Could I get into these schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’ve done Supermatch College Search and a Match thing on college board. I know they aren’t the most accurate things, but on both my top matches were USC, UCLA, Berkeley, UPenn and UT.
I’m a Texas resident, and according to the top 7% rule, I know I’ll get into UT, but I want to know if I have a chance at the other ones, plus Tulane.

So: USC, UCLA, Berkeley, Upenn, Tulane

Grade: Junior C/O '17
Sex: Female
Race: African American
ACT: 30 (retaking soon, aiming for 32)
SAT: I get my scores back next week.
GPA: 3.86 UW, 4.2 W
Rank: 33/585 (top 5%)

Household Income: 70k (Mom is single parent)

My senior year I will have completed 12 APs
(Human Geography, World History, US History, English Language, Psychology, Physics, Environmental Science, Computer Science, English Lit, Statistics, Econ, Gov’t)

EC:
Green Cord (300+ community service hours)
NHS Secretary
Student Ambassador
Key Club
Interact Club
Started a tutoring program at the community Housing center
Hospice Volunteer (I visit w 3 Alzheimer’s patients/wk)
Spoken Word/Poetry Club
Editor for the Literary Magazine

I have a PT job also.

Intended Major: Psychology w/ Criminology Minor

2

Unless you have financial resources you don’t mention, it doesn’t matter if you can get into UCLA or UCB: as an OOS you won’t get any financial aid from them so they aren’t realistic choices for you.

You have a lot of ECs listed- are any of them really near and dear to your heart? any that you have been doing longer/deeper than the others?

Are your AP scores so far strong?

3

I’ve gotten mix of 4s/5s on all my APs so far.
Hospice, NHS, and Lit Mag are the ones I’m most serious about right now, but I’m regularly involved in them all. Are UCLA and UCB unreasonable bc their public schools? What about USC?

4

UCLA & UCB are part of the University of California public university system. University of Southern California is (despite the name!) a private university, and meets need (the average debt on graduation is ~$28K).

Good that your AP results are strong- it backs up your GPA.

You already know that your current ACT is low for UPenn and average for USC. The only other piece that you have control over now is your narrative arc: who you are. You might spend a little time looking at your ECs and see if you can focus them and link the more important ones so that the fit with the larger story you are telling about yourself. This is good work to do over the summer, when you are working on essays. Look carefully at the ‘why’ for each school: specifically, why you think that they are a good fit for you, compared to any other selective school.

btw, congrats on having the best of all safety school possibilities: you know that you will get in, you know that you can afford it, and it is a great school that is well respected nationally!

5

Thanks for the advice, it’s added some perspective and things I need to start thinking about!

6

If you raise your ACT to 32+ you will have good chances for UCLA/USC. Taking 12 APs is commendable!

7

OP, to make sure you are clear, UCLA and UCB are public universities that will charge you out of state tuition (full cost over $55,000 per year) with no financial aid.

Every college has a net price calculator on their website – you should run it for all schools on your list to make sure they are affordable, even UT. UT is it always affordable for in state students.

Also, you say your mom is a single parent. What is the scoop regarding your dad? Some of the colleges on your list will want his financial info in most situations.

8

He passed away from Cancer a while ago, so the only financial support is from my mom.

Thanks, i’ll look into the financial aid calculators

9

Okay – i am sorry about your dad, but at least it does not complicate your FA situation. If you can get that ACT up to 32, I think you could have some good choices. You should be looking at college that meet financial need:

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/09/14/colleges-that-report-meeting-full-financial-need

If your GC has a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges, you should get it and review these colleges. I think the tippy top schools are probably out of reach (UPenn is going to be a big reach, for example), but I think there are schools a tier down that meet need and where you can get accepted. But read up on them and run the net price calculators.

10

Ok, thanks. You’ve beena great help!

11

Over the summer look at all 62 of the colleges on the list @intparent put up, being sure to check and see whether they are need-blind, and if they require loans at your income level. Many of them will fly you in for a visit at admitted students time. I would be very surprised if you don’t find some really great options!

12

Some of them may have fall fly ins for URM students, too.

13

Why is a school’s being need blind an issue? It should irrelevant to applicants. If you like a school, why would it affect applying?

Consider that using loans allows a school to offer more aid to more students; that’s why most schools use loans as part of the package (requiring a school job is another way to stretch scarce funds).

14

Not sure why you think it should be irrelevant, @vonlost: for an applicant who needs significant aid and is trying to build a solid list of colleges to apply to it can matter rather a lot.

In general, more aid (financial or merit) goes to students that a college particularly wants. A college that is being asked for substantial aid gets to ask back (rhetorically, obviously!): ‘what do I get for my money? does this candidate or that candidate bring a particular talent or skill? higher stats? some form of diversity that we are particularly interested in?’ At a need-blind college the applicant knows that they have to fit the college, but not necessarily be, say, in the top 25% of applicants (a rule of thumb that gets bandied about a bit).

Similarly, where the applicant likes colleges A & B, knowing that college A does not require loans for households under a given income and college B does might make an applicant feel more warmly about college A.

It’s all data points that the student can use to build their list and (to some extent) handicap their odds of a successful application. For this poster in particular, it seemed from some of the early posts that s/he is still relatively new to the process, and might not know to consider these factors.

15

Schools that are need-aware are need-blind until the FA budget is depleted. Thus, other issues equal, a needy applicant has the same chance as a full-pay at the beginning of the cycle. So for an applicant in love with a school, its being need-aware should in no way deter applying.

16

That is just flat out not true. Most schools will not discuss how they decide to allocate aid. I can think of one need aware school that will, and they say that they are need aware for a certain percent of students on the cusp of admission – so essentially if you fall in the lower percentage academically, you risk not getting admitted if you need a lot of aid. There would be no point in having a need blind designation if it worked the way you say it does.

I think state schools and rolling admission schools often give out aid on a rolling basis. But many private schools that are need aware are looking at qualifications. They will give need to students who boost their average test scores or give them geographic diversity or are URMs or whatever they want more of. So a student who needs a lot of aid should try to bring extra to the table at a need aware school.

17

Need-aware schools that are need-blind until the FA budget is depleted say that’s how they do it; Reed is an example. It’s how they can attract top students.

“There would be no point in having a need blind designation if it worked the way you say it does.”

Schools want the best students, however they define it. Schools that are need blind either meet full need (a few, like Ivys) or don’t (most, like NYU); they never consider finances. Schools that are need aware have limited FA budgets (unlimited means need blind) but still want the best students they can afford, so they admit the best students until they can afford only full payers. As the budget runs out they may indeed reject the best candidate with great need in favor of two lesser candidates with combined less need. Need-aware schools may or may not meet full need. Clearly there can be exceptions to any rule. There are indeed categories that some schools want to fill.

18

Wow. I love the compassionate ECs that you have. Truly express this love for service and to help others in your essay and you will slay UPenn! good luck <3

19

Make sure you finish in the top 40 in your class so UT Austin is locked in.

Then with that in mind build your list with a mix of schools where you can compete for significant merit awards plus admission reaches where they meet 100% of need. Really no need to mix in other safeties less desirable than UT.

Worst case even if you struck out on all these aspirational schools you would attend UT!