<p>Hello, I have been viewing CC on and off for a few months now and Finally decided to make an account to post my predicament. I am going to be a senior this year and am quite confused. I have kind of just let the past three years blow by without much thought. I have made pretty good grades throughout. UW GPA: 3.7 W:4.2. Junior year was when I became to really start to care and made straight A's. Anyways I see all of these posts about all of these AP classes people are taking and all of the things they have to put on college apps and wonder how blank mine will seem. I come from a very small town where most kids in my town do not go to college. And for my parents my mom has no college and my dad some. My grandparents have none besides my one grandfather. I do go to a private school to try to get the best of it, but my class size is about 100 kids and most end up going to just public state unis. I am wondering how hard it will be for me to get into a good school. I do not have that many EC or volunteering. Just mainly spanish club and NHS. And probably around 50-60 various hours of volunteering. For my high school no AP classes were offered for freshmen/sophomore, but for Junior I took the only 2 possible of APUSH and AP LANG and got a 4 on Land and 3 on apush. And for next year I am taking about the most possible. Which will be: AP Calc,AP Stat, AP Gov, AP English Lit, and AP Bio. My class rank is in the top 25% with being about 25/100. My act is currently a 26 and goal of 28-30. Okay now onto my questions... </p>
<p>Do I have much of a chance for a good college?</p>
<p>Do colleges take into consideration backgrounds of where you are from such as mine and take into account someone actually trying to get into a good school?</p>
<p>Will colleges take into account of my class being very top heavy. Like our top 15 students have never made a B and for the year that just graduated you could be in the top 10 with like 4 B's.</p>
<p>Also I really have no idea where I want to go or what I want to do. I have thought about business and medical field, but am just not sure. </p>
<p>Am I really far behind in all of this?</p>
<p>And how can I fix all of this and help decide what I want to do so I can find the best college for what I want to do?</p>
<p>I have not started scholarships either... Am I miles behind on that too?</p>
<p>Thank you to anyone willing to help me or give me help on any of these. All advice and honestly is welcome.</p>
<p>Hi! I’m also a first-generation college student from a small town where most people don’t go to four-year colleges. </p>
<p>Stuff to know:
- Colleges will decide whether to accept or reject you based on what you did with the opportunities you had. If your school only has a few AP classes, you won’t be expected to take twenty-five.
- Private high schools and colleges aren’t inherently better than public ones. Some public schools are better than some private ones and vice versa.
- Volunteer hours and AP scores don’t matter for college admissions, at least not nearly as much as people think they do. Community service can be one of your ECs, but it doesn’t have to be. </p>
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<p>Your accomplishments will be viewed in context.</p>
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<p>Absolutely. Insanely selective top schools might be out of reach for you, but most colleges accept most of their applicants. There are lots of sites where you can search for colleges that have the characteristics you want and that you’d be able to get into.
Be sure to think about financial aid and what your family will be able to pay. (Are you looking for merit aid?)</p>
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<p>They’ll receive a school profile that tells about your school, but your class rank isn’t very high and that might hurt you. </p>
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<p>Generally you don’t have to. You should definitely think about this stuff, but most people don’t declare a major until they’re actually in college. </p>
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<p>Don’t worry about outside scholarships. They’re hard to get and usually not worth all that much. Most of your financial aid will come from the college you attend, and probably some of it will be need-based (not just scholarships). Colleges that give merit aid may require a separate application for certain scholarships, but a lot of times all eligible applicants are automatically considered. Look at the specific websites of the colleges you’re interested in.</p>
<p>Right now I would suggest looking for colleges and working on your Common App essay. The prompts are here and you pick one:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/EssayAnnouncementFinal.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/EssayAnnouncementFinal.pdf</a></p>
<p>The two things that are currently unclear/you clarify are what do you consider “a good college” and do you have any ECs (if so what are they)?</p>
<p>@halcyonheather</p>
<p>Thanks a lot. That was really helpful.
Can you explain in more detail what the common app is?
Also for college aid; do colleges offer a large portion of student aid?</p>
<p>How far are you along in all of this and will you be a senior?</p>
<p>@ArtsyGirl13
for a good college I mainly mean one that will provide a good education. I do not know how to describe much more than that. For example like obviously no community college or junior college, but not extreme like HYP. I guess in the middle.</p>
<p>for ECs I really just have volunteering and NHS</p>
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<p>It’s basically a single application you fill out and send to multiple schools that you want to apply to. It’s a way of making the process of filling out apps more convenient and streamlined. Some schools accept the Common App and some don’t. </p>
<p>There’s a better explanation on their website:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/FAQ.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/FAQ.aspx</a></p>
<p>They’re revising it this fall, though. On August 1st everyone will be able to see what the new Common App is like. </p>
<p>Some colleges that accept the Common App require a supplement specific to their school, which basically consists of some extra forms you fill out just for them. Some schools require an additional supplement essay and some don’t. </p>
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<p>In most cases, most of your aid will come from your college. (The government also gives some aid from the FAFSA, and colleges will also use the FAFSA to figure out how much need you have.) Some schools give better aid than others. If you’re looking for merit aid it’s usually a good idea to apply to some schools where you’ll be an above-average applicant. Some schools have guaranteed scholarships if your GPA, test scores, etc. are above certain cutoffs. Other scholarships are competitive.
Most colleges have net price calculators on their website so you can get some idea of how much it would cost you to go there.
I don’t know a lot about financial aid, so I’d recommend asking more specific questions here:
[Financial</a> Aid & Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/]Financial”>Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums)</p>
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<p>I’m a rising senior. I’ve written my Common App essay but I still have a bunch of supplements to write. I have a decent idea of where I want to apply, but I’m still working on my college list.</p>
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<p>In this case, you might want to focus on larger universities and other schools that aren’t too holistic and care more about grades/scores than ECs.</p>
<p>You should also realize that this forum by no means encapsulates a “normal” college applicant. Most of the people that post their stats/ ECs are insanely above average. I think many people on this forum would scoff at any SATs that are under 2000, but a 2000 SAT score is the 93rd percentile nationally. You said your ACT was a 26? That’s still around the 85th percentile nationally which is nothing to sneeze at. Hopefully you can pick up a couple of ECs to round yourself out, but you don’t need to be in panic mode.</p>
<p>@halcyonheather
what is the link you sent me for common app if they’re changing it august 1st? </p>
<p>Can you explain the different types of student aid and what they’re and how you get them?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help I really appreciate it</p>
<p>and what exactly is FAFSA I know it is government aid, but I do not fully understand.</p>
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<p>I linked you to an FAQ page that tells what it is.
They’ll still be using that website as far as I know, and it will be the same basic idea (applying to multiple schools with the same forms), but the process of filling out information will be different. </p>
<p>You can look at one of the old Common App forms to get an idea of what they’ll be asking:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/2013PacketFY_download.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/2013PacketFY_download.pdf</a></p>
<p>The FAFSA is the application your custodial parent(s) fill out to get government aid (Pell Grant, government loans, work-study). Colleges also use it to determine your need, along with the CSS Profile at some schools (which is another financial aid application). In addition to what you get from the government, you can get grants, loans, and scholarships from your college. A few schools have no-loan financial aid and some schools don’t give merit scholarships. </p>
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<p>And assets/savings/other stuff…it’s more complicated than just income, which is why I recommend getting your parents to help you run the net price calculators on college websites. My family is low-income but I’m not eligible for much need-based aid because my dad’s been hoarding all his money since the 1970s.</p>