Average Smart Student Changes

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Im what you would call an “average” smart student, I take hard classes and get good grades, but I dont stand out substantially from my peers. My high school is very competitive and I tend to be the norm. What colleges would I have a chance at, based on the stats below?

COLLEGES: Boston University, Northeastern, Syracuse, NYU, Fordham, Villanova, Penn State, Delaware, GW, Richmond, W&M, Wake forest, Lehigh

MAJOR: Communication or business (com at the schools with harder business schools)

GPA: 4.58 (Weighted)
Class rank: 51 of 530 (top 10%) (extremely large, competitive suburban high school)
ACT: 30 Composite (34E, 28M, 30R, 28S)

Honors: 6 (so far)
AP: 2 (Lang & APUSH)

Sports: Freshman Soccer, Winter Track (2 years JV), Cross Country (3 years JV)

Extracurriculars:
Interact Club
Student Council (3 years) (Homeroom Representative Freshman year, leader of homeroom class) (Senator all three other years)
Newspaper Writer (3 years (Media Manager Junior year, managed schools instagram account),
Ski and Snowboard Club,
Photography Club,
Pre-Medicine Club,
Team Challenge (won 3rd place in county for business ethics competition)

Internship with Local Hospital, 4 hours a week for the entire summer (35 hours total)
Internship with Local Library, 2 hours a week for 5 weeks (10 hours total)
60+ hours of service as of now
Works on the Jersey Shore as Beach Staff at a Private Club, 12 hours a week all summer
Partnered with a Youtube Network, only a few bucks a month but its something

EXTRA: First Generation College Student, also a Twin which might affect financial aid

2

bump??

3

If you are in state NJ and you plan on applying for financial aid, then Penn State and Delaware make no sense. TCNJ is a great school and you already qualify for merit. William and Mary same thing.

Add schools like Elon, Holy Cross, Lafayette.

4

@TurnerT Ive been thinking of lafayette and holy cross but they do not have com or business. I dont really like any new jersey schools, tcnj is nice but is really close to my house and a ton of people from my high school tend to go there (like 50 a year). I just want a change of pace and think going oos would be best for me. are any of the ones i listed a good target besides delaware and penn state? financial aid matters to me but its not an end all be all, and i know state schools dont tend to give much to oos students. how does fordham, villanova, syracuse, and BU compare with me? thank you for your advice!

5

if you need aid, then TCNJ really really makes the most sense especially because they have a top business program if
you can get in. Close to home or not, doesn’t matter in the long run at all. Get a great education , debt free!

6

Dude we’re in the same boat in the colleges we’re applying to and I’m 3.2 uw, 3.9 weighted with 5’s on my ap’s and a 2080 sat 1430/1600. You’re a perfectly intelligent student with a 30 act, don’t sweat it.

7

lmao and the ap’s I got 5’s on were also apush and lang

8

@stones3 im actually starting to consider tcnj over delaware as a safety school. they seem really similar in campus style and the students that go there. and thank you @jewishkidaz! i needed to hear that because my school has become so competitive with ACT and SAT scores lately im starting to doubt myself. Your scores are great as well! Good luck in applying

9

Lafayette has economics and media. Holy Cross has economics, accounting, media and a business concentration. May be worth taking a closer look, though you do have a good list already

10

30 is a really good ACT score! Don’t get bogged down by being surrounded by other high achievers. Your GPA and scores are really good. Tons of people would pay money for you to take the ACT for them if it wasn’t dishonest :wink:

11

@Studious99 thank you! everyone has become so competitive with scores in my school its driving me crazy

12

I think you have a good chance for all those schools.
Your ACT is not the best, but it is definitely ok.
Your GPA will probably be calculated differently by those colleges, but from here it looks ok.
Being a 1st gen student is definitely helpful.

13

@theofrelord thanks for the feedback! im not sure actually if im still first gen, my mom only attended 2 years of college (associates). I read somewhere that they consider people with parents that do not have a bachelors a first gen student? im not completely sure.

I fall in the middle of the range for a lot of these schools, a little higher for Penn State and Delaware though which I think are gonna be my safeties

As for my reaches, I fall in their ranges, but just sit at the bottom (Villanova, BU, Richmond) Im hoping this benefits me, rather than apply to ivies that would 99% deny me haha