Chances For Elite Universities!!!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Would appreciate any and all info on my chances at getting in the following universities/colleges:

Vanderbilt
WashU St. Louis
UofMichigan Ann Arbor
UNC at Chapel HIll
University of Virginia
College of William and Mary
Emory University
Any Ivies? (probably won’t apply as I don’t think I have a reasonable chance)

GPA: 3.93 (uw)
ACT: 33
SAT II: Plan on taking Literature, Spanish, and maybe US history? this summer
Class Rank: 11/431

ECS:
NHS
SNHS (vice president)
DECA
Renaissance
Speech and Debate (President)
Work (25 hrs/wk)
Starting my own political club in the coming weeks

Awards/Recognition:
State Finalist for event in Deca (top 8 in state)
State Qualifier in Radio Speaking for s&d (top 25)
District Runner up Radio Speaking
3rd in District for Public forum debate
Conference Champion in Public Forum Debate

Volunteer Work:
A + program- 50 hrs of peer tutoring/community work
NHS: 40 hrs of community service per year (junior and seniors only)
Renaissance: ~20 hrs of school volunteering per year

Course Load:
Highschool only offers APs to juniors unfortunately and I didn’t know anything about self-studying so I’m already at a lack there
However,
All honors offered first two year (4 frosh year, 5 soph year). Other classes include spanish, s&d, computer app, and gym
Junior Year:
2 APs, 4 dual credit enrollment classes through state universities (Missouri), Spanish 3, marketing, s&d
Senior Year:
5 APs, 2 dual credit enrollment courses (intro to comparative politics and spanish)

School info:
Public School in rural missouri
Not well recognized

Applicant info:
male
caucasian
family of 7, 5 siblings (1 is in college)
I will be paying for college in full, not my parents

My intended major is PoliSci/government or something Public Policy related. All opinions/info is greatly appreciated, including other colleges I should apply to as safeties & targets.
Thanks so so much! :slight_smile:

2

p.s. this upcoming summer I’m attending the Boys State Program, taking a 3 week trip to costa rica at which I will be attending a costa rican school, volunteer work, hopefully getting a small political internship, and working my part time job.

3

Nobody can chance you for these schools. Apply, but make sure you have some likely schools on your list.

I do not usually respond to these chance posts, but yours was intriguing to me. How will you pay for college on your own, without help from your parents?

4

“I will be paying for college in full, not my parents”

If you mean that you are independently wealthy and have $300K in your pocket, then great.

If, on the other hand you mean that you are applying for Financial Aid and your parents will not be willing to contribute anything, then you have a problem. Colleges don’t care what your parents are willing to contribute. They will look at your application, which must include both parent’s financial information, and then they will come up with a FA package that has an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) component based on what the colleges feel that a family of that income and assets can contribute.

5

You have a good shot given that you come from a not so heavily represented area of the US. However, keep in mind that most of these schools have single digit acceptance rates and are really hard to tell whether you’ll get in.

6

so with having 5 siblings, my parents have set the precedent for my older siblings that they need to apply for aid/apply for loans from various loans institutions. the reason i included that quote at the end was in hopes someone would either 1) be in the same boat and offer advice or 2) know if i could signal that anywhere on any applications?

7

haven’t quite figured that out yet, hopefully loans/scholarships, which means i’ll probably have to look at much less elite schools so I can receive much better scholarships unfortunately. however, where I’m from, paying for your own college is super normal. of my close group of 6 friends, 4 of us have to pay for our own education, and we aren’t necessarily from severely financially struggling families or anything. it’s just normal?? and when i started doing a lot of research on colleges i was shocked to see that parents paying for college was the norm

8

Can your parents contribute anything? Have you been able to save any money from your part time job, maybe to pay for a few application fees? Do you know your parents approximate income?

I would sit down with your parents and fill out the net price calculators for some schools. That would be a good place to start. Take a look at the cost that these schools expect you to pay. Are they affordable?

You can only take out $5500 your first year, $6500 your second and third year, and $7500 your final year. All other loans will have to be co-signed by your parents. Are your parents planning to do this for all five of their children? How is your older sibling paying for college? What college does your sibling attend?

Once you tell us how much money your parents can contribute (if any), whether you have any money saved, what the NPC’s said, etc…we can help you with this process. You may need to apply to less selective schools that offer significant merit money…many students do this because of finances.

9

Poli Sci? Get yourself some local or area political vol experience asap. Just a collection of hs activities won’t do it for the more competitive colleges on your list. Founding a club is no tip.

NHS is also no tip and 40 hours/year is a pittance. You want community service you commit to, where you can have some impact, even small. (Summer is fine.) More than show up and leave, via a club. Ideally, something that helps the needy.

If your interest IS poli sci, you could also engage in some sort of local advocacy. So few poli sci wannabes do anything outside school, to their own detriment. It’s an opportunity you should pursue. Not just a service trip to another country.

And a lot about finaid is NOT whether your parents want to pay, but what the colleges feel they can afford to. Yes, run the NPCs. Other kids may “pay” for their educations, but you’ve named some mighty expensive colleges.

Sorry about this, but a lot of competitive kids will also apply from Missouri. Don’t forget the kids in major cities and from some very good privates in MO.

Get “Colleges That Can Change Lives” and the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Keep at this.

10

You still have more homework on college admissions to do: there is no “lack”. Your high school will send a school profile to the colleges you apply to that includes what options (AP, honors, etc) are available to students, what the averages, and will note whether your GC thinks that you have taken the ‘most rigorous’ course load available to you. It doesn’t matter if students apply w/ 15 APs or no APs- it matters what they take in the context of their school.

The public universities you list are super-unlikely to be affordable for you. For a start, you are out of state for all of them, so the base rate is higher. They will evaluate your families financial circumstances and tell you how much financial aid they will give you (including work-study). The rest will have to come from loans. As @twogirls pointed out, you are very limited in what you can borrow in your own name- the rest your parents would have to co-sign. UMi, UNC-CH & UVa will meet your financial need only, unless you get one of their super-selective named scholarships. The College of William and Mary: will meet financial need only.

UMo is $11K for instate students, and $27K for OOS. UVa is $13K for instate- and $44K for OOS. Instate, if you live at home, borrow your 5K and earn 6K over the course of the year and you are set.

Go run the NPCs for Vanderbilt, WashU St. Louis. Emory University

ps, starting a club at the end of Junior says “trying to build the college app” and colleges don’t fall for it.

11

You need to dig deep into paying for college before you can move forward with anything. Even if your parents will cosign do not take huge loans for an undergrad degree.

12

I think you need to look at in-state schools, as those will likely be your most affordable options. You might also want to retake the ACT to see if you can bring that (very good) score up a bit which might mean more merit opportunities. I also agree with a previous suggestion that you get involved with a political campaign. I think it doesn’t matter if it’s a local or national race, but I think you should volunteer on a campaign.

13

a lot of my issues with this comes from my interest coming late in high school. i had absolutely no clue that political science/public policy studies would encapsulate my interests in the manner they did until I took AP US Government/Politics this year. Although my attempt to build a club looks folly and an attempt to boost my college application, it’s truly not, as this interest came to me so late, unfortunately.

as for the npcs, I have run a few and they’re all to my dismay, since my parents make significant money. I’ll run some more later tonight after I get home from work and let all of you guys know.

Thanks to everyone for such great insight, I really appreciate everything so far, and hope more is to come! Today is my bday actually, so, in a way, this is all a sweet present.

14

Happy birthday!

15

Agree that you need to look at in state options or schools that would give you significant merit. I don’t think you’ll be able to afford the schools on your list without your parents help, and those schools don’t take into consideration what your parents are “willing” to pay. Also, apply to as many local scholarships as you can.

16

It doesn’t matter whether you came to this interest realization late. It matters how you now activate and with relevant activities. Sorry, please don’t misunderstand, but forming a hs club is so often just a bunch of kids hanging together, after the afternoon bell rings. You want to show colleges you have vision beyond that, can activate in the right ways, can climb past the high school box. Working alongside adults in the community tops more clubs in the hs.

What can you do, related to poli sci, that takes you to a new level? That’s not more titles.

17

I guess it’s important to tell what my club is. So In my AP GOPO class, we have a Current Events segment in which we present articles regarding current political events, and then we discuss them. My idea for a club (and I have approval for this club) would be to follow that structure, but with current bills being passed through both houses of Congress and Missouri’s congress. Then, we could contact our legislators with our opinions/ideas for the resolutions/bills. I know it’s nothing significant, but my school has no form of political club, so I wanted to change that.

18

Do you or does anyone recommend any other colleges to look into? Whether it’s in MO or not.

19

Work on a list from instate and then expand. I have heard some wonderful things about Truman State. I believe it’s a state liberal arts college. Also your state flagship. Start there. There’s St . Louis University. It may be pricey; look into any merit possibilities. Happy Birthday!

20

I’m impressed by kids I’ve met from Truman State, their drives and intellect.