<p>Alright, so I'm a 3.85 gpa (all A-'s, A's, and A+'s with a few B's), top 8%, 2250 SAT student. Frankly, my ec's suck. I haven't been doing them very long, and I have one sub par award (national merit commended). Should I only aim for state schools (Umich, UCLA, etc.) or do I have somewhat of a chance at good private schools (Emory, NYU Stern, Notre Dame, etc.)?</p>
<p>Really why wouldn’t you aim high?</p>
<p>It’s better to have aimed high and failed than never tried at all.</p>
<p>If you’re going to be needing financial aid and you’re not instate for schools like Umich or UCLA, do NOT apply to them. What’s the point of getting accepted if they’re going to gap you big time or put in mega unaffordable loans??? Those schools cost about $50k per year for non-residents and they’ll expect you to pay for most of the costs regardless of your need. </p>
<p>If you have determined need, then include top privates that meet determined need without big loans and also include some private and public schools that will give you ASSURED big merit for your stats (these schools can be your financial safety schools.)</p>
<p>@Nick567: Everyone on here says grades and scores are something most people have, and it’s the ecs that make or break you for the top colleges.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids: I’m not in need of financial aid right now.</p>
<p>So you think you shouldn’t even try?</p>
<p>Maybe if that’s your mindset you really shouldn’t apply.</p>
<p>Second Nick567’s advice. If I were you, I’d rather apply to a bunch of selective schools and get rejected from them than not apply and be left wondering “what if…?” when the process is over and done.</p>
<p>Guys, I haven’t said I don’t think I should try. I’m asking you if it is possible for me to get in, regardless of bad ecs.</p>
<p>Ok, so basically you’re saying that your high school years have been nothing but studying for school and SAT’s?? C’mon you must have done some other things that are interesting. They don’t have to be the typical clubs in school. Any activity that has helped you grow as a person counts as an EC. Also, mom2collegekids, is it really 50k for those schools? Umich is 35,000 and UCLA is 30,000.</p>
<p>*Also, mom2collegekids, is it really 50k for those schools? Umich is 35,000 and UCLA is 30,000. *</p>
<p>LOL…what are you just going to pay tuition and commute from home? </p>
<p>If you’re out of state for those schools then the COA is $50k for each school.</p>
<p>COAs for OOS students at public U’s for this past year (2009-10), so next year will be higher, and the year after that will be higher!</p>
<p>$39,146, U CONNECTICUT
$38,120, GEORGIA TECH
$40,130, U ILLINOIS
$39,510, PENN STATE
$37,644, INDIANA U
$38,566, MICHIGAN ST
$48,041, UC IRVINE
$49,193, UCLA
$50,306, UC BERKELEY
$38,974, WILLIAM & MARY
$43,742, U TEXAS
$49,926, UC S BARBARA
$46,699, UC SAN DIEGO
$48,049, UC DAVIS
$39,483, UC S CRUZ
$42,570, U VIRGINIA
**$47,188, U MICHIGAN **</p>
<p>Well, my parents were in a car crash in 8th grade, and it sort of messed things up for the next few years. That took away a large part of my time, but it did help me grow as a person. I got to the whole “high school is only 4 years of my life, there is more to this phase” a bit ahead of my peers.</p>
<p>But won’t you get any financial aid? Sorry, I’m really confused now. I thought State schools were supposed to be cheaper than most private schools? I want to do medicine and I need to have as less as debt as possible from undergrad years lol.</p>
<p>Does anyone have anything else to say for original question?</p>
<p>When speaking of state schools, there is a big difference in the cost of attending (COA) when comparing your own IN-STATE public school with an OUT-OF-STATE (OOS) public school.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.emory.edu/PROVOST/IPR/documents/factbookprofile/CDS2009_2010_121609.pdf[/url]”>http://www.emory.edu/PROVOST/IPR/documents/factbookprofile/CDS2009_2010_121609.pdf</a>
^common data set for Emory. Compare your stats with the common data set.</p>
<p>Sorry OP!
If you talk about the car crash in your essays or atleast mention it in your application somewhere, then colleges should be pretty forgiving. However, there must have been SOMETHING that you’ve done in HS. If you haven’t, then I would say look into the Honors Program at your State Flagship. You’ll get a great experience for a fraction of the cost at other “top schools”.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sorry if this is OT for the OP, but it’s important information for all rising srs because there’s a lot of misunderstanding about OOS costs & FA.</p>
<p>First, OOS tuition is always more expensive than for a resident. Why? Because you’re not paying state taxes to support the educational system of that state. The main mandate of any state college is to educate the residents of that state.</p>
<p>Second, the only 2 public colleges that I have heard of that treat OOS students the same as residents for FA are UVA and UNC-CH. And as far as states like MI and CA, have you all been paying attention to the news, these states are in fiscal crisis, they’re cutting everywhere and raising tuition for everybody.</p>
<p>State schools can be cheaper than privates, if they’re YOUR state schools. But if you’re OOS, the price will only be cheaper (other than possibly the 2 schools mentioned above) if you get merit aid from them. Privates can be cheaper than publics if they give exceptionally generous FA and/or merit aid.</p>
<p>IMO the financial part of applying to college is more complicated than the admissions part, yet most people don’t spend nearly as much time trying to figure it out. They make assumptions about how much FA they expect to receive without researching colleges or running EFC calculators. If you need proof, take a look at the FA & Scholarship forum, every year students receive their FA offers only to find that they can’t afford to attend a college they’ve been admitted to.</p>
<p>It’s fine guys. The point of this place is to help people.</p>
<p>@surgeofindia: Made a resolution to leave my state.
This is what I’ve done in high school so far.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>First Robotics Competition (nationwide robotics competition) [11, 12]</p></li>
<li><p>Debate Club (school’s debate club, we frequently hold in school debates. This isn’t just a grocery list ec, because its given me a time to discuss current events and see how my peers feel. I could defend in my essay)
[11,12]</p></li>
<li><p>Interact Club <a href=“part%20of%20the%20national%20rotary%20organization,%20does%20service%20projects:%202%20local%20and%201%20international”>11,12</a></p></li>
<li><p>Community Service Club (For various things like blood drive, relay for life) [11,12]</p></li>
<li><p>Red Cross Club (part of the Red Cross, more volunteering) [11,12]</p></li>
<li><p>NHS</p></li>
<li><p>Job Shadowing Professionals In Their Work Environments (40+ Hours by graduation, explained below)</p></li>
<li><p>YES Camp (spent a week in this camp hosted by the international Art Of Living Foundation learning leadership qualities)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Volunteering: (150-200 Overall hours when applying)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Reagan Wells Ranch Community Service (spent a week of my summer rebuilding a ranch for the International Human Rights Organization)</p></li>
<li><p>Children’s Hospital Community Service (spend a month of my summer, its like a part time job nearly, need a uniform, 5 days a week, and you have to go through an application process and be recommended)</p></li>
<li><p>Various local volunteer opportunities and projects (i.e. Greet The Troops, Ronald Macdonald House, etc.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I loved doing the robotics competition, because it was fun. Don’t get me wrong though, engineering is not something I’m looking into. I can’t think of how to tie any of this to business</p>
<p>those are NOT bad ECs! they aren’t great, cause you didn’t start most of them until junior year, but they by no means “suck”.
if you can talk about the car crash in your essay, and explain how that affected your life in the first two years (without making it sound like an excuse), then you have a very good chance at the privates you listed, and IMO maybe you can even try to aim a bit higher.</p>
<p>but if you still don’t believe your ECs are great, i would suggest trying mcgill university. Great school, and they admit you based solely on your grades, and do not consider ECs unless you apply for specific scholarships. (same goes to all canadian colleges)</p>
<p>Alright then. I’m gonna have to figure out how to incorporate it in. Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Any thoughts from anyone else?</p>