<p>I'm an African American male from SoCal living in a single-parent, low income household. I will be a senior in the fall. Need colleges that offer to meet 100% of need-based financial aid!</p>
<p>I plan on majoring in business. So far, there's roughly 7-9 schools on my list that I really want to apply to - all of which are matches and reaches. I have no safety schools. I'm looking for a school that combines school spirit and athletics (football and basketball) with prestige. Weather doesn't matter, but I really don't want to be in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully my safety school(s) will have Division I sports.</p>
<p>Stats:
- Cumulative GPA: 3.44 (RL issues freshman and sophomore year; I'll elaborate on my applications. Everyone says I have "a story to tell." Junior year GPA: 3.64) Senior year GPA will hopefully be a 3.8-4.2. School doesn't rank percentage-wise.
- ACT: 30
- 4 honors courses and 1 AP course - all math classes; taking Honors Precalculus and AP Statistics for senior year. I've taken Public Speaking and Spanish III at my local Community College and earned A's in both; taking Introduction to Business this summer.
- I've been a professional actor with an agent since I was 5 1/2 months old. Since then I've established a pretty long resume and been in numerous TV shows, commercials, billboards, print ads, etc. I have an agent and am currently on the IMDB website.
- Started a non-profit organization for lung cancer patients who don't receive the right treatment due to not having medical insurance (in memory of my favorite aunt).
- I'm in NHS and CSF.
- I've been part of a Church youth group since I was about 3 that goes out to witness to the homeless and people in poverty-stricken communities.
- I've been in a ton of church plays and musicals.
- Will have great essays and recommendations.</p>
<p>My list:
Boston College
Penn State
USC
UC Berkeley
UPenn (beyond a reach)
U of Illinois (might remove)
U of Virginia (first choice)
U of Notre Dame
U of Michigan</p>
<p>As you can see, nearly all of these are reaches, and some may be matches. What schools that fit my criteria can be considered safeties?</p>
<p>There’s no UCs that I’m particularly interested in other than UCLA and Berkeley - both of which, I’m sure, are reaches. UCLA doesn’t even have an undergraduate business program, so I’ve chosen not to apply. I’ll probably regret it later. =/</p>
<p>BC will meet 100% need-based financial aid. You have pretty good stats, so that should be a match for you. You might want to consider some LACs as they are good with finaid. </p>
<p>UCSB should be a match, depending on your gpa. Is the 3.44 your UC gpa? Generally a UC gpa around a 4.0 is good for a lot of the UCs-- Merced, Riverside, Irvine, SB, SC in particular. A higher one will obviously be better for UCLA, Cal.</p>
<p>Also, for undergrad business – you could look at Babson or Bentley (if you’re interested in other East Coast schools)</p>
<p>Your current list is all reaches and matches despite the URM status</p>
<p>Boston College- Low Reach (URM helps)
Penn State- Low Match
USC- High Match (URM helps)
UC Berkeley- Reach
UPenn- High Reach
U of Illinois- Low Reach (OOS is much harder especially for B-School)
U of Virginia (first choice)- Reach (very hard OOS)
U of Notre Dame- Reach (helps with URM)
U of Michigan- Reach</p>
<p>I would look at some real safeties. Business schools are generally much more selective. An ACT score of 30 isn’t very impressive at these schools. 33+ would help a lot. Your GPA is really hurting you, but the upward trend helps. Your ECs are a plus, but don’t help as much at public schools, which dominate your list.</p>
<p>You need some true safeties that are affordable. You should start looking into CSUs and lower UCs. Santa Barbara would be a match for you.</p>
<p>Should I take the OOS publics off my list completely and replace them with privates? =/</p>
<p>I guess I’m just trying to experience a traditional college experience with the school spirit and the packed football and basketball games. I don’t want to go to a school where all there is to do is study 24/7 =/</p>
<p>And a high match is closer to a low reach and a low match is closer to a safety, right?</p>
<p>I guess I’ll take Illinois and Michigan off my list.</p>
<p>So now I’m down to:
Boston College (100% of need met/URM helps)
Penn State
USC (100% of need met/URM helps)
UC Berkeley
UPenn
UVA (100% of need met)
U of Notre Dame (100% of need met/URM helps)</p>
<p>Any other suggestions? I still need safeties.</p>
<p>I think Tulane would be a low match. Good school, plenty of fun.</p>
<p>And I do think if you tell your story well, you have a decent shot at some very selective schools, maybe even Penn. Sounds like you’re on a good track and will do fine.</p>
<p>(Just don’t go party wild if you wind up at Tulane. I’d hate to have any blame for your ruin )</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure my GPA and ACT score are keeping me out of UPenn =/ I’ll apply anyways though, as it’s one of the top 2 schools I’d like to attend.</p>
<p>As a California resident, your financial safety is most likely your home-town community college. You can do two years there for almost nothing, and then transfer in state to a CSU or UC to finish up.</p>
<p>Maybe as a safety you could apply to University of Iowa of University of Minnesota. Lots of school spirit and easier to get into than Illinois or Michigan. With your academics there’s a chance they might offer you merit aid as well as need based aid. I think Iowa will probably meet all of your need.</p>
I’d love to go to BC. I might go visit there soon, but I wasn’t planning on getting in, especially as a shoe in.</p>