<p>White male
Lower Middle Class (EFC is going to be just about $1,000)
Junior at a small, VERY high ranked, relatively (to the rest of the area) wealthy public school in a rural PA college town.</p>
<p>Background/Grades:
I spent freshman year at a large, but high ranked, public school in another state. They calculated GPA on the 4.0 scale and I had all As and a GPA just above 4.0 because of an honors weight. My new school calculates on a 100 point scale. Sophomore year I had a disgusting 93 (a B in the upper level, but not weighted at that point in time, Bio course and a high C in Latin [juggling Spanish and Latin for a self described “sucks at learning languages” student during a hectic post-move soph year wasn’t fun] brought me down). It’s the end of first semester Junior year and I have all As with a 98 GPA, but I’m going to need it as I don’t know how Freshman year is going to be used for calculating class rank (guidance, with their super secret guidance people double speak, said it would be used to “estimate”) and Soph year’s numbers won’t cut it. A conservative estimate at this point regarding class rank would be anywhere in the top third, but I really don’t have any idea where I’ll end up. I plan on taking 4 APs Senior year (AP English, AP Bio, AP Econ, and AP Gov) with that generous AP weight that I’m only enjoying in one class this year (AP US History). Like I said, it’s a small school, and outside of art/music classes, US History is the only AP offered to Juniors who aren’t crazy accelerated in math or science.</p>
<p>SATs (I took them in October to take advantage of the prep I did over the summer–I plan on retaking in June):
690 CR (I want to get this to 720 2nd time around, but I hate speculating when it comes to test scores, so let’s assume that’s where I’m staying)
650 Math (I had a 66 on the PSAT math that I took a few weeks later and I think I’ll get even higher once I finish Trig, which I’m in this year)
700 Writing (69 MC and 9 on the essay, which I knew was bad the minute I read it back online and I know I can do much better)</p>
<p>ECs (I’ll keep it brief):
Very heavy on Speech and Debate
NHS invites go out soon (our school does it 2nd semester jr. year and you’re in it till you graduate as long as you keep your grades up) and my numbers are above the benchmark to get one according the student handbook, so I’ll be doing that
120+ hours (?–haven’t been keeping track thoroughly) community service through Red Cross, nursing home, and Church from 8th grade to current
3 clubs
Three People to People trips in middle school, not sure how that’s relevant to the process, but the cultural experiences and fund raising experiences will make for good essay topics.
TONS of volunteer work during campaign season. Worked countless hours at the local party HQ and out in the field for Presidential campaign, House campaign in very swing-ish CD, AG campaign, State House campaign, and did phone banking for Congressional campaigns in other districts. I plan on doing even more come 2010 midterms as we have a tight Senate race brewing here in PA.
Part time job</p>
<p>Now for the good stuff, my annoying questions:
I really, really, really want to go to school in DC and Georgetown is looking like a no-go for someone with my stats. That leaves GW, American, and (since I am a confirmed Catholic) Catholic. GW seems great and I love the idea of an urban campus, non traditional college experience. But I want to know I’ll be able to cover the costs without going into astronomical debt (I understand debt is probably inevitable, I’d just like to keep it from going out of control). American is a strong second choice for me. The costs seem to be a little better. So, what are my chances for GW both RD and ED? How about American RD? Would applying ED to GW hurt me financial aid wise outside of not being able to compare packages with American and Catholic? How strong is need based (you saw my EFC) financial aid at GW? Would I qualify for any merit aid at GW? Is need based financial aid at American any better/worse? Would I qualify for significant merit aid at American? Would I be able to get a full ride/close to it at Catholic (the only reason I would see myself choosing Catholic over the other two)? For the GW and American people–I like having fun, but I don’t drink or do drugs (I know, I’m pretty lame), so I’m not so worried about the “scene” (I’m more excited about getting a cool internship…I’m a geek) but I do know that if all goes according to plan and I get into GW with decent FA, I’m NOT requesting Thurston (LOL). But, seriously, is Thurston that bad? Is it really a dorm full of 1,000 drunken freshman diving over the free condom bowl while trying not to get sent to the hospital by public safety? It’s got a pretty bad rep. What are the best dorms in Foggy Bottom for Freshman outside of Thurston (and I’d like to not end up at Mount Vernon)?</p>
<p>Anyway, what are your suggestions about how to approach the college admissions process? I’m sorry for the long post and the fact that I’m posing this on the GW, AU, and CUA threads, but I’m really interested to hear what other people have to say about the process. I’m really just starting the whole thing and haven’t even done visits yet (I will check out all three one week this Spring, though). Thanks in advance.</p>