<p>Hi, everyone :) I'm a junior in HS, and I wanted to get a jump start on college stuff, and I wanted some suggestions for schools I should include when I'm applying for college.
My #1 choice as of now is UPenn, although I do know it's a stretch. I'm looking for a school strong in International Relations/PoliSci and a good pre-law program, preferably in the Northeast, but it really doesn't matter. Financial aid is also very important.</p>
<p>Sex: Female
Location: Dallas area, TX
Race: Black, of Somali descent. I'm 1st generation North American.
I'm an Canadian citizen, but I have a green card...I don't think that changes anything.</p>
<p>Rank: top 14-15%. Hoping for it to be at least top 13%. Class size is 750.
GPA: 3.6 UW. I'm hoping for a 3.7-3.8 by fall.
6 APs by next fall, all other classes have been honors/Pre-AP.
SAT/ACT: 2010 on December SAT, I want at least a 2150, which is possible. Hoping for ~32 on ACT, based on practices.
School is a very competitive public HS. We're the largest exemplary school in the state of TX. </p>
<p>ECs:
-NHS
-Student council
-Junior World Affairs Council
-French Honor Society
-French club
-Students for a Viable Environment (treasurer/co-founder)
-Hope for Africa
-Athletic training
-Youth Action Council (selective non-school type club...we work directly with the mayor.)
~150 volunteer hours by application time.</p>
<p>FinAid: Only my father works, but he makes ~$100k a year. My mother is currently in school now, she should be done by next summer. I'm the oldest of 5 as well.</p>
<p>With Penn as your dream school, I think the rest of your search at this stage should focus on match/safties. You should also take SAT II.</p>
<p>Do you care about the size?</p>
<p>Do you only want to be in an urban area?</p>
<p>Is study abroad important to you?</p>
<p>Politically active campus?</p>
<p>Though not in the NE, with your SAT score you should look at Alabama for the Presidential scholarship. It is just the CR/Math scores counted for it. Also look at Bama’s honors programs.</p>
<p>Amercian University in DC
George Washington
Syracuse
Pitt (another school that can be generous with merit for OOS)
Dickinson College (a LAC in PA) - but there is not much socio/econ diversity and it is not in an urban area
Ursinus College (another PA LAC - I think you would receive some nice merit here)</p>
<p>If an urban environment is not important to you and finances are the top priority then I urge you to look at the lower tier 1 LACs like Ursinus. I think these will offer you the best in merit packages. IR/PolySci are found at just about all schools.</p>
<p>I’ve known more than my fair share of undergrads who were disappointed with “Pre-Law” programs. Some are good, but others aren’t great at preparing for the LSAT. If you plan on going to law school the LSAT score is very important. Those who traditionally do best on the LSAT are Math majors& philosophy majors. All this is my round about way of saying you do not need the Pre-Law/PoliSci major to get into law school. If you find another subject you are interested in studying don’t be afraid to change your major. The UG major has little impact when applying to law school. The LSAT and GPA carry more weight.</p>
<p>Having a green card is good. It means that you’re not an int’l, and that you qualify for student loans. Your dad’s income is high enough that you probably won’t get much (if any) “free money” unless you get accepted to certain elite schools.</p>
<p>Being a URM will help :)</p>
<p>You mention that financial aid is very important. Since your dad has a good income and perhaps your mom will begin working after she graduates, you need to find out how much your parents can contribute each year towards your education. If it is less than your EFC (expected family contribution), then you’ll need to consider schools that give BIG merit scholarships as well.</p>
<p>Study abroad is extremely important to me. If a school doesn’t have a good SA program, I’m not going to count on it happening. Size is also quite important to me…I want a school with at least 5000 students. I’m not interested in a school smaller than my high school. Political activity on campus is somewhat important, again not a big deal. I’d like a school at least near an urban area, like within 30 minutes, if not in the city itself.</p>
<p>With your Canadian citizenship and your French background, you should consider McGill University. For Canadian citizens, the total cost of attendance (tuition+room+board+books) is only $19K Canadian, which is currently $18K Canadian. Since admission is all numbers driven, it might even be a safety for you since I think that you have the goods. If it’s not a safety, try Toronto, British Columbia or Queen’s. That Canadian citizenship should at least be used to find your financial safety. </p>
<p>You do need to take SAT II’s for most top schools and for Canadian schools. </p>
<p>Otherwise, with > $100K income, I agree with mom2collegekids, that you need an elite school or a merit scholarship. </p>
<p>Consider</p>
<p>Chicago
Johns Hopkins
Georgetown
Tufts
Cornell
Northwestern
Washington University
Rochester</p>
<p>I agree that you should look at Canadian schools or schools that offer merit scholarships. With your profile, you will get merit scholarship offers at schools that offer them.</p>
<p>Well, I think finances will be VERY important given your household income of $100k and four family members behind you awaiting college. $100k salary is about $80k take home, and with living expenses, I think it would be really hard for you to go to a full pay private college without taking out $25k - $30k in loans each year.</p>
<p>So that means you either need to:</p>
<p>1) get into an Ivy with its huge FA package, wherein you would pay under $20k/yr.
2) get BIG Merit money at a Private so that your Cost of Attendance is under $25k
3) go to an in-state school like TAMU
4) find a really cheap private (for example, like Xavier in New Orleans – $30k full pay.</p>
<p>Regarding 3), I don’t know if you can get into U of Texas… don’t you have to be top 10%? YOu mention you’re currently 13% in your class. TAMU is more of a sure thing.</p>
<p>Regarding 2), your stats might support good Merit award at a Top 100 school. Just try to find Privates where your stats are top 10% of this year’s entering freshmen and you’ll have a chance. I think you would be top 10% at a few schools ranked 60-100 in the USNWR list, and probably a few LACs ranked 40+.</p>
<p>OP – sorry, implied in my four choices (I don’t have a 5) option saying take out big loans) is that it is a VERY bad idea to take on student loans unless they are for a professional degree leading to direct employment, like Nursing, Pharmacy, etc.</p>
<p>MissPickwickian: Thanks for taking the time to suggest those two schools, but they’re not exactly for me. I appreciate it though!</p>
<p>DunninLA: Loans are not something I really want to do…only if ABSOLUTELY necessary. UT fills 75% of their freshmen class with top 10% kids, the other 25% are reviewed holistically. I’m not really interested in A&M, but I’d use it as a safety. Thanks for all your help! </p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad: my parents don’t really want me to leave the US, at least for undergrad, but I have talked to them about McGill and U of T.</p>
<p>When I read your original post, the two schools that came to mind first were Tufts (which someone else has already suggested) and Macalester (which doesn’t fit the Northeast preference but is great with IR/poli sci and big on internationalism (good for both study abroad and because they’d be very interested in your background and experiences)).</p>
<p>If your parents cannot afford their EFC, then you need a strategy for picking schools.</p>
<p>Will you be a National Achievement SF? What was your PSAT score?</p>
<p>Keep in mind…you (the student) can only borrow small amounts. IF bigger loans are needed, then you’ll need your parents for those. With several younger children, it’s probably unlikely that they would agree to that.</p>
<p>One way to save money:
UT in Austin would be great for you. Apply to the University of Texas. You have a very good chance of getting in and the in-state price is great. </p>
<p>If they don’t let you in right away (the top ten percenters do fill up a lot of the spots), because you are in-state in Texas, they will offer you the “Coordinated Admissions Program (CAP)”. This lets you go to another UT campus for a year and then seamlessly transfer into UT for your second year of college - you don’t have to “apply to transfer,” you just switch to the main UT campus in Austin. UT is a very good school and Austin is a great college town; many students decide it is worth a year of CAP to go to UT.
[Coordinated</a> Admission Program | Be a Longhorn](<a href=“http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/cap/index.html]Coordinated”>http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/cap/index.html)
The GC at our high school can explain to you how this works. It is a good back-up plan for you, anyway.</p>
<p>(If you look at the formula UT uses to let in non top ten percent Texas students, you will see you have an excellent chance of acceptance right away for freshman year. They will like your test scores, your extracurriculars, and the fact that you are an under represented minority; you get points for these in their “holistic review” for non top ten percenters.)</p>
<p>MidwestMom2Kids, I’m definitely going to apply to UT Austin, but the CAP program is really not for me. If I don’t get in, then I’ll just move on.</p>
<p>Any other schools? I was thinking about Boston College, Georgetown, and Duke as well.</p>
<p>Loans next year will be very hard to avoid unless you go to a college far below Penn in the rankings–many of the no loan schools are changing their policies as we speak. I would get comfortable with a reasonable amount in loans if you want a top school.</p>
<p>You’ve already gotten good lists above. You look like a good candidate for many top schools. Penn might be especially tough, however, because they are the most rank concerned of any college I know–only about 2% were not in the top 10% of their high school class. Apply widely.</p>