HELP! Where do I FIT?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi guys!</p>

<p>I decided to move away from the "chances" threads as this is much more helpful. </p>

<p>I am a junior in HS right now. Im looking for safeties, matches, and (if supplied) reaches. </p>

<p>I'm looking at private schools. Anywhere in the country. I want to major in finance and eventually get into politics.</p>

<p>So far, my resume looks like the following. Please tell me where I would fit in. </p>

<p>Female
Hispanic
South Florida
Income < $20,000 annually</p>

<p>Public HS
GPA: 3.7 UW, 4.4 W
Rank: Top 5%</p>

<p>Significant Courseload:</p>

<p>Freshman year:
Sucked. (Raised in the "ghetto", my plans were to be a high school dropout. I faced alot of difficulty.)</p>

<p>Sophomore year:
AP World
AP Span. Language.
Honors Bio
Honors Geometry
Honors English
African American History
Latin 1
Web Design 1</p>

<p>Junior year:
Honors Pre Calc
Honors Alg. 2
Latin 2
AP Span. Lit.
AP English Lan.
AP Physics B
AP Chem
AP US Gov.
AP Microecon.
IB Contemporary Hist.
Web Design 2</p>

<p>At local community college:
Public Speaking
American History</p>

<p>So far, scored 5's in both APs taken in soph. year. </p>

<p>SAT: Take it this summer
SAT 2: World 710, Span. 800 (Taking Literature, Chemistry, Physics, Math 1, and Math 2 this summer)
ACT: Take it this summer</p>

<p>I still haven't decided on my senior year courseload, chances are it will involve some community college dual enrollment like it did this year, to take College Calc 1
College Calc 2
College Calc for Business
It will also include (for sure)
Latin 3
AP Macro Econ
AP English Lit
AP Bio</p>

<p>ECs: (so far)</p>

<ul>
<li>School newspaper reporter (11)</li>
<li>President of my class (11)</li>
<li>Stock Market Game (10, 11)</li>
<li>Political Committee at school (10) (Got cancelled afterwards )</li>
<li>150+ hours volunteered at City's Chamber of Commerce.</li>
<li>50 hours volunteered at leadership program at local Boys & Girls Club.</li>
<li>School representative to local leadership organization (they pick 1-2 students for every public and private HS in my county. I'm my school's rep.)</li>
</ul>

<p>I am hoping to volunteer for the GOP this summer. </p>

<p>My main interest are the Stock Market and Politics. I am crazy about politics. It's my life.</p>

<p>Awards:
Nothing big. A few small foreign language competitions.</p>

<p>Summer Programs:
National Young Leaders Conference (full ride)
Global Young Leaders Conference (full ride)</p>

<p>I'll be attenting the Youth Presidential Inaguration Conference Jan. 2009 as long as I get a full ride. </p>

<p>That's it. </p>

<p>Thank you guys so much!</p>

2

<p>If money is a huge issue, why not just go to UF or FSU?</p>

<p>Some schools will offer you good aid, but they probably won't beat in-state tuition. Err...since you're interested in politics, I know that American University in DC is really good with aid. Tulane is good with aid (I know another girl interested in politics is going there). Rochester is good with aid. </p>

<p>But really, if your family makes less than $20k a year, I would just stay in-state for undergrad.</p>

3

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I had never heard of American University before so I will look into it. :)</p>

<p>Oh I am not paying for college. I am going with financial aid and with loans. M parents can't afford anything and I wouldn't ask them either (I am pretty aware of their financial situation)</p>

<p>Public schools won't give me aid, only private schools would (long story). Which is why I am looking into private schools. I love Florida but am simply not staying here cause there's so much out there so that's why I'm going out of state. </p>

<p>Rochester sounds great btw. :)</p>

4

<p>nyu stern for finance, is probably the best school other than wharton, but financial aid isn't the best...</p>

5

<p>are you looking to stay in the south? or would you be open to coming up to the cold northeast? california?</p>

<p>alsot waht size school are you looking for? would you rather have a rural, suburban, or city campus? sports? lots of things that would be helpful in picking some good schools for</p>

6

<p>I could go anywhere in the country. Just out of state. </p>

<p>Urban or suburban. </p>

<p>I love crowds but I am okay with a school that has 5,000+.</p>

7

<p>i definitely would not assume that staying in-state is your best option. world changer's right, you're guranteed to have a huge financial burden lifted if you stay in state but if you're income is below 20k/year, I think FAFSA and need-based aid at a college with a good-sized endowment would accomodate you. especially considering how awesome of a candidate you are! honestly, i think most colleges would drool over someone like you.</p>

<p>tulane, american and all of those schools listed above are mostly known for good merit aid. im probably going to tulane next year with an awesome scholarship that will take care of half of my costs for four years. their need-cased aid isnt notoriously bad or anything but i just wanted to clarify that their most well known for their merit aid. </p>

<p>UF is one of the better state schools in America and for someone who's interested in politics, FSU is a great option being in Tallahasee. Still, you're capable of getting into a lot of places and I wouldn't let the money intimidate you too much. One of my best friends applied to Tufts ED. It was a tough decesion for her because if she didn't get a good ammount of need-based aid, there's no way she'd be able to afford it next year. She got in and a month or so later, she was notified that Tufts was going to take care of almost everything. Best of luck with everything!</p>

8

<p>"Oh I am not paying for college. I am going with financial aid and with loans. M parents can't afford anything and I wouldn't ask them either (I am pretty aware of their financial situation)</p>

<p>Public schools won't give me aid, only private schools would (long story)."</p>

<p>Loans are financial aid that you to repay for decades after you graduate, so you would be "paying for college." Also, most student loans require a co-signor who agrees to repay the loan if you default, and the co-signor must be eligible to have the credit (loan) extended to him/her. Public schools and private schools use the same financial aid form(s) to determine aid awards. If, as you say, publics will not give you financial aid, it is highly unlikely privates will offer you aid. In-state publics are usually the most affordable option for instate students who are unable to pay for their education.</p>

9

<p>With a family income of $20,000, you are in the position of most students in the country including those with family incomes triple yours: Due to financial constraints it is very unrealistic to be considering colleges all over the country.</p>

<p>Even if you get excellent need-based aid, going to colleges that are far away would make it very unlikely that you'd be able to do things like: go home for Thanksgiving (colleges providing need-based scholarships that fulfill 100% of your documented financial need -- remember that's what the colleges think your family needs, not what your family thinks it needs, factor in money to go home in Dec. and at the end of the school year), have your family transport you to college, have your family visit on Parents Weekend and other family-oriented activities.</p>

<p>You are very fortunate to be in a state that provides 100% tuition scholarships to in state public institutions (and about $7,000 a year for in-state private institutions) for students who have the requisite gpa and scores. Check out the Bright Futures web page for info.</p>

<p>Consequently, my advice is to consider your in-state publics particularly FSU since it's in the state capital (literally walking distance from the capital building)-- the capital of the 4th largest state in the country, so that would provide an excellent opp for your political interests.</p>

<p>Did you take the PSAT last Oct.? The junior year PSAT is what qualifies students for National Merit as well as National Hispanic scholarships. Even if your scores weren't high enough for National Merit, they may be high enough for National Hispanic, which I think requires an index score of about 180.</p>

10

<p>What about the bright futures program at UF?</p>

11

<p>Check out the Bright Futures website, and check out the scholarship info on the websites of all colleges that interest you.</p>

12

<p>OP,
Another reason to consider a large public school in your state is that since you want to go into politics, that would give you thousands of potential contacts/supporters, etc. More than likely if you check out the bios of politicians in your state, you'll find that the majority went to public universities in state.</p>

13

<p>How about New College of Florida? Great and in-state and maybe you could get some scholarships.</p>

14

<p>Check out the Questbridge scholarship as well
QuestBridge</a> Home Page</p>

15

<p>New College is a good idea! It offers the private school feel, without the private school costs.</p>

16

<p>If, however, the OP wants to go into politics, the OP probably would be better off going to a large state school where the OP could get lots of contacts instead of going to New College, which has fewer than 1000 students.</p>

17

<p>New College is unabashedly intellectual and politics isn't an intellectual pursuit for most politicians, so someone with a passion for politics (as opposed to a passion for political science) would probably be better served at another school.</p>

18

<p>New College also is very liberal, and I think that the OP has not identified as a liberal.</p>

19

<p>I second the QuestBridge idea. Really really look into that. I wish I had known about it when I was a junior.</p>