Help to build a reasonable college list

College Search & Selection
41

Dear Folks,

As time elapses, my daughter is rising senior. I would have my her info updated as following:

• GPA 4.428/4, no official unweighted available (counted as 3.986 manually).
• SAT 1500 (superscore)
• SAT- not available till July
• ACT 34C (36/36/33/29, Essay 8)
• APs World History – 5, APUSH – current, BC Calculus- current, Chemistry – current, English Lang – current, Psychology – current, all other courses honors
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): no major Violin at (2018 National Cappies Capital Area Awards), Presidential Gold Service Award 2018, 5th place in Regional Science Olympiad

• Bullet Journal Club- Founder and President
• Science Olympiad
• Orchestra, violin player for 12 years
• Summers- volunteered at Northwestern China for younger kids 2018 & 2019
• Job/Work Experience: Tutoring for two middle schoolers, Tutoring website co-founder

Intended Major: health or pre-pharmacy, graphic design as minor?

Current list of colleges (percentage is based upon “other students at your school to find colleges that have accepted students with a GPA and test scores similar to yours” at Naviance.

Reach: Cornell (27%), Rice(41%), Duke(20%), Johns Hopkins(ED, daughter’s dream school, 23%), Vanderbilt(22%), Amherst (not available due to limited data)
Match: UVA (89%), W&M (84%), Georgetown (52%), UC Berkeley (65%)
Safety: U of Toronto (as Canadian Citizen), VCU (98%), U of Minnesota (80%)

Is this a reasonable list? I would consider the cost pf attendance after decision is received. Thanks you all again.

42

I would not be overly reliant on Naviance data because it doesn’t parse out things like hooks or also the differences in majors for schools like Cornell where you apply to different colleges.

I think those numbers are very generous and would encourage you to look at the colleges’ actual acceptance rates.

I also think all of your matches are reaches unless you are instate for UVA, which would then be a match.

43

Yes, we are in state for UVA.

44

Georgetown highly recommends three SAT subject tests…applications without them are not as strong as they could be, nor as strong as many of the other applicants who will have them.

Only apply to schools that look like they will be affordable per the NPCs. You do not want to find out after decision time that there are no affordable options.

45

Too late!
Consider the likely net price when you build the application list.
This is all the more important if you only can/will pay $5K/year, which is approximately the value of “self help” financing (student loans, work-study, summer jobs). If you’re seeing NPCs/EFCs of ~$30K, cross it off your list.
Better not expect to cover a gap that big with loans.

46

If your budget is $5k a year, and you are not a US citizen or permanent resident, none of these schools are safeties for your daughter. You should find out what the rules are in VA for what sort of aid she can get and how possible it is to get the cost down to $5k. That’s practically a full ride you want, and those are always difficult to get. I do not know what VA has for low income families in the way of college funding especially if your daughter is an international student. She will not have the cushion of work study or Direct loans that could pay some of the living expenses if she should get free tuition.

I don’t know how Pitt even made it on the list as a safety. There is no guarantee of free ride or close to it, even with perfect stats. And that’s even for American students. There is nothing automatic about Pitt’s merit awards.

47

My daughter was not accepted into the “meet full financial need schools” that are need aware (she had no hook) BUT was accepted to St Olaf (need blind) with a great package and St. Lawrence University - which does not guarantee full need met but they matched St. Olaf’s package almost to the penny. (almost full tuition) St. Olaf was hands down the best school we toured, including all the “small ivies” like Bates etc. The campus, professors, facilities rivaled Boston College. The campus vibe is very artsy/musical - music program is incredible and the STEM programs top notch. Incredible numbers of students go to graduate school. Both my daughter and I thought their programs and campus were the best we have seen.