We are OOS in Virginia .
Attends a fairly competive school in suburban Richmond . Has 4.0 weighted gpa ( guessing around 3.6-3.7 unweighted ). All honors classes freshman :sophomore year ( a’s and b’s ) , plus pre ib. classes in Spanish . 4 Ap classes this year plus ib Spanish 5, next year 3 Ap plus ib Spanish 6. 1220 sat , took again yesterday but not sure if his score will go up based on what he said . Decent extra curriculars ( track,’soccer , nhs , beta club, key club ). Counselor at 4h club
For several years, volunteer at math science center . Interested in law enforcement t( wants to go into fbi ) and maybe study psychology . Thanks for your Help
You should check out their stats for the class of 2017: https://www.umass.edu/admissions/facts-and-figures/student-body-and-admissions-statistics
His SAT score is only slightly below average for the school, and his GPA is good, also with all the honors classes and EC’s, I’d say he has a good shot. Also your OOS tuition will certainly be attractive.
Thanks @PoopFap . I was thinking the out of state tuition might be a helpful piece
I think he’ll get in. And if he raises his SAT a lot, he might get into the honors college. Lots of kids get OOS merit scholarships, ranging from 10-14K. That was a very nice surprise. My kid raised math SAT 100 points just by reviewing the math (no prep course, didn’t finish prep book). So it’s probably well worth reviewing math. Kid said that studying for the SAT is the easiest way to improve one’s credentials.
His GPA is good for UMass, and his SAT, while on the low end of their averages, is in the right range. I’d love it if he can bring his SAT up a bit, even 50 points would help him, but even if he doesn’t, he’s got a shot.
UMass Amherst has sent a decent number of students to the FBI. The FBI recruits on campus (or did the last time I checked) - so he’ll be in a good place if he decides to go that route.
He should continue to take Spanish - it will give him an advantage in hiring by the FBI. They want Spanish quite specifically. It’d be nice if he can become fluent or near-fluent. If he can also pick up another needed language, even at a basic level, that’d be great (so for the FBI, that’d be Arabic, Mandarin, Korean, and several others - many of which are taught at UMass.)
I think that he has a good chance at U.Mass Amherst with his current stats. His SAT is only very slightly low although it might be worth doing more prep and retaking unless the recent retake comes in a bit higher.
There was an article in the news recently in Massachusetts that for U.Mass the average GPA was higher for in-state accepted students compared to out of state accepted students. The justification stated was that the school wanted the out of state tuition to help them make ends meet (although I don’t think that the budget issues are any different than is being faced by nearly every public university). As such being out of state might not hurt at all for admissions.
For your son U.Mass Lowell would look like a safety to me. I think that they have a criminal justice major but I didn’t double check just now. It might be worth your taking a look.