<p>So I've been looking at colleges and have found myself completely lost. And it's almost December so I'm a little worried.</p>
<p>I received a 33 on the ACT. (from Missouri so the only choice test-wise really)</p>
<p>I'm not a perfect student by any means. My GPA is about a 3.0 (maybe a little lower), however there are a few external circumstances that can help mitigate some of the blame for the lower gpa.</p>
<p>I have no idea where to apply other than my state's flagship (MU).</p>
<p>Where should a White, lower middle class student be looking with a good ACT score, sound ECs, poor GPA, and a good essay?</p>
<p>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I’d say somewhere like Claremont McKenna which is a school heavily rooted in social sciences as its primary (nearly 50% of the students are in the social sciences) would be a good fit. It is incredibly expensive, no doubt, but they meet 100% of demonstrated need (which admittedly can sometimes not be reflective of what the family can actually pay) with 0 loans in any of their need-based packages. The question is if you could get in though, but I feel that it might be a good fit.</p>
<p>Given your location its hard to find good political science schools that aren’t expensive LACs, and even thsoe are iffy if you’d get in there. Hope my one suggestion works out, because you do seem to be in a tough spot.</p>
<p>Look at Truman State in MO. I don’t know how good their poli sci is but they are a strong school with good FA. If you can get your school counselor to talk to them about your GPA issues, you may be OK.</p>
<p>The first time I took the ACT, I did the one with writing and got a 31. The second time I took it without writing and got a 33.</p>
<p>And to shennie, I don’t think Truman State is what I’m looking for. I already got accepted to MU and have some good financial prospects there so I don’t see why I’d go down to Truman instead.</p>
<p>many schools allow mixing and matching of the ACT writing score and the composite mult. choice score. I’m sure if you send in both tests you should be fine.</p>
<p>How much are your parents willing to pay each year toward your college education? That’s important to find out because even the relatively rare colleges that meet 100% of students’ demonstrated need are meeting need as the colleges define it, which may differ from how your parents do.</p>
<p>What’s your state of residence? I don’t know what “MU” stands for.</p>
<p>Oh sorry, I meant University of Missouri. (other states that start with M’s abbreviate differently, UM, M, etc. I believe)</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure what my parents are willing to pay or the specifics of their financial situation. MU’s starting cost is $20,000 and that’s seems okay to them. I’m assuming we could be okay with anywhere in $20-30,000 if I had a part-time job in college and we had access to low-interest loans.</p>
<p>I don’t want my graduating debt to be more than $40,000 for sure though. I’m planning on going to Law School afterward, and I’m hoping it’ll be a prestigious one, as long as I can keep my GPA high in college.</p>
<p>I thought I’d just say that I have a friend whose uncle is a VERY wealthy lawyer and adviced my friend’s brother who wants to be a lawyer also to major in English then go to law school. The brother graduated from a private school and majored in English and now works at a law firm and is at law school. So you don’t really have to just major in Poli Sci, you should also consider English by going to a LAC. Majoring in English is very beneficial and necessary too when you become a lawyer.</p>