The In-State Advantage Maroulla Plangetis
Money was the defining factor for Maroulla, class president at Annapolis (Md.) Senior High School: "When I heard about a school, I would go online to the College Board and look at the price." She applied and got into eight colleges, all but one within a half day's drive of home. The benchmark became University of Maryland-College Park, where she was looking at tuition costs of about $8,000. Other schools offered money, but in the end, Maryland was the most affordable. The second-oldest of four children, Maroulla will study business in an honors progam.
GPA: 4.0 nonweighted
SAT scores: 650 math, 590 critical reading, 620 writing
Extracurrics: Class president three years running. Greek Orthodox Youth of America. Raised funds for different organizations
Essay topic: Her name
Aid: Applied for nearly two dozen scholarships and got enough to cover first-year tuition and more than half of the four-year total. Feels her SAT scores shut her out of merit aid from Maryland.
Fitting it all in: "Oh my gosh, there were so many late nights-I literally submitted the U.Va. application an hour before deadline."
Biggest regret: Applying to too few private schools. She now figures she could have gotten money to cover most of her tuition costs.
What got her through: Talking with and E-mailing her aunts