Chance me - Political Science or Business

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics

  • Gender: Female
  • Race/Ethnicity: Afro Latina (first get)
  • Status: Permanent Resident (immigrant)(first-gen)
  • Income: low income (section 8 housing)
  • State: New York State
  • School: Public High School

Intended Major(s):
Political science or business administration (not sure yet)

Standardized Tests:

  • Low Score on first attempt will take again in October/November

GPA:

  • UW: 3.6
  • W: 4.223/5.0

Rank
98 /532

Coursework:

  • 8 honor courses
  • AP World History B+
  • AP Language & Composition A
    *SUPA U.S History A
    *Pre-Calc (dual enrollment) (current)
  • SUPA Personal Finance (current)
  • AP Literature & Composition (current)
  • AP Government & Politics (current)
  • AP Italian & Culture (current)
  • AP Environmental Science (current)

Awards:

  • NHS
  • New York State Senate Certificate of Recognition
  • Published author of poem Beautifully Mixed in the Writing with Grit Authors Anthology
  • House of Representatives Certificate of Achievement Award
  • University of Rochester Fredrick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony Award
  • Brandeis University Book Award for Social Action and Civic Engagement
  • High School Excellence in SUPA U.S History Award
  • High School Greatest Achievement in English Award
  • Emerging WP Key Leader 2021 Award (article published)
  • New York Power Authority STEAM Award
  • Certificate of Recognition from Westchester County District Attorney
  • Outstanding Youth Court Member Award
  • Published author of poem entitled Photograph in magazine
  • Outstanding student of Italian from County Italian Cultural Center

Extracurriculars:

  • County Prosecutors Office paid Intern (Sophomore year)
  • Law Firm - paid Legal Assistant /file clerk (Junior + Senior)
  • District Attorney Office Intern (one of first high schoolers to get to intern) (Junior year)
  • Youth Court - Legal Diversion program, over 180 hours of community service, American Bar Association award recipient, held and organized city and legal events (Sophomore-Present)
  • Congressman Youth Advisory Council member (Junior)
  • Senate Majority leader Youth Advisory Council member (Junior-Present)
  • Dominican Republic Political Party Youth Leader (worked alongside former president and presidential candidate for 2024 elections)
  • Student Government (co-president)(Junior-Present)
  • Italian Club (G.O Rep) (Freshman-Present)
  • HerHonor Mentoring Program (Program found by Judge Judy)
  • Tutored English to non-english speaking immigrants in school

Schools:

  • EA:
  • SUNY Binghamton
  • SUNY Albany
  • UVA
  • Villanova
  • UNC Chapel Hill
  • Penn State
  • RD:
  • Barnard College
  • Boston College
  • Colgate
  • U Michigan
  • U Rochester
  • UCLA
  • Washington in St. Louis
  • Wake Forest
  • Dream School: None just give me a full-ride :pray:

Circumstances

  • HORRIBLE freshman and sophomore year (due to covid and family circumstances)
  • Low Income
  • one out of five kids so MANY household obligations
2

So many household obligations is another EC. Make sure you write about them.

So your race and your first gen will help and I wouldn’t be able to chance you.

I assume SUNY A is an in - and with NY TAP hopefully it will be affordable.

I assume you’re a Senior? So you missed Questbridge…just making sure.

You will not be able to afford Penn State or UCLA - so take those off. What is your budget?

To get a full ride, you need to apply for - and many have them - but specialized scholarships like the Johnson @ Washington and Lee or the Frederick Douglas at American. There are some southern publics with full rides but not likely for your stats. Many schools have diversity scholarships - so you can look there too.

Some schools won’t have business - so if it’s business you might want - for example, Colgate grads do well in business but doesn’t have a business major.

I’d rather see you add a few LACs (if they are of interest) that meet 100% of need - such as Franklin & Marshall, Oberlin, Dennison, Lafayette, Trinity, Connecticut College - they won’t all have business (like Colgate) but they are easier admittances. Or U Miami or Rochester as a bigger school.

I’m sure being first gen and a URM will help - but I’m just not qualified to measure how much. But on the merits, I think while you’re a fine student, you are overreaching a bit.

and likely the SUNY schools are your best bet.

Good luck

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*** full ride comment was a joke ***

5

Well then…what WILL your parents pay annually for you to attend college.

Look up all the schools on your list. Apply early ACTION (not early decision) to any that are plain EA…but check first to see if any are SCEA or REA and don’t allow this.

UVA has EA. So does Villanova. And University of MIchigan too. Check their websites for my accuracy.

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Congratulations on your accomplishments. UCLA uses 3 calculated UC GPA’s in their application review. Only 10-11th grades are considered and only AP/IB or UC transferable DE courses get the extra weighting.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

UCLA is test blind and race blind.

UCLA offers little to no financial aid to OOS applicants so you should expect to pay full fees at $67K/year. It is also a Reach school.

Best of luck.

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7

Your background and long list of awards will be good boosts, making your list pretty realistic for admissions.
Barnard and UVA are definitely major reaches, but not impossible. Should have a couple reaches on your list.
Washington University, Boston College, Colgate and Wake Forest are also all reaches but it wouldn’t be surprising if you got into one or more. (also wouldn’t be surprising if you were rejected from them, they are very selective schools).
I’d add a few more matches – George Washington University is excellent for political science… Brandeis, maybe Skidmore or Vassar.

Definitely add a couple more of the SUNY Colleges… Geneseo, Oswego, Oneonta are some worth looking at.

Full merit rides are getting harder to find. Run the Net Price Calculator, and look for schools that meet 100% of need. You will likely qualify for significant need based aid. Just recognize that your “free ride” may be partially based on loans and work study.

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Thank you for all the responses. Definitely need to reevaluate a few things.

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I got a 32 on ACT. Is that high enough to help my application?

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Congratulations on all of your accomplishments in high school! I think you will be a very interesting candidate to a number of colleges. By the way, you may want to remove the name of your poem in the magazine, the name of the anthology, and the name of the County District Attorney to help keep your anonymity.

As others have mentioned, Penn State, Michigan, and UCLA will be unaffordable for you so those can be eliminated. Apart from the SUNYs, the colleges on your list are reaches. You certainly have a shot, but the odds are against you. Run the Net Price Calculator at each one to see if they’re going to be affordable for your family. If not, eliminate them. Also, since you seem to have a number of smaller to medium colleges on your list, you may want to think about adding colleges like SUNY Geneseo or New Paltz.

I would also take a look at some of these schools private schools which seem to have some of the lowest net prices for low-income families.

• Beloit (WI)
• Dickinson (PA )
• Franklin & Marshall (PA )
• Gettysburg (PA )
• Scripps (CA): women’s college
• Skidmore (NY)
• Trinity (CT)
• U. of Richmond (VA)

Just saw your ACT: that is an excellent score! You definitely want to submit it.

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11

You want to look at each school in the context of their scores. You can look at the Common Data Set Section C9 for each school. Just google the school + common data set and you’ll find it.

So you can see two things. Colgate, for example, has a 25th percentile of 31 on the composite and a 75th percentile of 34. So 32 puts you in the middle of that which is fine. But you can also see what percentage actually submitted a test. At Colgate, only 53% - the others were TO (and it might be more as some kids might submit both). Colgate had 30% submit SAT and 23% submit ACT. Now this data is a year old - so when it comes out for the most recent class it might be higher - but it’s a guide. You can look at the school’s first year profile too that they publish - they’ll often show the % that were TO.

So a 32 is very solid - not sure why you say low. Combine with first gen, low income, Afro Latina…it’s likely an asset for every school on your list - but again, your list is still too reach heavy with some schools that won’t be concerned with your financial situation.

Great job but I worry when someone says they have a low test and it’s at the 97th percentile…I mean, that’s not low!!! For anyone!!! The expectations today are super high…way way way too high!!

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I agree with others that 32 ACT is excellent for a first-gen/low-income student. I would report that to every school, including your high reaches. AOs are very aware of the context surrounding test scores these days, and they will expect that a student from your background did not have access to extensive tutoring and test-prep services that wealthier students may use to improve scores. So 32 in your case is even more impressive than it would be for an average applicant.

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Off topic but I think the issue here on CC is everyone has a 34+.

A 32 is at the 97th percentile. It’s unbelievably strong.

But the CC is a small sample.

My school district is tops in TN. Williamson County. Avg ACT is 2021 24.9 vs 19.1 average for the state.

So much of what everyone reads here is not based on society as a whole but people think it is. And I think that causes the my 32 is low dynamic.

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Congratulations on your impressive record!

EA-wise, I’d suggest replacing Penn State (which has no path to affordability) with Ohio State, where you would be a strong candidate for the Morrill Scholarship. MSP-About | Office of Diversity and Inclusion, The Ohio State University (Apply by November 1st) Not far from OSU, look also at Denison U, which meets need.

Have you run the Net Price Calculators for all the schools on your list? I’m not sure whether Villanova is likely to be affordable; they do not guarantee full-need-met aid. UCLA will not be affordable; the UC applicaion is a project unto itself, and would be a complete waste of your time. If you are interested in California, consider the Claremont Consortium. Although the individual colleges are small, the consortium (which is very closely integrated, with a shared registration portal, shared EC’s and athletic teams, etc.) has about 7000 undergraduates. Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps could all be possibilities for you; all meet full need, but their formulae differ, so run the NPC’s. For Poli Sci+business, CMC may be the best fit. USC could be worth a look too, but their aid for low-income students often disappoints, so again run the NPC to see if it’s worth considering.

Maybe check out the combined majors at Northeastern and see how the NPC looks there Political Science and Business Administration, BS < Northeastern University

The Honors College at SUNY Albany could be a good fit, with the location in the state capital being advantageous for your poli sci interests, and a variety of business programs available as well.

In the Wake Forest genre, look also at Emory (added bonus of not counting freshman grades toward the GPA), University of Richmond, and Washington & Lee (where you’d have a shot at the full ride Johnson Scholarship). All meet need and have strong programs in your areas of interest. Lehigh is another that could be worth a look - they give a strong “URM bump” and offer no-loan aid to low-income students.

Major-wise, you might be interested in an interdisciplinary “PPE” major (philosophy, politics, and economics). This is available at Ohio State, Denison, URichmond, and the Claremont Colleges, and maybe other’s I’m forgetting.

You’re doing great; just drill down and try to apply EA wherever possible, especially at the schools where the merit deadline is early. I look forward to seeing where you end up!

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Will Bing and Albany be affordable? Do you have any SUNYs/CUNYs within commuting distance?

Will you qualify for TAP $ ? NYS Higher Education Services Corporation - NYS TAP

Excelsior? https://www.suny.edu/smarttrack/types-of-financial-aid/scholarships/excelsior/

@sybbie719 can you help?

UCLA will offer you no financial aid, so drop that school…it’s a hard app, and no reason to spend that time. Penn State is unlikely to be affordable as well.

Have you run Net Price calculators for each of your schools? Here’s Barnard’s: Net Price Calculator

The NPCs may not be accurate if your parents are divorced, own a business, or own real estate beyond a primary home…are any of those the case for you?

Make sure you include these obligations in the Activities section of your app, which will include the average amount of hours spent per week on them. You only get ten spots, and this HAS to be one. You will have to eliminate and/or combine a few of your other ECs listed in your OP.

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That is fantastic, congratulations! You will send that score to every school you apply to. You should not apply test optional anywhere (it doesn’t matter what the past ranges were for the schools, because your score is extremely impressive in the context of your education, school, circumstances, etc…and that is what matters most). Great job.

When you are applying, check to see if the school allows self reporting of the scores in the app (look on their websites), or if they require official scores be sent from ACT. Sending official scores requires paying $18 per school, so save that money by self reporting where possible.

You can also use this resource for self reporting (but still double check websites). Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores - Compass Education Group

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The full-ride comment doesn’t have to be a joke because the reality is if the school is not affordable you cannot attend.
First and foremost, if you have not done so, make sure that you have filled out a lunch form at your school. While everyone who attends public school in NYC receives free lunch, being eligible is a different thing. Receiving section 8 housing does not mean that you are low-income. Make sure you know your what your meal code is (you can get this from your GC. If you are meal code A, 1 or 2), you should be good

Your eligibility for free/reduced lunch will get you fee waivers.
USE a bottoms up approach. Apply to CUNY,to make sure that you have an affordable option and can attend college. CUNY is test blind this year (I know that you have a good score, but they will not look at it). Toss an application at the honor college: Baruch-which is THE Business school, Hunter (which comes with 2 years of housing), Even City College .

Check to see if your family income makes you Opportunity program eligible. If you are Sweep NYS/CUNY/SUNY for Seek, EOP and HEOP programs.

You will be eligible for 7 fee waivers from SUNY.
Your CUNY fee waiver will cover 7 schools. From your list I would recommend applying HEOP at the following schools:

University of Rochester
Barnard
Colgate
NYU covers housing
Fordham (does not cover housing)

If you are not HEOP eligible a 90+ average will put you in the running for tuition, room and board at Nazareth.

HEOP Roster of Schools
http://www.nysed.gov/postsecondary-services/heop-projects-and-contact-information

EOP at all of the SUNY Schools
Bing, Albany, Stony brook at UB
The business school is at the land grant school at Cornell (CALS) Economics

Definitely toss an application to Brandeis.

Don’t sleep on the Womens Colleges Bryn Mawr, Smith, Mount Holyoke and Wellesley will definitely meet 100% demonstrated need. There will be coed schools where you can cross-register.

Did you apply for Questbridge (the application is now closed).
Were you nominated for Posse?
Did you apply for the [

Gates Millennium Scholars Program

](https://gmsp.org/)

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Your profile looks very good. Don’t loose hopes. Just apply widely. I am not at all concerned about your ACT score based on your background. Keep BU also in the list. Las year my daughter’s friend who is an ORM but single parent earning and no own house got 65k need based scholarship. Lots of these colleges give you very good need based scholarships so keep faith on your abilities.

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Hi! Thank you for your advice. Yes, I am HEOP eligible as I receive free lunch and my parents meet the financial eligibility. I have been looking into Brandeis and definitely will apply there.

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Hi!
Yes, I qualify for TAP and I have run the Net Price calculator for each of the schools. For example, Barnards estimated NET PRICE is $8500. I would guess the NPC is accurate because the factors above do not apply to my parents (ex. divorce). Thank you for your help!

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Again,

It is not a matter of whether or not you receive free lunch as any and all students in NYC receive free lunch. the question is if you are eligibile for free or reduced lunch

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