Chance me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey there, I’m a high school senior in need of some advice! I am from a small town in Missouri and hope to attend college out of state. I am curious as to the chances of getting into the following schools. Also, any suggestions of other universities I should apply to would be greatly appreciated. I am searching for a good college that can offer quite a bit of financial aid. I am not set on any one university yet, so I am open to pretty much any college anywhere, as long as it is a decent school. Thank you!

-University of Southern California
-Vassar
-Reed College
-Skidmore College
-Occidental College
-Boston College
-Rice University

Profile -
Caucasian female (born in US)
Income: Lower end of middle class (my mom is a single parent)
State: Missouri
School: Very small public school (260 students)

Academic -
GPA: 3.97 unweighted
Class rank: 1 out of 57
ACT: 31
Major: Undecided

My school doesn’t offer any AP classes since it’s so small, but I have enrolled in many dual-credit classes for both high school and college credit.

Last year, I took College American History and College Algebra.
This year, I am taking College English, Calculus (for college credit), Trig/Statistics, Spanish III, and College Psychology. I also am taking two periods of Career Exploration that allows me to leave school early to go to work. Please understand that my school does not offer many classes at all, so I am trying to take advantage of the dual-credit opportunities as much as possible.

Extracurricular -
Renaissance (an academic club): 4 years
Student Council: 4 years
National Honor Society
Speech and Debate: 2 years
Academic Team: 2 years
Band: 3 years
Volunteered for kindergarten summer school tutoring: 150+ hours
Full-time job: 30 hours a week during the school year

I am also on the Honor Roll. I was nominated for Missouri Girl’s State but did not attend due to work.

Again, please understand that my school is very small - this year was the first year they have even offered these many dual-credit classes. I know that my course list isn’t very impressive but I am taking the best classes I can. People rarely go farther than an hour from my high school for college, but I really want to attend an out of state university.

I would appreciate any suggestions, help, or advice! Thank you in advance!

2

You certainly are a contender for the schools on your list, but they are all quite selective so no guarantees. You should add some schools that would give you merit aid based on your strong stats. Some to consider would be Tulane, Dickinson, Catholic, American, Denison, Muhlenberg.

3

@wisteria100 Thank you! I will look into those. : )

4

Hiya @meliorism , it seems as though you took our advice with your college selection, that’s awesome! :slight_smile:

USC might get expensive, and its merit aid deadline has passed already.

Skidmore and Occidental - Safety, for the most part.
Boston college and Reed - Match
Vassar - High match, low reach
Rice - Reach

My advice? Look in depth at each school, which school ranks best in your area of choice, which school just feels right, best location, etc… Throw the ED dart in the school if you feel confident enough, and wait for it all to blow over, once the dust settles, hopefully you’ll land there!

I’m also applying to most of those college(along with some new ones you should check out! Macalester, Colby and Bates) and I’m still debating stuck between Vassar and Reed. It isn’t helping that all of these colleges just look so amazing… Gaaahh!

5

In my point of view,
Vassar - Amazing campus, proximity to NYC, NY state is great, very well known college, very well regarded education department, a nice study abroad program, female-dominant student body(Yesh, that’s a perk. Not because of :> bow-chika-wowow :> but because I generally get along better with women.) Liberal environment.

Reed - Portland(enough said), Oregon(enough said), very rigorous courseload, veeeery liberal students,quirky environment, extremely well regarded for graduate studies, beautiful campus, more girls :> , only college so far with which I had an interview(an amazing one).

Oh, the choices.

6

Hey! @AGoodFloridian
Good to see you again! I have been looking into Vassar and Skidmore recently. They both look great. My only concern with these liberal arts colleges is that they lack some majors, including engineering. It is one of the many fields that interests me. Since I do not know what I want to major in yet, I’m scared to attend one of these colleges and to possibly have to transfer out…

What was the interview at Reed like? Does it boost chances of admission or is it just to ask questions?

7

Some liberal art colleges have coop programs with other universities for students interested in engineering. Usually it’s a 3-2 program, where the student does three years at the LAC and two years at some prestigious university, graduating with a bachelors in engineering. Reed has one with CalTech and University of Washington! Though personally I doubt you’ll be compelled enough to transfer out, most of these LACs have very comprehensive majors, you’re very likely to find your niche if you choose a place fitting enough! :slight_smile:

I had an interview with a fellow international student from Ghana who had just graduated this year. It went very well, much better than I expected considering it was my first. For some colleges, interviews are “non-evaluative”(at least on record, I personally believe that doesn’t exist. In some way, minor or major, having an interview does count for something.) In Reed’s case, the interviews are evaluative, so it does give me an extra boost. In Vassars case, they’re “non evaluative” but from what I’ve read, the interviewers still need to write a report, so…?

In your particular case, I would highly suggest having an interview to explain even more on depth your life circumstances. Interviews are either positive or neutral(unless you’re somehow very offensive), so it never hurts having one! :slight_smile:

All of those colleges offer interviews by the way, so if I were you, I would check their availability. Good luck, and if you have any questions, just tag me!

8

@AGoodFloridian
I may very well be asking you more questions soon :wink:

In the meantime, I’ll definitely look into interviews and explore my options as far as other majors go, for those smaller colleges. Thank you again for being so kind and helpful!

9

Take a good look at Gettysburg, Muhlenberg, and Ursinus. All are good with aid. If it is possible reach out to your area admissions counselor from Muhlenberg, they really value getting to know incoming students. It seems like a visit would be very difficult for you before applying, so a talk or visit if your counselor is in your area would be the next best thing. Best of luck to you!

10

@beenthereanddone Thank you, I will consider those as well!