Academics:
4.147/4, weighted; my high school does not calculate unweighted GPAs
Ranked 49/954 in my graduating class
Freshman year I took the highest courses available to me, which were all Honors-level courses; sophomore year I took the highest courses available to me as well, which included one AP course (US History); junior year I took three IB Courses (SL Chinese, HL English, and HL History), Honors Oceanography, and Honors Precalculus; currently in my senior year, I am taking the same three IB courses, Honors Physics, and AP Statistics
Letters of recommendation will be from my Honors Chemistry teacher, Sophomore Honors/IB English teacher, and the priest at my parish who has known me for 5+ years
Extracurricular:
Treasurer of National Honor Society at my school for 2 years
Treasurer of our version of “Best Buddies,” member for 4 years
Religious Education TA at my parish for 2 years
Religious Education Teacher at my parish for 2 years
Member of the Teen Choir at my parish for 2 years
Awards:
Induction into NHS
Honor Roll
St. Timothy Award from the Archdiocese of Boston
Extra:
Puerto-Rican
Complicated personal story consisting of two concussions, foster placement, and reunification with father during high school
Great personal essay edited by my English teacher
I plan on applying to:
College of the Holy Cross - ED (toured twice, interviewed, information session, Fall open house, accepted to Perspectives program)
Stonehill College - EA
University of Massachusetts at Amherst - EA
Providence College - EA
St. Michael’s College - EA
What other colleges would you recommend? I plan on majoring in Political Science but am still slightly undecided in that regard. I am looking preferably for a smaller, Catholic college, but, due to my circumstances, know it would be smart to apply to some state colleges. UMass Amherst is the only one I really like, though.
@wisteria100 690 CW + 670 CR + 440 M = 1800 flat; retook on 10/3 get my scores on 10/22. Unfortunately my score is horrible so I know that cuts out a lot of options. My high school is the largest in MA & sends lots of kids each year to highly ranked colleges. It is also a very urban school with more than half of the students on free/reduced lunch. I need at most an EFC of $8,000. My dad makes about $60k/yr and I know at Holy Cross, according to the fin. aid office, the average salary of attending students’ families is $120k so I am very much under that. HC has a binding ED but I spoke personally with an adm counselor who told me if the financial aid isn’t suitable it of course isn’t binding @mom2collegekids thank you made a new post to see if I could get some more opinions! Haha @scarednjdad yes, but I’m afraid I won’t get enough aid without SATs. UMass is probably going to be the safest for me financially, if I get in…
I would not submit those scores for Holy Cross. Fear they will knock you right out despite your other strong credentials. But for the others they are fine to submit. I do think you should probably apply RD to compare packages
No @ScaredNJDad. What I meant was a lot of colleges base merit aid off of SAT scores :). Holy Cross does not give almost any merit aid – it’s all need-based, which is a plus for me.
Yes, true, but at HC you should have a very low cost. Did you submit academic info for HC Perspectives? If so, I would guess you have a great shot to be accepted.
@ScaredNJDad I think I’m more nervous about financial aid than getting in my worst fear is getting in and being excited to go, then not getting enough aid.
Foster child + St Timothy’s + most rigorous course load with exemplary academic achievement will trump your SAT scores, especially since they show you can do the work and they’re on par for your general socio-economic category.
(since you were in foster care after age 13, you count as “foster child”, that’s VERY important, even if you’re being reunited with your dad right now. So you should NOT use his income on the FAFSA and for CSS Profile, call each school’s financial aid office for verification.)
Your list is good but if I were you, I’d add Mount Holyoke because their financial aid is as good as Holy Cross’; Siena, UScranton, Loyola-Maryland, Fairfield. And if I were you I’d apply to Commonwealth Honors at UMass as well as Boston College and Notre Dame. Are your odds good there? No. But they have excellent financial aid, which is (I suppose) the primary criterion for choosing a college, so it’s worth it to look at the supplement’s essays in case you don’t get into HC ED and need to send a few more applications.
This being said, I fully believe you’ll get into Holy Cross.
@MYOS1634, thank you! I’m still a foster child even if my dad has custody of me now? I put my dad’s info on the CSS profile but haven’t submitted it yet. According to the profile I am now no longer a foster child, but on the FAFSA I am.
@MYOS1634, DCF still has my case open but I am in my dad’s custody. I’m not sure whether that is still foster care or what because there’s still an open case.
You may no longer be in foster care but you were in foster care after the age of 13 (the statement isn’t “continuously to this day”, because they know that even kids who go from foster care to home may come back to foster care or be in situation what warrant some type of intervention.)
Yes, if you were a foster child after age 13 you are considered a foster child.
Email colleges’ financial aid office, indicating all of these: 1° were a foster age after age 13 2° have been recently reunited with father for trial period that you hope will last 3° DCS still has file - then ask if you should file as Foster Child or with your father’s information for CSS purpose.
@masscatholicgirl I read your story on the other thread. I can’t beleive HC did not meet your FA need. I thought it would be nice if you could update this thread for others coming later… Share your acceptance and stingy aid, and maybe add any schools you have decided to apply to now that you have rejected HC ED. Good luck to you!
made a new post to see if I could get some more opinions! Haha