I did not suggest you to apply to Ivies caliber schools. Indeed, I think you may need to aim lower if you do want/need to get merit aid. Again, ask your parents how much they can afford. Then you will have to shop for a school within budget after merit aid and limited loans. Your parents should not take out retirement saving for your college and neither should you get $200k in debt. EFC and NPC does not tell how much your family can afford.
Did any of them have a net price of 20K when you ran the calculator, or did you verify the existence of a scholarship that you are in the running for? An acceptance to a school you can’t afford isn’t worth much.
I’m not familiar with all of those, but of the ones I do know, I don’t think they’re cheap enough.
You can only borrow ~$5500/year, so if your parents said they can pay $20k/year your budget is $25k. Ask them to be sure how much they’ll pay though. You need a firm budget.
I’d start by finding a safety – a school where you know you can get accepted, that’s affordable, and that you’d be happy to attend. Does the NPC at the Univ of AL come in under your budget? If UConn does and the admission rate is reasonable (40% or so for a safety), apply there too. Then start looking for colleges whose NPC results are affordable on your budget.
A few years ago a very high stats student applied to Case Western and got some merit, but without need based aid it was still much more than other schools. They also got full tuition at Tulane and Pitt. They took a full ride at U Delaware, and also had a full ride at UCF and WVU if I remember correctly.
So if you apply to your list of schools they might come in affordable but they might not.
U Michigan is too much OOS. They meet need but you don’t have much need.
If you are looking at dental school which will be all loans, you need to keep loans low in undergrad.
So you need a school where your parents’ contribution, merit and summer work earnings cover the costs.
You don’t need a highly ranked school. Most state schools have good bio/science programs. If you have AP credit you might be able to graduate with a BS is 3 years.
UA has changed their scholarships some but with your high stats you might qualify for Presidential Elite.
So if you want, apply to Tulane, Case and U Rochester.
Then also apply to Pitt, tOSU, U Delaware, U Conn honors.
Other possibilities include UA, U Toledo, UCF, WVU.
@mom2collegekids would OP get a full ride at UAB?
Have looked at Miami of Ohio? You could get full tuition there, but would have to cover room and board.
OP has a safety at UConn. (You’re getting that one your first round too, right @liveluvsushi ?)
@austinmshauri I am fairly certain that UConn would be a safety for me, looking at their admission stats from my high school. My parents just told me that they have set aside 100,000 total for college, the rest is up to me. If I go to UConn, I would be able to go there for free due to a benefit of my parents profession. As for NPC, I haven’t calculated for Alabama but will do when I get home. Thanks for the comment.
@mommdc I am looking into a variety of fields in medicine, but dental is one of the main fields I am considering. I’m taking dual enrollment classes at UConn so if need be I can go there to pursue my medical degree as my undergraduate would give free tuition (It’d probably be 11,000 a year for other costs). I was hoping that other schools of similar ranking would give me some merit aid but it looks like the chances are slim. Still, I’ll apply to see what happens. Thank you for giving me a list of possible schools; I’ll definitely check those out.
@suzy100 I haven’t considered that college, but I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks
@AroundHere Not sure what first round means, but yes I think the acceptance rate for UConn is around 50%
You should save that college fund for dental school and just go to UConn. You’ll be so glad you escaped the debt trap later.
I meant you need to get that application in with all the other early apps you listed!
@AroundHere Good point; UConn is a great school and the college tour was very appealing to me; they only have Regular Decision and a financial aid date of December 1… should I submit earlier?
If they aren’t rolling admissions, it may not give you any particular advantages, but I make my kids build their applications from the bottom up and get their safety and match schools done early in the process.
@liveluvsushi UConn IS a great school, post #31. If you can do for little money, it’s a no brainer to do so and save money for dental school. You don’t have to go 100 miles away to feel independent. You could always do a study abroad semester of year for an experience.
The sooner you apply the higher the chances that you will find out sooner that you have at least one affordable choice!
I’m a CT resident. Sounds like your parents are state employees…maybe doctors at UConn? Or something like that.
You would get free tuition at UConn…and that $100,000 ($25,000 a year) could easily cover your remaining costs.
@mommdc UMich only meet needs for all instate students, but only OOS with less than $90k family income. OP’s need would not be met even it is relatively small.
@billcsho thanks for the clarification, I thought they changed it. But I also said even if they met need it would not help to bring the cost down to be affordable because EFC would be too high and need too small. And she can’t count on merit with U mich.
Yeah. Meeting the needs of OOS if under 90k family income is new this year at UMich. However, they did improve the FA to OOS students in the last couple years even without need met.
I don’t get the “not worth applying because it’s not within our budget” when it’s unclear what that budget is.
Frankly, if the EFC is quite high, the OP probably can afford to apply to a few Ivies and at least see what he would get. You never know.
This is a different situation from someone with a 20K EFC whose family can’t pay that. Paying the application fees and then comparing FA packages for private and public schools would be a good idea IMHO.