Chance me for Occidental College?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Occidental College
1

GPA: 3.64, most rigorous schedule available, got a C in Alg. 2 and AP Physics 1 (comparatively bad at math).
Top 30% of school.
Will have 17 AP classes by end of senior year. Passed 10 AP tests so far, lowest score was a 4. Taken AP Bio (5), Lit (5), Comp sci prin. (4), Human Geography (5), World History (5), Physics 1 (4), Environmental Sci. (5), Gov (5), Seminar (5), Calc AB (4)

ACT: 35, (36 R, 35 E, 35 S, 32 M). 10 on writing.
SAT: 1500, (730 M, 770 RW)
Probably National Merit semi-finalist at least

ECs:
Debate, #2 in state for LD, 3x time national qualifier in Congress, LD, and extemp, all-state 3x, 3x letterer, Treasurer
Mock trial: State champs and state runner up (on 2 teams b/c we needed people), co-captain, national qualifier
Science Olympiad: Life sciences state champ 2 years running (in multiple categories), co-captain
Key Club: 220+ hours of community service (hospital volunteering, elderly care, and working with homeless LGBT youth.)
Congressional Award: Gold certificate indicating 90+ hours of community service and congressional recognition
Presidential Volunteer Service Award: Received the gold level
Student senate: Senator and head of the party-planning committee (is this relevant?)
Spanish club: Member, taken Spanish for 6 years, one of 3 people in school of 1000 taking AP Spanish.
GSA: Member
Boys State: Selected to go this summer

Personal info: White male from a rural western state, LGBT, middle class. Public school.
Major: IDK, trying to decide between law and medicine. Probably either history/political science or some type of biology.

And if you guys could suggest some schools to apply to with good financial aid + scholarship opportunities that are in larger cities, that’d be appreciated.

2

Looks great. Great job getting 4+ on all those AP tests and keeping a solid GPA. [url = <a href=“https://www.oxy.edu/admission-aid/apply/admission-facts/class-profile%5DAverage”>https://www.oxy.edu/admission-aid/apply/admission-facts/class-profile]Average GPA was 3.68 and ACT was 30 at Oxy last year.

I’d be concerned with “yield protection” as your ACT, APs and ECs are so likely to be reviewed highly at many other colleges. If you are truly interested, visiting the college if you can, visiting their booth at college fairs (and being noted that you visited), doing an interview and generally showing “demonstrated interest” will go a long way in showing that you like the college. This is generally true for liberal arts colleges.

Other urban schools that are similar (most are considered suburban):

  • SoCal: Claremont McKenna, Pomona, Pitzer (all in Claremont Consortium about 50-90 mins from LA)
  • Midwest: Macalester (St Paul/Minneapolis - 15 mins from anywhere by car, known for Internationalism), Carleton & St Olaf (rural but 1 hour to Minneapolis)
  • Northwest: Reed (10 mins from Portland), Lewis & Clark (30 mins from Portland, less aid)
  • Rockies: Colorado College (suburb of Denver)
  • East: Swarthmore and Haverford (both in Tri-College Consortium about 40 mins from Philadelphia)

Do some research and you’ll find which have good programs with your probable majors. Midwest & East liberal arts colleges have good aid and many are conveniently within striking distance of city amenities.

3

I’d add Lafayette College in Easton PA. About an hr from NYC, 1 1/2 from Philly. With your ACT and ECs, you may have a shot a one of their top scholarships (currently 40k/yr). Visited there with S and we were both very impressed. Try to get great first semester 12th grade grades. Good luck!