Hello there. I am a pretty average junior that is quite nervous about college! I go to a very small private school.
Basic Stats: Caucasian, Upper-Middle Class, from Georgia
Intended Major: Economics/Finance/Business
Schools I Am Planning On Applying To: University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Rollins College, Auburn, American University, Emory at Oxford College, Georgetown University, UT Austin, NYU Stern, and Bryn Mawr College
GPA: 3.84 UW/4.04 W (my school has no AP/IB classes)
SAT: I have not taken the SAT yet, but I would say 1350 for my first SAT. I plan on taking it twice.
Self-Studied AP Exams: AP Environmental Science (2), AP World (5) (not planning on sending the AP Viro score though)
Extracurriculars:
Secretary of Amnesty International Club (since 9th grade, will become the president of it next year)
Taekwondo (will become certified 1st degree black belt in April)
Model UN (I have chaired 1 committee at an international conference; I will chair more MUN committees in the future; since 10th grade)
Fiveable Founding Member (I helped improve the website and features of an AP test prep company)
Member of the Global Nomads Group (This is a club where I talk with students from around the world, and I have been doing this since 9th grade)
Member of student council (since 10th grade)
72 volunteer hours thus far (Founding member experience, volunteer tutoring, and volunteering at Taekwondo testing)
Do self-study AP count? Are your test scores on record? The one thing you may have going for you is they base rigor in part on what classes your school offers. Since they don’t offer AP, that helps.
That’s a great list of schools - and don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not good enough. You never know - something might stand out. So yes, you should rank schools by safety, target, stretch or whatever your method but it’s also good to get rejected. If you don’t and you’re after pedigree, then you didn’t go high enough.
All that said you have a mix of small, medium, large…Urban, Rural. Are you sure you know the right type of school so you can apply to a consistent set.
Looking at these you would be safe: Georgia State, Rollins, Auburn, American (if you go ED). I assume you are not from TX - you’d be ok if in state and not ok if out of state. If you are doing Auburn, have you thought about Alabama? If you’re out of state - they’re a lot more “generous” merit wise if that’s an issue
There’s no target schools on this list - by that I mean like a Florida State, Pitt - schools you should expect to get in but if you didn’t you shouldn’t be surprised. Since you have Rollins and Bryn Mawr, small schools might be Sewanee, Rhodes, Elon.
The others are definitely all stretches but UGA would be the easiest of them. All of them - Emory, Gtown, NYU, Bryn Mawr - if you apply ED (you can only ED one school) would be your best odds. But go for it. Good luck to you. You are starting with a good basis.
My school has limited Honors classes and no AP classes. My scores are recorded; I took these tests in May. They have Honors Math and Honors Spanish through all grades (I am on both of these tracks). They also have Main Lesson blocks where you can take the “Honors A” option (it is not offered in all blocks and it is uncommon for most people to do them). Main Lesson blocks are a quarter credit and they usually last for a month. I have done a few of those Honors A options.
I may take a dual enrollment class next year.
As for target schools, I may apply to University of Alabama and/or Rhodes College.
As for early decision, I might apply ED for Georgetown. However, if I am planning on going to law school, it may be best for me to go to a decent but less expensive school for undergrad and aim really high for law school. Pre-law is a strong possibility.
@Falconessa First of all, 3.84 unweighted is nowhere near “average”. Your UW GPA and accomplishments put you in the top percentiles by any measure.
The only college which I would not recommend for you is UT Austin. It is an excellent university, but for an OOS student acceptance rates are really low, and there are colleges of that caliber for finance which have higher acceptance rates.
I would recommend IU’s Kelley School of Business, Boston College, UIUC, Wisconsin, and don’t forget about GTech. For GA residents the admission rate is around 40%, and your GPA puts you around their average.
@Yankee_Belle Yesterday, I was discussing that Mount Holyoke College was not an option. MHC would most likely be a target/hard target for me. They did not have the majors that I wanted, the town that it was in was too small, and it was very expensive. If I would have been accepted to MHC, the amount of financial aid that I would get is limited. Also, I would have to fly in and out during breaks. A lot of people from my school attend LACs because my school is very liberal arts in its curriculum (small class sizes, frequent discussions, and the curriculum is very well-rounded).
I was also told not to apply to Rollins because it is also very expensive. My parents are pushing me to stay in-state. My heart is set on UGA. The only private colleges I might apply to are GTown, American, and NYU. Bryn Mawr and UT Austin are ruled out.
I think you have a good chance at some of these schools. My biggest pieces of advice would be to think about how you best learn. If you are not really one for loads of lectures (which you will get no matter where you go), smaller colleges would be better.
Start looking at classes in your subjects of interest at UGA, Georgetown, American and NYU. This is one thing that really helped me pick out my top schools and also helped on my applications as colleges enjoy hearing specific things you like about the school.
If your heart is set on UGA, and stays that way, if come next year you could say “this is where I am going to go” and truly accept that and not think about how much you want to go to the other schools, than I would recommend applying ED. (Of course it’s up to you- this is just what I did, but it also depends on financials)
Make sure to have fun these last two years of high school, find things you love studying, that is how I got my grades up while enjoying it.
And finally, don’t forget to apply to safeties you really could see yourself going to. One of my safeties is my second/third choice school.
Sorry this isn’t much of a chance me but I hope it helped.
Without either an SAT or ACT score and no class rank, UGA admissions will focus on your GPA & on your strength of schedule (did you take the hardest classes at your school) as Georgia residency is only relevant for tuition purposes (not considered by UGA for admissions).
Since you attend a small private school, you should contact the school’s college advisor as to your chances for admission to UGA.