I am a California resident and UW Seattle is one of my top 2 school choices (the other being Bradley University in IL) but I am beginning to wonder whether I really have a chance at getting in and getting a decent amount of aid or not (ideally getting COA down to $20k would be awesome, in combo with institutional and outside aid). I am currently enrolled in a 2-year college and will have my Associate’s in Social Sciences (with all pre-reqs for the SOC major at UW completed) at the end of Spring 2017.
I graduated in the top 5% of my high school class (64/12xx) with a 3.58 UW and 3.77W GPA. I scored a 29 on the ACT and a combined 1750 on the SAT (520M / 640 CR / 590 W). My academic rigor during high school was pretty heavy, with Honors and AP classes from 9th grade on. I also took Physics, Calculus, Music, and Public Speaking on my current community college campus while in high school. I was a member of the student government for two years as Assistant Chairperson and Secretary to our school board, started a peer study club in my freshman year (which was quite successful), participated in a number of clubs, and frequently tutored / held an informal “assistant teacher” position in many of my classes because I liked helping other students in their studies. I was also inducted into the NHS and awarded a scholarship upon my graduation for community service and academic dedication.
As a college student I have worked as an AVID Tutor for the local high school and plan to volunteer at my college library in the Fall, but otherwise don’t have any formal extracurriculars. I do, however, have an article written for a Critical English regarding the racial climate of the US that is going to be published in the school’s literary magazine in Spring 2017; my article was nominated by the head of the English department (who happened to be my instructor) and vetted by a committee of other department heads for selection.
My major GPA is around a 3.57 (across 28 units) and my overall GPA is around a 3.2 (across 70+ units). The rigor of my classes in college has been a mixed bag, but I tend to do well in the more challenging courses (A’s/B’s in Critical English, Philosophy, PoliSci, etc.) and I have mixed in some classes that are more for enrichment than anything else (volleyball, film analysis) which I also did well in.
My biggest downfall was taking an 18-unit load in Spring 2016. I was struggling to succeed but was doing well enough (B’s in most of the classes) until a close relative unexpectedly passed under dubious circumstances (cousin in his 20s, completely unforeseen) and I had an emotional shutdown. It was past the drop date so I couldn’t drop the harder classes and just resigned to flunking them while I made sure to get A’s/B’s in the other half of the classes. I retook 2 of the 3 failed classes and got A’s the following summer, and I will be retaking the last F this Fall an hope to attain at least a B (it’s accounting, which is difficult for me to begin with) so that hopefully bumps my GPA.
I am really interested in UW beyond the obvious “it’s a top-ranking school and it’ll look good on my resume” because I think that the atmosphere of the school will help me grow in a service capacity. Social issues are a big part of my life and I am very committed to giving back, both through community service and sharing knowledge (particularly through my writing), and UW seems to pride itself to some degree on its progressive and service-oriented atmosphere. My primary career goal is to become a civil rights attorney, but I also intend to maintain an active media presence with community and academic outreach (a loftier goal being to someday start a franchise of low-cost / free educational centers in underserved communities to improve quality of life for residents) over the course of my professional career, and my life in general.
I am Black, first generation college student, have struggled with mental illness throughout high school and college (undiagnosed / self-managed at this time, getting a formal evaluation tomorrow because it has been getting unbearable lately), come from a low middle / high working class family, and have always had to balance home responsibilities with school (3 younger siblings and both parents working for the last 3-4 years).
Any thoughts welcome.