my biggest worry going into senior year in the fall is that my stats aren’t good enough for the schools i’m aiming for. frankly any top 100/top 50 school would make me happy, but right now i’m looking at:
columbia
barnard
colby
bryn mawr
middlebury
ithaca
CUNY john jay
feel free to recommend safeties in the northeast because i literally have NONE at the moment.
i am going for a double major in environmental science/international relations.
I would look into Middlebury - they have a great environmental science program and an awesome study abroad program. I heard that they’re good for language and international relations majors as well. Your stats are awesome - I’m super impressed. You could also look into Marist College or Stonehill College. Best of luck! I’m CO 2025 as well so hopefully we end up where we’re supposed to!
their contribution will most likely be very low, we aren’t exactly low income but we cannot afford overly expensive schools. this is why most schools on my list have a needs-based tuition system. i have specifically spoken to colby & columbia alumni about the financial aid at the respective schools, and if the amount given is not enough to cover tuition, students are able to submit appeals for extra coverage.
You should use the net price calculator on each college’s web site to get an idea of what it may offer.
Be careful if you have divorced parents and the college requires both (you will need accurate information from both, which is often difficult to get), or your parents have more unusual types of income like from a small business, rental real estate, farm, etc… (where some types of tax deductions are not counted by college financial aid offices).
oh, thank you, i didn’t know that. my parents are not divorced, but my mother is self-employed so i will definitely look into how that will affect my financial aid.
FAFSA doesn’t give you money, it determines what federal financial aid programs you qualify for, like Pell grants. It sounds like your family income may be too high to qualify for Pell (what is it?), but everyone who files FAFSA qualifies for the $5,500 federal direct student loan. FAFSA also calculates your EFC, or expected family contribution…consider that the minimum you will be expected to pay. Most FAFSA only schools won’t offer a FA package that is close to the EFC. Some schools (mostly privates) require the CSS Profile to access institutional FA.
If your parents can’t afford their EFC, you are going to need to look for schools that offer merit aid.
As ucbalumnus said, run those net price calculators, if it looks like you can’t afford a school, don’t apply there…while you can appeal, unless your financial situation has changed it is unlikely to be granted. As you can imagine, many families are hurting financially right now and asking for extra money.
i don’t know. both my parents have jobs but my mother is self employed so it fluctuates but if i had to estimate with what is occurring due to the pandemic, 90-110k. however we do financially support all 3 of my grandparents, two of whom are chronically ill. does that affect anything? (i’m sorry about all of the questions, again i’m first gen and know very little about the financial aspect of this).
thank you for the advice i will use the fafsa4caster.
also very random question related to fafsa. a friend has a similar circumstance to me. i have heard of people getting married in order to qualify for more aid on the fafsa. do you know anything about how that changes what we could qualify for?
It looks like you’re a New York state resident. Have you considered applying to SUNY-ESF (College of Environmental Science and Forestry)? It has an excellent reputation and should be relatively affordable if you’re in-state. https://www.esf.edu/
If you live in NYC, and since you’re considering CUNY John Jay, you should consider applying to CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College. It’s an outstanding program and you’ll graduate debt-free. You apply to both the program and the specific CUNY school. https://macaulay.cuny.edu/
Other schools that might be targets that you should consider are Mount Holyoke (good merit), Connecticut College, and Wheaton College (in Mass).
wow thank you so much! i will definitely check them out. i am not a NY resident, but i am willing to deal with OOS costs. for personal reasons i do not wish to stay in state, so this helps very much!
Other schools that offer merit aid are St. Lawrence University and Union College (both in New York) and Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. They are all smaller liberal arts colleges with great reputations.
Questions:
Could you please give me the breakdown of that SAT score?
Are you at a public or private school?
What area of the US are you living in?
Are you taking AP Physics and/or AP Chem?
Are you taking AP Calc?
What were your lowest grades in?
Do you have any other awards?
Do you have any publications?
Are you taking another foreign language? (Yep, I realize you’re probably fluent in Spanish already, but are you taking another one?) Also, how many languages do you speak?
my school is selective-private and in NJ. my graduating class is only 400, we are relatively small compared to other schools in the region.
AP chem was cut from my school this year. i was not planning to take AP calc out of worry that my lack of overall interest in the class would lead to a lower grade and a possible failure on the AP exam. i am planning on taking AP physics!
my lowest grade ever was freshman year geometry, i pulled straight B’s but the professor was later investigated & fired for lack of certification. but aside from that singular class my lowest grade has been a 93/A- in statistics and probability.
i am currently a junior so i plan to enter a few writing contests that offer publication as a prize. i have had my writing posted to student-run publications if that counts for anything.
i took italian for two years but was forced to drop it for my current junior year. if you want more than 1 AP at my school they make it impossible for you to continue a foreign language while doing so.
if you have any advice for me please feel free to give, especially about awards haha. that is one of my current worries :”)
(also does an internship look very good/boost the application? thank you for the help!)
This is an interesting list of schools because they are all so very different. I encourage you to consider what might be the best fit for you: Do you prefer urban or rural? Small or large? Competitive or collaborative? Do you need academic support or support for 1st gen students? Try to think about what kind of environment in which you’re most likely to thrive. I believe Middlebury has one of the highest graduation rates for 1st gen students, and I know Amherst considers it very important in the common data set. I think Smith and Mt Holyoke give merit aid which might be helpful. An internship could be helpful if it supports the rest of your application, otherwise it’s not. For example, my D did a STEM-related internship that on its own sounds impressive. However, she is not interested in STEM (her dad arranged the internship) and her resume is all humanities, social justice and debate activites; therefore, she put the internship at the bottom of her activites list.
You’ve worked hard and you have an impressive record. I encourage you to give more thought to finding the best fit. Best of luck!
hello! these are just colleges i have been giving a close look at haha. my list has certainly expanded but cut out some schools i realized may not be the best fit for me. i truly do not mind where i go, whether it is a small school or a very large one. my main focus was on academics, merit and financial aid, and school diversity. many schools on my list however are very small, similar to the size of my current high school, which is around 2k students!
i have personal reasons for why i am very willing to accept the additional cost of OOS schools, but all of the schools on my list have clubs and inner communities set up to support people with a similar background and reasoning :”)
i tried my best to attach a photo of my recently updated list (certainly nowhere near finalized for now). some do have fly-in diversity weekends, which i plan to attend if covid is handled by the fall. i will definitely keep researching though, reading student reviews of their experiences also helps a lot.
i originally had an internship at my school’s hydroponic lab for the summer but it has been canceled due to covid. i was planning on searching for law-based internships just in case the internship is not reinstated, because law is the reason for my double major. every political/governmental choice we make impacts our environment, and i don’t believe people should govern environments they know nothing about.
would this supplement my application or harm it because much of my ECs are humanitarian/social justice work?
I recommend you take a peek at Grinnell because they’re pretty diverse and social-justice oriented. They also offer merit aid and no loans in financial aid packages (as well as minimum 10k grant to all successful ED applicants).
As for internships, it will have the most impact if it aligns with the rest of your application, meaning your ECs, your choice of major, that kind of thing. It demonstrates your passion and commitment, and even volunteer work for an organization in line with your interests, will have more impact than an impressive but unrelated internship. If you’re interested in environmental studies, you could look for a position in the sustainability office of a business (most larger companies have one), or you could promote environmental awareness on a social media platform, or you could start a zoom book group with an agenda, or to help all of those young kids out there doing school online you could hold weekly zoom classes where you demonstrate how to make cool things out of recycled materials. Anyway, you get my point. Whatever it is you’re passionate about, you can find an opportunity to showcase that passion. Anything where you’ve used your own initiative or shown leadership is going to be impressive and will support your application. I hope that all makes sense.
very out of left field question, but on CC i saw a post saying that if you are middle class, the SAT subject tests are actually required and not recommended. i’m not sure if you have any experience with that, but if you do, would you say that is true?
thank you so much again for all your help, i very much appreciate everyone responding with their suggestions and advice! C:
