I’m currently ending my junior year and was wondering if someone could help with finding “match” schools worth applying to. I’m a FL resident, interested in applying both in-state and OOS. I apologize if this is a lot of information… I’m very anxious for application season and would really appreciate any advice.
Stats:
GPA: 3.9 unweighted and 4.6 weighted
Rank: 30/623
SAT: studying for August to get a 1400 superscore.
AP’s: Psychology, English Language, US History
Hooks?
First Generation + Jamaican-Chinese and Hispanic
Income Bracket: ~50-60k (I live with a single parent)
*I am set to take pre-calc honors in senior year (followed standard Algebra 1 > Geometry > Algebra 2 > Pre-Calculus route), but I know it will lessen my competitiveness and I really want a taste of calculus before attending college. I read that it was important if I’m interested in medicine or CS, so I’m taking pre-calc over the summer to start AP Calculus AB during senior year. Below is my schedule for more context.
11;
AP US History
AP Language and Composition
Algebra 2 Honors
Chemistry Honors
summer;
Pre-Calculus Honors
Anatomy Physiology Honors
Economics with Financial Literacy Honors (Only counts for 0.5 credits. I’m taking this one out of personal interest)
12;
AP Biology
AP Literature
AP Calculus AB
AP Computer Science Principles
AP US Government/Economics Honors or AP Statistics (haven’t decided yet)
Physics Honors
Extracurriculars:
~ Piano (9-12. I don’t have certifications/awards, but piano and recital preparation takes up a lot of my time)
~ Founder and President of Philosophy Club (11-12)
~ Member (11) and Historian (12) for mental-health awareness club
~ Junior Advisory Board for a non-profit organization focused on global hunger/homelessness (11-12). I represent this organization at various meetings and participate in a lot of advocacy events.
Camps:
*Community Service/Volunteer Camp (10)
*Girls Who Code (11)
Awards:
*President Service Award, Silver (volunteering)
*Volunteer of the Game Award (volunteer camp)
*NCTE Writing Award
*Also, some schools I’m interested in are FSU, UF, and possibly any top 30-40’s? I’m not sure if my academic profile is good enough for selective (less than 50% AR) universities
I think your chances are good for FSU and probably UF
Maybe look at schools like George Washington, University of Miami, SMU, NYU, BU, Tulane, Northeastern
You can probably get into some schools that are better but you have a strong chance of getting into these schools (in my opinion).
Don’t be afraid to look at schools like UVA, UC Irvine, and William and Mary
Money is the usual constraint. What about your non Custodial Parent? Any contact with him? Any child support? If he’s alive, you need a NCP waiver for most PROFILE schools. Not easy to get. Anyone own a business or home? Those are often counted too.
As for just about anyone, get some rolling admissions and/or Early Action schools that you know will be affordable, that are likely to take you, in your hand. Then you can go after the ones in the bush.
Get a list of early bird schools that don’t force an early commitment and see how they pan out even as you line up the lottery tickets.
What does this mean? Have you taken the SAT before? If so, what was your score? What was your PSAT score?
That is a heavy summer load. Are you taking these at your high school or online? If the econ class is not a HS grad requirement, consider dropping that so you can focus on the other two classes and get good grades.
Regarding your course list, what foreign language and how many years/thru what level have you taken? I recommend AP Gov over AP stats senior year. Two lab sciences senior year will also be difficult, especially given the rest of your class load.
Before you start applying to schools, know what budget you are dealing with. Also, do the fafsa4caster to see what your EFC is likely to be and run the net price calculators at schools you are interested in, starting with Florida publics.
With all due respect, the advice of sunshinekaty is so 2010! Much to the chagrin of a lot of qualified applicants, there has been tremendous compression within the top 50 (and likely beyond) in terms of difficulty of admission and quality of the applicant pool. This is due to numerous factors such as (i) economic polarization in the U.S., giving affluent families the means to coach and – as we have seen in the news, sometimes game – the system; (ii) increasing numbers of applicants from around the globe; (iii) increasing emphasis on ethnic, cultural, racial, socioeconomic diversity, now expressly driven by USNWR rankings; and (iv) a general increase in the population of applicants. For these reasons Tulane, NYU, Northeastern, BU, and Miami are safeties for virtually no one. All require extensive showing of interest on the part of the applicant. For example, Tulane takes 13% of applicants. NYU 16%, BU 18%. Compare William & Mary at 34%, UVA at 24% and UC Irvine at 28%. Admittedly, admission rates do not tell the whole tale and UVA and William & Mary are also tougher for out of staters. All that being said, the OP needs to understand the importance of demonstrating interest at 2-3 schools of high interest and otherwise casting a wide net. That is not meant to be discouraging, although the numbers are scary. A highly qualified applicant still has a chance to wind up at an excellent school, have a great career and a great life. She just might not wind up at the one that she had her heart set on from the get go.
What are you looking to major in?
Does your comment on the SAT imply you’re below a 1400 SAT M+V now?
I agree with @NJDad68 - W&M for instance only takes 1/3 of its cohort from out of state; you should shoot for closer to a 1500 to be competitive for that. 1500 is the new 1400.
@cptofthehouse Yes, my other parent is alive. I do visit, but child support is not consistent. My parents never married, so their divorce/legal rights are not exactly documented or officially marked on paper. Neither of my parents own a business. As for money, I’m relying on receiving Bright Futures FAS and I already have Florida Prepaid.
@Mwfan1921 I’ve taken one SAT before and scored 1200, but I have been studying to take two more tests (June and August) and am confident that I’ll be able to reach 1400 as a superscore.
The summer courses are all online. I have taken Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 during my first two years of high school.
For budget, I have Florida Prepaid and am planning on getting Bright Futures FAS. I will be applying for FAFSA, but I don’t think I will need to extend myself beyond FL Prepaid, BF FAS, and FAFSA for in-state schools?
My fafsa4caster EFC is 7375, but I’m not sure how accurate that is.
That your parents never married is not the issue. You have a NCP in the picture and his finances will be included on CSS Profile. It will be difficult getting a good idea of what your costs are going to be at schools that use PROFILE, include NCP Numbers because the Net Price Calculators on each college site do not do well in taking that into account.
If you can afford FL colleges, get some on your list and apply early to them. The public ones tend to have rolling admissions, and Id also look at some EA possibilities.
Yes, those name recognition schools are not matched, especially if you are going to need money. If your father’s income and assets are going to throw a wrench into the financial aid works, look for high merit possibility’schools, like Tulane, UTulsa, as well as taking a chance at some fin aid and reach schools and see what pans out. Vanderbilt and UChi do not take NCP info into account. Rice, JHU, some other highly selective schools give some generous aid ps laces if family income is below a certain threshold. But bear in mind, that these are lottery tickets.
You have some good choices in state as well and your GC is likely to be more familiar with the machinations of those schools than I am. With BF and money in a FL fund, FL schools are good contenders.
@shuffle1 I’m looking to major in biology (interested in medicine), computer science, or finance/economics.
Yes, I’ve taken one SAT before and scored 1200, lower than a 1400. I’m currently using Khan Academy, study groups, and online resources to boost my score for the June and August test dates.
@NJDad68@sunshinekaty thank you for the advice. I’m aware of how selective universities are and how absolutely expensive OOS schools can be. I plan on applying OOS because my preferences lie in private, smaller universities rather than public, crowded ones.
I’m also looking for universities with strong pre-med and CS programs. However, I’ll be more than happy to settle for an in-state public university if I need to.
With a baseline 1200 I don’t think UChicago or Vanderbilt are realistic.
Apply to uf, FSU and other Florida public’s as soon as you get your June score - only wait for UF in case the score is not in line with their median. Whenever available, apply for Honors.
Look into Eckerd, Rollins, Flagler, Millsap, ; UAlabama, Ole Miss (only if you hit 1420sat); if a girl, Spelman, Agnes Scott, Hollins, Sweet Briar. Run the NPC on ~5 you like.
BF FAS covers full tuition at florida publics. For 2018/19 (19/20 not out yet) you need a 1290 SAT to qualify (I don’t think they superscore) FFAA filing deadline is August 31 of the year you graduate.
Will you also have the required 100 service hours by Aug 31?
Will your FL Prepaid account cover four years of room and board, books, insurance, etc.? If not, you might consider working this summer and saving $, rather than taking 2.5 online courses.
Filing FAFSA does not give you money, it allows you to access Pell Grant (with an fafsa4caster of $7K plus you probably won’t qualify), Federal Direct Student loans ($27K in total over 4 undergrad years) and work-study.
You could apply test optional to top LACs that allow it, especially women’s colleges.
However those would be reaches.
For matches (mid&low matches) check out the colleges I listed - perhaps also Sewanee?