Chance me for SUNY New Paltz (and SUNY Cortland?)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’ve recently fallen in love with New Paltz, and I’ve yet to look at Cortland much, but at both schools I’m interested because of their theater and ability to double major/minor in something more practical (New Paltz’s Theater BA with MT concentration and Cortland’s MT BA and minor), also because I seem like a decent candidate academically and these are two very affordable schools.

So here’s the stats and facts-

*College Prep religious (lutheran) private high school
*4 yrs English, 4 yrs Math, 4 yrs + electives Social Studies, 3 yrs lab science + 1 yr Earth Science, 3 yrs French, 4 yrs Performing Arts (Choir, Dance, Music Theory), AP Classes include Music Theory & English Lit, possibly self-studying Psychology and maaaaybe US Government. Honors and/or AP include English (9, 12), Social Studies (9-12), Bio (9)
*84.91 Weighted GPA grades 9-11, so I think I’m around 3.2W & 3.1UW?? MAJOR upward curve, all classes junior year were above 85 except Algebra 2 (73). My freshman & sophomore years sucked (not just grade wise but in general :/)
*27 ACT Composite, English 30, Math 22, Reading 28, Science 27. Only took once, taking 1 more time.
*1850 SAT superscore (1200 out of 1600) (2 tests)- CR 620, Math 580, Writing 650
*2 pretty darn good recommendation letters, maybe 3 if I’m getting one from my guidance counselor but idk yet!
*Pretty solid EC - Outside of school musical theater productions (11-12, upwards of 30 weeks of the year, including summers, averaging 8 hrs/wk but can be as high as 12) Music Club Vice President (Member 10-12, VP 11-12) Drama Club (9-12), Gospel Choir (9-12), Science Olympiad (10-12), Yearbook (12), Prom Committee (12), probably some little things I’m forgetting. (I regret not doing more volunteer work, I’ve probably done about 20-30 misc hours throughout HS but i dont know how to list that on an application)
*First generation (my mom attended a few months of college before dropping out, no one else in the immediate family has attended any college. I bring this up in my essay, as well, where I talk about now my father is an immigrant from Ireland, found a job as a horse & carriage driver, and had to fight to keep his job and how that all ties into my life.)
**May have qualified for learning disability related things, as I’ve showed symptoms of ADD most of my life but was never diagnosed/wasn’t considered severe enough (not sure if that helps anything but i guess it’s worth mentioning)

I’m also applying to Wagner, Temple, American (FAR reach), Seton Hall, Rhode Island College, Montclair State, James Madison University, and maybe Rutgers but I need to look into them more, just to name all my schools that aren’t safeties. but I absolutely LOVE New Paltz and think that I’ll at least like Cortland, plus they’re the most affordable, and New Paltz is only an hour and a half from home!

Any chancing at all is appreciated! :smiley:

2

It’s a little easier to get into New Paltz than Cortland. Your scores are high enough, GPA a little low but you should be fine. Worst case you would get in off of the wait list. I know a lot of people who get in after being wai-tlisted at Cortland with worse grades and scores.

3

It’s actually harder to get into New Paltz than Cortland.
The top 25% threshold at Cortland is 25; only the top 10% have your ACT score. That alone will suffice. Your GPA is well within their 50% and your curriculum is much more rigorous than most, so it’s a safety. Odds are very high that you’ll get in.
The top 25% threshold at New Paltz is 27, so you’re right there, and your GPA places you in the bottom 30-35%. Curriculum rigor will help you so it’s a match. Odds are even.

Apply to Honors Programs if you can.

Have you run the NPC on all your universities?
Have you applied to Honors College to Temple (your ACT 27 should provide you with guaranteed merit money, too).

4

New Paltz known as an Artsy school so if you’re looking for Theatre thats better. New Paltz has great music program. Cortland more academic/sports

5

New Paltz is an “artsy” school however there are many who attend who are not “artsy.” A lot of the kids take the bus into the city on the weekends to see shows, etc. New Paltz is more difficult to get into than Cortland. It happens to be a nice little school and one that is often forgotten about. The kids I know who attend New Paltz play sports and do not have art related majors.

Cortland is not “artsy,” Many of the students (male and female) at Cortland are into sports and either play on a school team or for fun. There are buses into the city, but the students do not go for the day. There is a brand new gym that just opened at Cortland that is quite nice. The dorms are also very nice. The town is very very small but there is one with a few restaurants. It is not uncommon to go into Ithaca (less than a half hour) or Syracuse (45 minutes) on the weekends. Most of the majors are related to education and it has a very good sports management program with excellent internships.

I believe you will get into Cortland. Your ACT is good for New Paltz but your GPA is a little low. That being said, I think you have a decent chance of acceptance. Good luck!

6

Yes, that’s true. I know a couple of guys playing a sport there who are basically going there to play their sport and coach was interested. If they have your major there it works out well for athletes. They seem to like it there.

7

MYOS1634, I would qualify for Temple’s honors?! woah…

I realize that my GPA is a bit low, but I have struggled with learning disability symptoms (read: doctors telling me from an early age “you have ADD but you’ve never have it “bad enough” for a diagnosis”) that have followed me most of my life that impacted my GPA (did I mention that? maybe I forgot to, whoops); planning on talking to my guidance counselor about how I can mention that in my application, possibly in the Additional Information. Thank you all for the advice and kind words!

8

I didn’t say you’d definitely get in, but yes your test scores give you a shot and they have automatic merit too. It’ll depend on how rigorous your HS curriculum was compared to most of their applicants and how good your essays are.
Yes definitely mention that in “Addt’l info”.

9

Ah yes of course nothing is guaranteed, I know, I just didn’t know that I even came CLOSE to the standard held for Temple’s honors! Good to know :smiley:

I had 2 AP classes, probably self-studying 1 or 2 more, all 4 years of honors in social studies, a couple other honors in freshman year (but then of course frosh year sucked and i never got those honors back for some reason), and my school is college prep private, so my courses are more advanced than typical regents courses in the first place, I think?

10

Your school being college prep private will help.
Do apply to the Temple Honors program. At worst, you won’t get in. What’s there to lose?