Hello! I feel like I’m in an awkward SAT range, which is leaving me in a position where I barely make the cut for more selective schools but feel overqualified for less selective schools. I’m looking to major in Political Science and live in or near a major metropolitan area.
GPA: 3.92/4.54
SAT: 1380 - 670 Math 710 Reading (new), 1990 - 650 Math 660 Reading 680 Writing (old)
Race/Gender: Black female
What schools do you feel I should go to and have a possibility of getting into?
If you have more questions, go ahead and ask.
Financial constraints? What is your EFC and what can your parents pay/year $$?
Do you want a large school or small? Private or Public? Other than near a city, any states of preference?
What is your home state since your in-state flagship would be the most obvious choice at least for a Match or Safety school?
I come from a single mom home with a household income of $37000. I expect to receive a lot of financial aid as I won’t have much parental contribution. Tuition is what I will worry about last and a high tuition will not prevent me from applying to a school. I prefer small to mid sized private schools but am still open to larger schools. My state school is UMD but I am not interesting in attending it (although I will be using it as a safety). I understand that UMD may seem like a match for me but the average accepted student at my school is far lower than my stats.
You could try some less selective schools but participate in their honors colleges. Some good examples of that would be Iowa State, Oklahoma, etc. I would also try University of Texas which is located in Austin, but if you’re not instate, it is almost impossible to get in. Some of the UC schools might also be a good fit for you.
I think URM status will give you a decent bump, but that doesn’t mean (necessarily) that your app is HYPSM material. I think if you have a favorite or two among them - to be clear, I’m talking about Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford & MIT - then obviously apply, and put your all into that app.
I think the magic is most likely to happen at the next level of universities: Columbia, UChicago, Penn, Duke, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, JHU, and Northwestern… and nearby (prestige-wise…) Rice, Vandy, Wash U, Georgetown, Notre Dame.
And don’t forget about the liberal arts colleges! Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, Middlebury, Wellesley, Bowdoin and plenty more are likely to deliver an outstanding education packed with plenty of Poli Sci program quality.
Some of the schools – especially the LACs – are located in small towns in the middle of nowhere. Obviously if you can latch onto other key variables and bite the bullet for four years, and if you work hard, your degree will likely be portable and you could get a good job in a city. If you really do need the “city” part of it for your undergrad, I suggest closer looks at Harvard, Columbia, UChicago, Penn, Brown, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Wash U, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Emory and Carnegie Mellon. All are outstanding and in cities.
At the next level are NYU, USC, Boston U, SMU, GWU, Northeastern, Miami(FL), among others.
Read up on these schools and look for academic, environmental (half-licked already), social and cost (NCP) variables. Pick those that most fit what you like, and those you can afford – and add a safety – and that will comprise a good list of schools to which to apply.
Good luck!
You need to spend more time researching the strengths of various programs as well as location and student culture.
Unfortunately, while it would be convenient if we were able to give you a list of schools to apply to just based on GPA, SAT and income, it is unfortunately not the case.
Here are some factors to consider while you are applying:
- What is your major?
- Extracurricular interests?
- Do you prefer urban, suburban or rural environments?
Once you’ve narrowed down some of these, I would start selecting a list of schools.
- Match schools; these should be make up a bulk of your applications, at least the largest minority. These are schools that you score somewhere in the inner 30~50% of GPA and SAT scores.
- Reach schools; a few applications
- Match schools; a couple. These must be schools that you have an excellent chance of being admitted to, be able to afford and still be very happy to attend.
Thank you for being so comprehensive! I actually just visited Columbia the other day and will definitely apply although my chances are slim. Georgetown is my dream school for right now as I can actually see myself as a student there. I’ve also thought about going to American University if accepted as an honor student. I really just wanted a list of schools that are outside of D.C. since I haven’t thought much about many outside the box schools.
Question: I’ve never attended a very competitive school so I’ve gotten used to being at the top of my class my whole life. If accepted, do you think I should go to a highly competitive school where I put myself at risk of feeling extremely intimidated? I worry that instead of acting as motivation, that kind of environment might simply lower my confidence and lead to me being unhappy.
@apocalypsedreams
It’s a fact that almost everyone faces when they go to university. At my university, we have a thing we tell freshmen. When the entire school consists of the top 10% of students from around the country, it’s impossible for all of you to be in the top 10%. While you might be doing very well now, it can be intimidating to be in classes where everyone does very well. Don’t let that discourage you because you’ll be at a university of very smart people. The important thing is to not let the competition get to your head and matter too much.
@lasvegasmonkey, this poster wouldn’t be able to afford the UCs at $55k a year. California will not provide financial aid to OOS students.
@apocalysedreams. Why would you even consider tuition last? It makes no sense to apply to schools where you wouldn’t be able to afford to even attend. Is it just to say that you got in to “impress” others?
Every year there are students, on this site, begging for financial aid help, after getting into schools that didn’t give them sufficent financial aid. They are disappointed that they can’t go to their choice schools.
@“aunt bea” I just meant that cost of tuition would be the deciding factor of whether I attend and not the deciding factor of whether I apply
@Burdened so u don’t subscribe to the big fish in a small pond theory?
@10s4life I’ve toured Columbia, Georgetown, UMD, George Washington, and American. All 5 of these schools have guaranteed to meet 100% of need. Columbia even went so far as to say that students with a household income of below $60000 are not expected to have a parental contribution. They don’t have loans at Columbia, only grants. The info I’ve received at these schools has led me to believe money won’t be a huge issue but I guess I was just being naive. Thanks for enlightening me though.
Btw, if I go out of state I definitely don’t want to go to a public school like UC. A school that doesn’t meet a 100% of my need is a definite no.
How do you feel about HBCUs? Full ride scholarships are available at Tuskegee, Howard, Florida A & M, North Carolina Central, Alabama State, Prairie View A & M
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
Schools that you are overqualified for are the ones that are most likely to give you scholarships to attract you and you will probably stay at the top of your class. Lots of high stats kids on this board go for the scholarships at schools where they would be above average.
At least consider these as safeties, since the full need schools are mostly reaches.
@nw2this I know financially an HBCU would probably be my best option but other than that I don’t see an appeal for me. My whole life I’ve grown up in a neighborhood that is majority minority so my urge to be apart of a school that is pretty much solely made up of black people is pretty low. This may be funny to you but I don’t have much experience being around white people and weirdly would like to be in the company of them. Besides, I don’t really identify with Black culture very much as I am East African (Ethiopian). My whole life I’ve been told I act “so white” and I worry that would continue at an HBCU. Regardless, I think I will try my hands at Howard just for safety.
@10s4life I went ahead and ran the NPC for GWU, GU, and Columbia. My predicted cost of tuition was very low and these schools were very generous with their grant aid. Honestly, I don’t think money will be a huge issue for me if I get into an elite private school.
If you want to test the waters for a school where you might be more qualified (but with good academic standards) but also outside a city, you could visit Dickinson. It’s not so far from MD. It might help you clarify what you feel about competition and you would likely be very desirable to them. Different tier.
Maybe look into Haverford/Bryn Mawr/Swarthmore consortium? Not too far from MD and just outside of Philadelphia.
I’d also suggest that Emory, Wash U, Hopkins, and Vandy might be in your reach. Beautiful schools with practically as much to offer but not quite as competitive as Columbia.
@apocalypsedreams You should look into Questbridge College Match. It is anprogram that can get you a full scholarship at one of their partner schools.
https://www.questbridge.org/high-school-students
There are posts about it on College Confidential.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/questbridge-programs/
Check it out. I think you can get in the program and get great financial resources through them.