Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): big upward gpa trend
Intended Major(s) political science
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.81 (a+ is 4.33 → 3.6ish on a 4.0 scale)
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 3.83 (gpa x 1.05)
UC GPA: 4.0/4.14
4.0 scale is around a 3.65, but the 1st gpa will be the 1 on my transcript
Class Rank: n/a
ACT/SAT Scores: none yet will prob be 1400ish based on practice tests
Coursework (AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
9th: honors english, civics, bio
10th: honors english, world history, chem, ap human geo (5)
11th honors physics, ap calc ab, apush, ap psychology, ap lang
accelerated track for math & spanish (no honors @ my school)
Awards
selected for national mock gov conference
best delegate @ local mun x2 (who & sc)
conference sportsmanship award - 9th grade bball team
honor roll 10th grade lol
Extracurriculars (Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
mock government - 10th: small statewide & clubwide leadership positions, co-sponsored a bill that got signed, selected for national conference
11th: teach bill writing to new members, will run for more statewide stuff but nothing guaranteed!
model un - 10th: award at local conference, helped plan a few meetings, elected as vp for 11th grade
11: vp, teach 25ish freshman how to debate, research, write papers, and prepare for conferences
political advocacy group - 11th: working to make a change and battle injustices in our local prison system by contacting our officials and advocating for statewide legislation about our causes
job - 9th&10th: work at a food stand, manage cash register, run dishes, prepare food, have helped manage a food truck seperate from the rest of the stand
national mock government - 10th: proposal i wrote & debated on placed in top 25%ish
camp counselor - 10th: work with elementary age girls (esp ones who have been bullied/are bullies) mentor them & teach better friendship skills & help them get ready for middle school, currently helping to make a new program revolving around social media
key club&spanish club - 10th: basic club member stuff
basketball manger - 9th: recorded games, brought equipment to away games, cleaned balls, etc
yearbook - 11th: just for fun!!!
Cost Constraints / Budget (High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)
my fin aid situation is lowk wack (divorced parents, live w gma who is paying but they might too???) but either way i can afford sticker price & gma is willing to pay “as much as it takes for me to go to a good school” (her words not mine lolll)
Looking for
some good target schools!!! pretty much everything on my list is either a reach of safety lol
no small schools (5000+)
either a urban area or big college town (just nowhere super rural)
any state is good! i <3 the northeast and west coast but will go anywhere tbh
walkable campus!
fun environment!!! especially somewhere with sports that people actually go to
safeties: penn state (faculty relation + lots of ppl from my school w worse stats got in), pitt, temple, maybe a smaller state school if things go really bad this yr
reaches: boston college, gtown, gw, umd, umich, umn (maybe more of a target??? but oos…not taking any risks), ucla, umiami, wisconsin
It’s too early to know- you have two more semesters of grades- but Pitt would be a wonderful choice in this area.
Temple - know little about but there is a lot of concern expressed about safety on the board here - so check into that.
PSU - very walkable (but big)- but not urban. Gorgeous school though. Based on what you wrote seems Pitt a better fit.
Since any state is OK - U of Arizona would be a good choice, Indiana. For smaller schools, Butler, Denver, American, etc. UMN is fine - is cold. UTK would be fine. Syracuse is solid…you really can’t go wrong for poli sci. College of Charleston would be another.
But personally I think you can stop at Pitt if you visit and love it!!
You may want to have a more detailed conversation about finances with your family to check on the budget. When your grandmother says she’s willing for you to pay in order to go to a “good” school, how is she defining good? Your in-state schools are really good schools and there are people from around the country who apply to (and attend) them. You get them at a discounted rate as an in-state resident. And Penn State certainly has a very spirited student body, particularly when sports are involved. So, is your grandmother willing to pay up to Penn State or its equivalent cost, or is she willing to pay up to $80k?
I tend not to think about schools in terms of reach/match/safety, but more in terms of the likelihood of acceptance. Any school that makes it to your list should be a school that you’d be happy to attend and that your family can afford (or has the possibility of affording if looking for merit aid). A reach happens to be a school where your odds of acceptance are low while a safety is a school where your odds of acceptance are very high. Thus, I’m just suggesting schools that seem as though you might like them and that I think you have pretty decent to great odds of being accepted.
Also, since you do have such great in-state options, I think any school on your list that costs more would want to have qualities that aren’t available from one of your in-state choices, whether it’s size, location in a state capital, etc.
As you seem fond of Jesuit colleges, what about Gonzaga (WA), Marquette (WI), or Xavier (OH)? Those all have some serious school spirit around sports, particularly basketball.
Alternatively, what about:
U. of Nebraska: The Cornhuskers have tons of spirit and this school is located in the state capital, a great option if you have any interests in politics and/or government.
U. of Utah: This is another school in a state capital, and there are also tons of outdoorsy options available it’s pretty easy to gain residency here for in-state rates after your freshman year. The U definitely has its fans.
Butler (IN): This mid-sized school is big on basketball and is in its state’s capital city.
Michigan State: Another Big 10 school that has its sports fans, but unlike your in-state options, it’s located in its state capital.
Moving away from state capitals, some medium to large (but not giant) schools that have some good spirit around sports that you may want to consider are:
Syracuse (NY)
Virginia Tech
U. of Louisville (KY), which also might have scholarships for Pennsylvania residents to bring it close to in-state prices, I believe.
Lehigh (PA ): This is closer to what you call a reach, but I’ve heard it has an intense rivalry with Lafayette and has good spirit.
I am with the others: make sure that the people who say they are happy to pay whatever know what ''whatever" is these days.
The good part for you is that most colleges have a decent PoliSci department- it’s a perennial student favorite. Choose schools that you like the look of overall and then look at:
what the required courses are for the major, as well as the upper level electives. Your reaction to the class descriptions should be mostly “that sounds interesting” with only a few “eww, really?” responses.
what they say on the website about internship placement. When you get to the stage of visiting colleges, good questions include ‘how do you help students get internships?’ ‘what % of students have internships during term’ and ‘what are typical remunerations for internships for your students?’
ignore that lol