OP here - Def. going to aim at bumping the scores up a bit! I think there’s a bit of text anxiety going on. (Was ok on Calc BC but forgot what perpendicular lines were on the SAT!) Actively looking for therapy to work on that.
DH’s company changed hands and had a stock buyout or something, plus I went back to full-time teaching, so we won’t qualify this year for any need-based. Also, the changing FAFSA is going to hurt us. in 2026 we’ll have 2 in college, and in 2027 all 3 kids should be in undergrad at the same time. It is going to be ROUGH. Hoping the CSS can help us.
From what we see, UNC is a target and NC State is a safety which doesn’t seem to have her chosen field of study. We need to look at the other state schools, but there’s no appeal at the moment, based on her summer camp/swim meet experiences on several campuses.
As far as prestige, this kid is really thankful for challenging classes. She said that FINALLY, having 3 AP classes with a lab gives her some challenge. (Still got A’s, but she actually had to study and work for them.)
Driveable - 7ish hours? We could do Atlanta as we have family there, but we don’t know anything about the northern options mentioned in the thread. We will check them out and run the NPC’s. Some time ago, we did one and got $48K, which isn’t realistic. Would LOVE to find some merit…and will aim for increasing those scores to get it. Duke is so far out of reach financially, but if by grace she were admitted, we would beg grandma to help… so please keep recommending!