Colleges for a mediocre student?

Hi guys, I need some help finding some colleges in Pennsylvania or New York (or anywhere around those areas). My stats are as follows, 3.3UW and 1180 SAT. Kind of disappointed with myself that I didn’t try harder in high school (could have got into better schools) but I decided really apply myself in college this time around!

  • Looking for kinda of booky/quirky colleges (I’m kind of an introvert irl)
  • Preferably around NY or Penn
  • Not too large of a campus/ student population

If it helps I’m gonna retake the ACT on Feb and hopefully get a better score! I already applied to CUNY Baruch, Hunter, St Johns, Stony Brook, Bowling Green and Ohio Northern.

My daughter is seriously considering Manhattan College. Susquehanna could be another choice. How much of a factor are finances?

What is your budget, that is your first concern. What state are you a resident of? Have you looked at community college options with transfer agreements? That is a good way to rewrite your academics if you are successful in your 2 yrs at CC.

Some additional possibilities: Allegheny, Sarah Lawrence, Muhlenberg, Juniata, Ursinus, Washington & Jefferson. Wheaton, in MA, if you want to push the geographic boundary. Best of luck on the ACT. My daughter did much better on it vs. the SAT.

The following colleges would be great fits for you and are better academically than your other choices – but do run the NPC to make sure.
Wooster, Allegheny (reach), Ursinus, Susquehanna, Muhlenberg (reach).
A bit away from your preferred area: St Michael’s, Champlain, Luther, Augustana, Concordia Moorhead, Millikin.
Are you instate in PA or NYS?

There are several schools that could fit as your stats are similar to most of our students from high school and they go to oodles of different places. One big key will be if you can afford places. Another is what major or field are you interested in?

Kids love - no particular order:

Washington and Jefferson
Allegheny
Arcadia
Albright
Juniata
Susquehanna
York College of PA
Elizabethtown
Millersburg
Bloomsburg
Shippensburg
Delaware Valley
Lebanon Valley
Geneva (Christian)
Grove City (Christian)
Messiah (Christian)

I’m undoubtedly forgetting some, but that’s a start.

+1000 for Elizabethtown, a fantastic recommendation for your criteria and stats. You’re almost sure to get in if you demonstrate interest (fill out the request info form).

Lycoming. You’d probably get about $20k in merit as well from them (at least in 2017 you would have!). Loved Millersville and Bloomsburg. Creekland gave great suggestions!

Another plug for Juniata. La Salle is another one for bookish students who want to really learn but don’t have super grades/test scores.

I see some great recommendations here and would also add McDaniel College, which has many things in common with some of the other schools on this list. Also, I notice your username is “romancenovels” and there is an English professor at McDaniel College whose academic specialty fields include romance novels, Professor Pam Regis! She is the author of The Natural History of the Romance Novel.

Also, do NOT refer to yourself as “mediocre” student! There is nothing mediocre about you or your achievements! Not everything is measured by numbers. Furthermore, a 1000 is supposed to be average on the SAT, so you are well above average and on your first step to a great college experience!

^I agree: you are NOT mediocre. You are a GOOD student. Okay, not a top student, but definitely not “mediocre”

Marist? A lot of people that I know love it there.

Harvard worked out pretty well for Jared Kushner; His high school counselor said he wasn’t in the top third of his high school class. Of course a sizable donation is required. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/11/jared-kushners-harvard-admissions-essay

Thank you guys for all these replies! Really helps me out and my self esteem haha. Regarding some questions:

  • I don’t entirely know my budget but my family I would say is middle class. My parents are divorced but they said would evenly pay for my college -I live in New York, but I’m interested in Pennsylvania because it seems so peaceful and tranquil!
  • As of now I’m undecided but I’ll probably major in English or perhaps Physics

^^Especially if you are interested in English, PLEASE apply to McDaniel! McDaniel isn’t in Pennsylvania, but it is only about 30 minutes south of Gettysburg, PA, so very close. I have this instinct that it might be a good fit for you, @romancenovels.

Check this out!
https://www.mcdaniel.edu/undergraduate/the-mcdaniel-plan/departments/english/the-nora-roberts-center-for-american-romance

McDaniel is definitely also a loved college by several students at our school. The only reason it didn’t make my “list” is because it isn’t a PA school, but @BookLvr is correct that it isn’t far away.

@romancenovels You need to have your parents run some NPCs to see if some of these schools are actually in the ballpark range of what they consider affordable before you get too attracted to them. They need to do any you like, because different schools see “need” differently. You may, however, find a trend of what most or nearly most expect. Compare that cost to a SUNY or two you like. Many times those are the best financial options for NY residents.

In PA Washington & Jefferson is definitely worth considering IMO.

SUNY Geneseo (reach) and SUNY New Paltz (match) should be on your list then.
Run the NPC with your parents on all these colleges. Warn them ahead of time that costs have grown terribly compared to when they attended college, and borrowing has become stricter so that you the student can borrow 5.5k for freshman year. Run the NPCs, discuss what’s possible if thy stretch, what’s comfortable, what’s impossible.

Definitely check out Allegheny. We met several of the English profs and were very impressed. I think it’s a gem of a school. My daughter had a lower gpa but higher ACT and got their top scholarship and an invite to the Honors program. What is your weighted gpa? Schools do take that into consideration.

Washington and Jefferson. Really good small school. Attorney Roger Godell, Commisioner of the NFL and the noted surgeon, president of the national association of plastic surgeons, Mike Pluska are noted modern era grads.

If you expand your search to Maryland, Washington College is a good choice.

Ursinus was already mentioned and is strong for writing.