Am I a good fit for these colleges?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, all. I'm a 16-year-old white female senior at a public school in rural upstate South Carolina. My mother and stepfather's combined household income was approximately $30K last year. </p>

<p>-UW GPA 3.75, W 4.3
-SAT 2160 (CR: 800, W: 750, M: 610)
-ACT 30 (Comb. E/W 33, Science 27, Reading 32, Math 26)
-Top 10% class rank (17/197)</p>

<p>The reason my GPA is not higher is because my family is... <em>dysfunctional</em>, to say the least. (My father was in prison for 6 years, one of my sisters is in prison for drug dealing, my sister's boyfriend murdered someone and is prison, my eldest sister was committed to an insane asylum, my middle sister got married at 15 and her husband almost killed her... ahem. Additionally, I was very troubled in middle school, to the point of being forced by the school to see a psychologist, and therefore slacked off my first two years of HS.)</p>

<p>Despite my class rank, my SAT scores are the highest in the school. (The valedictorian made a 1900.) I was the only student in my school selected to attend a lecture series at the state capitol, and I volunteer at the animal shelter and with mentally-handicapped children. My ECs are not spectacular because I have a lot of responsibilities (I shop for groceries, clean, cook, do laundry, take care of our farm animals, etc).</p>

<p>The schools I'm applying to are: </p>

<p>-Furman University
-Clemson University (Honors College)
-Agnes Scott College
-Oxford College of Emory</p>

<p>I am a small-town girl and HATE the city (hence Oxford for the 1st 2 years if I went to Emory), but although I appreciate Clemson's rurality, I do not like its size. At ALL.</p>

<p>I am a homebody and do not want to go far away (ie, more than two hours' driving distance), so I feel like my options for <em>good</em> schools are kind-of limited. What do you guys think about my choices/chances?</p>

2

<p>I would still add University of South Carolina (not sure if it is in a city or not).</p>

<p>Also, I think you are doing yourself a disservice by wanting to be within two hours from home.</p>

<p>Your destiny is greater than that. You have a great narrative. At least try to apply to some of the top 15 schools. </p>

<p>Doesn’t mean you have to go there, but take a shot. </p>

<p>When I was your age, I was a totally suburban kid, with no city experience. I wound up living in downtown Chicago for a long time, and loving it.</p>

<p>And perhaps add University of Alabama to the list. They seem to have great merit aid.</p>

<p>And if you like rural, why not something like University of Virginia.</p>

3

<p>Sewanee? Scores are a match, it’s not too terribly far away from SC, and it’s very rural and small.</p>

4

<p>Regarding Alabama, your stats qualify for the full tuition Presidential Scholarship:
[Out-of-State</a> Scholarships - Undergraduate Scholarships - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html]Out-of-State”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html)
although that still leaves about $14,000 per year of other costs. Scholarship amounts are greater if you major in engineering:
[Scholarships</a> - Undergraduate Students - The College of Engineering - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://eng.ua.edu/undergraduate/scholarships/]Scholarships”>Scholarships – College of Engineering | The University of Alabama)</p>

<p>UAB’s Blazer Elite scholarship may also be an option:
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<p>However, go to each school’s web site and put “financial aid estimator” or “net cost calculator” to get an estimate of financial aid offers.</p>

5

<p>:) b-u-m-p…</p>

6

<p>Also, maybe Centre (KY). It is a very good school and I think they are good with FA. Best of luck!</p>

7

<p>uab is downtown birmingham so may not be a fit if OP hates cities…but with blazer elite and financial aid probably cost would be minimal. The campus itself is all together surrounding a green , so really dont have to wander around/through the city</p>

8

<p>Why not UNC Chapel Hill? It’s really up there in the ranks and I assume close. I’m from CA so my preception of distance in that area is skewed. Looks like you have some decent grades and a really good story to put down in your essays.</p>

9

<p>Does anyone believe the supposed “prestige” of the college matters? For instance, is a degree from Agnes Scott equatable to one from Clemson equatable to one from Emory? I (obviously) do not have the financial resources to dilly-dally after school; I need to be employed immediately and I’m wondering how employers would consider identical diplomas and grades from DIFFERENT schools…</p>

10

<p>You will probably find that if you take college pretty seriously you aren’t going to be going home too much anyway. And most colleges have some sort of break every month or so (mid-fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas etc.). This is to say that you should try to think beyond the two hour mark. And I agree that you should try a few more prestigious places. It may make a difference to employers. Do you particularly want small? If you go farther, maybe Grinnell which is good with aid. Maybe Davidson but I don’t know about the financial aid.</p>

11

<p>I’m a junior at Clemson and size hasn’t affected me. It’s actually one of the smaller public research universities in the US. Classes haven’t been that big, you get as much help or attention as you need and it’s easy to make friends. Add on to the fact that you do get the resources of a large university along with that.</p>

<p>I’d say give Clemson a shot! There are 17,000 people here but we’re all one family/community here (we call it the “Clemson family”). You get a major research university and the resources that come with that at a much smaller field compared to other public universities. We were ranked #12 in US News for our commitment to undergraduate teaching.</p>

<p>Definitely let me know if you have any questions!</p>

<p>I skimmed this thread and may have missed it but what is your planned major? That might help us determine whether the school would be a better fit for you? There are some areas that Clemson excels in, some that Emory would be the top choice etc… I’d say that prestige may help you get your first job but beyond that, it’s a non-factor (I think any of the schools listed would help you get a great job. Just get good grades!)</p>

12

<p>I really think you should consider schools that are further away. You’re limiting yourself to less than 10% of the schools in the country. You should look at schools like Carleton, Grinnell, Middlebury, Amherst, and Wiliams. They’re small and located in less populous areas, and they’d offer great opportunities for you.</p>

13

<p>Check out Davidson. It’s just north of Charlotte so may be within your geographical range.</p>

14

<p>My problem with Davidson is rather unique: my mother withdrew me from public school halfway through 8th grade (she did not want to pay for me to go to a psychologist, as mentioned) and for 3 years I wasn’t in public school, at ALL. My mother wasn’t teaching me and in fact left me alone in a farm house that had no plumbing, running water, electr. for the 1st year.</p>

<p>We weren’t registered with a homeschool organization and basically I just fell off the planet. For three years I didn’t even talk to anyone who wasn’t a family member.</p>

<p>(While my GPA for 11th and 12 grade is a 4.0, it’s my homeschool grades, that I myself did, which are bringing my GPA down… irony FTW. I thought I would be one of the ‘stupid’ kids when I came back to public school…) </p>

<p>So… I only entered the public school system a year ago, in the beginning of 11th grade. While my HS has verified my homeschool ‘grades’ through testing, Davidson would still want my homeschool details, which frankly… don’t exist. Lol. </p>

<p>My situation is very, very unique. Not even my high school knows the full f***ed up details. On the other hand, it’ll make for a great book some day!</p>

15

<p>Wow—is it unique for Davidson in particular, though? You didn’t say why. I think this just means that you should apply broadly because you don’t know which schools might be interested. And small schools where you might be able to interview might be good.</p>

16

<p>Davidson admissions people in particular have told me that they HAVE to have the specifics of the homeschool I was attending, how it was registered, blah blah… of course, none of that exists, so Davidson is not possible for me. :(</p>

<p>Emory just wants a high school diploma since my homeschool grades have already been verified by my school. It’s the same with Agnes Scott, Furman, and Clemson.</p>

<p>The thing is, I can’t even tell my guidance counselor about this, because as far as she knows, I was on a merry roadtrip around the country that necessitated me being homeschooled. That was the excuse we used for me not being in a homeschool organization. Of course, it was completely made up, but so far no-one’s the wiser. I hope to keep it that way.</p>

<p>(Whatever college I go to, I’m definitely going to be making use of the counseling services… I don’t know whether to laugh at my crazy life/family or not…)</p>

17

<p>Sounds like you’ve had to overcome some exceptionally daunting challenges, and I think many colleges would be willing to recognize that and give special consideration to your application. I too think you should probably aim higher, and further away. I second the Amherst and Grinnell recommendations, and submit Mount Holyoke and Middlebury. Sewanee sounds great for you too.</p>

18

<p>I just have this terrible fear of going to some super-elite college where all the kids have gone to super-elite prep schools and would look down upon me. Even if I did get accepted to Davidson, I would feel really inferior if I went there. </p>

<p>Since I’ve never told anyone about the things I’ve had to do to get where I am, no-one likewise knows that even a 2160 on the SAT is great for me considering I taught myself algebra and geometry… All of my high school education up until 11th grade was self-taught because my mother wouldn’t buy ‘expensive’ homeschool books ($50/year/subject).</p>

<p>You guys, I’m sorry if this is TMI, but… it just feels nice to type this out. Someday (ie, when I’m out of high school), I can tell people IRL.</p>

19

<p>iam currently a high school senior and basically iam very frustrated right now
i currently have a 3.0 gpa weighted 2.4 underweighted
ive played 2 years of football
ive taken 12 ap classes
ive played 1 year of wrestling and
disorganization:
green team
beta club
art honor society
junior class vice president
red cross club
vice president of debate club
i took the sat’s for the first time and got a 1320
iam an art major and want to study animation</p>

<p>here’s my issue
i feel like if i was to apply to college now i would not get accepted. because of my low gpa and terrible sat score and i don’t think i did so well on the act either. i want to apply to college right now but my application is not strong enough. so this year i took 6 ap classes 4 at school and 2 online to boost my gpa. also i want to do grade forgiveness for geometry and chemistry. and iam currently taking algebra 2 online. i have 3 months till i can take the sats again and i know i can increase my score 400 points in that time. and i know i can finish my online classes in that amount of time also. the test will be on the 28 and the scores will not show until 20 days later</p>

<p>so here’s my question.</p>

<p>should i apply to college now with a weak application, or wait till iam confident with my application in February then apply. because usf ucf unf and uwf have rolling admission.</p>

20

<p>Kenny-- you might want to consider test-optional schools… Additionally, aren’t 1st-quarter grades coming out now? If you have been doing well in your AP classes, you should have raised your GPA some. </p>

<p>Another option, though it might not be appealing, would be to go to community college for 2 years and then transfer.</p>

<p>EDIT: is your (1320) SAT score CR+M, or CR+M+W? If it’s the former, that’s actually a pretty good score. If it’s the latter, study and retake…</p>