I didn’t really care much about college during my Freshman & Sophomore years, so I need help figuring out where I can go with my current stats. If anyone has suggestions for other things I can do to make my application better, that would also be appreciated.
Demographics
Junior in small high school (under 100 students per grade), Mississippi
Female, first generation to go to college
Intended Majors
Trying to decide between mathematics, physics, or computer science
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.78
ACT Score: 33
Coursework
My school offers 4 AP classes: AP Calculus AB, APUSH, AP Literature, & AP Chemistry.
I am taking all of them and am expected to get 5’s on the AP exams.
I have currently completed 4 dual enrollment classes, with expectations of completing 11 by graduation.
Freshman & sophomore year, my grades were mostly A’s, with a few C’s & D’s mixed in there.
This school year, I have 95-100’s in every class, including my dual enrollment and AP classes.
Extracurriculars
President of ACT Club (2 years by grad.), Employed at local business (4 years by grad.), volunteer of media & photography team at local church
Budget
No budget constraints
Schools
Not really sure on where else to apply, but I know I will be applying to University of Southern Mississippi as my safety school.
Any matches or advice in appreciated. Thank you so much for your help!
With the usual caveats aboout running the Net Price Calculators (NPC) for each school, a First Gen, Woman Math/Physics major from MS would check a lot of boxes for places like Wesleyan (CT), Amherst (MA) and Smith (MA), just off the top of my head.
I would double-check your unweighted GPA and make sure you’re not using a weighted one. To calculate your GPA you give yourself a 4 for each A, 3 for each B, 2 for each C, 1 for each D, and 0 points for any Fs. Add those up and then divide by the number of classes you took to get your unweighted GPA, then let us know what it is.
What is it that you want in your college experience? Have you visited any college campuses? If so, what were your impressions? How big of a school do you think you would prefer? What type of location would you like (urban, suburban, rural)? Are there particular areas of the country where you would like to be (or avoid)? How do you feel about Greek life or strong interest in intercollegiate sports? Is there an area of the country where you think you might want to live after graduation?
If your family has no budgetary constraints, then there are hundreds of options out there. Any information on what you would like out of your college experience would be helpful in providing suggestions.
For this combination of interests, you may want to look into colleges at which you could double major in physics and data science (which combines math and CS).