<p>I'm a sophomore, and I was just wondering what some of my matches would be.
GPA: 4.0 UW, 5.022 W </p>
<p>SAT: 2070 (710 math, 730 cr, 630 writing) first time i took it and w/o any prep whatsoever </p>
<p>rank: 9/351 and going up </p>
<p>ECs: Mu Alpha Theta (10 and probably to 12, could get a leadership position), Academic Team (9 and definitely to 12, probably president 12th grade, and we have won the county competition the two years i've been on the team.), Red Cross (10 and became VP, will continue until 12), cofounder of Chess Club, FIRST Robotics (10 until 12, was Safety Captain this year, 8th place of 52 teams at competition this year), Science Club (10-12), will join Varsity Tennis Team and Serteens next year. Also, I'll be eligible for NHS. Oh and the Environmental Club </p>
<p>Took AP Human Geo and Enviro Sci this year, and I feel like I did really well (probably two 5s). </p>
<p>11th grade schedule: ap comp sci, ap bio, ap english, apush, ap stats, precalculus, and chem II</p>
<p>Intended major ?
Your home state ?
Budget ?
Which part of US ?</p>
<p>eh, still undecided but probably a scientific field.
South Carolina
We’ve saved enough money for really any college.
Southeast</p>
<p>Clemson is obviously a great choice. Do you think you’d like a small or large school? Urban/rural?</p>
<p>Actually, I’d like to go out of state, and I was thinking of colleges like UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, and University of Michigan. Do you think those are good matches?</p>
<p>Sure but you won’t get any merit aid from those OOS universities. You will have to pay the sticker price. Look at Universities like NCSU and ISU if you want some merit-aid. I am aware of the fact that you have enough money to attend any university but its great not to spend all of it. </p>
<p>Apply to these top publics in the south-east:</p>
<p>UNC-Chapel Hill
UT-Austin</p>
<p>Mid-west:
University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign
University of Wisconsin- Madison
University of Minnesota- Twin Cities</p>
<p>Ok, but how would I go about improving my chances of getting merit based aid?</p>
<p>I’ve said this before to others – There are NO MATCH schools for those stats. I assume SAT will rise in the next 1 1/2 years.</p>
<p>If your GPA remains unchanged, you’ll fall into your stats being on par with schools whose acceptance rates are <25%. That low acceptance rate puts the school as a reach no matter how perfect stats and leadership are.</p>
<p>Schools were you are in the top 25% of the accepted students will put you into the running for top merit. These schools will likely not be reaches for you in terms of admission. More small LACs give merit. The large Universities you mentioned won’t give it. </p>
<p>If you want a large U, make your list up of 2 types of schools. The easy app, guaranteed merit type like Bama and the type like U of Virginia that has a very few competitive scholarships like the Jefferson (which is time consuming). Don’t believe that you have saved enough for college, especially if you are unsure of major, unless there is over $500,000 set aside. </p>
<p>Most kids with high stats are not satisfied with a Bachelors and wish to pursue more. You should consider saving some money for graduate studies. Make sure you discuss with your parents that OOS schools can cost $50,000-$60,000 (as is the case with Berkley)</p>
<p>all right then. thank you so much for the incredibly helpful response Longhaul!</p>