Hi! I’m a high school junior and I’m kinda going down a freak-out rabbit hole with college admissions. Can you guys help give me a sense of what some targets, safeties, and reaches would be for me? Thanks! Here are my stats so far:
I go to a really high ranked private school in NYC
I am a legacy at Penn State
1420 superscored SAT, but I am still working on getting a better score
3.6 unweighted gpa, 3.8 weighted
I really like Penn state but I’m hoping to get into a better school. Let me know your thoughts!
I don’t think I could directly answer your question, but I’ve found a source that’s been super helpful when it comes to chances. CollegeVine does a good job by taking in your GPA, ACT/SAT, Extracurriculars, and course work load. They tell you your chance of getting in and whether it’s a safety, target, or reach!
In what percentile of your class does that GPA put you, approximately?
You should be applying to some SUNY’s as safeties - Binghamton, Albany, Buffalo, Stony Brook - whichever one/s match your intended academic interests and geographic preference.
Penn State will be double the cost for you, for about the same level/type of education (big state school).
What do you want to study? What part of the country? Budget? Big school vs small liberal arts college?
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My number 1 recommendation: Do not let the competitiveness of the other students get to you. At a highly ranked private high school there are going to be a lot of students who are stressed about getting into very highly ranked universities. Try to tune this out.
There are hundreds of very good universities. Find one that is a good fit for you.
Also, pay attention to your budget. You have very good public universities in New York State.