Chance a southern guy for some good schools!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I didn't get much response from my first chances post, so thought I'd try a catchy title and see if that helps. If anyone has some additional suggestions for schools that might offer good merit aid I'd really appreciate it. </p>

<p>Gender, etc: Male, White
Location: Tennessee
Need LOTS of financial aid: 1 parent retired, 1 w/income ~$40m
School: Average to Good: sends a few top grads to Ivies, many to Duke, Vandy, Emory, etc.
GPA: 3.85 unweighted
4.0 approx weighted
Rank: 42 of 484 (top 10%)
ACT - 32 (Sub scores - all 32 except reading - 33)</p>

<p>Courses taken or scheduled / Grades -</p>

<p>Freshman: Engineering Design - A
Latin 1 - A
Honors English 9 - A
ROTC 1 - A
Honors Biology - A
Geometry - A
Wellness 1 - A
Latin II - A</p>

<p>Sophomore: Intermediate Algebra - A
Honors Econ / Honors Adv Am Gov't - A
Honors Latin III - A
Wellness II - A
Algebra II - A
Adv Sports & Conditioning - A
Honors English 10 - A
Honors Chemistry - A</p>

<p>Junior -
AP Psychology - A (full year course)
AP European History - A (full year course)
Trig - C
Honors Biology II (prereq for AP) -A
Honors Physics - B
Pre-Calc - predict B
AP Biology - predict A
Honors English 11 - predict A</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP Lit & Composition
AP Statistics
AP US History
Honors Philosophy
Honors Chemistry II
Ceramics - (Fine Art requirement)
Advanced Architectural Design</p>

<p>ECs/Awards:</p>

<p>Latin Club - 9, 10 (took National Latin Exam - Bronze award)
SHOUT: 10, selective community-based student leadership program - 1 of
30 kids chosen from 5 area high schools based on application & interview.
SCOPE: 11, Student Congress on Policies in Education - 1 of 4 students in district chosen to travel to state capitol and attend SCOPE Conference
Beta Club - 10, 11
National Honor Society - 11
FCA
Volunteering for various things like Operation Christmas Child, etc.
This summer will be job-shadowing a Cardiologist (Actually an Electrophysiologist, to be specific)</p>

<p>Athletics:
School:
Swimming: Varsity Letter 9, 10,11 - state qualifier 9, 10, 11, Regional Champ 11 - Recruitable at all but top Div I Programs
Cross Country 9, 10, 11
Tennis - 9
Track & Field - 10</p>

<p>Outside School:
Cycling: 10,11 Nationally-ranked cyclist (i.e. top 10-ish)
3x State Champion
USA Cycling Selection for National camp at the US Olympic training center
in Colorado Springs, CO - Oct `09
10-30 hours per week depending on schedule - traveling approx 40 weekends
per year for competition</p>

<p>Triathlon - 9, 10, 11 nationally ranked triathlete
2-year Member of USA Triathlon SE Region Junior High Performance Team
Train and compete in 7-9 triathlons per year</p>

<p>Potential Major - Biology / Neuroscience</p>

<p>Reaches -
Duke
Davidson
Vanderbilt</p>

<p>Matches -
Grinnell
Sewanee
Rhodes
Clemson
Rollins</p>

<p>Safeties -
College of Charleston
Lees Mcrae </p>

<p>Thanks for the chances.....and if I knew enough to chance you back, I wouldn't be asking for your opinions..... :o)</p>

2

<p>“Thanks for the chances…and if I knew enough to chance you back, I wouldn’t be asking for your opinions”</p>

<p>Too bad all HS students don’t realize this! (And sorry, you’re not asking about the one school I know.)</p>

3

<p>You should be okay for Clemson, where my son, ACT 32, 4.1 WGPA, was accepted with OOS waiver, but may not be financially doable for you. You may want to look at Auburn, a very good school that is compared with Clemson, and they are very generous to good students. My son is going to Bama next year with NMF package plus engineering money, but was also offered the Presidential scholarship at Auburn and would get the NMF scholarship which adds housing and other perks on top of that. We have friends who got generous COSAM scholarships on top of their Presidential as well. Both Bama and Auburn are good schools, and many kids from OOS who have no rivalry issues are able to choose which one fits them best socially and academically. Don’t know if you’re a junior or senior, but if a junior, take your tests again in the fall. My son brought his SAT up to the Auburn Presidential level in the fall, which was a relief if he did not make NMF. His 32 ACT did not qualify him for the Presidential, but his SAT did, so take both in the fall of your senior year.</p>

4

<p>Matches:</p>

<p>Grinnell(very Liberal)Sewanee, Rhodes, Clemson, and Rollins</p>

<p>Davidson is somewhere btwn a match and reach</p>

<p>Reach:</p>

<p>Duke, Vanderbilt</p>

<p>Safeties:</p>

<p>College of C
Lees Mc</p>

5

<p>Thanks so much for the chances. My aunt went to Auburn, and I’ve already looked at Alabama, so I’ll check that out for sure.
D’s Mom - do you really think I have a better chance at Davidson than Vanderbilt? I always thought Davidson was much more selective…</p>

6

<p>I re-took the ACT and scored a 34 (35 Math 35 English 34 Science and 33 Reading) Does that significantly affect my chances at any of the schools above? Or, does it help to put me in the realm of some great aid schools i.e. maybe a couple of the lower Ivys?</p>

7

<p>I think that can help you get into Duke and Vandy. A 34 is a very good score and will help. Congrats on upping your score. Perhaps Cornell or John Hopkins since you are interested in science/Bio. Personally though, I prefer the smaller LAC like Grinnell, Swarthmore, Davidson, Carleton, etc… I think you get more bang for your buck, especially if you need lots of money and you get need based aid and merit aid. I know Grinnell offers great merit money. Most at that caliber do not. I think you will get into Grinnell and Davidson no problem. Just my opinion though. Good luck and keep us posted.</p>

8

<p>Thanks, D’smom! I’ve heard from the Grinnell swim coach, and may actually go to Iowa this summer to check out the school as there’s a triathlon I want to do there in July. Since the campus will be basically empty then, I have one question though - you described Grinnell before as “very liberal”. I don’t mind hippy laid-back feeling, but as a typical southern kid, do you think I’d fit in ok?</p>

9

<p>I think that Grinnell is very liberal in that most kids that go there tend to lean left, but than again most great LAC’s are left leaning. With that said, Grinnelll is also known for being very accepting. They will challenge you and your beliefs if you are conservative and want to engage in those types of conversations, but you will be accepted at the same time. My son asked the students about that while he was there. There are some kids there that are of the hippy mind-set, but there are also just as many that are artsy and or jocks. What my son liked best is that they all seemed to get along really well. I think that in the end they are all a bunch of kids that accept one another. If you are going to be on a soap box talking conservative politics, than it might not be for you, but as I said, most of the great schools tend to lean left and you might encounter those arguments anywhere. You will definitely be respected at Grinnell for your individuality. We noticed there is no “dumb jock” labels thrown around at Grinnell. Everyone is smart and well rounded. BTW, what stroke(s) do you swim?</p>

10

<p>No worries - I’m the last person you’ll ever find on a soapbox. I think I’m just more socially conservative small-town southern, but again I don’t mind liberal types. I swim basically everything, and qualified for state this year in the 50, 100, 200 and 500 Free, 100 Back and 200 IM. My times are very competitive with Grinnell swimmers and their conference in general. I’d be roughly #1 - #3 on their team based on the posted times on the website, and depending on the event, of course.<br>
Does your son go to Grinnell?</p>