<p>Hi, I'm a HS senior and am trying to hone my college list. I'm concerned that there are too many reaches on it, but I'm having a hard time finding schools I really like that are less selective. My stats:</p>
<p>-3.7 UW/4.4 W GPA (super crappy freshman year/upward trend)
-10/65 rank at a poor but high achieving public early college school (926 API)
-2120 (800 W, 720 CR, 600 M) SAT (retaking, expecting 2200ish)
-taking APUSH and Eng Lit subject tests in December
-3 on AP World, 4 on APUSH, 5 on Eng Lang + 50 units of community college
-humanitarian student of the year (won twice), alexander hamilton national merit award</p>
<p>2nd gen Mexican (dual citizenship) from a single parent home. We are middle class and I am not 1st gen for college. I live in CA.</p>
<p>-secretary of a non-profit that advocates for binational farmworkers
-founder/head coordinator of student peace alliance chapter
-developed month-long block of curriculum centered on the environmental and ethical ramifications of pesticides for Enviro Sci teacher
-community facilitator on student government
-food policy research intern for food justice non-profit
-guitar, ukulele, irish tin whistle</p>
<p>A bit about me: I'm majoring in political science. I'm 100% committed to social justice, and am particularly interested in how food justice relates to Latin American countries and international food trade agreements (NAFTA, etc), which is why I'm attracted to schools that offer open curriculum, a minor centered on social justice, or a thesis program. I'm quite left (and thus want a like-minded college community) and financial aid is a concern.</p>
<p>My college list thus far:
Marlboro, UC Santa Cruz, Scripps, Wesleyan U, UC Berkeley, Reed, Carleton</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I was in the same position as you! It can be really hard to find schools that you like that are less selective. I recommend getting The Best 373 Colleges by the Princeton Review. It really helped me 
On the other hand, I am considering any school that has 40%+ acceptance rate and matches my test scores (my GPA is not a very accurate portrayal of my abilities, since I messed up my freshman year but have been getting all A’s since my second semester as a sophomore) a “likely” school. I also have a VERY specific college criteria, lol, so that actually made it easier for me to find schools I was interested in.</p>
<p>I’m a bit confused as to what you’re looking for. I get that you want:
- preferably liberal environment (please correct me if left does not mean liberal; I’m super bad with political terms! >_<)
- good financial aid
- a strong political science major
But is there anything else you’re looking for? Is a certain size preferable? Do you want a certain study abroad program? Are you interested in a certain minor? Which states are preferable (I’m assuming California, based on the colleges you listed), and which ones would you never dream of going to school in?</p>
<p>I’d love to help you out, and I’m pretty sure that I can, but it would be great if you could answer the above questions It would help me narrow things down a bit.</p>
<p>P.S. I’m applying to Scripps, too! :D</p>
<p>Good Safety/Likely Schools to Look Into
(Percent of applicants accepted is listed in parenthesis)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>People who applied to Marlboro sometimes preferred The Evergreen State College (95%). They rarely preferred Hampshire College (63%) and Green Mountain College (75%). (Just because they were rarely preferred doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look into these schools!)</p></li>
<li><p>UC Santa Cruz (64%) seems like a good likely Their average high school GPA is 3.61, and the average SAT score is as follows: Reading=510-630; Math=520-640; Writing=520-630</p></li>
<li><p>Scripps applicants often preferred Occidental College (44%)</p></li>
<li><p>Reed applicants sometimes prefer Macalester College (46%)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Hopes this helps you out a bit :)</p>
<p>I know my college list is a little confusing because there are so many exceptions to my preferences:</p>
<p>I prefer the LAC/small school vibe, but UCSC would be the most financially viable for me since I could commute and UCB’s peace and conflict major and location (the East Bay has a more vibrant food justice movement than just about anywhere) make it a good fit for me. </p>
<p>I prefer the west coast, but I’m open to just about any state. I’m inclined to say I don’t want to attend school in the midwest, but I really like Carleton, so even that is up for grabs.</p>
<p>I like the idea of minoring in Chicano/a studies, human rights, critical theory, etc, but I’m not set on anything in particular. </p>
<p>The other thing that’s difficult for me is determining which colleges are really matches for me. My stats seem to match up with Wesleyan, for instance, but I’m under the impression that it’s a very selective school, so I could be mistaken.</p>
<p>Thanks for the stats! Occidental’s aid is pretty poor, E State is too liberal even for me, and for some reason I’m really not interested in Mac, but I’ll have to take a second look at Hampshire.</p>
<p>Since you’re applying to Scripps, I’m assuming that you don’t have anything against women colleges. So you might want to consider applying to Smith (47%) or Mount Holyoke (58%). Political science & government is one of the most popular majors at Smith. From what I read, both student government and political activism are popular. Smith also has this unique housing system (not dorms!) that is supposed to promote self-government.</p>
<p>Your stats fit great and I would definitely consider this school a likely for you!</p>
<p>I like Scripps’ setup in part because of its consortium- a number of classes I’d take would be co-ed, but I’d still have an all women “base” at the dorms. Most other women’s colleges (besides perhaps Bryn Mawr and Barnard) seem to be significantly more isolated. Since I’ve spent my whole life just living with one other woman, I think it’s important that I don’t spend another 4 years living with women exclusively.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your help, though!</p>