If you want solid matches near major cities, then Fordham is a great option, as is University of San Francisco. The problem, however, is paying for them as they are both private and quite pricey (and located in high cost of living areas - which will be true for most schools located near/in major cities). Some merit aid is available, but couldn’t tell you your odds for getting it. So think about your financial abilities and need before you go private or seek a college in a major urban area.
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You always have a chance if you apply but I don’t see it happening …but I’m not an AO.
If you need $$, most schools you can get into will be need aware. But there are smaller LACs like F&M that meet need. Have you done a net price calculator ?
As a big school aside, at Alabama, if you were to win their diversity scholarship, it will remove a ton of financial stress. Free tuition and more.
Your likelies are not likely but possible I’d say.
Have you considered a regional school like Umass Lowell. Or George Mason?
First thing - find out your budget. Saying you need aid means little. Saying I need to be at $25k or $50k means more.
And go to a meets need school - an F&M and have your mom fill out the net price calculator. So you can see where you stand in regards to getting need money.
Good luck.
Ps - I would not discuss or mention your ADHD. Many have it. Your grades are your grades. They can’t be masked.
You’ll end up in a great place for you.
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What are you looking for in a college? You have a rural school like Dartmouth with urban ones like GW. You have smaller schools like U. of Richmond (about 3k undergrads) with U. Mass and UConn with tens of thousands of undergrads. You have schools in cloudy, cold locations like Ithaca, hot and humid ones like Tulane, and sunny and dry ones like UCLA. Are you really that flexible with all of these preferences? If you could let us know about size preferences, geographic locations, types of locations (rural/suburban/urban), the importance of sports, Greek life, and any other interests that you would like to pursue while in college, that would be very helpful in offering suggestions.
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I think you should probably add a few more true match schools and cut down on the number of reaches you are including. If your family can’t afford the cost of the UCs, I’d eliminate them since out of state students do not get any financial aid. When applying to UMD, make sure you go EA - otherwise it will most likely be a rejection as they take the vast majority of students during the early rounds. The same goes for Tulane - they accept very, very few RD students so you are best applying early there as well. As to your chances at the reaches - they are reaches for everyone - while your SAT is strong, your grades are probably a little low for the reach schools you have listed.
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Thanks Ill mark that down.
I don’t care too much about climate most of my concern is just being near a city for good internship opportunities etc. Except for my safeties, most of my schools are near large urban areas and well if I was to get into Dartmouth or Cornell I would def put aside my original preferences.
Cost is key. You can’t just list schools. I think UMD is a reach fir you but even if you got in, can you afford full price - $50k plus.
Many large publics are less but may not be the ones you are thinking of.
B4 writing down any more schools talk to mom about your budget and she may not know right now as you mentioned some home issues.
But naming schools, not knowing if you can afford them, is unfortunately a journey to disappointment.
You need to build a list based on affordability b4 desire. And we can help once the # comes inrernships where you go matters less. For during the year, yes it matters.
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Thank you. I don’t want to sound elitist or anything like that, but prestige is a huge factor for me because I want to have a school that has a good route to a top law school such as UMD or Georgetown.
Sorry I forgot to respond to this but my grandparents are going to be paying my tuition and they are pretty wealthy so I assume money isn’t a huge problem.
Guess you should check Harvard and Yale law then. Boise State. UNC Wilmington. Northern Arizona. They get grads from hundreds of schools.
Check law schools at your Mizzou, Iowa, etc. they’ll have Harvard grads.
Getting into an elite school does not get you to law school. Grades, an LSAT and more do.
Btw how will you afford law school if you can’t afford undergrad ?
Your premise is wrong.
Now more kids from elite schools get into elite law schools I’m sure. But that’s not because they went to Tufts. It’s because they were better students to begin with and they remained better students no matter if they went to Alabama, which btw has more natl merit finalists than any school in the country. Or Dartmouth.
Think affordability. First you said you need aid. Now you have rich grandparents. They willing to fund you $550-600k?
Do great in school. You already test well.
Be active.
And any law school can happen. From anywhere.
Do bad in school. Law school may be possible but a less elite one.
Affordability first my friend.
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OK, law school is in the future. Then here’s my advice - don’t worry about prestige for undergrad. Worry about where you will truly thrive. To get into a top law school, you will need top grades and outstanding scores and resume. Go to a college where you will get those. The Ivies and Georgetown are very competitive - if you had trouble keeping up with high rigor classes in high school, you may find that you have similar problems at a high competition college. Getting Bs and Cs in college - even if an Ivy - will not get you into the law school you want. Focus on a college that you will do really, really well - it may not be the highest prestige college possible.
(I didn’t do law school, but did Fordham undergrad and got into Georgetown Graduate School of Foreign Service, not only easily, but with a full ride, which is very unusual for an MA program. And that was possible because I went to the undergrad that was the right fit for me, where I could do really well, and not simply the tippy top that I could get into.)
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And, by the way, once you have a law degree, NO ONE will care where you did undergrad.
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Here’s the latest info on which colleges the Harvard Law class of 2025 is coming from:
- American
- Auburn
- Arizona State
- Austin
- Bloomsburg of Pensylvania
- Brigham Young
- Cal State - Northridge
- Centre
- Clark Atlanta
And the list goes on. You don’t need to attend a prestigious university to attend Harvard Law. You need to have a high GPA in undergrad and strong LSAT scores.
Where do you think you will thrive the most? Do you love being in an atmosphere where everyone is amazing and you’re trying to keep up? Do you do better when you’re not necessarily at the top of the heap, but you’re among the strongest? Do you do better with the anonymity of larger classes or do you do better in smaller classes where you the professor knows your name and is expecting you to contribute to class discussions at every session?
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Did you like Fordham? Both of my older brothers goes there currently and one loves it and the other doesn’t like it. Also because you were in the city do you think you had better internship opportunities ?
I loved my experience at Fordham - it was truly the perfect place for me. I didn’t do internships, but had a lot of jobs which I enjoyed, I worked at the Metropolitan Opera for a while, spent my summers working at the NY Botanical Gardens, which was fabulous. I also volunteered for an organization in the Bronx that taught English as a Second Language to refugees - I met so many fascinating people through that, and learned about their life experiences and cultures. I did the honors program at Fordham and really loved the classes and the process of writing a senior thesis. And I came from a small town, so just the experience of living in NYC was pretty life changing for me.
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Talk with your grandparents. Even pretty wealthy folks have some definite thoughts about college costs. Do they know that many colleges now cost nearly $80k/year? Are they willing and able to shell out $320k for you to attend college? Or were they thinking to pay for your in-state flagship (say, $30k/year times 4 years for a total of $120, a big chunk of change). Talk to them and find out.
Also, how are you going to pay for law school? Most students have to take out big loans. But would your grandparents be willing to spend money on law school that would have otherwise been spent on college? For instance, maybe they have set aside $400k for your higher education (which, by the way, is a LOT of money). If you go to Dartmouth, then $320k of that money is gone (assuming you even get in), which might leave you with $80k for law school. If you attend a school that costs $35k/year, then that would be $140k for college, leaving $260k for law school. That would cover about 2.5 of your 3 years at Harvard Law (COA of over $100k year).
Something to think about and talk to your family about.
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To answer your question, your chances are not great for any of your reach schools. I’m seeing more Bs and Cs than As. Even your most recent semester.
Focus on what you can control-your current grades. Ace all your classes this semester. Then you’ll have a better indication of whether or not you fit in a “prestige” school. But as others have pointed out, it doesn’t matter the name of the school, it is what you make of it. Don’t chase prestige, find the right school for YOU!
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Don’t assume. Find out how much they can pay annually. Many grandparents have no idea how expensive college is now. So…clarify with them asap!
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Okay, budget is still an unknown at the moment. But, with your desire to be in an urban or nearby area with a focus on international relations, these are some schools I would consider. I used the number of majors studying international studies/relations as a proxy for the strength of the department. Not all of the “Lower Probability” schools are in close proximity to urban areas, but they’re all in civilization and have particularly good strength in your areas of interest. And there’s a range of school sizes, from about 1,000 to 30-40k undergrads, with a number of mid-sized schools as well.
I’ve classified these as my guess as to what might be your admissions chances at these schools. As mentioned above, your degree of financial need can also impact your chances of admission.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
- College of Charleston (SC)
- Emmanuel (MA)
- George Mason (VA)
- Goucher (MD) – small, but it’s in Baltimore, and also can participate in cross-registration at Johns Hopkins, Loyola Maryland, etc.
- Indiana University
- Seattle Pacific (WA)
- Seton Hall (NJ)
Likely (60-79%)
- American (D.C.) – if you show a lot of interest
- Lake Forest (IL)
- Loyola Chicago (IL)
- Temple (PA )
- U. of Delaware
- U. of Denver (CO)
- U. of Minnesota – Twin Cities
- U. of San Francisco (CA)
Toss-Up (40-59%)
- Fordham (NY)
- George Washington (D.C.)
- Loyola Marymount (CA)
- U. of San Diego (CA)
- U. of South Florida
Lower Probability (20-39%)
- Brandeis (MA)
- College of the Holy Cross (MA)
- Connecticut College
- Dickinson (PA )
- Lafayette (PA )
- Occidental (CA)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
- Most of your “Match” and “Reach” schools.
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Thank you that super helpful. I also called my grandpa about an hour ago and I do have a savings account that will pay for the first three years at almost all colleges, but I will need to come up with money for the fourth year. But I am also assuming financial aid will bring that burden down a little.
I was also wondering about your thoughts on taking a post-graduate year at boarding school. I was thinking if I applied to boarding school and college at the same time I could have a good back up route if I did not get into any of the schools I wanted. And I could also demonstrate stronger grades in my senior year.