eligible for financial aid. That said, it’s a great school with a great reputation in the area and would fulfill your parent’s Catholic requirement.

3. I might have missed it, but what are your interests?

4. Don’t compare yourself to your brother or the #1 student in your class. Admission is % more difficult for women. The #1 in your class is not going to “go Ivy” - she may have a compelling application but she will face the same almost insurmountable odds that all the other applicants face unless she has a hook.

5. It’s great that you’re investigating and planning a reasonable college list now. You might want to reconsider your idea that you need to go to a “selective” college because you worked so hard in HS. Aim for schools that are a good fit. If merit awards are what you’ll need , then look for fit in schools lower on your list. That’s how merit aid works, it’s a “lure” for students who could go to a more selective college.

6. Other places to consider : Pitt - if you raised your SAT math score you might meet the criteria for one of their partial tuition scholarships. Lehigh/Lafayette - two great schools in the eastern part of the state. Bucknell - more likely if SAT math goes up. St. Joe’s - lower prestige than it’s neighbor Villanova but does give a large amount of merit money to higher stats kids and you’re right in their demographic. Scranton - as another poster mentioned. If considering a big city, look at American. In the past they’ve given decent merit awards, but that may have changed over the past few years.

Good luck, you will find that the CC community will help you with all aspects of the college search. Keep asking.