Help me with a couple of schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi I’m from Maryland. I have no taken my exams yet but I plan to take the SAT in April.

I’m a junior in high school.
I got all A’s freshman and sophomore year.

Freshman year:
English 1
Geometry
Spanish 1
World history
Environmental science
Guitar

Sophomore year:
English 2 honors
Algebra 2
Spanish 2
World history (I’m not sure why I was in this again but I changed schools)
Biology
Health
Music history
And many theater classes as I went to an arts school

Will it look bad that I have changed schools so many times? I thought I wanted to be a theater major but I decided to change yet again in junior year. I will be staying at my current school for senior year.

Junior year:
AP lang - B
Honors pre calc - B
Honors chemistry - A
Honors Gov - A
Spanish 3 - A
Music theater - A
Financial Lit - A

I have always been involved in theater at every school I’ve been to
I’m in National Honor Society
I’m in Key Club
I have 100+ service hours

I’m thinking of going into environmental science.

The colleges that I really want to go to are University of Miami, Rollins, University of Florida, Stetson, Occidental, Santa Clara, and I will of course apply to the University of Maryland but I really don’t want to stay here.

Although I have not taken the SAT or ACT yet, what score do you think I should reach for?

2

As long as you do decently on your exams then I think that you should get into all of those schools. Also don’t worry too much about changing schools, assuming that that was out of your control then colleges won’t penalize you for it; if anything maintaining good grades would be a positive factor. Good Luck!
Take a look at my most current thread if you could please, I’d appreciate it

3

Thanks so much!

4

Couple I have some more opinions? :slight_smile:

5

Look into St Mary’s of Maryland (the state’s Honors College), Eckerd, Chapman, UNC -Wilmington (if you want to be an extra in a TV show :p)

6

I don’t really want to stay in Maryland, could you give me your honest opinion on the schools I am thinking of applying to?

7

Even if you don’t want to stay in Maryland, you need a few schools that are likely affordable.
What are you looking for (beside sunshine)?
Did you look at the colleges suggested above (for instance, Eckerd would be better for your major than Stetson).
What’s your parents’ budget?

University of Miami = reach
Rollins = match
University of Florida = ? OOS cap
Stetson= safety
Occidental = reach
Santa Clara = match

8

My father is the only one who is working and he did not give me an exact but he said last year he made about $120k before taxes.

As for what I am looking for, I think I would feel more comfortable at a school with a smaller population. I like being in an atmosphere where a lot of people know each other. I would also like to go somewhere where I can be pushed academically but not to the point where I cannot handle the work load. As you can see I have only taken one AP this year and it has been hard to keep a B in that class. I am someone who understands something if I sit down one on one with my teacher or with a tutor.

9

Santa Clara is unlikely to be affordable because it’s one of the worst colleges for FA for your income level. UF will not have any financial aid since you’re OOS and your father doesn’t make enough for you to afford it - in addition, it’s a HUGE school.

Talk with your father and mother about what they think they can afford for your college. I’m assuming 20-30k TOPS, and probably much less than that.

Look into Eckerd (for a small school at a lower level and similar to Stetson, look at UTampa or Flagler) as well as Guilford. Both Eckerd and Guilford are strong in writing and have a laid back atmosphere. Eckerd is on a beach and Guilford is in a nice town, within easy reach (3 hours or so) to the ocean and to ski resorts/the mountains.
If you want a somewhat smaller school than a flagship (but still much larger than the above), and that’s located by the sea with plenty of sunshine, look into U Wilmingon (OOS pricetag is about 28k so probably pushing it if you can’t get merit aid).
Based on the limited information we have here, you may be a match for Elon, Rhodes, and Hendrix; Davidson, Emory, or Tulane are likely reaches but your ACT/SAT score will be crucial; if you get a 32/2100 in one sitting, you’d qualify for Alabama’s Honors College, Honors Dorm, full tuition scholarship, leaving a very doable $12,000 price tag for your parents, but those scores correspond to the top 2% of all test takers so obviously they’re very hard to get and it would be larger than you want. If you get a score in the 25-28 range, you’d still potentially qualify for the top 3 as reaches, but not really for the others.

If you can consider less warm climates, check out the following colleges, that all match your requirements and represent a spectrum of selectivity:
Wheaton (MA - not the one in Illinois), Clark, Goucher, Allegheny, Ohio Wesleyan, Washington (MD), Susquehanna, Elizabethtown, Dickinson, Denison, Lawrence, Beloit, Gustavus Adolphus, St Olaf, Butler, Illinois Wesleyan, Drew, Marist.

10

Thank you very much!

11

I think you have a great shot at getting into all of those schools. Get above a 2000 on your SAT and you’ll be in the range you need to be.