<p>I've been getting quite involved in my college search as of late, however I spent the last 3 years wasting my time in HS and as a result have a not-so-impressive GPA. I really don't mean to brag, but I didn't study for my ACT, went to bed late, and still pulled out a 28. I obviously have the smarts, I just didn't start applying them to school until this year, which will have little effect on whether colleges accept me. Based on this, I'm not sure how high I should be aiming when applying.</p>
<p>My Stats
ACT (retaking in October)
Composite: 28
English: 35
Math: 27
Reading: 24
Science: 25
Writing: 6 (main reason I'm retaking)
Not many EC's, just football and rugby (I am a rugby captain though)
GPA (UW): 3.05
Live in MN</p>
<p>My GPA is still 3.05 unweighted, but I am taking some AP classes this year. The two majors I’m looking at are journalism and economics. My parents and I have yet to settle the financial side of things, but we don’t exactly have money laying around to spare.</p>
<p>Since colleges accept students long before senior grades are final, it’s hard for just one semester of classes to have much impact on the previous 6 semesters. </p>
<p>Even if you get straight A’s for the first semester of senior year, your GPA would only rise to less than a 3.2 unweighted and about a 3.3 weighted. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, your GPA will make it difficult for you to get accepted to the schools that give the best aid and/or merit scholarships.</p>
<p>**The two majors I’m looking at are journalism and economics.</p>
<p>My parents and I have yet to settle the financial side of things, but we don’t exactly have money laying around to spare. **</p>
<p>You need to sit down with your parents and figure out an estimate of how much they can afford. </p>
<p>You also need to figure out what your likely FAFSA EFC will be…</p>
<p>Sounds like the U Minn in some location would be the best target for you, overall, balancing cost and quality. It probably doesn’t make sense to go OOS to state schools. If your parents can pay $40K+, you could look at some of the less selective LACs. </p>
<p>APs senior year are fine, but unfortunately, it sounds as if your transcript will not display the kind of rigor in course selection that the more selective schools want. Have you taken any honors classes to date? What is your class rank, roughly? Are you recruitable for rugby?</p>
<p>The directional UMNs are certainly a good option, and will probably be the most affordable. You might also look at some LACs in Minnesota and surrounding states that draw a lot of students with academic profiles like yours: Ripon College, Augsburg College, Coe College and Nebraska Wesleyan are four that come to mind, but I’m sure there are others. Students and parents are sometimes pleasantly surprised at the financial aid packages that B students with above average SAT/ACT scores are offered (although an equal number are disappointed or have there fears confirmed). And if you are sincere about really applying yourself this year and your grades confirm it don’t be afraid to apply to a couple slightly more selective schools than the ones I’ve noted.</p>
<p>I’ve worked a lot as a volunteer over the past few years with HS underachievers, most of them male. In most cases their college admissions results have stunned their guidance counselors and their financial aid packages have been more than their parents had imagined.</p>
<p>*most of them male. In most cases their college admissions results have stunned their guidance counselors and their financial aid packages have been more than their parents had imagined. *</p>
<p>What colleges are you talking about? Were they schools that don’t have a 50/50 male/female ratio? </p>
<p>What kind of EFCs did these students have (obviously, someone with a high EFC isn’t likely going to get an FA package that is more than expected.</p>
<p>*most of them male. In most cases their college admissions results have stunned their guidance counselors and their financial aid packages have been more than their parents had imagined. *</p>
<p>What colleges are you talking about? Were they schools that don’t have a 50/50 male/female ratio? </p>
<p>What kind of EFCs did these students have (obviously, someone with a high EFC isn’t likely going to get an FA package that is more than expected.</p>
<p>*I wouldn’t attend a non-flagship Minnesota school unless you were certain you wanted to remain in the great lakes region. *</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be so negative. We don’t know how much the parents will pay each year. If they have an EFC that they won’t pay or schools gap them, then all that may be affordable may be non-flagship schools.</p>
<p>Some parents are reluctant to pay out big bucks for children who have been rather lax in their academics in high school.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids – Among the schools that these “underachievers” have gotten into are Geneseo, Northeastern, RPI, RIT, Union, Cazenovia, Ithaca and Syracuse. All NE colleges, so of little interest to the OP I’d think.</p>
<p>What I meant by “more than their parents had imagined” is that the parents in all of the instances that come to mind had not bothered to get an estimate of their EFC but had assumed they would have to pay full freight. In fact, all were eligible for financial aid, with EFCs ranging from 1K to 15K or thereabout. </p>
<p>My volunteer work has entirely been with low income families. I would note, however, that a high EFC does not preclude financial aid in the form of a merit scholarship and Stafford loans. I have seen this scenario play out where a student who has done their homework has surprised his/her parents by winning a much larger merit offer than they had expected.</p>
<p>It seems like your an automatic admit for University of Kansas, you have to calculate your RAI for Iowa and Iowa state</p>
<p>People in your school would know best what your chances are for different University of Minnesota campuses. Morris sounds like a nice liberal arts college, which would be probably be perfect for you academically.</p>
<p>Just to add a little to the last post about KU and Iowa – both are on the more affordable side for OOS state flagships (Iowa is a Fiske Best Buy). I visited both with my D last year and we thought both were excellent (she chose Iowa over 5 others). Apply early for a shot at merit aid – your ACT score will give you a shot. Good luck!</p>
<p>Sorry for not visiting the thread for a while, I’ve been busy with work and school. I appreciate the help so far. I’m about 153 out of 320, so class rank isn’t too good either.</p>
<p>1) if your grades in 9th grade were especially low, but have improved steadily in 10th and 11th, that upward trend can help a lot, even if your overall all GPA isn’t stellar.</p>
<p>2) for a late-blooming student with serious financial constraints, a year or two at the local community college can be helpful: If they can pull some really good grades in the first year or so, the transfer opportunities could be much more attractive than those available directly out of high school.</p>
<p>Do not make the mistake of thinking that your EFC is all you have to pay. families usually have to pay more (sometimes a lot more) than their EFCs.</p>