Hi, I’m a senior from Boston, MA. I have a 3.71 WGPA and a 3.4 unweighted. I play varsity field hockey and am a captain of the varsity girls hockey team at my school. I don’t have many extracurriculars but I volunteer with special needs children on the weekends. I haven’t taken the SAT yet but my predicted score based on PSAT is 1330. I’m all over the place with my schools but I’d love to be on either coast at a fairly large school. Also, I’m applying undecided. Does anyone have any suggestions for safety and target schools?
How about University of Maryland? Apply early for better chances. U Delaware is a big, fun school that is easier to get into than Maryland.
Do you like big schools, small schools? Urban setting, suburban, rural? What is your budget? Do your academic interests lean more towards humanities or STEM? Do you want to stay in the northeast? If not, what geographic areas are you interested in? Are you interested in playing sports in college?
I would like either a medium or large school in an urban or suburban setting. I haven’t really established a budget yet. I’ve always been more interested in STEM, but I’m planning on going in undecided and exploring my options. I’d love to stay on the east coast, or go to California or Colorado. I’m not planning on playing any sports in college. Thank you for the help!
thank you! I’ll definitely check those out
What is your budget?
What is your intended major?
Your GPA is a bit low for U.Mass Amherst, but I think that it may be worth an application. I think that your chances would be better at U.Mass Lowell. UNH and U.Maine are also reasonable schools to consider, as are U.Mass Boston and U.Mass Dartmouth.
UVM is another option but it is a bit more expensive unless you qualify for a merit scholarship. Their NPC will predict whether or not you are likely to get a merit scholarship. Burlington is a very attractive small city.
Talk to your parents to establish a budget, and run some college net price calculators with them to see what kind of college costs after financial aid you are looking at. Include your in-state public universities as well as any other colleges you think you may be interested in for your first batch of net price calculator runs.
Better to get the budget constraints up front, so that you do not have to throw away your carefully curated list in November or (worse) get a bunch of admissions in April that are all too expensive.
Definitely look at University of Maryland, Penn State, UVM, URI, University of South Carolina, Clemson University, and College of Charleston. I have heard mixed reviews about U Delaware from people that went to my high school, I know many people that are transferring because they hated it. Whereas everyone from my high school that has gone to Penn State has nothing but good things to say about their school.
Get that GPA up to 3.5 UW and shoot for 1350+ on the SAT – probably doable if you suck it up and hit the books hard.
You asked about CA and CO as well, so here are some ideas for those states:
High Match:
Occidental College
CU-Boulder
Santa Clara U
Pepperdine
Match:
Colorado State
U of Denver
San Diego State
San Jose State (and other CSU’s)
Cal states offer no financial aid for OOS students so expect costs to be around $40K/year or full price. Also check the requirements for each school of interest if you decide to go Undeclared. For some schools and some majors, switching into a competitive major later after an acceptance can be difficult and problematic.
I would first get a handle on your budget since for most applicants, budget can be the limiting factor in formulating a balanced college list.
A safety school needs to affordable (minimum to no debt), a high chance for an acceptance, offers a variety of majors since you are going undeclared and a school where you are willing to attend no matter what.