Should I apply to Selective Colleges>

entomom
Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:03:27 +0000

I seriously want to make it into top colleges however i want to attend schools in the North because they are closest to big cities like Philladelphia, Chicago, and New York because they open more rearch opportunities.



We actually have some pretty big cities out West here too, SF, LA, Seattle, etc. Just kidding, if you want to stay in the NE, that’s fine, but you might not want to leave out the rest of the country. These days there are research opportunities at just about any 4 yr college, and having a larger geographic area gives you more colleges to consider which can increase your chances of acceptance to a financially feasible school (as the NE tends to be the most sought after area in the US).

Rather than suggesting a list of specific schools, it seems that what you need at this point in time is a strategy of what characteristics to look for in a school. In addition to colleges via QB, it seems like you should look for a range of schools with one or more of these qualities:

Excellent need based FA for lower income families, look for those with no loan policies for families with incomes under about 60k/yr. These are usually going to be very selective schools and reaches on your list, Amherst is an example.

Actively searching for URM students. Many LACs fit this bill and several have fly ins for potential applicants, see the Diversity Weekend thread.

Your state colleges. These are often the least expensive options, particularly if you qualify for merit scholarships.

Colleges where you would be competitive for a substantial merit scholarship. This means that you should be in the tippy top of the applicant pool for the scholarship, so these will likely be admissions safeties. You might look at Centre, Beloit and Denison; these are also LACs that are interested in increasing diversity.

Beyond this, you should search the large outside scholarhips (eg. Gates) for low income Hispnaics or URMs in general. These scholarships are extremely competitive, so you need to be very realistic about whether or not you are a viable candidate and only consider it a financial possibility, not a “for sure” source of funding your college.