Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think MN is the next WI.

Big, football, lots of opportunities, merit.

My bestie with great kids who are only okay students sent one to MN with a lot of merit and they were happy enough, kid had a good job well before graduation. But with younger they really worked a WI waitlist - they clearly still saw WI as a half step above MN. In end, got in and took WI with no merit over MN with some merit. (they had no need for merit so if you do, your math will look different)

Wisconsin is a better school, better setting, better college atmosphere, better college sports. But the Twin Cities are wonderful.

get all that, which is why I said next WI, as in on the way up. the question is: is WI 50% better than MN? ie, would I rather walk out of college with a WI degree or a MN plus 100k in cash. that's a closer call for some people.

Anonymous wrote:OP here thanks for the suggestions! Im honestly pushing Towson and UMBC if UMD doesn’t work out but I know he is looking for that big school vibe if we can make it work financially. SUNYs werent on our radar so will def research!

Also we are starting the SAT tutoring now and will take 2x. Fingers crossed! Not a STEM guy- prob poli sci so hoping that helps a bit. Verbal score great- math not so much.

I'd drop Purdue from consideration. It's a reach and very STEMy.

If you can get those test scores up, Wisconsin is good at political science and social sciences.

There's also Indiana. Greet campus. Bloomington is a wonderful college town. Known really for their business school. But solid at everything. Very good vibe.

Minnesota is an increasingly popular school, but definitely visit. Not everyone loves the campus.

It's going to be easier getting into schools as a declared political science major compared to say engineering or CS. Apply early action. Make sure you fill out the Net Price Calculator for each school. And see where the chips fall.

Kansas State University is excellent. Small class sizes, caring professors, and amazing staff. The students are so kind, and the campus is beautiful. It's big, but not overly huge like Purdue.

Another, choice is Missouri STEM in Rolla. It's not a pretty campus, but in the Ozarks.

Colorado State and Oregon State are both in great towns and slightly easier to get in than the "University of" in those states. I had one apply to UKansas - won't be attending, but there is a lot to like there (and they got a lot of merit). UArizona. Miami of Ohio or Ohio University.

I know you said not the south but I think NC State is very comparable to UMD and Raleigh doesn’t feel super southern compared to other schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think MN is the next WI.

Big, football, lots of opportunities, merit.

My bestie with great kids who are only okay students sent one to MN with a lot of merit and they were happy enough, kid had a good job well before graduation. But with younger they really worked a WI waitlist - they clearly still saw WI as a half step above MN. In end, got in and took WI with no merit over MN with some merit. (they had no need for merit so if you do, your math will look different)

Wisconsin is a better school, better setting, better college atmosphere, better college sports. But the Twin Cities are wonderful.

Madison is not a real city and very white.

Madison has almost 300,000 people. It’s about the same size as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. It is whiter than average.

Anonymous wrote:Look to the Midwest:
Michigan State
Minnesota
Iowa
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Indiana (not sure about merit there)

Omg OP no

Iowa and Kansas and Indiana OOS stupid financially not to mention Iowa republicans just voted out of paper g
Bags. Average age in Iowa is over 69 upon graduation will your kid want to stay in that hell hole?

My kid is loving University of Utah. He has discounted tuition through the WUE but you can get in-state pretty easily after a year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think MN is the next WI.

Big, football, lots of opportunities, merit.

My bestie with great kids who are only okay students sent one to MN with a lot of merit and they were happy enough, kid had a good job well before graduation. But with younger they really worked a WI waitlist - they clearly still saw WI as a half step above MN. In end, got in and took WI with no merit over MN with some merit. (they had no need for merit so if you do, your math will look different)

Wisconsin is a better school, better setting, better college atmosphere, better college sports. But the Twin Cities are wonderful.

Madison is not a real city and very white.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado-Boulder
UNC,

Yeah because people are getting into Michigan with a 3.8.

Unweighted, people! Geez. According to this UMich website, the average GPA for an incoming freshman was 3.76.

https://smtd.umich.edu/admissions-statistics/

Need to separate in-state from OOS applicants.

Anonymous wrote:I think MN is the next WI.

Big, football, lots of opportunities, merit.

My bestie with great kids who are only okay students sent one to MN with a lot of merit and they were happy enough, kid had a good job well before graduation. But with younger they really worked a WI waitlist - they clearly still saw WI as a half step above MN. In end, got in and took WI with no merit over MN with some merit. (they had no need for merit so if you do, your math will look different)

Wisconsin is a better school, better setting, better college atmosphere, better college sports. But the Twin Cities are wonderful.

Anonymous wrote:OP here- thanks for suggestions! It is my understanding that Pitt and Penn State do not give much aid. Is this true? Stats are good - 3.8 UW 10-12 APs probably mediocre test score so not sure about submitting.

Also for the UVA, maybe Im wrong but assumed if we didn’t get into UMD, prob not in UVA and I think their tuition OOS is out of our price range. These are just my assumptions though.

It will be VERY hard to get much aid from any state school as an out of state applicant.

Anonymous wrote:OP here thanks for the suggestions! Im honestly pushing Towson and UMBC if UMD doesn’t work out but I know he is looking for that big school vibe if we can make it work financially. SUNYs werent on our radar so will def research!

Also we are starting the SAT tutoring now and will take 2x. Fingers crossed! Not a STEM guy- prob poli sci so hoping that helps a bit. Verbal score great- math not so much.

I think he can get in to UMD for polisci with that GPA, but do work on the SAT/ACT. My DS is at UMD for CS, and he told me that ACT Math is supposed to be easier than the SAT math.

Anonymous wrote:DS just got accepted OOS with merit aid to a public flagship up North that has a highly rated program in his major of interest. He has a 4.0 unweighted with AP s but a 3.8 unweighted is also competitive for admission so look at those. Pick a state that interests him, look at the freshman class profile and start there.

Can u name the school please?

OP here thanks for the suggestions! Im honestly pushing Towson and UMBC if UMD doesn’t work out but I know he is looking for that big school vibe if we can make it work financially. SUNYs werent on our radar so will def research!

Also we are starting the SAT tutoring now and will take 2x. Fingers crossed! Not a STEM guy- prob poli sci so hoping that helps a bit. Verbal score great- math not so much.