Any scholarships and colleges easy to get in for 1600 SAT Score

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:N VA - Asian Male interested in Computer Science major. Any colleges (in state prferably) which would be easy to get in with a 1600 SAT score. Average ECs, no other hook, no leadership roles. Summer software internship and 100+ volunteering hours

What is he actually the most interested in? What does he do for fun, and what are the people where he did his internship telling him? Thank you for the detailed response, these are excellent questions. He is interested in Computer science and specifically on the AI/Machine Learning side. His internship has been on that side as well. He loves sports, and is part of his schools Mobile Apps Development and Debate Team.

How much formal prep did he do to get the 1600? Is he really a bright, curious kid who reads a lot, or a kid with no interests other than Fortnite who prepped a lot?
He prepared on and off with Khan Academy. He has been a bright kid, and mostly a straight A/A1 minus student, loves to read and balanced in terms of his education/interests and excercising which he is passionate about

Will he probably be a National Merit finalist?
He scored 1500/1520 so should be on the Semifinalist list hopefully - not sure about the finalist

How much can the family afford to pay based on savings, what the student could earn during the academic year and summers, and what the parents could likely pay out of current earnings? (Example: If the parents are already paying for things like clubs, tutoring and allowance, how much is that? Could the parents pay that plus some extra for college?)
Around 25K per year is what we can afford - we know that is very less

What does “Asian” mean? Is the student someone who really knows an Asian language and could study at a college-language at that level, or a single-passport U.S. citizen who just happens to look Asian?
Asian family, kid born in US and US citizen

If he’s really a gamer who prepped hard to get the 1600 and has no real interest in doing anything other than earning a living and having time to chill, then the logical thing is to apply to UVa, Virginia Tech and George Mason, and maybe using Virginia Commonwealth or being a math major at George Mason as a safety.

The simple way for him to disaster proof himself would be to take accounting and economic classes and aim more for jobs at places like Capital One than at FAANGs.

If he’s really a bright, curious student, try adding Harvey Mudd, Cal Tech and WUSTL to the list. Thank you will look into this. His dream school is UC berkley which however does seem next to impossible to get into, being in VA

Cal Tech and Harvey Mudd have fabulous financial aid. The downside there for a dutiful prepper is that they’re hard. The upside for a genuinely bright kid is that they’re challenging. Thank you, will look into both of these schools

It’s a mistake for kids who think going to those schools would be fun and who might get in to assume they’d be too expensive. Students on that wavelength should try applying and see what happens; maybe the net price will be low.

WUSTL has some full tuition scholarships and some genuinely bright students, and it might be more excited about the high SATs than negative about the ECs. For some students, going to WUSTL could be cheaper than going to community college and living at home.

If the student would like a place like WUSTL, he could use Case Western, University of Rochester or a less selective/merit rich school in a fun place (example: Arizona State) as another way to escape from the George Mason gravitational field. Thank you, makes sense

Given that George Mason should be a safety for the student and has amazing access to great employers, it’s probably a mistake for the student to apply to any out-of-state schools less well-known than Arizona State, unless he’s aiming for a school in a particular type of location.

[Anonymous]

OP, you cannot afford UC Berkeley. UCB will not give aid to your out-of-state student.

Many colleges do give need-based financial aid. See if you are eligible by using college Net Price Calculators. Each college has a Net Price Calculator on its financial aid website that will show you how much aid you can expect from that college for your specific financial situation.

If your son is a National Merit Finalist, take a look at the nice merit packages at University of Alabama https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/national-merit/ and University of Tulsa https://utulsa.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/nmsf/

Private colleges give need-based financial aid to out of state students like your son. So, use the Net Price Calculators for Mudd and Caltech, for example, to see if they would be affordable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you cannot afford UC Berkeley. UCB will not give aid to your out-of-state student.

Many colleges do give need-based financial aid. See if you are eligible by using college Net Price Calculators. Each college has a Net Price Calculator on its financial aid website that will show you how much aid you can expect from that college for your specific financial situation.

If your son is a National Merit Finalist, take a look at the nice merit packages at University of Alabama https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/national-merit/ and University of Tulsa https://utulsa.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/nmsf/

Private colleges give need-based financial aid to out of state students like your son. So, use the Net Price Calculators for Mudd and Caltech, for example, to see if they would be affordable.

Oops, that's an old link for Tulsa. Try this one https://utulsa.edu/tuition-aid/scholarships/nmsf/

[Anonymous]

University of Alabama gives you a free ride for a perfect sat score.

Look at presidential elite scholar in the link below

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

[Anonymous]

Wow! A free ride from Alabama is great. I know where I would go!

[Anonymous]

University of Rochester is $83,000/ year. Since your budget is $25,000, don’t waste time looking at Rochester.


I don’t know about CS programs but these might be affordable and then you can go from there into researching each school’s CS programs.

Non-Virginian options with likely merit aid that might bring price close to $25k.

WVU
UMBC
MSU
Alabama
ASU
U of SC

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, as someone new to this too I wanted to explain what I have learned about the cost of private school. There is not a set price that everyone pays, the “sticker price” on the website is adjusted in the financial aid package which is based on merit (grades and scores) and family income.

Sometimes you can pay the same amount at a private school as you would at a local public state university depending on the aid package.

Often immigrants or price sensitive students aren’t aware of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:University of Alabama gives you a free ride for a perfect sat score.

Look at presidential elite scholar in the link below

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Need a 4.0 too.

[Anonymous]

Texas A&M and UCF give full tuition waiver to NMF. USC if half tuition

[Anonymous]

Meant University of Southern California ( USC). They offer half tuition for NMF

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:University of Alabama gives you a free ride for a perfect sat score.

Look at presidential elite scholar in the link below

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Not a full ride. Full tuition, yes. One year only of housing covered, no board covered. And a small stipend.

[Anonymous]

is he NMF?

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you again everyone. To the past poster, we do not know about the NMF yet. He got 1500/1520 on PSAT. We will look up all the options mentioned above. Thank u

[Anonymous]

Thank you - OP here

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, as someone new to this too I wanted to explain what I have learned about the cost of private school. There is not a set price that everyone pays, the “sticker price” on the website is adjusted in the financial aid package which is based on merit (grades and scores) and family income.

Sometimes you can pay the same amount at a private school as you would at a local public state university depending on the aid package.

Often immigrants or price sensitive students aren’t aware of this.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP,

A 1600 and 3.8 UW is going to give you a lot of options.

Do not look at the prices of schools. They are suggested prices. And nearly every school gives huge discounts to the students they want - and many want the 1600 combined with a GPA that supports the score. It makes the schools look good having students like yours.

You are in a good position.

You are going to have to Google. And better yet, your son takes charge of this and figures it out on his own.

For the tippy top schools - MIT, Stanford - they generally do not offer merit scholarships. They don't need to. But they offer exceptionally good financial aid. And that's not loans. It's "grants," which is essentially a discount off the listed price. So don't rule out the very expensive private schools.

Lower ranked private and public schools, in addition to "grants," will offer merit aid and scholarships, including free rides. Schools will be interested in that 1600.

Have your son come up with a list of schools for CS that he's interested in. Make sure it's him that does it.

Then go to each school's website and do the financial calculator. It's on all their websites, usually under the Admissions tab. That'll give you an idea of what it's really going to cost - before merit and scholarships.

I know it's confusing. It is for everyone.

But you have a lot more options than schools in Virginia