<p>Currently, I am going into my senior year of high school and right in the midst of the whole college process.</p>
<p>SAT: 1790 (1st time without any study and 3 hours of sleep, can easily be pushed up 200+)
ACT: N/A
Class Rank: 11 out 313
Ethnicity: Hispanic (don’t know if this helps)
Financial Situation: Let’s just say I should get a kicka** financial aid package</p>
<p>I also play baseball, but probably not well enough to play at any university I am interested in. I plan on majoring in either business administration or international business and minoring in econ/international econ. There’s also the chance that I may double major. I go to a public high school that has an honors program and AP classes and have taken the highest level courses I was able to. My only AP class as a junior was AP US history and I got a 4 on my exam. I will be taking AP Calc and AP Bio next year.</p>
<p>I’ve always wanted to attend an ivy league university, but looking at the statistics and such, it seem unrealistic at this point. I feel like I am stuck in between. I don’t want to settle for a school where I will receive a degree that holds no weight, but I don’t know if I can get into a top of the line school. Stanford, Columbia, and Cornell do not seem plausible. The schools I’m currently looking at are (no specific order):</p>
<ol>
<li>Fordham University</li>
<li>UH at Manoa</li>
<li>USC</li>
<li>Temple University</li>
<li>Pace University</li>
</ol>
<p>I understand that these schools are all very different and very far from each other, but I want an enjoyable college experience and the city or paradise seem like enjoyable places to study.</p>
<p>Would going to one of these universities be settling? Am I nuts to be considering Hawaii? Will a Bachelor’s degree from any of these schools hold much weight? Will it help me to get into a good graduate school?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any feedback.</p>
<p>What’s your home state? Also UH Manoa will almost certainly be unaffordable.</p>
<p>A bachelor’s degree from any accredited institution will “hold weight”. Since you need good FA you should be focusing on schools that will offer good FA or merit aid. Most colleges with good FA are highly competitive for entry so you need to get your SAT score up. You can look here for some goals. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>UH at Manoa??
that is just silly, with all due respect. do you think you will be taking classes under the palm trees drinking out of a coconut with a straw? it will get old real quick. and very hard and super $$$ to come and go from there. </p>
<p>if you want schools near the ocean try u of miami, nova southeastern or eckerd college.</p>
<p>Penn State and University of Pittsburgh (match)</p>
<p>Manoa would be pricy just for the little things. Honolulu was ranked one of the more expensive cities in the country. If you want a city campus, Northwestern is an incredible school. Its small, only about 20 min from Chicago, and is ranked higher than some of the ivies. Its literally right next to Lake Michigan. Ive heard stories of people getting good financial aid there, but that might just be a myth. Luckily there are plenty of schools near beaches. Pepperdine has one of the most beautiful college campuses in the U.S. and sits on cliffs above the beach. Its in Malibu, and isnt far from LA. Same with UCSB, the only school to have its own beach. You can also get the best of both worlds: city and beach with Miami (FL) and as you said, USC or UCLA. The best school on your list would be USC, academically, so I would for sure look into that. If your looking to a cheaper alternative to USC, UCLA is minutes away, and they have very similar reputations.</p>
<p>^ UCLA would not be cheaper for an OOS student like this. Nor is that SAT score going to get him into Northwestern.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help. The coconut response was hilarious. I just wanted to ask a couple other questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I’ve looked further into USC and it looks like they offer very good financial aid. I will be able to push my SAT scores up very easily and was wondering if it would be a reach with the improved scores?</p></li>
<li><p>How much of an effect does urm status have on acceptance into competitive schools?</p></li>
<li><p>Will EA/ED help my chances of getting into a better school?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>For questions 1 and 2 take a look at the Common Data Set for each school, section C7, to see what is used in admission and the weight each attribute carries. The effect EA/ED varies by school. In some cases it increases your chances, in others it does not. And ED is not useful if you would like to compare FA offers from different schools.</p>