Help an Anxious Junior Create a College List! [urban, pre-law, 3.8 HS GPA, 1340 SAT, retried, FL resident]

College Search & Selection
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Hello!

I am a current junior from a public high school in Florida getting ready for the college admissions process!

Stats
3.8 unweighted (as of end of 1st semester)
4.48 weighted
10 APs by the end of junior year
10 dual enrollment by the end of junior year
1340 SAT, retook today. Shooting for 1450+. Will update.
All A’s except for Eng. 2 Pre-AP, AP Lang, APUSH, and AP Calc AB.

Extracurriculars
Teen Court Youth Attorney (10-present)
Founder of a TikTok page about climate change with over 50k followers (9-present)
Mental Health Club Secretary (10-11)
Internship at state general assembly (11)
Attended a selective application-based statewide legislative conference (11)
Hopefully attending Girls State this summer
Executive Council Member (11-12)
Member of a few clubs, but nothing more than that

Concerns
The 4 b’s I have gotten
SAT score, but that should hopefully improve
Not very involved in ECs at school

Wants
Urban location, or at least easy access to a major city, but preferably urban (ex. NYU, GW)
Strong for pre-law track
Strong public policy or poli sci major
LGBTQ+ friendly

Doesn’t Matter to Me
Cost (this has been discussed with my parents. They have made it clear that they are willing to front the full cost of attendance and expenses for undergrad and prelaw)
Sports culture (would be a plus, but not what I truly want from college)
Size (I can see myself somewhere at any sized school, as long as it isn’t too difficult to make friends)

Where I really see myself conflicted is with my targets and reaches. I am unsure what schools to call targets for me and what to call reaches as I do believe I have strong ECs, but my academics are holding me back from more selective schools.

2

Based on your academic interests, these sites may be helpful:

For a potential match choice, look into Macalester.

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Even $80k per year for the most expensive undergraduate?

If you choose a less expensive undergraduate school, will they contribute the unused amount for (expensive) law school?

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Pre-law does not have any specific course requirements, although there are some suggested courses that may help.

Application Preparation | Law School Numbers has some tips of choosing courses and major as a pre-law student.

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So - what do you want in a school besides urban - I mean, you’d fit at anywhere from Pitt to Charleston to Arizona to Minnesota, etc. Do you want small (Macalester was mentioned upthread), mid size or large, etc.

Other than LGBTQ friendly, you’ve left a lot out.

Weather an issue, etc. I guess not since you said BU, GW, etc.

Thanks

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Thank you for responding!

I should have factored in a few more things in my original post, so here’s a list of more things I’d like in a school:

  • weather: I would like to escape the Florida heat, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I need super cold, though I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Just nowhere that gets extremely hot.
  • flexibility: I want to be able to take classes outside of my major and have more of an open curriculum, or at least some sort of flexibility.
  • study abroad: I’m not 100% on whether or not I’d like to study abroad, but I’d like this to be an option for me down the road.
  • safety: being in a safe area is pretty important to me
  • class sizes: I want at leas my upper-level courses to have small class sizes
  • internship opportunities: some school that will open up opportunities for me, and a co-op program like at Northeastern would fit this criteria
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I will look into these sites, thank you!

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As I said, I have discussed with my parents, so cost is not a factor as they will front the cost, even if 80k, for me to get a good education and be happy.

I just created a larger list of my wants. Course flexibility is on there as I have been told this before and want to take classes that both interest me and will benefit me in preparing for law school.

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Will they fund law school as well?

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Yes, they will also be funding law school. I am fortunate enough to come from a family willing to front the cost of both undergrad and law school.

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Given your criterion re: LGBTQ+ friendliness, how do you feel about Catholic-affiliated schools? A lot of the urban universities that fit your description and stats are Catholic. Many of these are Jesuit, and those especially tend to be progressive and welcoming to LGBTQ+ students despite the official stance of the Church. Examples: Fordham, BC, Holy Cross, U of San Francisco, the Loyolas (New Orleans, Chicago, Maryland), Seattle U, SLU, and so on. Many LGBTQ+ students are very happy at these schools, but others aren’t comfortable considering Catholic institutions. (Study abroad wise, if Spanish is your foreign language, check out SLU’s Madrid campus, which is available for semesters abroad, a 2+2 plan, or a full four-year program in Madrid. Fluency in Spanish is highly marketable in the legal profession.)

Urban schools with a co-op focus and 3+3 accelerated law programs include Northeastern, as you mentioned, and also Drexel, and U of Cincinnati.

Pitt could be a good fit, and has rolling admissions - apply when the application opens in August and you could have a very early acceptance, which is the best kind of safety! The Politics & Philosophy major, associated with the honors college, could be of particular interest: https://www.frederickhonors.pitt.edu/academics/politics-and-philosophy-major

American in DC would be worth a look. BU and GW, as you mentioned. Look at urban flagship universities - in addition to Pitt, there’s tOSU (https://ppe.osu.edu/), UMinn-Twin Cities, U of Utah, UW-Seattle, among others.

Lots of good options. How far from home are you willing to go?

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And Rochester given the open curriculum but cooooooooold.

U of Denver too.

And Arizona. Hot. But a different hot.

And Charleston - if you can get Fellows.

The last two are blue areas…not blue states.

And flagships like Wisconsin and Minn and someone mentioned macalester for an LAC. K - Kalamazoo could work as an LAC - and has an open like curriculum. And Occidental too. Thinking more urban like schools.

You will have trade offs - ie your curriculum may not be open per se but that doesn’t mean you can’t still move around academically.

You can get internships. Co OPs per se in a social science may be harder short of an NEU / Drexel type. Again you’ll have to make trade offs.

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I agree that Macalester sounds perfect for you.

Note that early decision there confers a major advantage.

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I just checked out Macalester and it seems like a really nice school! I like how they have concentrations in addition to their majors which is something that I could see myself doing. I will keep looking around at the school, but overall I have a great impression of it!

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Seconding U of Cincinnati - would be a good safety if money isn’t an issue. My D23 got in with similar stats (1450, 4.4 w) and prelaw interest. Known for coops, like Northeastern. U of Richmond has easy access to city though campus is in suburbs; we’re still waiting on that decision, along with BC. Check the specific college boards when accepted students post their info after 4/1 - will give you a sense of what it takes at those schools.

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I’ve grown up around the Catholic Church and I have never had a bad experience with it. If anything, I feel very welcomed around it. So, yes, I am open to a Catholic-affiliated university, so long as it isn’t anything heavily religions like Liberty or BYU (although those aren’t Catholic).

I am on the younger side of my grade, so a 3+3 really is not for me just because I don’t want to graduate law school by the time I am 23. I would, though, be open to graduating in 3 years then taking a gap year between undergrad and law school to gain work experience or just to have fun before law school.

As of right now, I am reluctant to go any further west than Colorado. However, if there is a school that really calls my name further west, I will keep it in mind and check it out.

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Thank you for the suggestions! I will check them out!

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I went there from Florida and loved the neighborhood and Twin Cities. The students are creative, smart and fun-loving. They give a ton of scholarships and financial aid. It is extremely gay friendly.

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I know this would be very reachy, but what about ED to Brown? It would be a long shot, so I don’t want to waste my ED, but I really do like the school. Also, I’m not sure if I have mentioned this, but I do want to apply to my top choice ED.

As for my grades, my school does the 4+4 semester block, and this semester is currently going much better than the last and I am confident I can get straight A’s. With my current courseload and dual enrollment, my weighted GPA would rise to a 4.61 and unweighted to a 3.86.

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If you want to ED and money is no issue then sure.

Brown implies that ED has no advantage. See the link below.

If it’s your top choice, then it’s the only would to ED to. But why is it your top choice ? Have you been ?

What I would ask is - even if your parents would pay for Brown - what if you got significant merit at an open Rochester or a very strong Mac, would they then want to pay for brown ? Kalamazoo will give you a ton of merit and it’s a fine LAC with an open curriculum.

Just because they say they’ll pay doesn’t mean they want to if they can find quality for less. That’s the question to ask.

Yes Brown will be reachy. You’d be test optional with your current score. But no pain, no gain. And if it’s truly your top choice it could only be the one you’d ED too. And btw no one has to ED. Many of us didn’t allow it. Why ? Maybe we could pay but we wanted to see merit. And since Brown implies ED isn’t necessarily a lift, I likely wouldn’t unless you’d choose brown over $25k off or more at others.