Match + Chance - junior interested in public policy, journalism, policy, etc. (I am the oldest of immigrant parents so I'm pretty clueless about some stuff!)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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1

i do already have a list (below), but it’s heavy on reaches imo. thx a ton in advance!!!

  • abt me: white (middle eastern) girl, midwest, like 200k i think, private religious school
  • Academics:
    • 3.9 uw/4.13 w GPA (up till now am taking most rigorous course load), 1530 SAT (750 rw, 780 m)
    • courses (like aps and honors)
      • freshman: none offered
      • 10th: ap physics 1, english honors, alg 2 honors (highest/only offered)
      • 11th: honors psych (it’s ap psych - like we sign up for the exam and prepare for it - but weighted as honors lol), apush, ap lang, ap chem, dual credit arabic (max number of advanced classes i can take)
      • so for 12th, i want to take: dual cred journalism, dual credit arabic, ap calc, ap lit, and then a dual-enrollment class (havent decided what yet, but im thinking possibly some basic level econ?)
      • but i COULD take: ap bio & ap comp sci (in lieu of dual cred journalism & a regular class called “public speaking & personal finance”)
      • im not rly interested in either of those, but i would technically NOT take my schools most rigorous course load if i did this. is it really worth it that much though???

Extracurriculars:

  1. like 150+ hours eaaasy at my local saturday school since 9th grade. 5hr/week
  2. law internship this summer. 15hr/week over like 8 weeks
  3. insert academic competition: uhh not sure if this should be under awards since it’s a competition. i have a bunch of english awards here like 1st in state this yr pretty sick stuff.
  4. community-specific niche competition i dont wanna get doxxed: got awards in art, extemporaneous speaking, debate, and like second place overall pretty sweet
  5. book club 2.5hr/wk 9th-present. i also have a leadership role here (i organized the like “lesson plan” for a middle school book club book)
  6. mathletes 9th - pres. i have a bunch of regional awards here
  7. actor for drama club 9th - pres
  8. job at some random food place this summer its like 5 mins away from my house lol
  9. *** not sure if i should put this: debate CLUB (not team ie we dont compete; yeah i agree ■■■ is debate club? but thats my school 4 u), 9-10th. this was discontinued bc of covid tho :frowning:
  10. *** i did a debate camp at northwestern (one of those paid ones that need an application), but im only putting this on my app to northwestern

i have more stuff here but honestly it’s all filler. some of it is stuff that was discontinued bc of covid :((((( like model un :(((((( we actually have to get in to model un at our school and it’s a pretty competitive thing (they basically blindly judge our essays) but i only got to participate in 10th grade (which is the first year u can do it) :(. im not sure its worth it to put a one-year activity.

  • Awards:

    • im guessing im gonna be a nm semifinalist. my index > highest of my state
    • like i said, academic award comp
    • niche community comp award
    • honor roll (lmao)
    • the way things r going, probably an ap scholar. just like plain ap scholar tho lol but we’ll see

  • Recs:

    • ap lang (11th) + eng honors (10th) teacher: have i asked her yet? no, im waiting till mid-may. will this be a 9/10? i sure hope so. eng is my fave class (i literally have a 3-quarter streak of a 100 in ap lang. i mean come on) and she LOVES me!!! she says im really like #critically analytical w my essays and always looks forward to reading them and like always says glowing things at ptc. this rec WILL glow (hopefully plz God)

    • apush: now i have a tough time in her class (I MEAN for a humanities class for ME; i get a- quarter/semester grades in general) but she apparently says glowing things abt me behind my back?? honestly was doubtful abt asking her before my sister told me that her chemistry teacher told her that my apush teacher was like omg (my name)? shes such a good student and a strong writer. it was also thru her that i got my law internship (she put in a good word for me and the lady was like yeah tbh (teacher name) put in a good word sooo ur basically hired (IT’S UNPAID LMAO)).

      • caveat: shes also my counselor, definitely has a better idea of my negatives than, say, my ap lang teacher, and has faced my moms frustration on countless occasions (i cant help it…)
      • nah i have her literally RN and she just wished me good luck on my internship and asked me when i start. ok honestly this one better be good fr

    • but these r both humanities ??? literally could not tell u a single stem teacher that i would trust to write a glowing rec for me. even a “good” one. not that im a troublemaker im just like… not a student youd write home abt from the academic and personal sense yk. im not vibrantly participating in chem discussions kjhkwehsh. i could get a maybe ??? fine ??? one from my math teacher (pre calc and geometry), but she also knows my disorganization and basically The most potent manifestations of my adhd lmfaoooo better than anyone in the school. i feel like she would refuse just on that basis, even though she likes me and i do decently in her class.

  • essays

    • knowing myself? will be well-written (like structure wise…) but just fine (topic wise). like a 7/10. im a good writer but i havent written creatively or whatever in ages. i dont know, hoping for a miracle tho. ive already started working on them so hopefully i get my winning essay by the end of the summer :^) but i do want to be realistic bc i often see “omg my essays r gonna be good haha like i havent started but yas” lol

and my list :slight_smile: (not sure if my assessment of my chances is correct, but this is what i have!)
reaches:

  • northwestern, uchicago
  • yale or brown (my dad wants me to apply to ivies…)?? barnard??
    “low” reaches
  • wellesley
  • pomona, pitzer, scripps
  • umich
  • washu
    matches
  • uiuc
  • u florida… if the nmf thing is still there and im a nmf
    safeties
  • loyola chicago
  • in-state safety

i am looking for:
a college with small class sizes, strong in my major, preferably in southern cal, illinois, michigan, ohio, indiana (places that are close to my family or i have relatives in), but as you can see, im applying to places outside of that so this isn’t too rigid. i am not sure how much to invest in my undergrad education. my general understanding is that undergrad location is more important for humanities than, say, pre-med, but i also dont wanna go into debt (this could definitely change but my tentative plan is to go to law school, which is even more $$$. if i get into uchicago and their law school - which ik theres no way but i can dream - then that would be a financially sound decision despite the high undergrad investment but idk. i also have younger siblings (2) so its not just my college we have to worry about!
i would love places that offer merit aid :slight_smile:

2

Oberlin is a top LAC in Ohio that offers merit aid and is probably a match/low reach for you.

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thank you! i’ll look into it :smiley:

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am i allowed to bump this? i would love some input :slight_smile:

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How much can your parents afford for college without taking loans?
What is your instate school?

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If you’re at all open to DC, Georgetown is worth a look, but not a match as it’s a reach for everyone. It’s just good at what you are hoping to do IMO.

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You should look at Boston University, Georgia, Wisconsin, UT Austin, and Syracuse. All these are great for journalism and 3/5 are public and not too expensive and I think you have a good shot at getting money at Syracuse. I think you would get into Georgia, Wisconsin, and Syracuse easily and they all are good programs. I think having a good amount of safeties and targets are good so that way you won’t be deciding between two or three schools.

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the thing is that im not sure. at the moment, we have money saved up for down payment for a house, but if we do end up buying a house, we’ll be in debt. they said theyll pay for as much as they can, but our situation might change in a few years. my in-state is uic !! loyola is also a safety but thats one that depends on merit aid because it is VERY pricey + disproportionately to the value of the degree imo

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thanks a ton!!! that is really helpful :).

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Loyola is not a safety unless it is guaranteed to be affordable as well as guaranteed to admit you. If a large competitive merit scholarship is needed for affordability, it is probably a reach (for the large competitive merit scholarship).

Can you find out from your parents what they are willing to pay, and run some net price calculators on various colleges of interest? You need that to find safeties as well as be able to make realistic categorization of likely, match, and reach.

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11

Without taking out loans themselves…

12

With respect to your interest in pursuing public policy, this site may help you refine your choices:

13

Not to hijack the thread, but @merc81 do you (or anyone else) have a good source for “Best Colleges For _______” that doesn’t include (isn’t dominated) by T30 or T40 schools? It just seems that the vast majority of students will not attend a T30 school and many of these lists list only T30 and highly-selective LACs. At least the lists that I usually come across.

I think your links are great, but I’d like to see broader considerations.

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14

You do need to get your budget clear with your parents. What is their timeline for purchasing a home?

Run the net price calculators on each school on your list, so that you and your parents can get cost estimates.

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15

You need to sit down with your parents and work out exactly how much they can afford per year without them taking loans.

In your very first bullet point you say ‘like 200k I think’ - is that their income? If it is, then you will get very little financial aid.

If your parents cannot afford $70+ per year for college, you need to find out their EXACT budget and start to look at colleges that offer good merit aid. There are a lot of places that will offer merit for 3.9 UW/1530. A lot of schools on your list do not offer merit (NW, Chicago, Yale, Brown, Barnard, Wellesley, the Claremonts) and others offer very little (UMich, Wash U, UIUC).

When you know what your budget is, come back and we can help you find great schools that are affordable. You do not want debt for either law school, MPP school or policy jobs.

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The Princeton Review, for example, offers “Best for” lists that sample fairly widely across selectivity (from which I’ve also posted). However, they don’t offer one specific to public policy. In general, the College Transitions lists may align better than PR’s for a very highly qualified student, which appears to describe the OP, in my opinion.

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You should apply to Case Western early action. IMO you have a good shot and they are definitely like applicants who apply early better. They also give out great merit aid. It’s a great option to have before regular apps (they release decisions in December) to put your mind at ease. Also it’s in Cleveland!

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I’d make sure you put in a strong app for UIUC in their EA round. Hopefully you will get accepted into one of its honors programs. OOS public schools are likely to be as expensive as many privates, with less prospects for aid, FA or merit. Also you will not likely have small classes unless you get into an honors program.

You also need to decide if you want a small school/LAC experience or a large university experience. I think your list is generally reasonable. Hopefully for this next year UIUC will release early action decisions prior to year end, in which case you can shoot for more reaches if you get in.

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Thanks for the reply. I agree the OP might be considering those T30 schools. I was asking about broader lists to discover more options for all students. Seems those are not too easy to find.

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20

UNC Chapel Hill seems like it could be a good fit for someone interested in journalism, one of the top JOMC schools in the world.

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