I’m a junior and I’m trying to narrow down or add to my college list. Am I applying to colleges that are too selective? Are there colleges that I should add or remove based on my stats? I don’t have the best stats and I had to drop most of my extracurriculars because of trying to get over depression, panic disorder and GAD. I’m surprised I managed to keep my GPA.
I would prefer a urban or surburban campus and a small to medium school size. I also would prefer to go to the East Coast or California and would like to major in biology or political science. Schools that provide a lot of financial aid are top priority.
Stats:
GPA: 4.0 UW
Rank: 2/550
ACT: 31
SAT: 1460/1600 (680 CR+W, 780 Math)
IB Diploma Candidate
AP Courses: AP World History (5), AP Calculus BC (no score yet)
Honor Courses: I’ve been all honor courses in the core classes.
Extracurriculars: HOSA (President), French National Honor Society (Vice President), volunteer at the library
State: Colorado
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: My case is a little strange. I have not seen my dad since the 3rd grade but he does pay child support only because the court makes him. He would not be willing to pay for my education even though he makes around $70000 as he does not know me. My mom makes around $20000 and she’s trying to support my sister and I as make as she can but our financial situation has been tough. Is it possible that colleges only see the income that my mom makes since she has sole custody of me and I have no contact with my dad? I don’t know how to run NPC’s on my situation.
My College List: Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Vanderbilt, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, Amherst, Bowdoin, Rice, Washington and Lee University, University of Southern California, Haverford, Vassar, and Emory (I do have a safety at my state school but it does not offer a lot of financial aid) (I’m also applying to Stanford, MIT, and Columbia but they are kind of unrealistic for me to get in with my stats but I’m still going to apply and play my chances anyway)
Your GPA is as good as it can be, your SAT is ok – you may take it again if you wish – and your ECs are a bit weak (though for good reason – maybe talk about overcoming the psychological difficulties in essays…).
The schools you listed are all either reaches or low reaches based on their selectivity and your competition.
You might consider adding a few schools – like these – that would likely be high matches or matches for you:
Wake Forest
Lafayette (or Lehigh…)
U of Rochester
U of Richmond
Tulane
U of Miami (FL)
Bryn Mawr (if you like Haverford & Swat)
Scripps (if you like CMC and Pomona…)
Barnard (if you like Columbia)
By adding a few matches, you are improving your chances at being accepted by multiple schools. (you might be accepted by multiple schools anyway – but that’s iffy when all of your schools are reaches of varying degree, aside from your safety.)
In terms of removing reaches – I think it’s important to research the schools to try to figure out if you would “fit” at a school. So look at academic programs, the style of curriculum (open vs. requirement aspects), the look of the campus, dorms. Try to find out about Greek life and the rest of the social scene, and whether it matches your preferences. Are there things to do that you would find worthwhile and/or fun? Finally, note things like weather and surrounding city/town/area.
Run the NPC for each school to try to figure out if you could afford to attend without taking on too much debt. Many of the schools you’ve listed – in fact, all of them – are known for providing pretty solid need-based aid, but still run that NPC to get some idea of cost.
Anyway, if you want to cut some of the reach schools, do it based on the (projected) cost and fit factors: cut the schools that would be the most expensive and/or where you believe you would enjoy the experience (academics, social vibe, environment, etc…) least.
There’s a list here of schools that don’t use non-custodial parent information when figuring financial aid, it might be of some use when determining where to apply:
You said that your state safety school isn’t so great with financial aid - if so, it’s not really something you can count on as a safety option, because you have to be able to afford to go there. I think schools that are FAFSA only don’t consider non-custodial parent info, but it’s going to be really important for you to sit down with your mom and check into all of this.
Your best bets are going to be schools that meet full financial need and don’t consider non-custodial income. Make your list of schools to apply to based off that criteria, because it doesn’t matter where you can get in if you can’t afford to attend. We see too many tales of heartbreak here with scenarios like that.
Also, hugs to you for hanging in there through some personal tough times to keep your grades up and staying on track with school. You’re bright and talented, and there’s going to be a great school for you!
Hate to be the “bearer of bad news” but Stanford and MIT are going to be tough based on what you offer. Again, basing it on my prior experience with my own kids (one interviewed by Duke and UPenn and shortlisted at NWestern and Washington Univ in St. Louis). Have a niece who has been granted admission to Amherst college in Fall 2016…but her parents (my bro’ and sister in law went to MIT and Harvard respectively…some 15 years ago) got her a College Coach ($$$) and that might have helped. Worked with two colleagues from Stanford, when I was in California in 1996…and that offer was one of the hardest to come by then…information is dated, I know, but don’t think the situation has changed. So, you picked some really ‘hard-to-get-into’ schools…still, I wish you luck.
I think you need some matches. You have good stats (though getting your CR score above 700 would be ideal), but your lack of ECs relative to other applicants makes your chances really tough at a lot of these schools.
Fortunately there are plenty of slightly less selective schools that are still good with aid. Bryn Mawr, Holy Cross, Connecticut College, Franklin and Marshall, Mount Holyoke, Occidental, and U Richmond all meet 100% of need; I think they would all be solid matches for you. For a safer school, Clark University would definitely be worth checking out - it’s a great school and is really good with aid.
I hope this doesn’t sound harsh; I also have depression/panic disorder/GAD and know how stressful it can be to go through this whole process while trying to deal with all of that other stuff. Best of luck to you and I’m sure you’ll end up somewhere you feel good about!
@fantasyreader my niece attends CUBoulder and received a $10K merit package from them. She was a good student in high school, although I believe her scores were not quite as good as yours. She is at the honors college and is very very happy there. Don’t count out the possibility of merit aid from your state school especially with those great stats!
You need one more affordable safety and a few matches. Beside those already suggested, I’d add St Olaf, Lawrence, Dickinson, Denison, Whitman.
Uchicago doesn’t count NCP’s but it’s a high high reach.
Try to get your act 32 and apply to some full ride scholarships.
Try finding documentation - from school official, counselor, lawyer/judge- that you’ve had no contact with your dad in more than 10years. Having that early on in the process will reduce stress in October When you have to deal with everything at the same time.
If her dad does pay child support, some if not most colleges will ask him for a contribution and consider his income as part of their financial aid planning, unless she can get a letter from him that says that he is no longer supporting her and that she is fully independent of him in terms of income. This is what happened for a close relative at Vassar, which has excellent financial aid. The father wrote a letter stating that the student as “indigent” and that he refused support. There may have been other steps that the college and family took to make sure that there was no contribution from the father. The important thing to remember is that you will be working with the college as a partner in this process. I believe that Vassar asked the student to defer entry for a year so that they would have sufficient financial aid. The student did so and then started smoothly the following fall, having spent a valuable gap year pursuing many projects. You may want to do some research about what schools tend to work with students on their financial aid package. This is not an easy task! But at least you have one school that you know will do so, and that’s Vassar.
As far as essay, I’m not sure if I would necessarily dwell on the psychology of this situation, not that you can’t but maybe you just don’t find it that compelling. Leave the door open to discuss the many other things in your very successful life that may define you. I’m sure that there are many amazing things that you do! Also, I’ve heard over and over again that what’s vital is that you are clear why you are applying to X institution. They want to see that yours is not a generic application. If you want to go to any particular school, dig down and research the school (what professors you want to work with, key programs, culture of the school, setting, etc) that tie to your personality and career goals.
Bryn Mawr as a possible match with merit – all the classes, clubs etc at Haverford are open to BMC students, and it is a supportive community (as is Haverford).
The OP’s comments about addressing anxiety disorder etc. suggests that a smaller community, with a strong supportive culture, rather than a highly competitive, driven community (which many describe at Swat, for instance) might be a better fit.
Match schools which might fit that culture could include Denison in Ohio (excellent merit awards, strong commitment to economic diversity on campus, and excellent poli sci program), Dickinson in PA, Bates – though Bates does not give merit aid and I’m not familiar with how it treats non-custodial parent income. Amherst and Bowdoin do not give merit aid either, only financial aid, so the OP would want to check on the Net Price Calculator for those schools as well. Macalester, St Olaf in the Midwest might also be matches.
@hop I am a college prep scholar and I am really hoping to get matched so I can help my mom out. However, I heard the match rate is super low so I’m searching for other colleges with good financial aid. Thanks for your help!
I think that there are some really good suggestions up thread, specifically Bryn Mawr, Lawrence, Beloit, Conn College and Clark.
Don’t forget to factor in transportation costs, which can often take the locations farther away from cities or those accessible via regional airports out of the running.
A few more generous merit/need schools to investigate would be Wellesley, Wheaton (MA), Goucher and Simmons.
and I am really hoping to get matched so I can help my mom out. However, I heard the match rate is super low so I’m searching for other colleges with good financial aid. Thanks for your help!