Chance scared rising senior for school list

Good list so far, but I suggest you go a little bolder and add a couple more reaches. If you’re low income, some of the LAC such as Amherst and Bowdoin can meet all your need financial need and I think they’d really like you. Particularly Amherst. I also think Yale seems like a good fit for you.

You should alos consider adding another match school or two. Surely there are other schools besides Fordham and CCNY that are of interest to you? I think you have very good chances at quite a lot of schools.

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Since you are open to LACs, I would consider Vassar. Prestigious, generous financial aid, excellent education.

In terms of the essay, it can be a good idea to write 2 of them, with different themes and tones. Sounds like you have already written 1 of them (times when you have been at your lowest of lows, joined by a metaphor.) Another topic is what is called “slice of real life, that allows the reader to have a little glimpse of my personality.” At first, it may seem that it is not profound enough because it is just a moment in time in your NORMAL life and not dramatic or anything. But really it is a great topic because it leaves the reader feeling like they are knowing just a hint about you and eager to learn MORE. Really good examples I have seen are: 1) A kid who loves to run the sound system for school plays. How the sound effects allow him to be creative, how he enjoys helping the entire cast shine, how it makes him feel in the zone. 2) Sounds or smells on your daily walk to school or to your job and what they remind you of, and how that gives your neighborhood a sense of “place.” 3) A tradition (such as a holiday recipe or ritual, or even a weekly routine) that ties you to your family or community, and why you will take this ritual with you wherever you go. 4) A present you received that you didn’t like at first, but somehow it kept coming in use in funny and unexpected ways. 5) A silly mistake you made that turned out really well in the end (I would get and read the children’s book by Richard Scary called “The Best Mistake Ever! and Other Stories” and have the tone be similar to that.) 6) The best class you ever took, why you liked it so much, and what it made you realize about yourself as a learner.

Once you have finished this 2nd essay, give them both to some trusted adult reader (maybe your English teacher) have them read both, and see which one leaves them wanting more. You definitely want to leave AOs at colleges wanting more.

This sounds like it may be difficult to write. Do you have someone helping you with your essays?

I don’t know what type of trauma you have experienced, but you want to avoid an essay that is based too much in the past, or one that might be painful for the reader to read, or one that’s ultimately not positive. I typically encourage students to not write about mental health challenges. Lastly, you don’t want AOs to feel sorry for you.

With that said, of course past experiences have shaped us all. You can have a couple of sentences max on a parents divorce, or that you were bullied, or experienced the death of someone close to you, etc. But then you have to move on in the essay.

Make sure to spend 90% of the essay on who you are today…and do not forget to address the type of academic student you are. You want the AOs to feel like they know you and understand how you will fit into the school and class they are building.

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I had a few people read my essay but for people helping me write it, just me. I grew up and am currently living in a town that is not safe and has nothing good about it and I feel like that has mostly made me the person I am today. But Yes I understand and thank you for your input. It helps a lot.

A girl near me wrote about her favorite thing is waiting for her papa johns pizza to come. The adrenaline, etc.

Got into Yale

Here’s some from Johns Hopkins

Yours may be great.

But mental health. Life as lgbtq. Just seems like there are tons of those.

Show them a part of u they can’t see otherwise. If your topic works for u then great. Obviously we haven’t seen your essay.

But many times the first isn’t the best.

My daughter, and not saying it’s good, but write about her love Of tea.

Thank you so much for this!! I don’t think I made it clear but I did not write about mental health,LGBTQ or covid but thank you for the different essays that have worked

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Since you are applying through QB, any woe is me essay is redundant if overdone. AO’s know that you have had some type of struggle, whether it being from a rough area, low income, or maybe a single parent household. As was mentioned above a few sentences should be all you need. For example, my kid was a QB match, from a single parent home and low income. The only sentence in her essay indicating that was about her reading 4 Harry Potter books in3rd grade over spring break, whereas here friends were mostly on beach vacations. The point got across about her love of reading, while being subtle about our financial situation.

Sure. Just to see some different perspectives. Good luck.

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Thank you for your input. I feel like the admission process is just very random. My friend wrote about coming from a single-parent household and the struggles of that but got into Johns Hopkins with a full ride.

Applicants should be careful about revealing mental health issues. Colleges’ mental health facilities are overwhelmed with too many students needing help for a myriad of mental health problems. When faced with a choice between similar levels of achievement/interests in applicants, colleges will choose the one who hasn’t related a history of mental health trouble. Certain mental health issues would probably deep six your application to any school that doesn’t simply select based upon GPA/scores. Colleges are just dealing with too many depressed, anxious students in need of serious mental health support, single rooms, emotional support animals, and academic accommodations to want to knowingly accept even more. I’m gonna take a lot of flak for stating this, but it’s too big a risk to your applications to ignore this.

If one really has faced serious trouble, it is best to let your high school advisor mention this in their cover letter, rather than your stating it yourself. Of course, many students have had to deal with very serious challenges, but it just comes across better if the counselor relates it than if you do. In your own essay, better to write about hopes, dreams, aspirations, passions, etc, rather than how you’ve overcome adversity, despite the common “How have you overcome adversity?” prompt. If you come from a dangerous slum town rife with gangs, and want to write about that, you’re going to have to come at it with some sort of an angle that also shows something about yourself, something that makes it good writing, to the level of art. Every year, the NYT publishes a few college application essays that were somehow related to money (whether coming from poor or rich). Go back and read as many of these as you can, and you’ll see what I mean. Some of them are very powerful, and manage to convey the applicant’s challenging background in a manner that both shows a lot about who the applicant is, and rises to the level of art. The more of these essays you read, the better. It might give you some ideas about stylistic approaches that manage to convey a history of adversity while also showing the person’s strength.

Your GPA and rank will open up a number of doors for a first gen low income Hispanic male. Don’t sell yourself short. Your safeties should be Rutgers and TCNJ (unless these are schools you don’t want to attend). I really hope you get into QB, and match through that to a great school. I think that you should consider more Ivies, because of the fact that they are more likely to offer you full funding without loans. Columbia. Penn, maybe Hopkins. You surely have an application waiver for Common App - I suggest you apply to the I think 20 schools you’re allowed on it, unless you wind up going Quest Bridge and that shapes your application process. Aside from your in-state flagships, the rest should be high reach safeties that offer a lot of funding, maybe high reach LACs that in addition to funding might offer more personal attention. It’s a tough transition from top of a poor high school to highly selective college, in terms of academics.

One more thing. You say you’re not submitting SAT or ACT scores. If your scores were very low, you need to consider whether you’d be best served by the intensely high academic level and academic competition at one of the highly selective schools, even if you were to be accepted to one of them. Especially if you’re hoping for med school, you might be better off being a superstar at, say, Montclair State U, than struggling at Columbia, when it comes time to apply to medical school. If you were interested in going into a field where your social connections mattered more than your grades, yes, then Columbia or Penn would serve you better. But if what you want is a solid education while managing to compile the very high GPA that you’ll need for med school, a less competitive school might serve you better.

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This list might help you think of other schools where you are likely to have no loans if your family qualifies financially.

I’d look at Franklin & Marshall, Haverford, Brown, Tufts, and Vassar.

All the QB schools will be the most likely to be affordable, hands down.

Yes, QB schools would be the most affordable option. I was listing schools if OP didn’t get matched through QB.

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