Having trouble choosing schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

  • US citizen
  • State: Long Island, New York
  • Type of high school: Public, graduating class approx. 300
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Female, White

**Intended Major(s): Veterinary Science, maybe English, or possibly business (not sure though)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores:

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 95.275 (95)
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 100.937 (101)
    *Class Rank- my school doesn’t do :frowning:
    *SAT Score: 1340

Coursework
AP Psychology (5), AP English Language (5) AP Seminar (4), AP Research (4), AP World History (4), AP US History (3, my teacher was horrible :pensive:)
Dual Enrollment: 4 classes (Spanish, Pre-Calc, and Humanities)
Honors Classes taken: 8
Currently taking: AP Statistics, AP Gov, AP Lit, College Spanish (2030-2040), Honors Anatomy and Physiology, and Honors College Humanities
Awards
AP Capstone Diploma, AP Scholar with Distinction, Principal’s Honor Roll (Grades 9-12)

Extracurriculars

  • National Honor Society- have volunteered 20 hours, will be 40 by end of year
  • National English Honor Society- have volunteered 6 hours, will be 12 by end of year
  • National Social Studies Honor Society- President
  • National World Language Honor Society- 8 hours
  • Interact Club- treasurer last year, will still have leadership this year, but maybe different position
  • Worked as a dog watcher

Essays/LORs/Other
-Essay: The physical scars I have and the invisible ones, and how they all (especially my father’s passing) made me stronger and drive me to succeed- I am working with advisor to get it to the best it can be.

  • 11th grade English teacher- had a good relationship with her (she told me I should be a stand-up comedian) and I did extremely well in her classes (AP Lang and AP Research, got 100 in both the whole year)
  • 10th grade Chemistry teacher- good relationship as well, did very well in her class too
  • 11th grade AP Psych teacher- very good relationship, performed very well; the problem is that he retired this year so would he still be considered a LOR?

*Cost Constraints / Budget
Schools that give money based on merit, my Mom has an account with some money saved up but not enough to cover all of college…

Schools- I’m not into Greek life and I would be into joining clubs that I can meet people in, not too big of class sizes so that I’m able to form relationships with professors, town within walking distance, a pretty campus (not modern), don’t want to be too far from home (within driving distance)

  • Safety- LIU, Binghamton (not sure about), St. John’s University
  • Likely- Stony Brook University, University at Albany
  • Match- LIU, not too sure of any others yet
  • Reach- Cornell University, Boston University

If you think of anywhere that you think would suit me please feel free to let me know, I’m looking for a little guidance :smiling_face:

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I would use the NPCs and ask your mother if the numbers look doable. Do you know if SUNY is affordable?

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You need the budget but there’s many schools you can pre bet and many with animal science.
I’ve read on here a lot of positives about Kansas State and Colorado State.

With your stats many will give great merit. But agree to run the NPCs because they’ll tell you if you have need and if so it might be another way to get money. I do think for pre med or anything which requires more school, you need to factor in costs beyond the four years. If you want to work with animals, would BU be appropriate ? I don’t know - I just think buildings, not farms….

Anyway W Carolina would be $20k, Miss State low 20s and would be good for animal science and maybe Miami of Ohio. U of Arizona may give big merit - it depends on the 95 and how it reflects on a 4.0 scale. You’d want a 3.9 for big money. Millersville is another one that may prove affordable. And is closer to home.

Ok - I just read the close to home. Millersville, maybe URI and lots of SUNYs. Check them all. Others maybe - Salisbury and Washington College in Maryland - a LAC as well as Juniata, Ursinsus and Susquehanna.

So I’d want two things - an affordable school - and by your mom filling out the BU and Cornell NPC, you’ll know.

And one that has breadth in all my interests. The LACs won’t have business but I’m basing this on pre vet and everyone will English. And Econ.

Find out budget and let us know. That means a specific figure - not a general statement like many make.

Thanks.

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Thanks for the replies! :smile: I just checked in with my Mom and she said the budget is about 20k- 25k a year :+1:

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So now have her fill out the net price calculator for Cornell and BU. Just google NPC + school name.

Cornell has no merit aid so if it comes back, $50k, for example, remove it. It’s not possible. You can do with all the privates but especially these two.

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I’m on it!

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At that cost you should be able to afford the smaller SUNY schools such as Geneseo and Oneonta. I would still keep the SUNY universities on the list (Albany may give merit, etc).

Use the NPCs and discuss the results with your mom.

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Ok just ran the npc for Cornell and it fits into my cost range so that’s a relief

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Try the NPC for a few schools that meet need but are not as “reachy” as Cornell.

Maybe Rochester?

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Some schools that you might want to take a closer look at (and would all be likely or extremely likely admits) include:

  • SUNY Oswego: About 6k undergrads and its zoology program might suit your interests. It offers majors in both English lit and in creative writing, depending on which direction your interests lie, and offers a number of majors in its business school, as well. And this school falls within the budget at sticker price, and they won’t increase room & board prices on you either, another benefit. This would be an extremely likely admit for you, and if you apply before the 29th, there’s no application fee.

  • Delaware Valley (PA ): About 1800 undergrads and a great place if you’re interested in doing anything with animals. It offers majors in Animal Science, Conservation & Wildlife Management, Small Animal Science, Equine Science, and Zoo Science, in addition to various options within the biology major. It also offers English and business majors, too.

  • Saint Francis (PA ): About 2500 undergrads with an Aquarium & Zoo Science major, a marine biology concentration (and a minor in biological diving), a major in English, and an array of business majors are on offer here, too.

  • Mercy (NY): About 6400 undergrads and offers an English major and a variety of business majors. But it also offers a degree in Veterinary Technology as well as a concentration in Animal Sciences within its biology major.

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So I do think you need to look at SUNYs - and maybe a Salisbury or Millersville or West Chester type since you want to be close to home.

You can also run the NPCs for schools that meet need- a Franklin & Marshall for example. Plus schools with big merit - I mentioned Juniata, Ursinsus, etc. Also, check Hofstra - they put cost in the NPC.

But I suspect SUNY will be your best bet. If you knew you were into the pre-vet, ESF would be interesting - as it’s a shared system to a large extent with Syracuse - so you’re an ESF student but with a lot of cross campus collaboration with the Cuse…at an ESF cost.

Best of luck.

Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid (prepscholar.com)

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