We are eligible for need based aid at private colleges. Budget is around $35,000 a year. We are in Maryland. Her older sibling got decent merit aid offers that brought COA down to $30,000 or less from several private colleges in Ohio, MD and Pennsylvania as well as some scholarship offers from a few public universities. So we know it is possible; however, she doesn't quite have the good SAT scores her sibling had. On the other hand, she isn't setting her academic sights quite so high either; she'd be happy with a so-called mid tier school; just doesn't want it to be a total party scene. She isn't an amazing candidate for full ride Honors scholarships at different colleges. The area we probably have the most wiggle room is size. She thinks she wants at least a mid sized school, but I think with the right fit, she could be happy somewhere smaller or larger. She doesn't really know yet what a small school is like. She does have UMD CP as an example of a larger school. |
+1 OP's post is so spot on it reads like and advertisement for SCU. |
Was just coming on to say this exact same thing. SCU is a great school and the weather is fab. |
You have anger issues. |
| Eckerd? |
True! OP, if it’s not too far away, check out Southern California schools- there are so many and the weather is wonderful. |
| If she has really good grades, Davidson |
I don’t think quite good enough for Davidson. |
My son toured CU Boulder about a month ago. He said it was a gorgeous campus but that all the students looked depressed. He also toured Colorado State and said it felt like a much happier atmosphere. |
| UNCG or UNCW? (UNC W is on the coast in north carolina, probably less diverse but it is a state school. a little party hardy). UNCG sounds like it could be a fit but is not costal |
| Scripps. hands down. |
NP here. My child was looking for similar geographic, diversity, school size, strong community, not a huge party scene with smart but not intense students in a suburban area with internship potential. We used the college board Big Future search to help make sure we weren’t overlooking schools https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/ as well as Naviance and websites that tell you what other schools people looked at if you applied to x school. In general, it was tough to find a school that had everything so usually there was something that was a big positive to be included on the list and in whatever way it didn’t meet the ideal, it was something my child thought they could live with and still be happy there. Of the schools that we visited that really emphasized community, I would say William and Mary (VA) and Rhodes(TN). But at some of the larger schools there were opportunities to meet like minded students in a smaller setting - either honors and/or living/learning communities - so even at UMD-CP there are ways to make a big college feel smaller. In terms of diversity, UMD-CP, UMBC, and Towson are all fairly diverse if your daughter is including Maryland public schools on her list. |
+ 1. Love Scripps. |