Chance Me: Johns Hopkins [RI resident, 3.7 GPA, 1110 SAT, <$30k]

[Knowsstuff]

You need to find schools that fit you where you are at now to be successful. Forget rank and name. Many schools named will get you where you want to go to. Fit /culture of school is key.

I went to a local regional college when most of my friends went to the named schools. I live in the same area as those that went to well named schools. Live in the same types of house and drive similar cars and kids went to similar private schools and similar colleges. I would of failed out, in my case, If I didn’t go to community college for a year.

Go to the best school for you. You do you. Don’t worry about your friends choices. . When asked where your going to school be proud and let whomever know that this is the best college for me to be successful at.

[parentologist]

There is a regional tuition break for new england residents at other new england schools, if your state doesnt have what you want. But it is only something like 150% of in state tuition, and only for certain majors.

[thumper1]

@FatimaD_24

So do you believe an Ivy league is 100% not possible at this point?

Apply test optional and see. If you do or don’t get accepted you will never know why. And if you don’t get accepted, you will be in very good company with the high %age of well qualified applicants who don’t get accepted along with you.

Just make sure you have a list of criteria you want in a college, and a varied list of colleges in terms of how competitive they are for admissions. Find a couple of affordable sure things for admission that are affordable that you like. Then build your list up from there.

[gandalf78]

If you haven’t done so, check out the Common Data Sets for schools that you are considering. Section C7 tells you how different academic and non-academic admissions factors are weighted by a school; Sections C9-C11 give objective information for recently matriculated students, which may in turn give you a crude estimate of how you compare with them for admissions purposes.

[FatimaD_24]

Thanks, I needed to hear this!

[Knowsstuff]

No problem. I lived it. Also got into med school a year earlier and never graduated undergrad… Just work hard and be persistent and always bet on yourself. Don’t listen to others that say you can’t. You can.

Good luck!

[FatimaD_24]

I have two questions.

Would it be okay to apply to several universities without focusing on the expenses until acceptance/rejection letters are released and I see how much money I’m offered? This only applies to colleges that I am genuinely interested in but are expensive.

What are your thoughts on majoring in something different for the sake of acceptance, and then changing your major later on (before sophomore year in college)? It’s an idea that I’ve considered before but it seemed risky. I’ve steered away from this after figuring out that I shouldn’t change myself for a college, if that makes sense.

[tsbna44]

Once you have two affordable schools that you’d be excited to attend, then it doesn’t matter where you apply.

For example, if you can be jazzed for URI or RIC (assuming both meet budget), then take your shots.

To answer your question, if you know you can’t afford a school, it would be inefficient and wasting time to apply but as long as you have those safeties, it doesn’t matter. In the end, if you get into 10 colleges, you’re going to tell nine of them no.

My family is full pay but I set a budget of $50K. So my kids had no reason to apply to Ivy (one wanted Cornell) or Georgetown. They could have if they paid the app, but they weren’t going even if they got in so they chose different elite schools instead (one chose Rice which has merit and Washington & Lee which has the Johnson Scholarship (google that)

The net price calculators are there for you to understand how the finances will shake out. But again, you only can attend one school - but I say it’s good to have two financial and admission safeties. After that, it’s really up to you. But if, for example, Cornell says your family is full pay but they’re only wanting to pay $30K, you’d be wasting time and effort in applying. But you can still apply if you choose to.

I’m absolutely against your point #2. The reason is - each school has different transfer policies and some majors are either very difficult to transfer into or not available for transfer at all. You should apply for the major you are interested in. If a school says no to that major, then it’s not the right school for you. Some say - I’ll apply for an easier major. So you get in…then what. The major is far more important than the school.

I can tell you are “prestige” heavy - so let me leave you with this and yes I noted before. My engineering kid chose to attend Alabama. He got into top level Purdue with merit. He chose Bama because he got his own dorm room and the campus is super nice. He’s in the same role he would have been at Purdue - with Purdue kids in fact.

My daughter just finished her 2nd year at # 16 or 17 she got into. She’ll be at a top think tank in DC this Fall. If you PM me, I’ll tell you the name - you’ve likely heard of it.

It’s not where you go. It’s how much you hustle, etc. that matters. I truly believe it’s about you!!

btw - you mention MIS as a possible major. Not saying you can afford but you’d get into Arizona and it’s been a perennial top school in MIS for years. Same with Minnesota and even Georgia State. You know who isn’t? Much or all of your list.

You also mention pharmacy. You

Some of the pharmacy colleges have highly paid grads. For example, here’s Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences focuses on pharmaceutical sciences and public health but also has respected [microbiology and clinical laboratory sciences]. Their grads make more (on average) than Cornell, Columbia, Bowdoin, Amherst, NYU, Tufts, Vanderbilt, BU, BC and Johns Hopkins grads. Pretty impressive for a school you probably never heard of.

Listen - if you want to put in the effort to apply to places - go ahead. You heard before - don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do anything. I agree with that. Control what you can - which is you. You will make your success - not a school. But if you want to take your shot, go ahead.

The worst that you can do is waste time and energy - but if you’re willing to do so, then why not. And who knows, maybe my assessment is incorrect.

Best of luck.

[FatimaD_24]

Yes, I also noticed that I’m “prestige” heavy. It’s a mindset I can’t shake. One day I realize it’s about the effort that I put in (and as a potential CS major, how many projects I’ve done/will do), the next day I feel that if I don’t get into a top school its “embarrassing” or means that I can’t be just as good as anybody else. But your response makes perfect sense so hopefully I’ll get over this idea soon.

*By the way, URI and RIC are just “temporary” safeties or my worst-case-scenarios if that makes sense. I don’t think I would be happy there, as I would see way too many old classmates, which is just one con out of a list of many. I am still in the process of looking at other safeties that I may like better.

Thank you!

[tsbna44]

So let’s find your budget - you say less than $30K - but is that the real budget?

Without a budget, it’s hard to plan.

You can find other schools - but you have to be open geographically - or perhaps a UMaine with its flagship match.

But it’s much less diverse.

The high guy at my company went to Fairleigh Dickinson. Look it up. I work for a global leader.

In my team, a Vandy MBA is at the same level as a bachelor from W Georgia.

There are countless examples of Ivy working for less prestigious, etc. Yes, top students go to these schools and yes they produce fantastic grads. At the same time, so do other schools and not all Ivy kids are successful, just like non Ivy kids are headed for failure.

You control you. That’s what you can control. You can’t control who will let you in or not.

Most people, btw, go to local public schools. Rhode Island College has over 5,000 kids. URI 15,000. There’s a whole new entire world to meet.

But you can’t do anything without budget - look at a school like Western Carolina - full pay it’s less than $30K.

btw - others disagree with me. My kids got their jobs by applying via indeed. Yes, some companies come to their schools but they secured employment on their own.

Let’s look at Cornell…Ivy, elite…networked…right.
.
Well - in 2021 and 2022, 435 found their jobs on an internet posting. 412 on linkedin / facebook and 290 via Handshake - another online service where companies bombard schools.

Yes, they have job fairs and some found from on campus recruiting - but few relative to the totals.

You are not as disadvantaged as you think.

But let’s step back.

1. You need a safety that you’ll love - that you can get into and afford. That’s why you need the budget. If it’s not $30K like you list, tell us.

2. The reality is - your GPA, academic rigor and test score are below averages for top schools. Again you can try - but as an outsider, I’m being realistic.

3. No matter where you go - you’re going to have to deliver as a person -and i’m confident you can and will. That’s your secret sauce - you. No school can hold you back if you don’t want to be held back. So if they say no to you, who cares. It’s their loss - you have you!!

Let us help you find that school you can love and afford.

We need a real budget - and we need a real geographic level - because the NE isn’t inexpensive.

If you only want “prestigious”, then take your shot, apply nowhere else - and guess what - you can always go to a community college if it doesn’t work out.

Not sure how current this list is but some schools have fly in programs for minority students - where they invite you to campus for a visit. Maybe you can look into one. Being a minority may have advantages but given the recent Supreme Court ruling, you have to let people know in ways other than checking a box.

Fly-In Programs and Diversity Visit Experiences | Coalition for College (coalitionforcollegeaccess.org)

[aquapt]

Have you looked at the International dual-degree programs at URI? In five years, you get a degree in a foreign language (i.e. French) and in Computer Science, Engineering, or Business… and study+internship abroad are part of the program. It’s a unique offering at URI, so maybe that would make your in-state flagship feel a little less “meh.”

Definitely as was mentioned above, look at your New England reciprocity options. https://nebhe.org/info/pdf/tuitionbreak/2023-24/RI_Bachelors.pdf The downside there is that you can’t switch into a non-reciprocity major without losing the tuition break, so it narrows your exploratory options. But I did notice that there are several majors at UConn that might interest you. One is Cognitive Science, which includes a CompSci component Cognitive Science Major | Cognitive Science Program and another is their extremely well-regarded Geographic Information Science major | Department of Geography UConn is definitely not a safety for you - probably a low-reach - but it could be worth considering if those programs fit your interests.

There’s also U of Maine, which offers its Flagship Match rate to RI residents. Their School of Computing & Information Science offers three different undergrad programs, including a BA in CS (which is less math-y than the BS) and a BA in New Media, which might appeal if you have an artistic bent, as your interest in architecture seems to imply.

AustenNut has made good suggestions, as always! Agnes Scott could be a particularly good option. Another women’s college to consider, in the Northeast, would be Mount Holyoke. MoHo is very diverse, and it meets need… and you’d be a reasonable test-optional candidate (median SAT is 1400). It’s in a consortium with UMass Amherst, Amherst College, Smith, and Hampshire.

Denison U. could be another good one to look at. They’ve shown a strong commitment to diversity, and they meet need. They have both a CS major (BA or BS) and an excellent Data Analytics major. Denison is getting increasinly competitive (acceptance rate around 33%), but you’d be a solid test-optional candidate.

Clark, on your list, has good potential too, IMO.

It sounds as if you’re going back to the drawing board and running all the NPC’s, which is the right place to start. You should have good options if you target your applications correctly and don’t waste applications on schools that are guaranteed to be unaffordable.

[FatimaD_24]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate this!

[FatimaD_24]

Update: my official sat score is 1200 (560 Reading/Writing and 610 Math); it’s still low but it’s an improvement!

[tsbna44]

That’s 1170 or is your superscore 1200 ?

So JHU is highly unlikely.

Why not stay in Rhode Island ? Will have to read the thread again …

[FatimaD_24]

-Oops that was a typo; I meant 590. My super score would still equate to a 1200.

-I am not considering JHU anymore to be honest

-After some time,I am really considering URI because of their international dual degree program

[momsearcheng]

Just drop all your reaches, they are not happening. Focus on likely and matches. Consider applying TO. I do not think a score of 1200 will impress AO.

[kbeducator]

I am just reading this thread and wanted to share a couple thoughts. I am a parent of a student at Univ Alabama and a current high school senior. I am glad that you are here and that you are looking for feedback. I am sorry that you aren’t getting better support from your school counselor. And I get the feeling (perhaps incorrectly) that you’re doing a lot of this alone, without parent input. I appreciate your self drive, but also hope that you’re parent(s) come alongside you soon and walk through this with you.

My comment, though is mainly on the above posting. These schools are large. Unless you choose to hang out with old classmates, chances are you’ll rarely (never) see them. And chasing “prestige” can be outside pressure or pressure we put on ourselves. It can be a very difficult spot to be in. If you have time google Malcolm Gladwell “Why you shouldn’t go to Harvard”. It may be eye opening for you and help you realize that “prestige” isn’t all that it seems to be and we may even be much happier elsewhere!

Good luck to you! Excited to see you walk through this journey your senior year!