Indiana Female Resident interested in Psychology, Health, Environment, afford Options, 4.12 gpa [3.7 unweighted], many AP classes,

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hello, looking for recommended colleges for my daughter and thoughts on the few listed at bottom of post. She is bright and has strengths in ELA especially. Strong in extra-curricular, AP classes, top 10% of class. Wide range of interests, clubs, orgs, leadership.

Demographics: Indiana Res, Good public HS, female

  • Intended Major(s): Psychology, Nursing, Environment, undecided

  • UW GPA-3.7; Weighted-4.12, Rank-top 10%, and SAT-1240 but doing test optional most

  • Coursework many AP dual credit courses, like 10. 3,4,5s on AP Tests (one 2)

  • Awards- elected leader position of large group at HS; Psych and Med internships; National Recognition for Outstanding Academic Achievement; Academic Honors, Scholar Athlete, AP Scholar with Distinction, Scholarship for Summer Science program, Debate Team State Qualifier, DECA Team State Qualifier, Girl Scouts of America Award, Gold Award music at ISSMA

  • Extracurriculars (Licensed Certified Nursing Assistant, part time job, many volunteer, about 4 leadership roles for school orgs, including mentoring, sports, HOSA, newspaper, many.

  • Essays/LORs/Other- good/strong.

  • Cost Constraints / Budget: COA w aid 30K max, hope for 20k

  • Schools including IUB, Notre Dame, University of Boston, Vanderbilt, UW-Madison, others?

  • Parent AGI under 150K

Thank you for your input!

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The first thing I would do is use the NPCs for the schools you listed, to see if they are affordable. It is important to see if the schools will provide the aid you need to get to your price point.

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Seconding @twogirls - on privates and OOS you need to run the NPC.

Obviously, IU works - it’s $26K for tuition, room and board. And the student will get in.

BU (not U of B), Notre Dame, and Vandy - you need to run the net price calculator.

Wisconsin won’t come close budget wise - it will be near 2x your budget - lose it.

So if she might want nursing, you need to find a school that offers it. Nursing comes both in direct admit and not direct admit (hoops to jump through once there).

But getting back to price point - you have other in-state such as Purdue, Ball State, etc.

As for OOS, schools like WVU - you need a 3.6 and 1200 SAT for nursing, direct admit - and while the price is $46K, but the student will get $17K merit.

U Kansas - with the unweighted, would be about $31K. If they use the weighted GPA, would be below $31K so you might email and ask them if they use weighted or unweighted.

U of Alabama - the SAT is too low but some TO students have gotten the merit requiring an SAT - so it’d be worth an app. It could go down to lower 20s.

Central Michigan is under $30K full price and has merit. W Carolina too. Both will be closer to $20K than $30K.

You might also check the midwest exchange - add to Kansas a school like Nebraska.

The only sure acceptance on your initial list is IU - BU, Vandy, Notre Dame are highly unlikely, especially as a TO.

All the schools listed may come in at cost (you’d have to check if any interest you). Good luck.

Institutions | Midwest Student Exchange Program

Bismarck State College North Dakota Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate Public View Details
Dickinson State University North Dakota Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
Emporia State University Kansas Baccalaureate, Certificate, Doctorate, Master’s Public View Details
Fort Hays State University Kansas Baccalaureate Public View Details
Harris-Stowe State University Missouri Baccalaureate, Certificate Public View Details
Mayville State University North Dakota Associate, Baccalaureate Public View Details
Metropolitan Community College Missouri Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate Public View Details
Minnesota State University - Mankato Minnesota Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate, Doctorate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
Minot State University North Dakota Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
Missouri Southern State University Missouri Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s Public View Details
Missouri State University Missouri Baccalaureate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
Missouri Western State University Missouri Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s Public View Details
North Dakota State University North Dakota Baccalaureate, Certificate, Doctorate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
Northwest Missouri State University Missouri Baccalaureate, Master’s Public View Details
Shawnee State University Ohio Associate, Baccalaureate Public View Details
St. Cloud State University Minnesota Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
Truman State University Missouri Baccalaureate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Akron Ohio Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate, Doctorate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
University of Central Missouri Missouri Baccalaureate Public View Details
University of Kansas Kansas Baccalaureate Public View Details
University of Missouri - Kansas City Missouri Baccalaureate, Doctorate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
University of Missouri - Saint Louis Missouri Baccalaureate, Doctorate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
University of Nebraska at Kearney Nebraska Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Nebraska at Lincoln Nebraska Associate, Baccalaureate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Nebraska at Omaha Nebraska Baccalaureate, Doctorate, Master’s Public View Details
University of North Dakota North Dakota Baccalaureate, Certificate, Doctorate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Wisconsin Baccalaureate, Doctorate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Wisconsin Baccalaureate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Wisconsin - River Falls Wisconsin Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Wisconsin - Rock County Wisconsin Associate, Baccalaureate Public View Details
University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Wisconsin Baccalaureate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Wisconsin - Stout Wisconsin Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Wisconsin - Superior Wisconsin Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Wisconsin Baccalaureate Public View Details
University of Wisconsin Green Bay Wisconsin Baccalaureate, Master’s Public View Details
University of Wisconsin Green Bay - Manitowoc Campus Wisconsin Baccalaureate Public View Details
University of Wisconsin Green Bay - Sheboygan Campus Wisconsin Baccalaureate Public View Details
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Fox Cities Campus Wisconsin Associate, Baccalaureate Public View Details
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Wausau Wisconsin Associate, Baccalaureate, Certificate Public View Details
Valley City State University North Dakota Baccalaureate, Certificate, Master’s Public View Details
Wayne State College Nebraska Baccalaureate, Master’s, Post-Degree Certificate Public View Details
Wichita State University Kansas Baccalaureate, Doctorate, Master’s Public View Details
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Thank you so much for your input! Would you recommend she submit her SAT score to BU, Vandy, and ND?

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Nvm, I found the answer.

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Frankly I think Vandy, BU and ND are reaches. SAT 1200 would not be enough for any of the above.

You can try Rhodes TO. She may get some merit. Rhodes has excellent Environmental, and Psychology. She can do some Health too.

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Thank you!

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I would remove UW Madison due to costs. The other 3 schools are reaches- apply if you want and if the NPCs look ok, but be realistic with your expectations.

I would look at the list provided above.

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If she doesn’t mind snow and cold, and loves outdoor activities, Northern Michigan is in an absolutely stunning area. 34K before merit. Either $6,600 (UW) or $9,600(W) in auto merit (I believe they use weighted), plus possible additional merit or aid. They have both indirect and direct admit, but with her GPA, CNA, and APs, she should have no problem getting into the direct admit program. They are within a mile of a regional medical center for clinicals.

What I’m hearing, whoever, is that she is not sure if she does want to go into nursing. If that’s the case, starting at a large state school with nuring and being able to have a wide variety of other majors to transfer to seems to be the best option. You might want to add UMN (Twin Cities) to your list. Chances are it will be above budget, but you never know. It’s a great nursing program, but they also have several majors, such as Biology, Society, and the Environment, that combine her multiple interests.

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delete - let us know if you still need an answer on the SAT score but I think that’s what you were addressing.

Don’t forget, if the student does a major like public health, even psych, there will potentially, even likely, be more school after.

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Run the npc but @momsearcheng can it get $30K or less on merit alone? OP notes an adjusted gross income of $150K-ish.

Really, OP, you will need to run NPCs. At $150K, the tippy top schools - Rice, Wash U, Vandy, etc. might come in but the student likely isn’t there academically.

What is her highest level of math and science in HS?

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She took Pre-Calc, Trig and AP Stats. For science, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Advanced Bio, and Honors Physics.

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You may want to have her check out U. of Dayton, Xavier U. (OH), and Marquette (WI). I’ve often heard that U. of Dayton is a common sub for students who don’t get in (or can’t afford) Notre Dame. Marquette has a lot of basketball enthusiasm and is an urban school. Xavier in Cincinnati might be another option to consider. The three are generally quite generous with merit aid, and you can ask them how they treat merit aid and need-based aid (few schools will stack, but some may stack some or will substitute merit aid for loan-portions of the aid).

Some of the MSEP schools would also work nicely, like U. of Nebraska-Lincoln, U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UW-Stevens Point, U. of Kansas, U. of North Dakota, and North Dakota State.

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Her rigor in math is likely too low too for the top schools (in addition to the GPA and test score).

Your biggest issue is budget though - when you have a budget, you don’t build for big names but rather for budget.

So IU is good - if she loves it you can stop there. Or if she wants nursing, you might find a direct admit. And I think IU nursing might be in Indy.

But for OOS public, she’ll need schools like Ms State, Central Michigan, Louisville, Tennessee Tech, W Carolina…but WVU and KU should likely work and probably many of the schools on the MIdwest Exchange list. If she wants nursing, Marshall would be a great choice and it’s direct admit.

For privates - whether Notre Dame, Vandy, Rhodes, Carlow (for nursing), Case Western, Dayton, Marquette, Xavier- wherever - you’ll need to fil lout their NPCs. I put one below.

Each takes 10-15 minutes but it’s worth it for you to see who else might be out there.

The beauty here is - nurses do well from wherever - we need nurses, right? So it doesn’t matter if it’s Pitt or Ball State.

Public Health or Psych - both likely more school - or is she thinking something in health, like radiation therapist?

If that were the case, it introduces different schools.

But budget first and foremost so run the NPC. I added Butler as a second - they get aggressive financially but will have a different need tolerance than Vandy. At $150K, I suspect they will give you merit, but not need aid.

Given the majors, I’d be less concerned with the school name…but that’s me. But yes, budget is criteria A, B, and C, especially with a limited one like yours. C MIchigan might actually be the best school from a cost POV - I know a plug was made for NMU earlier.

CMU has no OOS tuition - so today it’s $28.2K the first two years and $29.9 the last two years - direct costs (they put $450 health in there you might be able to waive with your own insurance).

She would get either $6K or $7500 depending on if they are using a weighted or unweighted GPA - you would use her SAT - but that gets you close to $20K.

MS State is about $42K for tuition room and board - but if they take your 4.1 as is, she’d get 19K off. If her SAT got to 1390 or an ACT (you can try) at 31, that gets you $24K off and you are under $20K.

This is sort of the stuff you have to play around with at publics.

Good luck

Survey - Clear Cost

Butler University | Meadow Net Price Calculator

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Southern Illinois Carbondale may be a good one to look at. They don’t charge more for OOS tuition and the tuition rate is locked for all four years of undergraduate study.

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Rhodes is pretty good to match FA to expected family contributions of FAFSA.

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Family makes $150k. Guessing EFC will be more than budget. But we’ll find out after the parent does FAFSA.

This seems to be a possible major but sounds like more schooling after graduation.

Another LAC that could work is Hendrix but not sure OP has interest in an LAC and neither has nursing. Hendrix will match IU tuition.

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If I am not mistaken, this one is Master’s program.

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Undergrad but more a health public policy.

If a student wants health/nursing, an LAC likely not the best choice.

Psych and/or German if offered, very good if the OP’s student has interest in a small school.

Guessing not based on the original list.

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Murray State University (KY) - $23k tuition, room and board regional tuition rate for IN residents - the GPA with no test will qualify for $5k in merit award. New nursing/health sciences facility will open in 2026.

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