US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student: US citizen
State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities). Kansas
Type of high school (current college for transfers): Big Public, well regarded
Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): white female
Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):
Intended Major(s)
International Law/Business
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.98
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.6
College GPA (for transfers):
Class Rank: 4/521
ACT/SAT Scores: 33
Coursework (AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
IB Diploma Candidate
Awards
Many Debate awards / state qualifier / national qualifier
MOYAG Attorney of the year
FBLA National qualifier
Team debater of the year on nationally ranked debate team
NHS
Extracurriculars
Debate vp, cross country, student gov, president two clubs
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Volunteered to help ESL kids, particularly Math 100+ hrs
Elevated to manager of lifeguard staff of 12, 6 pools
Essays/LORs/Other (Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
Reed seems like an outlier on this list, âvibeâ wise. Does she like the intense/unconventional vibe there? It doesnât attract a lot of business-y students.
If she likes both Columbia and Wellesley, why not Barnard?
Is she considering an Early Decision app?
How comfortable is she with KU as a safety? (Assume USF is San Francisco, not South Florida?) There are lots of low-matches and safeties where sheâd be likely to get merit, but of course the filter is whether sheâd actually choose them over the state flagship option.
I assume youâve vetted everything on your list for affordability?
She should certainly have a chance at all the schools on her list. The acceptance rates are so low at some of them that the outcome is hard to call, but sheâs better positioned than a comparable candidate from a more heavily represented state. Best of luck to her!!
OopsâŠjust read your other thread and see that it finances are a challenge.
It is hard, hard, hard for the kid who has worked their heart out and been a star in HS to hear that budget constraints limit their choices. I have seen some bitter bitter posts from students saying that all their hard work was âwastedâ b/c they have to go to their state flagship.
From your other post your budget for college is $120K. Presumably you are assuming that your D will take out the $250-300K in loans for law school. The only way to stay in budget in the US is to chase merit.
I understand why a parent would be hesitant to send their student internationally in these Covid times, but imo, your daughter should at least apply to some of the following programs:
England:
Kings College London, UCL, Durham University
For courses such as Politics / Politics, Philosophy & Law / Political Economy
Netherlands
University of Amsterdam- Political Science
Ireland
University College Dublin- International Relations, Comparative Politics, etc.
All of these universities have 3 year undergraduate programs, all of these programs are taught in English, and all are in budget (some will leave you with change from your $120K). All of them have housing, are pretty decent at taking care of their international students, and will give your daughter a genuinely international experience. And she is likely to get accepted by all of them.
Remember that you donât have to decide if she goes for another year. But applying now will give choices
Thanks for all the replies and the great suggestions.
We were very much considering St Andrews and would be open to other UK schools, but donât think I can get my wifeâs buy-in due to Covid.
The 3 yr programs in the UK got me thinking about trying to compress the 4 yrs to 3 as a cost measure. Not sure how realistic that is. My daughters friend who is a frosh at UCLA supposedly has 30 hrs of credit going in. My daughter has a very similar resume to hers. I know there is not uniformity on this from school to school, curious what others think.
One affordable option that would still put her in a high-achieving cohort would be the Business Honors Academy at UNL. Nebraska Business Honors Academy | Academics | Business | Nebraska Students choose a specific business major within the Honors Academy - International Business is one of the options, and includes both a semester abroad and an international internship/practicum.
OOS cost of attendance is around 39K/year, and the scholarship estimator projects a baseline of 18K/year in merit, with additional honors scholarships likely; so UNL would be well within budget.
I donât know how this stacks up against KU Honors, but itâs worth a look.
Personally, I would look for an affordable four-year experience rather than trying to rush through in less time. UK programs are shorter because they donât require the same breadth as US undergrad degrees. Trying to compress a US program wonât make those requirements go away, so youâre more likely to be sacrificing some of the most worthwhile experiences, like study abroad. If AP/IB credits make it an option to graduate a semester early, all good, but starting out with a goal to be out in 3 years could be very limiting.
RE: early graduation: We know a few kids who have graduated from state schools and small LACs early with credit. It certainly can keep the costs down.
now, here are a few cons or the other side to it all to consider if you are using it as a cost-saving method. . . programs can be sequential, and might require 4 years of a sequence. Thatâs potentially no savings if you are at a LAC that charges by semester and not by credit hour. Also, some good internships come after that 3rd year; our son saw a huge difference in options between sophomore yr and junior year in his business college actuary program. He could have graduated early after 3.5 years; but stayed on to pad the resume and take some fun classes, and get a math minor. And while anecdotally, we know two kids this year who graduated early from college due to their HS credits, but neither got into their law school of choice, or PT program. They are working part time, and taking refresher classes to try again.
Youâll just have to really dig deep and look at the flow charts into programs of interest to see if early graduation is an option and helps with savings.
Hmm, not you have me worried about my daughter graduating early, she just applied to 10 DPT programs. She did well on the GREâs, has a 3.9, has worked every Friday at the PT center at her school (UDel), even through covid, and worked as a PT aid this summer at two places (one where she has been shadowing at every break since senior year in HS, plus shadowing other places since sophomore year in HS).
Thank you! She was actually panicking about shadowing hours but she managed to get them done, although it took a lot of her work on her part with covid closures.
Oh, I definitely think it can be done. I just think itâs a mistake to count on it before you even get to college, and make the affordability of your degree hinge on making the early graduation happen. And itâs one thing on a track like pre-PT, and another thing in international business where the experiences abroad can be an important part of resume-building. Itâs tough to fit much study abroad into a 3-year program.
I think the University of Richmond (approximately 3000 undergraduate students) is generous with need-based aid if she qualifies for thatâŠand she would check the geographic diversity box. She would be a competitive applicant. Lots of kids from the NE, so although there arenât many Midwesterners at UR, she wouldnât be surrounded primarily with students from the South, either. School has a well regarded business school, (including an international business major) gorgeous campus and is said to have great food. I think all students are funded for an off-campus experience such as as an internship or study abroad. And the university does have a law schoolâŠnot that she would necessarily plan to attend it, but the law school might be a helpful resource in some way.
Sounds like a bright industrious kid