A-/B+ Student (rising junior interested in history)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

So, as a rising junior I’m wondering what colleges would be realistic to think about. I know my stats are not great but, I know my gpa will improve this yr. I have not taken the SAT yet so those stats are not included.

Please chance me for:

Umass Amerst
American U (a far stretch, I know)
hofstra
Bridgewater State
Notheastern
any other LAC that would be a good fit

I know this post is long (sorry), so the more important info is below the dashed line any suggestions help :slight_smile:

Freshman:
English H (A-)
French 2 (A-)
Geometry H (B)
Bio H (B+)
World Hist. H (A)
Accounting 1 H (A)

Soph:
English H (A-)
French 3 H (B)
Algebra II (A-)
Chem H (B-)
Pre-AP US History (A)… APUSH is split into 2 yrs, called “pre-AP”
Accounting II H (A-)

Junior: predictions
AP English (B+)
French 4 H (A-)
Pre- calc (A-)
Physics H (B)
APUSH (A) (4-5)
Sociology H (A+)
AP gov/pol (self study) (5)

Senior: predictions
AP English (B) (3)
Calc H (B)
AP Euro (A) (4)
AP phych (A) (4)
Civics H (A+)

Law H (A+)

Bio:
-State of residence: MA
-Race: white
-Gender: Female

School:
-Type (Public/private & size): Public abt 1000 total

Academic Profile:
-Unweighted GPA: not provided
-Weighted GPA: 4.1 ish (trying to bring this up
-AP’s: not offered at my school until junior yr
-Rank: 40-50/245 (my grade is very competitive)
-Course Rigor: Pretty much as difficult as possible (I took I non honors class my frosh/soph yr)
-PSAT: 1150 (1st time taking, no studying… hoping to get a 1250-1300 this yr)

EC: very weak…
-Friendship Club (We played games and did activities with special needs students)
-Global Citizenship Program
-Soccer/Track
-Debate club

Volunteering:
-Teaching CCD classes this yr to kids at my church
-I started a puzzle/games club for kids at my former elementary school (1.5 hours a week + prep. for 6 weeks)
-Working at vacation bible school (3yrs)

Work:

  • at a local mini golf place (b day parties, handing out clubs, etc.)
  • referee for youth soccer ( grades 8-10)

Intended major:
-history/poli sci (education possibly?) :slight_smile:

2

If you’re interested in history, check out Gettysburg and Dickinson. Gettysburg is more generous with merit, but both have super history departments and lots of original docs for U.S. history. If you can get your test scores up a bit, it’d definitely help.

3

Gettysburg and Allegheny are two PA LACs with good history departments. They may be a match.

4

Thanks @gardenstategal @wisteria100 I will definitely check those out… I’m just a little worried that i slacked off too much frosh/soph yr and now i wont have a chance to get into schools with a 30-40% acceptance

5

With no SAT score and only two years of grades, we are only guessing. Of course if you do well next year you might turn a match into a safety. For now, I would guess that UMass Amherst would be a solid match, and that any other UMass, such as Lowell, would be a safety, as would the Mass College of Liberal Arts. The affordability of LACs in the US is a bit mystifying to me, but we have checked out affordable similar small universities in Canada so ask if you want info (the closest is about a 4 hour drive, depending upon where in MA you are).

The only students that I know that applied to Northeastern got in with slightly higher GPA, but did not get financial aid and couldn’t afford it. You might want to run the NPC for the private or OOS schools.

Also, of course do some SAT preparation before taking the test. Good luck with this!

6

Northeastern isn’t a good school if you’re primarily interested in history/polisci. Hofstra is very expensive and not worth its cost.
Seconding Allegheny, Dickinson, and Gettysburg. Look into Clark, go visit, show interest. Same thing for Simmons.
American is possible if you raise those test scores. Other reach to consider: Mount Holyoke? Trinity College? Connecticut College?
Further away, St Michael’s, Goucher, Luther, Gustavus Adolphus, Beloit, Earlham, John Carroll, Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Illinois Wesleyan, Drake, Hendrix, perhaps St Olaf, Lawrence, Denison, St Lawrence, Rhodes.
UMass is a solid match, add subject tests in us history and French, inquire early about honors college.
UMass Lowell and Mcla are solid safeties.
What’s your EFC and can your parents pay it?
Run the NPC on all these colleges and being the results to your parents. Start talking about what they can afford from investment and savings. If they haven’t started saving, they should start setting aside each month (in a 529?) how much they think they’ll be able to pay monthly for your college costs.
To strengthen your curriculum, take AP French, switch AP Psych to junior year and with the free slot take another AP in a subject of strength. Or keep AP Psych for senior year and switch out Law honors for AP French.
Start working on Khan academy right now. The higher your scores, the broader your choices.
Ec’s: get a leadership position in one of these and initiate something to make a positive impact.

7

Thank you @MYOS1634
My schedule is set for junior yr (I can’t take AP phych junior yr at my school anyway), but I am definitely not set on taking law my senior yr. I was planning on dropping French after this yr bc it is NOT my strong suit, but I guess it would look good if i’m planning on studying history.

Are Mcla and Umass lowell not held in high regard, or would they just be considered safeties?

8

They’re safeties and likely affordable. You’d apply there hoping to get scholarships. The other universities listed before are all better than these two but you need two affordable safeties, so…
In addition, Maine universities have a reciprocal tuition deal with MA and most of them would be safeties too.
But Clark, Beloit, and even more so Dickinson, Gettysburg, Allegheny… Would all be better if you got in with sufficient financial aid.

9

Thank you so much @MYOS1634 very helpful

10

Since you are looking at MA schools, College of the Holy Cross could be a school to add as a reach. Test optional and they have one of the largest history departments among the LACs, including a prof who is one of the eminent scholars on Russia

11

“Are Mcla and Umass lowell not held in high regard, or would they just be considered safeties?”

UMass Lowell is a pretty good school, and the second highest ranked of the various UMass schools. I would put it ahead of UMass Boston or Bridgewater state (although I don’t know that much about Bridgewater). The reason that it is a safety for you is that your grades are well ahead of the majority of students in Massachusetts, even if they are not quite up to the “straight A’s in AP classes” standard that is common on College Confidential and for Ivy League schools. For a “50th percentile” student, Lowell would probably be at best a reach.

As far as I can tell, MCLA hasn’t quite caught on, even though the idea of a small Massachusetts state college would seem to make sense. I am not sure quite what is happening there. I only mentioned it because you asked about LACs. When I think “affordable LAC for a Massachusetts resident” I think “MCLA or Canada”. There are a small number of affordable small universities in Canada which are academically way ahead of MCLA, but they are not well known in the US and are of course further away.

12

^Canada is a good suggestion. Look at Bishop’s, Mount Allison, Acadia.

13

Based on people who applied at our school, you should be set for UMass Amherst, American University (From our stats, it isn’t too hard to get into), Hofstra, and Bridgewater State. Northeastern is a bit more difficult, but I would still apply to it, making it one of your reach schools (A school that is difficult to get into, but is still possible).

May I suggest College of the Holy Cross and Clemson University? You have a pretty good shot at getting into those!

Hope you get in! :slight_smile:

14

Clemson woukd be too expensive though (run the NPC) even though the Honors college is excellent.

I’d consider MCLA before Bridgewater.

15

@DadTwoGirls are schools in Canada more likely to accept US students… if your an international demographic they’re looking to fill

16

No, Canadian schools are strictly stats-based. If you meet what they want, you’re in. The only question mark is whether you’ll get a scholarship.