Chance me! 3.9 GPA, 33 ACT, Design Art or Cognitive Science/CS. Parents will only pay for Ivy's

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Background
I am a Korean American female and rising senior attending a magnet school in the northeast.

Special Factors
Not really sure how “special” this is but I am a GWU legacy.

Intended Majors
I want to major in digital art/design (it’s a very broad field but I don’t really have a specialized interest as to what type of design I would like to pursue).

Another major in mind is cognitive science/compsci. I want to expand my interests and I feel that those are the most appealing. I plan on double majoring with art.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.949
  • Weighted HS GPA: NA
  • Class Rank: NA
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 33 superscore (34 M, 26 S, 35 E, 36 R) Plan to retake.

Coursework

  • AP Calculus AB (5)
  • AP Studio Art (5)
  • AP Art History
  • AP Physics C
  • Linear Algebra (school doesn’t let AB kids take BC) / might drop down to AP Stats
  • IB Language and Literature HL
  • IB History HL
  • IB Spanish IV SL (will drop senior year)

Awards

  • CANstruction Competition 2021 - 1st place (international)
  • CSPAN StudentCam National Competition 2022 - Honorable Mention
  • Scholastic Art and Writing Awards “Empty Nostalgia” - Honorable Mention (regional)
  • Adobe Certified Professional in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign (not sure but I’ll say national/international)
  • Adobe Certified Professional in Visual Design (national/international)

Extracurriculars

  • School’s Literary Magazine (Designer, Webmaster)
  • Online organization run by students about empowering voice about Gen Z (Social media illustrator)
  • Logo Designer for my school’s CTF competitions
  • Head Interface Designer of nonprofit org started at school (we make websites for nonprofit organizations)
  • ( ) Philharmonic Intern - helped out with concerts, graphics, etc.
  • Piano (7 yrs) - performed for school’s selective music group at one of the town libraries, recorded and performed for care centers/senior homes in the county
  • Yearbook (member) - organized forms, communicated with teachers and other students, designed pages
  • Town library volunteer
  • School’s summer program intern: Geometry/MathCounts, Art
  • National Honor Society (volunteer)

Essays/LORs/Other

LORs (calc and english) should be strong + art teacher supplement strong
Haven’t written my essay yet but it might be strong (not sure though there’s this one idea I have but not sure if it’ll work out).

Cost Constraints / Budget

We are well-off (middle/upper middle class?). Parents have very skewed perspective of college. They want a full ride for all schools I’m applying for (which is not possible because of our income and just the fact that it is so rare) except for ivies (they’ll pay for them). This is kind of unfortunate because the only ivy that I was sorta thinking of was Brown. IMO the ivies don’t have what I want to pursue but parents won’t really listen, so my school list has some ivies.
Gonna be super honest I have really rough estimates from the Net Price Calculator. Parents refuse to be transparent with me about anything regarding financial need/income (+ how much we have in savings), so the numbers from the calculator are probably inaccurate. My parents took a look at my college list and approved it. I just know that they are willing to pay for Ivies.

Schools (everything is RD unless it says EA)

I have no ED’s because my parents won’t let me.

  • Safety: Rutgers
  • Likely: Fordham (EA) , GWU
  • Match: Boston University, Northeastern (EA)
  • Reach: Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cooper Union, Cornell, Georgia Tech (EA), NYU, RISD, Tufts, University of Southern California
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Move all colleges listed above to the reach category because you need a full ride to be able to attend.

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Thanks! I should have clarified that my parents are willing to pay for schools around my area (Fordham, NYU, Columbia, Cooper Union) in addition to ivies. With all my reaches, by stats alone, what do you think my chances are?

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Financing will be your constraint Not GPA or Test Scores

What State are you in Northeast is too vague?
Depending where you live State Flagships will probably be your best option.
Also, schools known to be generous with Merit. Look for schools where you are above the middle 50% level of applicants

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If you are a NJ don’t expect a dime from Rutgers.

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I live in NJ, unfortunately. I am aware of Rutgers and wanted to apply for NJIT but my parents told me to take it off the list. I can afford to go to universities in NYC but knowing NYC, they’re going to be expensive. My parents want me to go to NYC schools because of the number of opportunities offered.

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More accurately: out of reach. Because I don’t believe any of them will provide a full ride.

Rutgers may give $6-12k per year based on the latest admission cycle (for applicants with similar stats). But that’s still far from a full ride.

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What opportunities do they think you’ll get from NYC schools that you won’t get from Rutgers? (It doesn’t look like you’re aiming for investment banking or management consulting).

Rutgers is 40 miles from the center of Manhattan. It’s not half way across the country.

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You indicated that your parents are willing to pay for schools around your area (Columbia, NYU etc). Is Rutgers included in that list?

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Rutgers is on the OP’s list as a safety.

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I wasn’t sure if they needed a full ride or if it is included in the list of schools they would pay for (?)

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Granted, my only experience with Rutgers graduates in my family is my husband, and my daughter who got her masters in accounting, but my daughter could easily have been employed by a big 4 firm (which she didn’t want, but was hired by a NJ firm with a great reputation with a big 4 starting salary). I know many Rutgers grads (our HS sends about 20 or so a year including many valedictorians and salutatorians saving money).

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Wow, that’s new, my 3.9+ 33/34 7/9 AP students got nothing (as did my slightly lower stats kids). They were 8th/10th in their graduating classes (300+). Business/science majors.

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Have you considered Barnard?

I am a little confused about your parents’ ability to pay versus willingness to pay.

I know someone else with South Korean family background whose parents wanted only Ivies but of course they relented when the daughter got in to another set of schools.

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Do a few ACT science sections, and that science score will come way up.

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There’s a lot of design/art internships. Plus I currently have an internship there that they would like me to continue once I get into college.

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I agree with your classification of safeties and likelies. In terms of matches, Northeastern is probably going to pressure you to go ED and then if you won’t, it will give you an NU-in somewhere else (i.e. starting college abroad or being assigned a different campus, like California). And as BU has an acceptance rate below 20%, I’m calling that a reach too, though it’s probably one of the likelier schools amongst your reaches.

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I have not looked at Barnard yet. I’ll take a look.

Yeah my parents are pretty traditional korean parents.

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They don’t like Rutgers but its like their last option for them (if I get into none of the schools I go to Rutgers). So they will pay if they have to.

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If your family wants you to stay in NYC because of the design/art internships, would they consider one of the CUNYs, particularly if you were to get into Macaulay Honors? Alternatively, have you thought about The New School?

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