Wheaton (MA) is not a safety with your GPA.
Can you afford UHM?
http://www.hawaii.edu/fas/basics/calculator.php
I hate the UH system
Your grades are likely too low for Ivy League schools. Since you are a native Hawaiian, you might end up qualifying for Native American scholarships. Univ of New Mexico and New Mexico State have a lot of those to choose from. Some things to consider are:
- Don't just pick a school based on its reputation. for example, why is Princeton your dream school?
- What does "generous with financial aid" mean to you?
- Applying for financial aid usually requires your parents to provide information from their tax returns & income. However, that would likely NOT be applicable if you are an emancipated minor.
- What sorts of majors/areas of study are you interested in?
- Why an East Coast preference? If you prefer the East Coast, which part? New England, Mid-Atlantic, or the South? Each area is very different from the other culturally and they are all quite different from Hawaii.
- Something to consider if your intent is to move away to college & never return to Hawaii....attending a university in a remote rural area might make it more challenging during breaks & the summer. For example, it would be easier/more convenient if you would have summer employment options nearby or within a bus ride's distance away (assuming that you won't have a car at first).
- Expect to have to take on some debt as a part of paying for college.
- Whether or not you qualify for federal & state grants will be entirely dependent on your household income. See #3.
Good luck in your quest. Time is ticking. Schools like Princeton have a lot of admission requirements - multiple tests submissions & letters of recommendation required, so if you do decide to apply to Princeton, get cracking with your research and essay writing now.
Why were your grades low during 1st 2 years? If you have a great story then tell it in your essays (overcoming hardship). That will help you a lot. What do you want to study?
my grades were low during my first two years because my mother didn’t provide any way for me to do the bulk of assignments (no internet or computers in our house). The reason I want to go to a university with prestige is to help my chances of getting into a T14 law school. I will take on as much loans as I can but I need the rest to be need based aid + pell grant. Princeton is my dream school because of many things: the unrivaled political science program, the amazing focus on undergraduate education, the beautiful campus, the student life, the student to teacher ratio, my list goes on and on. At the end of the day I know I need to be realistic and have other options. I really like the mid southern atmosphere at schools like WFU and Duke but I am inclined to the East Coast in general
An important thing to research is whether the schools you apply to have housing over the breaks, especailly during winter break. Some schools have it and others don’t. If you don’t plan on going home then you need to be able to stay in your dorm.
Having conducted a fair amount of business in Hawaii, as well as having a large number of my family who live there I understand many of the challenges faced with the education system there as well as the desire many have ot leave and never come back for a variety of reasons. That said, given your goals you need to be practical and pragmatic and honestly act sooner rather than later.
What is your UW GPA by year ? You cannot count on those senior year grades yet and all schools will compare UW GPA’s first and then factor in rigor. Is the 2.7 your actual current UW gpa or your projected including senior year?
Have you taken any SAT subject tests? Extremely selective schools like Princeton may require them.
The reality is, a 1400, if you obtain it, while an outstanding score, is on the lower side for Princeon and the GPA sadly doesn’t even make their admission charts at all (nothing under a 3.0 shows as a full percentage in their common data set). GPA aside for a school with the admission rates they have, perfect GPA’s and test score kids are turned down. It’s a great score, but not perfect and I don’t think will be enough to offset the gpa even with hardships and the demographic hook you have. It just isn’t enough in my opinion. If you have your heart set on it definitely apply but I do think your time could be better spent elsewhere. I really don’t mean to be harsh but there are a lot of kids with very very tough situations and some of them will have better scores and gpa’s.
Law school is expensive. VERY expensive. You do not want to head to law school with debt if it is at all possible to avoid. The law is also a very volatile field at the moment. Many many law school graduates are having a difficult time finding jobs and they have high debt so again, you really want to minimize this as much as possible. I work with a lot of young lawyers and it’s not pretty. At all. I am discouraging my own current senior from considering it.
Strained and broken is one thing but it does not really sound like you will qualify as an emancipated minor. You may want to discuss that as an option with your GC. It could help you financially but it may not. Will your parents cooperate with the paperwork required? FAFSA and CSS Profile? You will need that or if not, you’ll need to attempt to become emancipated.
Most importantly, you do not need to go to a “prestigious” school for undergrad to get into a top law school. You need excellent grades and test scores to go to a top law school. Finding a school you can thrive at versus one you struggle to keep up at will server you far better than the name of the school. I know many many amazing lawyers, business people and doctors that went to top schools that came out of mid tier LAC’s or public schools because that is what they could afford. They made the most of it.
Focus on schools you can afford, that will give you the aid you need, provide you with an environment where you can obtain work during the year and summers as you will need that to be able to have your one way ticket and not look back as the aid will not cover your summers, nor will that housing qualify (I believe) as a qualified education expense that you can use your loan funds towards. Someone else may have more direct experience than I on that specific topic.
I would also be super careful about how you speak to this in your essays. Sadly, much of America has similar issues. What colleges care about is what you learned from your situation, how you grew, etc. They aren’t interested in blame or excuses. I am not saying you will do that but…they don’t want to hear it. All public libraries have computers. Many school districts have loan programs. There can be options in most cases though the are certainly not easy or always available. But, as a general rule, colleges do not want to hear anything that remotely sounds like an excuse or blame so just be careful and thoughtful in terms of how you speak to your particular situation.
I would focus on LAC’s that take a very holistic approach to admissions. Reed might be an excellent one to consider. While your stats make it a reach, they really are about the whole person and the essay is weighted very very heavily and the slam poetry would fit well. It has the prestige you want and they are amazing for merit aid. It’s not a match or a safety but worth a shot I would think.
I’d encourage you again, as a starting point, to really look at the CTCL schools (Reed is one though it is very selective) to find some safeties that will give you generous FA and some merit. I’d look at Vassar who is excellent for aid, possibly Boston University and American but run the NPC’s first. Reaches are great but you need some realistic options.
My UW was 3.7 Junior year and is 4.0 this year. I know Princeton is an extreme reach but it is my dream. I already have reed on my list of colleges to apply to and am excited about that because Reed is a great school. I will graduate with a projected 3.0 UW and 3.4 W GPA.
Princeton admitted roughly 5 students with gpas less than 2.99 (probably athletes) so I suppose you have a very remote chance.
Re travel costs: it’s hard to find schools in the west that meet, let’s say, 95%+ need that aren’t super selective. Whitman College, perhaps, but I think they’re a bit too selective with gpa. Run the NPC on it.
Run the NPCs for: College of Wooster (OH), Lawrence University (WI), St. Olaf College (MN), Union College (NY), Wheaton College (MA). Union meets 100% need and the others are close to it. These schools have more admits (marginally) with gpas less than 2.99. Wheaton had ~25% of their class with less than 2.99! These schools also have 2 or fewer Native Hawaiians. Plenty of schools have few Hawaiians but your odds are probably better where there are very few. Union College has nary a Hawaiian to be found.
Try Clark U (MA), Dickinson College (PA).
It’s sensible to apply to UHM. You hate it, ok, but it might turn out to be the best option you have, affordability wise. You can always transfer out (with a higher gpa than you have now).
It could be that you require 100% need met schools only; perhaps the wealthier, more selective ones at that. Which NPCs have you run that turned out affordable?
Just a word of advice, you will have to maintain some degree of contact with your parents because they will be filling out the FAFSA (and possibly CSS Profile) in order for you to qualify for need-based aid. That paperwork will need to be submitted annually. So a one way ticket to the mainland with no intent to return might not be the best approach to take if you depend on their goodwill to receive financial aid.
If you are an emancipated minor, then disregard what I wrote above.
I also agree that you should look at CTCL schools that meet full need. Within that category, I second the recommendation that you look at Clark U. It has a very diverse and socially engaged student body and your story might resonate there.
That said, a GPA less than 3.0 will put you in the bottom 10% or lower for CTCL schools like College of Wooster and St. Olaf and Clark U (according to collegedata site). Raising your SAT and writing strong essays will help to boost your chances as would nudging your GPA up to a 3.0
Try the Supermatch tool on the left side of this page to find matches for your academic profile.
And do apply to a local public university to cover your bases.
Good luck to you!
Your chances at Reed will be much much better if you try for ED. Really nail the essay. The essay is huge. Interview. They may say it’s optional, it really isn’t. Figure out a way to skype or the like (though an alumni may well come through if you are in Oahu lol). Show interest. A lot. Constantly. They have been AMAZING in helping one of S17’s best friends find amazing internships (AMAZING), work during the school year far beyond on campus work study and summer work. He received an amazing FA package and while he is not a stats comparison for you, if accepted, the aid is truly amazing, they will meet your full need. He rarely comes home. Not because he has issues at home but because he is busy working. It’s been a ton of work (very intense school as you know) and it’s hard but he absolutely loves it. He truly has a part time job at the moment that graduates from other schools would kill for and almost an automatic offer after graduation if he wants it.
While I realize that isn’t the path you are looking for, the support that has been there for him is truly impressive.
Reed is a reach, and a large one.
Princeton, with a 3.7 UW junior year, honestly I really would focus your efforts elsewhere.
UH is a viable safety. My Hawaiian cousins, who have all come to the mainland for college, require their kids to apply there as a safety. These are full pay families who could pay for other safeties and are ALL teachers by trade, some at every high levels. It is a viable safety. Apply. You need safeties and matches. I get that you want to leave but it is a viable option and we can’t always be as picky as we’d like.
How much would submitting an arts portfolio help?
I think it depends. If you plan to continue in the EC and hope for a non major scholarship which some schools have in theater or music then it could be good, or for example if you are going for a writing based scholarship the poetry could come into play.
For simply supplementing an application from what I understand unless you are at a very very high level on the art shown it may not help especially at super selective schools. Will it hurt? Probably not but a school like Princeton will have thousands with very strong music EC’s (for example), some at conservatory national award levels and those will be the ones that add. For Reed I am honestly not sure but suspect it couldn’t hurt.
By way of example, my S17 will do a small supplement and an audition for one of his schools that offers music scholarships for non majors. He will have an extra non teacher LOR from his private lesson teacher on the music side and the performing arts center director on the theater tech side (different scholarship but same school. One other school will also get the director LOR because it makes sense for that school. The rest will not even though they allow supplements we don’t feel it adds to the app based on what those schools value as important. He does hope to continue in both theater and music at all the schools on his list as a non major, but some value info early more than others.
Your app will show that you are well rounded, and you are. An arts supplement will take time and as a non arts major it may or may not be worth that time investment. Wherever you apply look for leadership need based scholarships, you’ve some lovely things to include in apps that aren’t wholly stats based.
Alright thank you very much.
Princeton’s projected middle range for the new SAT format appears as 1460-1600, so this is another factor that you may want to consider.