Unweighted: 3.4
ACT: 34
AP Classes: AP Bio, AP Stat, AP World, AP Gov, APUSH, AP Comp Sci, AP Calc, AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Lit, maybe AP Psych
Extracurriculars: 200+ volunteer hours, dance for 10+ years, piano for 10+, school representative for dem organization, youth group member for charity org
Depends on the major. More than 50/50 for non stem. Gpa a tad low but Act high.
If engineering/cs, no way etc.
What state are you from, what is your interest ?
Georgia, I want to do STEM thinking about biology or pre-dental. would I have a better chance if i apply as a nonpopular major?
Bad choice. You go in as what you want. Why Purdue ? Why not Kennesaw ? Other in state ? As long as you have a full palate of schools…reach, target, and safety, it doesn’t matter what anyone says.
Pre med or dental is advising, not a major. Bio pays horribly if you don’t go to grad school so be careful. Not sure about Purdue and bio. But based on your gpa I’d consider it a reach. But likely not impossible like engineering would have been.
Look at IU too for Bio.
You’d be in there for sure. What’s your overall list look like ?
Safety: GSU, Augusta, UAB
Target: Mercer, Kennesaw, Auburn, UofSC, Texas A&M
Reach: GT, UGA, Clemson, UF, FSU, Penn State
Can you recommend some schools for me. I want a good school for bio and diversity is really important for me
Also wanted to add that i plan to go to grad school whether its for bio or possibly dental school
U have rural. Urban. Large small. Big sports. Don’t care about sports ?
What do u like ?
What can you afford ? What do your parents want to afford ? That’s different than what you can afford?
What are your AP scores so far? How many years of foreign language will you have by the end of HS?
What is your home state?
And agree with the above…we need to know what your parents can/will pay per year of college.
I would prefer urban like part of the city or a collegetown like UGA and athens. I want there to be sports and a football team, but it doesn’t have to be the dominating culture. My parents are comfortable sending me to Mercer which is private and the are willing to pay out of state, they would prefer to send me to a school in a southern state near Georgia. I know the thread was about Purdue which is nowhere near Georgia but if I did get into a good well respected school like Purdue I dont think they would have a problem sending me farther
Are you a first gen student or URM?
I am not first gen. I am south asian…im not sure if thats URM or not…I think not
A good friend is Indian (married to doctor) and just moved to Columbus.
Wonder what your UGA GPA would be. They rescore it in a defined way. The 34 ACT is really good. Seems like you’d have a shot there.
Yes, Auburn is a good safety school. U of Florida is much more diverse and would be a great reach and FSU could be a target. If no Cs, you have a shot at in state tuition with FSU.
So the good news is you have rigor. We know you’re a 3.4 unweighted. If you added 1 for an AP and .5 for Honors, what would you be (weighted). I’ll assume a 3.8 - but we don’t know.
So Georgia State, UAB, Augusta. Perfect.
I think Mercer is borderline safety. Kennesaw and Auburn are safeties. I like U of SC and Texas A&M as targets. Texas A&M is huge; it’s the opposite of Mercer. It’s also extremely large. Why did you choose it?
Reach - I’ll agree - G Tech is not going to happen, UGA is not going to happen, UF is not going to happen - but that’s why you have reaches. So it’s fine. I imagine you’ll get into Penn State. FSU is a tough call - if you get it, it would be Summer start - but it’s possible. It’s also possible you get in with an out of state waiver - so unsure.
U of SC is the one - it could be target, but it’s getting harder and harder to get in.
So - dental school. You know where your dentist went? I don’t know where mine went. Actually, I do - Arkansas (for undergrad) but I think we were talking about football.
So there’s lots of schools. Kennesaw seems a good fit. Georgia Southern - but not enough college town.
Florida Schools - FAU and maybe UCF is worth a try.
Others - look at the SEC - UT Knoxville, LSU, Alabama, Kentucky, MS Stateetc.
Others out of state - Miami of Ohio is a solid choice, Indiana (moreso than Purdue perhaps and easier to get in), Pitt.
Since you threw out Mercer, I’ll throw out some midsize - Elon (private), UNC Asheville, UT Chattanooga, College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina.
These are really safeties/matches - mainly safety.
You may even find merit aid.
You haven’t listed financial constraints. You say your parents will pay for Mercer and out of state - but that doesn’t state how much they can afford or want to afford - so that info would help.
As for reaches, you have UF and FSU + UGA and Ga Tech. You might look at U of Maryland, SMU, NC State, and Ohio State - but bang for the buck, you’ll be better off on some that I listed - or some of the GA schools like GA Southern, Valdosta State, or even the UTK or FAU type schools.
Hope that helps.
If dental or some other postgraduate program is what you want to do, make sure that you/your parents will be able to afford both of them. What you do not want to do, if you can avoid it, is to have to go into major debt. Consider either staying instate or find an OOS/private school that will allow you to get an undergraduate degree with minimum cost; then apply the money you didn’t spend on your undergraduate degree to your dental school or other postgraduate program of study. My recommendation is to have the money talk with your parents sooner rather than later.
Also, if you are looking at UAB, consider Samford University and Birmingham-Southern College: you will have the urban experience, plus some collegiate sports (although not SEC or ACC level).
Correct me if i’m wrong but both are religious - whereas I’m guessing by the OPs other choices they are not looking for a religious school.
It depends on what you mean by “religious school.” They may technically have religious affiliations but their main purpose is not the teaching of the Bible or any other religious tract. Nor do I consider them “religious” in the sense of, say, Wheaton College (in Illinois) or Bryan College – although I am more familiar with BSC than Samford. I know kids who currently are enrolled or who have recently graduated from both schools; and have not heard from either parents or children that there is a heavy-handed religious experience at either school. Both are schools where one can get an excellent education; and if the OP hasn’t considered them, then perhaps she ought to.
Along these lines, Emory University, American University, and DePauw University are affiliated with the United Methodist Church; Davidson College, Rhodes College, and Centre College are affiliated with the Presbyterian Church; Sewanee is affiliated with the Episcopal Church. All are excellent colleges/universities; would you discourage someone from considering them because they are “religious”?
I’d have to look into Sewanee and Centre but the rest no. it’s why I said correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not 100% sure.
I believe Stamford is and historically Birm Southern was.
Just pointing it out - don’t know the OP’s desires and they can research and see if any that you mentioned fit.
I understand where you’re coming from; I’m just suggesting that, notwithstanding any official religious affiliation for BSC and Samford, the reality on the ground may be a little different.
Okay Thank you so much for your help. Though the type of campus isn’t ideal, Mercer is going to be my top choice. It has what I am looking for in terms of diversity and would make my parents happy because it’s in-state. It is also a great school for bio/pre-dental. If I am unhappy because of the location or school size, I can always transfer after 1st semester. I go to a really tough STEM high school which is why my GPA is so low. everyone that graduates my high school says the transition to college is really easy and classes are easy to score in because they are so used to rigorous courses so I imagine my college GPA will be a lot higher making it easier to transfer to my dream school then getting admission for freshman year.
Your GPA isn’t low - I mean, you have a lot of rigor.
You don’t go to school intending to transfer. If that’s the case, then just go to community college and save yourself money.
Be careful about majoring in bio. There’s not a worse major/paying major for the majority of pre-med type kids that never make it to med school.
You have perfectly fine schools on your list and you were given other suggestions to review - message 13 and by the other poster who mentioned Samford and BSC.
Find your school, make sure it’s affordable because grad school is next and bio is low paying if you decide not to go to dental school, and then have a wonderful experience at that school.
If you go in intending to transfer, you’ll have a bad year because you’ll be down on the school before you get there. Every school on your list and the alternatives provided have a lot of really smart kids who choose to go for various reasons - scholarship, location, otherwise.