Chance average GPA, strong EC's student for dream ED school [VA Resident, 3.75 UW, 35 ACT, NMSF, need FA; public policy, international relations, economics, cognitive science]

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student
    US Domestic
  • State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities)
    Virginia
  • Type of high school (current college for transfers):
    Competitive Magnet STEM HS
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional):
    Black female
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):
    Nothing </3
    Intended Major(s)
    Double Major in Public policy/international relations/economics (depends on school) and cognitive science
    GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
    this is the not great part lol
  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.75/4
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.25/5
  • College GPA (for transfers): n/a
  • Class Rank: top 26%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 35 ACT

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
AP US History-5
AP Language and Composition-5
AP Microeconomics-5
AP Macroeconomics-5
AP Biology (didnā€™t take the class but took the test)-4
AP Calculus AB-4
AP World History-4

APā€™s Iā€™m taking right now:
AP Chemistry
AP Physics C: Mechanics
AP US and Comparative Government
AP Literature and Composition
AP Calculus BC

Other courses that are specific to my magnet school (only have 0.5 weight even though theyā€™re college level which is disappointing):
Research courses 10th-12th grade, weird math courses 9th and 10th grade, integrated science 9th and 10th grade, school-specific biology course 11th grade
I took maximum rigor courses all of high school except for my orchestra course!!
Awards
Iā€™m going to try to be relatively vague so i donā€™t get doxed!

  1. Top 35 debater in US (national competition) (spring 2023)
  2. Selected for an extremely competitive summer research program as a fellow (only 100 people internationally selected out of 20k+ applicants, <0.5% acceptance rate) (spring 2023)
  3. National Merit Semifinalist (fall 2023)
  4. Selected for research collaboration with top boarding school in Singapore (1/6 from 100+ applicants, <10% acceptance rate) (Fall 2022)
  5. Stage 2 finalist for a competitive fellowship (<20% advance) (spring 2023)
  6. 3rd place at HOSA state competition, went to internationals (spring 2021)
  7. Outstanding Student Award in Mathematics (winter 2021)
  8. AP Scholar w/ Distinction (spring 2023)
  9. National Black Student Recognition Award (fall 2022 and 2023)
  10. National Rural and Small Town Recognition Award (Fall 2023)
  11. Ranked 19/120+ violinists who auditioned for county orchestra (winter 2022 + 2023)

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

  1. Speech and Debate: 9-12th grade, Captain 11th and 12th grade
  2. Founded LOCAL volunteer-based non-profit program for local middle school students to participate in research competition, last year (first year of program) some students received national commendation, exec director 11th and 12th
  3. Executive at a very prominent youth activist group, involved in national level policymaking + more(donā€™t want to say more haha), 11th and 12th
  4. Developed a very in-depth and comprehensive AI policy in the competitive fellowship i mentioned in awards that i am now using in collaboration with actual organizations
  5. International research collaboration (the Singapore I mentioned in awards) where I researched Alzhiemerā€™s Disease (first author), currently in the process of getting my paper published, 11th
  6. Environmental science/biology research that Iā€™m currently doing, will be first author on paper, 12th
  7. Black Student Union: 10-12th grade, Vice President 11th and 12th
  8. Orchestra: 7th-12th grade, section leader
  9. Political Intern with regional democratic party, 10th grade
  10. Robotics: 11th-12th grade, head of outreach 12th
  11. Youth Ambassador @ state non-profit 11th and 12th
  12. HOSA 9th grade only lol
  13. Student Advisory Council (1 of 2 from my entire grade to work with admin), 9th and 10th
  14. Basic NHS, Science NHS, Music NHS, no leadership roles 11th-12th

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
9.5/10. I think my commonapp is really strong. will have some cc essay readers review it but so far all the feedback i received is that this is a really competitive essay, and honestly i think itā€™s really good too (i put a LOT of effort in because I feel like my essay is one of my shots at ā€˜redemptionā€™ for my gpa lol).
LORā€™s: 9/10. History teacher of 2 yrs said was one of her best students in almost 2 decades of teaching in scholarship rec that i saw, my other rec is my orch teacher who iā€™ve had for like 5 years now and am close with, other rec is math teacher who has seen a lot of growth in me in his class
Supplements: Also putting a lot of effort into these, I think Iā€™m ahead of the game in terms of progress.

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)
I need aid, but i have worked out w my parents that iā€™ll go to an in-state school unless i get into my dream school or something similar, we ran the npcā€™s for those and it should be affordable, so i donā€™t want to spend too much time working out this part BUT since I am a national merit semifinalist and apparently 95% of semifinalists become finalists, i would love to add some schools that give me a lot of money for that! (but arenā€™t in the south i am very very averse to that so no bama or arizona or anything)
Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)
Note: iā€™m not gonna include all my schools on this list, just some safeties to show yā€™all that i actually have them (haha), and targets and reaches iā€™d really like some insight about

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)
    George Mason University
    Virginia Commonwealth University
    UPitt
  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
    Virginia Tech
    George Washington University (I did a program with them and Iā€™m basically guaranteed admission lol)
  • Match
    UVA
    Northeastern (possible ED2ā€¦ feedback?)??? (not sure if this goes in reach or not)
    Boston University??? (same here)
  • Reach
    Brown (ED1) THIS IS WHAT I REALLY WANT FEEDBACK ON!! do i have a chance or should i use my ed on something more realistic? I love brown like A LOT but if my chances are significantly better elsewhere Iā€™ll consider it
    Uchicago (another possible ED2)
    WashU (another possible ED2, got into their fly-in program but couldnā€™t go)
    Umichigan (iā€™m ea here i just really like this school haha)
    a bunch of other ivies and t20s

Additional Info: I had some circumstances in my freshman year that led to my dismal GPA (my counselor will discuss in her rec I already talked to her about it, should I mention in additional info?), but a very very strong upward trend. I had like a 3.95 UW 4.8 W in my junior year (if taken alone) with a very difficult course load, and Iā€™m planning to confinue that trend this year with an even more difficult course load. how valuable will this be to AOā€™s at Brown and at other t20s?
Also Iā€™m applying as a cognitive science + public policy/international relations/econ (depends on school) double major, that interdisciplinary interest really comes through in my application i think. interested in working in science/tech policy, probably will minor in cs or data science.

Thank you for the feedback in advance!

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Whoops Iā€™m not sure why the post has the first-gen tag sorry

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I just removed the first generation tag for you.

As you knowā€¦your list is WAYYYYYYY too long. It is so long, Iā€™m having trouble figuring out what you really want.

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Would Pitt be assured of giving you a net price similar to VA publics?

Would GWU be likely for giving you a net price similar to VA publics?

Would NEU and BU be matches for giving you a net price similar to VA publics?

5

Thank you! And yeah, I know my list is really long. Iā€™ve decided that I want to apply to a lot of schools to max out my chances at getting into one of them, but Iā€™ve talked to my school counselor and parents about it and I think Iā€™m gonna stick with doing that!! And in terms of what I really want, what do you mean by that? I can answer any clarification questions if that helps :slight_smile:

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You have colleges that are all over the country. Except for the Virginia schools, it seems you took a list of the top colleges in the country and planted them on a list. What do you want in a college beside some prestige or ranking.

Brown, for example, is very different than most of the other Ivies. And even most of the other T 20 schools.

What characteristics do you want in a college?

Alsoā€¦when you say you are not thrilled with the southā€¦is it because of heat? Arizona has a different vibe than Alabama (Iā€™m talking the colleges). Another school with great NM potential is University of Tulsa. Another is University of New Mexico. Miami in Oxford Ohio might work but itā€™s more rural than others on your list. tOhio State University has some scholarships that you might getā€¦and itā€™s in the state capital.

But reallyā€¦before you add anythingā€¦I think you need to refine your current very lengthy list.

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Pitt probably not. Iā€™ll move it to match but Iā€™m applying to the honors program and for their merit scholarships so weā€™ll see!
GWU maybe not, also applying for scholarships so weā€™ll see
NEU and BU yeah definitely not.
Iā€™ll add that I am applying to a lot of external scholarships as well, so if I get any major ones thatā€™ll definitely change the game so I donā€™t want to really take any seemingly unaffordable ones off my list yet if that makes sense!!

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Best to move them to the reach category if you need to get large competitive merit scholarships to be able to afford them. Remember, an admission that is too expensive is the same as a rejection.

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That is kinda what I did, but I do really love Brown. I love the open curriculum (since I want to cross humanities and STEM) and their community SO much, and Providence is so awesome!! could literally write an essay about everything I love about Brown.
I do also like UChicago, Northwestern, and Northeastern a lot for different reasons, but Brown is definetely my #1. Iā€™ve seen other threads on CC with suggestions for LACā€™s and stuff similar to Brown, but I donā€™t really want to go to a LAC honestly (thatā€™s why I have none on my list). I want to be in at least close proximity to a city, and anything too far in the south is an absolute no go. best case scenario i end up somewhere in the northeast or chicago, i donā€™t know how i feel about west coast which is why iā€™m just throwing out a few applications over there. would also like to find some schools that meet at least some of this criteria and give me money for NMSF!
But also first Iā€™d really like to know if I have a chance at a school like Brown with my gpa (like does my upward trend,really great essays, LOR, and strong ECā€™s give me a bit of a chance?)

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will do, thank you for the insight! do you know any schools that might give me merit aid for NMSF and arenā€™t in the south? iā€™ve had a hard time finding any

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Oh I also just saw the rest of your post, and no itā€™s not because of the heat. As a black student I donā€™t feel great going down south if you get what I mean! Iā€™d really like to be in a more diverse environment near a city, just because I feel safer overall, and my parents agree. So going south is a definite no. Iā€™ll definitely check out Miami and Ohio State though, thanks!

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Define ā€œthe southā€ for your purpose of what states or regions you want to avoid.

Big merit NMF/NMSF schools and their specialties mentions Fordham University, Washington State University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of Southern California, University of Maine that are not in what most people would define as ā€œthe southā€.

There is also mention of University of Tulsa and University of Missouri, which may or may not be ā€œthe southā€. Of course, your home state of Virginia and its universities like Virginia Commonwealth University mentioned there is also often considered to be in ā€œthe southā€.

Also, the net price after the NM based scholarships does vary, so it may be that some are too expensive even with those scholarships, which may be automatic with NM status or competitive beyond that. Also, not all of those college with NM based scholarships assure admission to those with NM status.

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Schools in the North that give substantial merit for NMF status include University of Maine, Fordham, BU (but amounts getting smaller), and NEU (also getting smaller.)

Here is a thread about the NMSF/NMF schools and their characteristics:

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Despite your non-perfect GPA, I think you have a shot at any of your reaches. If you love Brown best, apply ED.

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Avoiding deep south and some surrounding areas. Alabama, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia is fine IF the school is in Atlanta, Florida, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Arizona. Texas is also fine as long as its in a big city like Austin, Dallas, etc.
Wow, I had no idea all those schools offered merit for NMF/NMSF (i know fordham is especially good for poli sci/gov, which is super awesome and its in NYC so iā€™ll take a close look)! I will definitely check them out and will probably add some to my list, thanks so much!!
Yeah, Tulsa and Missouri is a bit of a stretch for me. Honestly Iā€™m not fine with a lot of places in VA unless its in Northern VA (where Iā€™m based) or Richmond (like VCU) or Charlottesville (my parents even had concerns about that, though).
Good to know the caveats of the NM scholarship stuff, I will definitely take that into account. Thanks for the info!

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Also Iā€™m avoiding Florida just because I donā€™t like the state, Iā€™m not sure exactly how those new laws affect the colleges, but I think its better for me to just avoid completely because Iā€™m not tryna get one of my classes banned or something.

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Thank you so much for this info as well! Will go through this thread when I have some time later.

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Be aware that places outside the south are not necessarily free of racism. For example, Columbus, OH, where The Ohio State University is, has its problems with racism: Understanding Columbusā€™ Racial Divide .

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Maybe I just needed to hear this from someone whoā€™s not a family member or friend, but thank you!! I just need to know Iā€™m not crazy for throwing my hat in the ring. I would love some suggestions from anyone about some other schools I should consider, though! My list is very much just in-state safeties then a bunch of reaches. Itā€™s kinda an all or nothing game. I would like to find some targets that Iā€™d really like to go to if I get in (in the likely scenario that I donā€™t get accepted to reaches).

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Yeah absolutely, a lot of schools honestly have problems with this and I know itā€™s not really possible to ā€˜escapeā€™ racism by going to a different part of the country, but I definitely know that itā€™s more concentrated/blatant in some parts of the US, and those are the parts I want to avoid. Cities also tend to be more diverse and inclusive of different races/cultures, so thatā€™s why I want to be in close proximity to one!

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