<p>Chance for BU, BC, NYU, Fordham, Lehigh, Vassar, Villanova, Northeastern (or any other northeastern schools)
what would be appropriate safety, target, and reach schools in northeastern area?
Major: political science
Classes:
Freshman year: Algebra, English and History H (Science H or Honors electives not offered) Italian 2
Sophmore year: AP Us History 1 (Exam taken in Junior year) English Honors... I dropped to Geometry CP and therefore had to take Biology CP
Italian 3
Junior:AP Language and Composition, AP Government and politics, AP US History, Italian 4 Honors, Contemporary Issues H, (but algebra II and chemistry CP)
*I got a 5 on all three AP exams
As a senior I plan to take: AP Psychology AP Macro/Micro-economics, AP Italian language, AP Literature, physics CP, calculus Cp (but only one half year study which is small compared to most students)</p>
<p>Weakest part of my transcript are my science/math classes that were college prep instead of honors
However, I never took any free periods or studies
GPA 3.8 (unweighted) 4.25 Weighted (i plan for this to rise)
ACT:31 (need to retake because I didn't prep)
36 in Reading, 34 in Writing, 27 in Math, 26 in Science
Still need to retake my US History subject test (scored a 660) and i will take Italian (I am fluent)
Gender: F
Ethnicity: White
From NJ public school
I am a first generation American (not underprivileged financially however and my father did achieve undergrad after immigrating)
E.C.
Captain in History quiz bowl (decathlon) Vice president of a environmental club, President of a political awareness club
JV girls tennis player for 3 years,
Italian National Honor Society President
Regular National Honor Society Member
yearly student senator
Class representative
Yearbook club
Volunteering at a food pantry/homeless shelter for 3 years
Volunteering at the public library to help small children in reading
Tutoring my peers for volunteer hours in English
DECA regional business competition winner and state competitor
Political Campaigning (would a letter of rec from a governor be useful?)</p>
<p>I have NO CLUE what I am capable of getting into</p>
<p>i also won the AP scholar award</p>
<p>Great stats and ECs! </p>
<p>Assuming you get at least a 33 on your ACT retake, here are your chances:
-NYU: high match
-Vassar: high match
-BC: mid match
-Villanova: mid match
-Lehigh: mid match
-Fordham: low match
-BU: low match / safety
-Northeastern: safety</p>
<p>I noticed you don’t have any reach schools here, and you could totally apply to some top-20 colleges 
Some reaches in the Northeast that I’d recommend are Tufts (low reach), Wesleyan (low reach), Wellesley (mid reach), Bowdoin (mid reach), Haverford (mid reach), Carnegie Mellon (high reach), Dartmouth (high reach), Cornell (high reach).</p>
<p>Good luck!!</p>
<p>Those are all pretty much matches or safeties. </p>
<p>Why did you pick the schools you did? Just because they are in the northeast? Because it looks like you have half city schools and have suburban/rural ones. No definitive school type. Not an insult just curious why you picked them. </p>
<p>I agree look for some reaches</p>
<p>I want a school that’s in the NJ, NY, PA, MA area so I wouldn’t need a plane to commute home. (The closer the better)
I am worried about my schedule being weak in the areas of science and math but should it help if I apply as a political science major? Also do college admissions really care about the upward trend (because that would benefit me as I took 3 honors freshman year and as a senior have 4 APs)</p>
<p>Some colleges don’t look at freshman year. They definitely like an upward trend yes :)</p>
<p>if i plan to major political science is it better for me to apply as political science (in order to demonstrate an explanation to why my english/history grades are higher than math/science), or should i apply undecided because political science is a popular major, probably with competitive applicants</p>
<p>Better to apply for political science as it will cushion the impact of your math/science CP curriculum.
However I’d say the responses above (#4, 5…) are a bit optimistic. </p>
<h1>1 factor is course rigor and your counselor will not indicate your courseload was the most rigorous. Admission officers note how many classes were Honors, AP, Advanced or accelerated. You MUST have 5 classified as Honors, AP, Advanced or Accelerated, each year, to be competitive for the schools you’ve listed (except Villanova, Fordham, and Northeastern).</h1>
<p>Even if you get in at BU, BC, NYU… you run a very high risk of not getting sufficient financial aid because your stats aren’t competitive enough. Odds better at Fordham for admission with FA, sure for admission without FA.
You have good odds at Villanova and Northeastern too (with FA).
Lehigh tracks interest so it depends if you’ve contacted them and maintained contact.
Since you’re from NJ, TCNJ would be a safety for you and probably affordable.
Look into Dickinson, Gettysburg, Bucknell, Muhlenberg, Allegheny, St Mary’s of Maryland, Goucher, Simmons, Wheaton (MA), SUNY Geneseo, Bard, Fordham, Franklin and Marshall. ALl those would be good for political science and a match.
For politics, Tufts, Brandeis, AU are good but reaches for your stats.
West Chester would be a financial and admissions safety.</p>
<p>Thank you that was a really resourceful post and I can tell you know what you’re talking about. Luckily enough, I don’t have to worry about financial aid too much because I have extended family willing to help out.
I took Honors math freshman year and CP science (because no honors was offered.) My teacher didn’t teach for math and many kids in the class failed because he was absent for months at a time (His wife was dying), and since there was only one Algebra I honors class not one person continued onto honors math. Because of not being in honors math sophomore year, I could not get into honors science, so I stayed in CP and achieved the highest average in the class. My guidance counselor is including this in a letter to my colleges.
So junior year was technically the only year I chose not to take the math and science honors because of the three APS and two honors classes I had including an accelerated language class. I have taken the hardest english and history curriculum possible.
Will the explanation in your opinion cushion the rigor of my curriculum? APs are also not offered freshman year and only one was offered sophmore year which I took, so I have under school policy tried to achieve the hardest classes I was allowed to take.
I have 6 core classes senior year: 4 are APS, and two are CP pre-calculus and physics (a class most of my grade doesn’t take) should I attempt to switch into honors? It would require me to pass a honors trigonometry final when I’ve taken up to Algebra Two CP. (My school has been changing its curriculum and for this reason makes it very hard to take math or science honors courses)
Sorry this was long but understanding my realistic reaches and matches will help me start college application supplements and you seem very helpful</p>
<p>Bump! Sorry need answers</p>
<p>Since you’re hoping to major in Political Science, a related AP course such as AP World History or AP European History would be better than Physics (unless you’re certain you can handle physics - it’s not a bad course to have but an Honors Social Science/Humanity would be better than CP physics).
Make absolutely SURE your counselor details everything you cited. You may want to type a quick; bullet-point list of what happened and have him/her put it in your file for reference (along with a short resume, to make her/his job easier during crunch time).
And do look into more schools. You really don’t want to be in the position of having no choice.</p>
<p>I actually think that everything you have is good. Ideally, even though colleges say they only want one/two/three years of whatever class, they would want three/four. By taking physics, it shows you have commitment and will be prepared to take a “gen ed” college level course in college (same goes for math).
I want to major in International Relations (wanted to major in PoliSci a couple years back), and psych is VERY important for this major.
Try making a resume of everything you did: one category is sports/activities (cite leadership), awards, and then a job/etc.
Do you like schools in the DC area? You could get in into AU, most likely GW, and if you show interest/work hard - Georgetown.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! I appreciate it.
I’m taking physics because some colleges like Villanova require it, and while my school doesn’t offer AP geography or AP world history, I switched out of AP euro for psychology because it seemed more useful to me and a potential minor
I have looked at GW but am not applying to Georgetown because it requires a science sat subject test (although I will have taken 2 humanities subject tests)
And yes my counselor has a bulleted letter with these details about my course rigor, however, I am still worried I won’t be competative enough to apply to bc, vassar, etc</p>
<p>You can always apply, knowing those are reaches. You’ll see. What matters and is THE MOST important is for you to find two safeties, 2 schools where you’d be happy to go if you were admitted and where the NPC (sticker price minus either need based or merit based aid, or minus both!) indicates your parents will be able to pay.</p>
<p>As far as I know, Villanova does not require Physics, and especially not for future Poli Sci majors. Email them and ask.
Rather than GW, apply to AU, it’d be a better match. You want to be well above the middle 50% in order to get good FA.</p>
<p>If you could take both AP Euro and AP Psych, it’d be better for you. The number of Honors/Ap/Advanced classes you take is a factor, and having one less CP class would be good for you.</p>