Request for match school suggestions for 4.0/32ACT Alabama son

College Search & Lists
,
1

My son is graduating HS in 2021 and finalizing the application list. I’d like to add some more match schools. Safety is University of Alabama and I am sure he will get in and will qualify for the full tuition waiver, so any suggestions should be competitive with that, please.

Budget:
I’d like net tuition after scholarships to be under $25K/year, with some wiggle room. Donut hole family with some 529 savings, but he’s the first of three kids. Expecting about $10K-$12K/year for room and board in addition to tuition.

Stats:

White Alabama boy in a strong public high school. Straight As in pretty rigorous course load. Both AP and Honors count as 5’s and normal classes are 4’s. Weighted GPA is 4.75ish and unweighted 4.0. Top 2% in class of 450 or so. ACT: 32; 33 superscore. 35s in math and English. Not taking again and he means it. No SAT or SAT2. ECs are good but not amazing and not in the least bit sporty. Quirky awards in geography and genealogy. Should get 100 hours of community service and bronze Congressional award.

Major:

Not sure. We thought he would be an engineer because he’s good at math and science, but he’s really into politics, government, international relations, geography. Maybe a double-major with statistics and something listed above. Maybe a masters in stats.

Preferences:
Not too small or rural. Should be a good place for a nerdy introvert with no interest in Greek or sports (fine if they exist as long as there’s a place for someone who isn’t into it). Son would like to get out of the South but mom would be more comfortable with a drive that could be done in 12 hours or less. I’d cave for the right place (USC made the list). Really likes quizbowl. Catholic. Straight and narrow lifestyle and not the partying type. Very strong preference for diversity and tolerance. Kid is tired of living in Trump-land; okay to have a strong conservative voice but not deafening like it is here. Wants to expand his horizons. Study abroad is important.

Extra Issue:
Tuition-exchange scholarships a plus, except that I feel somewhat nervous relying on them given how uncertain higher education jobs are these days. I know TE is not a sure thing but it’s nice if you can get it since it normally trims nearly $40K off list price.

Current list includes TE schools Syracuse, Richmond, American, George Washington, Pitt, Florida, University of Southern California and non-TE Florida State, Emory (might cut Emory), Alabama. Maybe add Carnegie Mellon (double-legacy) but that’s probably too expensive and a reach. Visited American and GW in February and campuses of Florida and Florida State in December when closed. Not counting on any more visits.

Thanks for any suggestions you can make!

2

I know you have American on your list already, but I’d like to let you know I’m happy to answer any questions about it if you have them! It sounds like it would be a great fit for your son and he’d have a good chance at the FDDS full ride.

3

UF and FSU are big party schools, but my friends that go to both of those, aren’t really big party people, so they have their own clubs and groups that they join. Politically, UF and FSU are a tad bit more conservative than liberal but its not a huge problem. UF is a stronger engineering school and FSU is better for international relations and politics. Again the party culture exists and both schools have a massive undergraduate population, so if that’s big turnoff, I would definitely recommend somewhere else.

If your son is big on studying politics and studying abroad, I would definitely add Georgetown University to the list. Georgetown has a lot of solid study abroad programs and their programs in public policy and international relations. Undergraduate enrollment is under 5,000 but its honestly would be a perfect environment for a fellow introvert. 32 ACT would be in the middle 50% too.

Carnegie Mellon is really solid in engineering and the hard sciences. A lot of the kids their get the rep of being introverted and finding their own groups, so your should fit right in. In terms politics and international relations, they’re not really well-known for that so his interests might align to the university if he decides to not continue engineering.

George Tech is really solid too and has a renown engineering program. It would certainly broaden his horizons to learn from a top 5 undergraduate engineering program.

You could also a add a few ivy in there if that’s okay with you like Cornell and Dartmouth. And schools like Boston College which has a solid Jesuit culture. With a 32 ACT, its pretty good and lot of of the elite universities can be considered matches. I would definitely look at universities in the northeast that tend to be a more liberal.

Anyways, best of luck in your college search and I hope you and your son finds the best university that fits your interest the best!

4

OP is asking for matches. Not reaches that don’t offer merit money.

Look at some of the Ohio schools as they can be generous with merit. Miami of Ohio, Dayton, Wooster, etc…

I think you will find that you can get many private schools down to the 40-45K/year range but below that will be harder.

I think UA is going to be hard to beat. There are so many opportunities for students to not only go abroad, but also to work in different places around the country in the summers. Not to mention grad school.

5

A 32 is an excellent score, but I think Emory would be a reach (and wouldn’t offer merit aid).

Don’t know if it would get the $$ down enough, but what about the University of Rochester?

Agree, it will be hard to get your cost to be $40,000 or below at private schools.

6

Based on his preferences, it does not seem like UA is really a fit…would he be happy to attend there?

The list of schools he already has is good. Emory seems like it could be a good fit, but that is a reach for all.

Also, make sure he is demonstrating interest where that is considered in the admissions process…American, GWU do, you will have to check the common data sets for the rest. For those that do, do a virtual webinar, connect with his AO, do a virtual interview.

Some good additions so far, also take a look at Case Western, U Denver, Ole Miss, Santa Clara, Marist, St. Louis U (SLU).

Do you know what your FAFSA EFC is likely to be? https://fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fafsa4c/?locale=en_US#/landing

Make sure to run each school’s net price calculator to get a cost estimate, although some NPCs don’t include merit. NPCs may not be accurate (beyond the merit issue) if parents are divorced, own a business, or have real estate in addition to a primary home.

7

Fordham or Fairfield? Not sure if you would get the price in your range, but it might be worth some research.

8

I would look at Miami of Ohio. Can get a half to full ride.
https://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-guarantee/

Also, for merit aid, look at University of Arizona and ASU Honors Colleges. They are both not drivable, but Phoenix has flights to everywhere.

9

Thanks, all. :slight_smile: We think there is no unicorn school so it’s a matter of what comes closest. It’s true, @Mwfan1921, that DS does not see UA as an ideal personality fit. He does understand that free is good and he’s a bloom-where-planted type. I’m hopeful some of the TE will come through, and otherwise merit or OOS waiver or something else will help.

EFC is consistently full-price and I do not expect need-based aid anywhere, though I’d love to be pleasantly surprised. Having our three kids exactly four grades apart each didn’t help for FA purposes. The EFC is often beyond what seems reasonable on our budget with two more kids in the queue. Thanks again for the leads, and TIA for any more.

10

@Mama212529 have him look at the Blount Scholars program at Alabama. Small liberal arts residential set up, more liberal minded kids, range of majors, all freshmen live together and take core classes together… plus then the resources of the larger university available as well. This plus the Honors College might make UA more palatable.

11

@Mama212529 - I don’t know how TE works. is it competitive? auto? I’d love to listen if you would explain.

We do have a friend on TE at SLU and liking it. We are midwest; not sure of your distance parameters; but some places I thought for your kid in your price range would be University of Tulsa; Creighton, Drake and Baylor . . . .

As you know, the higher the ranking, the harder it is to get merit, which you’ll probably want as you are full pay.

PS: out of curiosity - what about Auburn? As you are from AL - what is the feeling between these two schools? Bama is a contender for our own kid; so was just curious on this.

12

@bgbg4us - our impression (as far OOS-ers) was that Auburn was more southern, Christian and conservative than UA. Fewer OOS state kids and even those are more from neighboring southern states, esp GA. Auburn is a great school with a nice size and well respected programs, but if wanting to get out of a conservative bubble, I don’t think its the place to go. But the OP is from AL so will prob have their own insights too.

13

Christopher Newport University has partial scholarships for room and board and a study abroad stipend.
https://cnu.edu/admission/freshman/scholarships/

Without scholarships, COA seems to be less than $45k.

14

JHU is very strong for international relations/political science, too.
In terms of political activity (thus opportunities) during his junior/senior years, Emory is worth looking into.
Perhaps GMU, JMU, W&M, and other universities in Virginia.
Look into Dickinson, Kalamazoo, and of course Macalester.
UMass Amherst would be the right size, especially if he can get into the Commonwealth Honors College.
Same thing for UMD-CP, although it’d be larger.

15

JHU’s name in IR comes from the School of Advanced International Studies. That school is located in D.C. not on the main campus and is graduate level only. At the undergraduate level, JHU would be third tier in IR with most of the other high ranked schools. GWU and American would be in the second tier.

16

Rice might be a good fit for him if he can pull his scores up a bit. Even if he won’t take more tests, he should give Rice a shot. Rice is located in the center of Houston and does not have Greek life. Rice has an inclusive residential college model instead. Even though it is located in Texas, the Rice student body is mostly liberal and very diverse. Rice has a lot of happy nerds. It gets high ratings for happiest students and race/class interaction. Students can wait until the end of sophomore year to declare a major. Rice wouldn’t be too far of a drive from Alabama. I don’t know if it is a TE school. Rice gives good need based aid but not a lot of merit.

17

Just a local opinion, but I think of Auburn as stronger in artistic majors like architecture or design and Alabama as stronger in STEM. Honestly, though, a lot of it is where your parents went and which team you grew up cheering for, which for us transplants doesn’t apply.

Tuition exchange (TE) is a scholarship opportunity for children of university employees that allows dependents to waived tuition at member schools just like they’d have at their parent’s school, except most schools apply the cap (currently $38K -ish). It’s less competitve than most scholarhips since there are fewer people, but how competitive it is varies greatly by school. I understand Syracuse gives it broadly, while Florida almost never. There’s some mysterious formula about balancing the imports and exports from each school so how many slots there are can vary. One more moving piece in an already complicated game.

Thanks again for the school suggestions – I am passing them along so indirect-thanks from my son too.

18

Rice appears to be a TE school. https://people.rice.edu/benefits-rewards/tuition/ The daughter of Rice’s President goes to Trinity University in San Antonio. https://new.trinity.edu
That is another good school to put on your son’s list. Trinity gives good merit. Here is more info about TE. https://people.rice.edu/benefits-rewards/tuition/tuition-remission-faq/

19

Pitt’s merit started at 1480 for SAT this year and they’re moving more towards need. We were looking for similar for our S20 this year as a donut hole. Most merit starts at 1500 SAT/34 ACT. It’s tough to get below $40k/year. That’s why most kids go to their in-state schools. Top 20 schools like CMU don’t give merit.

We ended up taking one school off the table after Covid hit. Too far. Great opportunity but not sure about fit. We pretty much did same rule. Direct flight within 2 hours or within 12 hour drive. Not unreasonable.

20

I have 5 schools to suggest to you. All are politically engaged campuses in one way or another. All are in or near state capitols & so have easy access to state politics and possible internships. I don’t know how small is too small, but all are smaller. I’ll list undergrad enrollments in parentheses. Because they’re near state capitols, they’re all near airports as well. All have at least pre-engineering or a dual degree engineering program, leaving that option open to be explored. Varying in levels of admissions competitiveness, the easier ones are more likely to have scholarship opportunities for top students.

Richmond (3200) - A great place for a political nerd to be right now because it’s literally a laboratory in political change. State government at all levels has been flipped from red to blue in just 3 years. Everyone wants to know why. Because she teaches at a Virginia college (Christopher Newport), Rachel Bitecofer has studied this and written about it. Fascinating stuff. A mix of kids from instate and the Northeast insures that both liberal and Conservative voices get heard. Already on your list.

Gettysburg (2400) - A high percent of students majoring in something related to politics. The school’s Eisenhower Institue has an office in DC and prepares students for public policy work and provides mentorships. Clubs run both a Model Congress and a Model Arab League. It’s a politically engaged campus across the spectrum. Even has a libertarian club.

Macalester (2200) - Right in the St. Paul, it’s just half an hour by bike or by bus to the State Capitol. College campuses can get so oppressive these days that they can stifle debate. Macalester recognized this as a problem a few years ago and put policies in place to insure that Conservatices get heard and that there is open dialogue for all points of view.

Union (2200) - When I saw Syracuse on your list, I though Union College was an even better choice in upstate NY. Founded during the George Washington administration, Union has a long history of political engagement starting at the local community level. They also partner with the state legislature and organizations in DC to set students up in summer internships both in Albany and Washington. Union is the rare example of a small LAC with a long established (1845) engineering program, offering majors in Electrical, Mechanical, Biomedical, and Computer Engineering. They also have minors in Environmental Engineering, Energy Studues, and Nanotechnology.

Wesleyan (3000) - Long a liberal bastion, Wesleyan has activist groups for everything. Despite being small, they have a separate College of the Environment and they run their own farm. Woodrow Wilson once coached the debate team which bears his name today. The Wesleyan Political Union holds biweekly discussions on foreign policy and domestic politics. Although their graduate school is small (a few hundred), they offer an interesting 5 year BA/MA program with a research orientation in about 10 disciplines including Math/Computer Science and Physics. They also offer doctorates in both fields as well as a few others.