Do you think I’ll make it in the 2018-2019 Freshman class? Give me odds! Please and thank you. Every reply is much appreciated:
I am really passionate about agriculture and food sciences. This may sound touchy feely but I truly want to make a difference in the world. I want to create a sustainable food source or growing medium that can aid those in third world countries with the global food crisis. If you have an idea on which major this applies closest to, I’d love to hear it!
Major: Agriculture or International Agriculture and Rural Development
Colleges:
University of Florida
Cornell University (dream college)
Delaware State University
Ohio State University
Alabama A&M
Grade: 12th
Class: 2018
Rank: Top 9%
Unweighted GPA: 3.83
Weighted GPA: 4.51 (self-calculated, my school doesn’t report weights)
ACT: 29 Composite, 29E, 31R, 28M, 29 S. Retaking next month (would love to have a goal score)
AP: AP Calculus AB, but I didn’t take the test. (received a B)
Dual Enrollment: My school allows me to take courses at my community college to work towards a degree there, for free! I have taken several courses so far on the college level, receiving mostly A’s with a few B’s:
English 101 (Freshman Composition)
English 102
African-American Literature (Critical Reading Class)
Nutrition and Wellness (Life Science)
Analytical Calculus with Geometry
Media and Society
General Biology (both semesters)
General Chemistry (both semesters
Cultural Anthropology
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: African American/ Black
First Generation College Student
Location: Arizona
Finances: I will need financial aid.
Here in lies the worry:
EC’s
First place in High School Science Fair (with recognition from mayor) freshman year.
Recognition from Community College and put on their Dean’s List
Over 100 volunteer hours with my church and private organizations.
Full-time job and management position in fast food.
My dilemma is my studies. I am an online student, so we have no student body, or clubs to participate in. My city is such a small town we barely have any activities, to the point where we have to go into town just to volunteer.
What are my odds? Any suggestions or feedback is greatly appreciated!
Why are you depressed!!! You’ll find a good school to go to. If you are truly depressed as you say---- get help!!! There are many seniors with worse scores than you who will go to college get a career and be successful-----so you will be fine!!!
@njdadjets I wish to go to school for the above majors, going to the best schools possible for these majors. But my scores and low ECs make it look like i’m not cut out for that, as there are so many folks on here that are more qualified.
You might want to apply to a few more schools, to add redundancy to the process; i.e. more than one reach school. But for the schools you’ve stated thus far, your chances seem reasonable. Colleges receive a report from your guidance counselor about the nature of your high school, so they’ll be pretty understanding about your difficulty regarding involvement in extracurriculars. For Cornell, you’ll need a higher ACT score, but for the others, your scores are good. Good luck!
Chance me back?: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2009244-chance-me-ivies-jhu-gwu-georgetown-nyu-american-uconn.html#latest
@whenderson272
You might want to add environmental science as a secondary major to help expand your college options.
University of Florida- Match
Cornell University (dream college)- Low Reach
Delaware State University- Safety
Ohio State University- safety
Alabama A&M- Safety
You need more schools aim for Top 50 schools on US news, also public schools do not provide great finaid for the most part unless they are in your state of residence. Search for schools that provide full financial need.
@VANDEMORY1342 More schools? I thought five was enough or rather too many. As for financial aid, that is why I was aiming for Cornell at the top. What ACT score do you think might greatly boost chances for a spot?
USNews isn’t the best indication of ranking, as it’s essentially a popularity contest. Not that the top 50 don’t tend to deserve it, but there are other great schools within the top 100 or so that you may be missing out on.
@whenderson272 Anything above a 33 for your ACT score! Kind of like how a 1500 SAT is awesome for most mid-tier schools and some top schools but average for Ivies - everyone with a decently high score is applying, of course.
@whenderson272
I advise between 8-12 schools. And honestly the more the better as you need good financial aid. More acceptances allows you to bargain with schools for more aid. It depends on which school in Cornell you are applying to but a 29/30 should be okay for the hotel or agriculture schools. I would say Low Reach for those schools.
I would add U Tenn, Penn State, USC etc.
@suzy100 We are from Kentucky, but live in Arizona. My parents can’t afford much (no more than a few thousand dollars), because of the living situation we are in, but my father makes 125,000 a year, which I know can be a setback.
When I ran that through the NPC, it shoes that Cornell had us paying around 20K from their main grant, which is much better than the other schools I was originally looking at. This is why made them a main contender.
OK, then I’d advise you to look at schools in Arizona and look for merit aid. How would you pay the 20K at Cornell if your parents can only afford no more than a few thousand dollars? Can you try to bump up your ACT score?
@suzy100 I guess I would have to take loan. I am taking the ACT next month, so I am aiming to go atleast 2 points higher. There are three making universities here in AZ, but none offer the degree that I want to major in.
Coming out of college with at least $80K in loans is a bad strategy. You can only qualify for loans of $5500 freshman year, $6500 soph and $7500 junior and senior year. Your parents would have to cosign any loans above those amounts.
Your best bets are going to be local schools. ASU has an AG & Life Sciences Department. https://www.ag.arizona.edu/ Work to get your ACT up a bit and you could get good merit aid there.
Guess what? You already won the game! You may not go to Cornell (I think you will get in tho), but you have a passion and not a mindless drone looking for the jackpot of money at the end of the tunnel. So you’ll make the difference as long as you work hard! Good Luck!!
@Harpguy2022 Thanks for that confirmation. @suzy100 I will apply for ASU, as I’m guaranteed I’ll get a spot in, but I don’t want to go to a school here in Arizona. I’ve been to the campus several times, and believe me, the people are nice, but being blatantly honest, you can tell that everyone is there for themselves. It feels like all of Arizona is this way, and the arid heat only makes folks around here more short tempered. I long to go back to the East Coast, or possibly the South, to rekindle my “Southern Hospitality” that was once so freely given out. The three schools out here NAU, ASU, and U of A, are pretty much degree farms with dorms. They seek to steal all the in-state students they can, and get them in and out of college in a jiffy. Out of the three (which I’ve visited several times), NAU would be the most amicable, in terms of people and homeliness, but it doesn’t have any degrees in my line of study. Straightforward: I want to get out of this dirt-hole of a state.
Good luck to you OP. I sincerely hope that you don’t take on the kind of debt you are contemplating. Your 25 year-old self will thank you if you decide that it’s not the smart way to go.
@suzy100 Thanks. I’m not fishing for debt, as it may seem though, I have many scholarships I am signing up for, which will hopefully fill the gap for the schools I apply for, including a guaranteed one from my church, one from Culver’s, and whatever money I make working this year (I have around $2,000 saved up, and I work 20-25 hours a week. I used to work full-time, but I’ve cut back for the sake of finishing strong).
Being a first gen student is helpful, but typically students that receive aid for being first gen have low incomes (combined is under 100,000, or 90,000 etc) - these are at least the colleges that I have talked to