Match me! East coast PoliSci

  • White female, lower middle class

  • mental illness, lgbt

  • U.S. Citizen (Texas)

  • Very small charter school (My class is 48 people)

  • Interested in PoliSci, possible double major or minor in history, public policy, etc

  • 3.9 UW (My school doesn’t do weighted)

  • Class Rank: Between 5-9 / 48 (Not sure)

  • 1340 SAT (Will be retaking)

Coursework:

  • No AP’s, my school doesn’t offer them

  • 5 Dual Credit classes through Texas Wesleyan, 3 English and 2 History

  • I’ve consistently taken the hardest/most advanced courses available

  • Concert Choir (My school’s most advanced group)

  • 3 years of graphic design

  • Taking Stats next year

  • Spanish 2

  • Yearbook Advertising Editor (11)

  • Yearbook Editor-In-Chief (12)

EC’s

  • 2 years of NHS

  • 3, will be 4 years of Class Council (2 as Secretary, 1 on Prom Com)

  • NAHS Vice President

  • Varsity Cross Country (8-9)

  • Varsity Soccer Manager (10)

  • Varsity Cheerleading (12)

  • Graphic design + social media intern for a creative arts journal targeting disabled people

  • The Experiment Digital Exchange program (current)

  • Minor roles in 2 musicals

  • Stage/tech manager (10)

  • Global Student Leadership Council Vice President (10-pres)

  • I’ve started one essay about growing up and realizing i wanted to go into politics, feminism yay!
    -RL’s will probably be my math teacher who I’ve had for 5 years, maybe my graphic design teacher I’ve known for 4, and is the sponsor for GSLC

  • Parents can contribute 6-12,000 per year

  • Aid is absolutely necessary

Schools:
Safety: UVM, Michigan State
Likely: Sarah Lawrence
Match: Mount Holyoke, American University
Reach: Barnard, Georgetown, BU

I’m still trying to figure this college stuff out and get realistic, any help or advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you!!!

So you want to find a school that is friendly to LGBTQ. So make sure you have that.

Your list looks right. But for AU, for example, you need to ensure you demonstrate interest so get on their email list, attend a few webinars.

So already you raise a huge red flag - you can pay $6-12K a year. So most schools out of state are not going to give you significant money. So while your list is fine, it’s not going to work. Gtown, Barnard, and BU will - but you are unlikely to get in. I don’t see any other school working.

You need to focus on local schools - whether a UTD or UT Austin or A&M or Texas State or one of the smaller campuses. That’s a reality.

You can apply to a school like College of Charleston where you’ll get aid and additional money for being below $30K EFC.

If your family makes $65K or less, you may look at Questbridge.

But you really need to think local. It’s obvious you want out of Texas and I appreciate it.

Here’s your list of full need schools. The question is - is that what your parents are willing to pay or all they can pay? There’s a difference.

Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid (prepscholar.com)

You may also look at a community college.

From the list of full need met colleges that @tsbna44 shared, you may want to look at Rochester, UVA, Connecticut College, Emory, Trinity, and Lafayette.

Keep MHC

Really, check first which colleges have good financial aid or merit and are LGBTQ friendly, and then check out whether they have a decent PoliSci major.

Your primary focus should be affordability, and whether you will have the support you need for the next 4 years. Make sure to have a safety and some likelies.

Do you think smaller liberal arts schools would be possible? I’ve been looking at the seven sisters, particularly Wellesley, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, and Mount Holyoke, but I’m not sure how realistic it is. I honestly have no idea how to look at my chances objectively, this is really really confusing overwhelming. thank your for the advice!!!

If you haven’t already, you might want to look at the information in the Common Data Set for each school; and specifically the information in Sections C7, C9-C11. Each CDS gives you the statistics on a particular matriculated class at each respective school.

This information might help you in identifying what schools are safety, match, and reach for you.

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