Upcoming senior at a private high school.
I’d like to attend a Liberal Arts College and major in either Psychology or Neuroscience.
White Male.
Class rank: 5/46
Cumulative unweighted GPA as of 9th, 10th, and 11th: 3.92
Rigorous courseload- Intro to Psych, Abnormal Psych, World Regional Geography, Cultural Anthropology, and Statistics. I’ll be taking more of these college courses through a community college my senior year.
ACT: 24 (29E 22M 20R 23S)
Decent EC: Student Government Class Secretary, Cross Country, Speech, and QuizBowl. I’ve also been to some recognized leadership events like Boys State and NCYL.
Not much for a hook, but I MAY be considered a first generation college student as my mom didn’t attend and my dad only received his associate’s degree. However, I have an older brother who is currently attending college.
You may have a chance at schools like Haverford if you get those test scores up. Williams is a hard school to get into but you can with around a 29 ACT. best of luck and chance me back?
You would definitely benefit from pulling your ACT score up, as this seems to be the main factor that would hold you back.
With a higher ACT, schools like Vassar and the like will become closer to matches, and your chances will increase.
I strongly recommend looking at test-optional colleges. Your scores are not remotely competitive for some of the colleges suggested in this thread, nor are the chances of raising them to the point where they would be. Your GPA and extracurricular activities are strong, but those scores will hurt you at selective schools. Fairtest.org provides a pretty comprehensive list of test-optional colleges. The most elite, like Bowdoin and Wesleyan, are brutally competitive for admission, but there are plenty of excellent colleges included. I also recommend the Colleges That Change Lives consortium.
Look at colleges located in or near major teaching hospitals, where there will be research and internship opportunities. Most four-year colleges will have courses available in Psychology, and at least some introductory classes in Neuroscience.