stats:
uw gpa: 3.99/4.0
act: 33 with writing score of 9 (took 3 times, superscore is 34)
psat: 1420 (didn’t take sat)
class rank: not applicable
class rigor: 6 aps, 9 honors, 8 college courses (dual enrollment), 1 CIS (college in school)
Indian, green card holder, first generation, middle class ($85k) with one younger sibling, Minnesota (in-state for Madison)
good public school in Minneapolis suburbs
extra curriculars: not that impressive
highschool and club volleyball - 4 years (5-20 hours a week)
sunrise movement - senior year and post grad (5 hours a week)
part time cashier job - beginning junior year (20 hours a week)
language classes - 7th to 11th grade (4 hours a week)
volunteer work - all 4 years (30 hours each year)
french club leader - 2 years
tutor for underclassmen - 2 years
monthly sandwich drive for low-income neighborhoods - senior year and post grad
varsity tennis photographer - 1 year
honors:
national commended student - 11th grade
Minnesota bilingual literacy seal in Tamil - 11th grade
honor student - all years
applying EA as a psychology major with act score. i have two strong recommendations from teachers who really like me and received no help from a college counselor during my application process. i’ve been told i’m a good writer and my essays are fairly well. no need to sugarcoat your answers!
UW-Madison is going to be an easy acceptance for you. UMIich and UW-Seattle are going to be close. Your GPA is very good, but ACT Score is not that impressive, plus your ECs are very ordinary.
State public universities are funded by their state’s taxpayers, and, as a nonresident you would pay nonresident fees because the State can’t really afford to fund you. Public universities were created for their residents. Non residents pay full fees.
Check with the NPC (Net Price Calculator) on each web site and see how much you would be expected to pay.
You may be competitive for all 3. However, I wouldn’t pay a premium for Michigan or Washington. If you want a career in Psychology, you will need graduate school.
The UW Net Price Calculator puts my cost at $52K I’m not entirely knowledgable about this topic, but if a college is need-blind how does my family’s EFC affect my chances of admission?
I think you have a good shot at all 3. Although someone did say that your ACT may not be the most impressive, the large number of extracurriculars will work in your favor. If your essays are convincing, I would definitely say go for it. Colleges will definitely help you in terms of financial need.
“but if a college is need-blind how does my family’s EFC affect my chances of admission”
Very often if a university is need blind for out of state students, this means that getting accepted will not depend upon your need, but that they will NOT provide you will financial aid.
With a family income of $85k per year, there are going to be many universities that you just cannot afford to attend. With your excellent stats and being an excellent student, you might get accepted to these anyway, but being accepted will not help you unless you can afford to attend.
You need to consider the cost of each university that you are considering. You probably are going to need to stick to universities that either offer in-state tuition, or give very good need based financial aid, or that give very good merit based financial aid.
As mentioned above, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology graduate school is very likely, and master’s degrees are often full pay. Psychology is a popular major, and many, many universities have very good programs. If you attend a university that offers in-state tuition for you, then you probably will find a very good program in psychology. If you then do as well as you have been doing up to now (which is excellent), then you will most likely can be accepted to a range of master’s degree programs. Master’s degrees take only one or two years, and therefore the large cost does not hit as hard compared to a bachelor’s degree.
I’m not entirely knowledgable about this topic, but if a college is need-blind how does my family’s EFC affect my chances of admission?