Match me: looking for safeties and targets

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone :slight_smile: I’m a current sophomore looking for some schools to start thinking about & maybe tour!

Demographics

  • White female from Pennsylvania
  • Mid-sized public high school, top 20 in the state

Intended Major(s)

  • I’m looking to eventually go into law & probably major in polisci for undergrad

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • I had a pretty rough freshman year, but have an upper trend in my GPA (all GPAS are weighted, school doesn’t show uw)
  • Freshman year: 3.36
  • Sophomore year so far: 4.2
  • Total: 3.5
  • PSAT: 650 english & 560 math (didn’t study, aiming for at least a 1400 on the SAT bc I’m a good test taker)

Coursework

  • Freshman year: Honors English, Biology, and Civics, Algebra 2/Trig
  • Sophomore year: Honors English, Chemistry, and World History, AP Human Geography, Precalculus
  • Junior year: Honors Physics, AP Lang, US History, Euro History, and Calculus AB

Awards

  • Honors roll sophomore year
  • Model UN “chairman’s choice award”

Extracurriculars

  • Model UN
    Since sophomore year, Vice President starting next year
  • Youth & Government
    Since sophomore year, Gold committee chair 2021-2022 school year, running to be legislative president next year
  • Key club & Spanish Club
    Since sophomore year
  • Job as a cashier in foods
    Since March 2021
  • Basketball
    From 2016 to 2021
    Rec from 2016-early 2018 & 19-20 season
    Travel from 2017-18
    Middle school JV in 2018-19 season
    High school manager in 2020-21 season
  • Golf
    JV team 2020 season
  • Summer 2015 - made bracelets at summer camp to donate to the humane society
  • Summer 2018 - 2 week trip to Guatemala where I helped at an orphanage
  • Winter & Spring 2021 - volunteering with key club

Cost Constraints / Budget
N/A

Schools
Looking for something that’s:

  • In a city (preferably a large one)
  • Medium-Large student body
  • Good academics
  • East coast, California, Texas, or Illinois
2

This means that your parents have told you that they will pay $320k for four years of expensive college plus more for expensive law school, or that you have not asked them for a budget, or they are unwilling to tell you?

1 Like
3

Is this because you haven’t talked about it with your family or is it because you have talked about it and they can pay $320,000 for your undergrad degree? The answer to that question is where you should start your list. If money is no object, the list is entirely different than it would be if you need merit money or a school that meets demonstrated need.

1 Like
4

You can figure our unweighted, A 4, B - 3, C - 2, D - 1
What language are you taking?
Colleges are only interested in high school EC’s.

1 Like
5

Take a look at Pitt, George Washington.

1 Like
6

Look at Loyola Chicago & DePaul. Your stats are low for both, but you are making huge strides and colleges will likely recognize that in your favor. Loyola is beautiful! Right on the Lake Michigan shore, 15-20 minutes train to downtown (“L” stop on campus), great neighborhood (Target across the street), lots of places to eat. Very traditional college college/experience. DePaul is less traditional as far as a campus. The buildings are mixed more into the city. But it’s in Lincoln Park-which is an amazing neighborhood for young people. There are shops, restaurants, bars… I don’t know much about Political Science at either, but definitely worth researching & touring.

1 Like
7

With law school, you’re really talking about 7 years of college (4 + 3). Law school is expensive, so it is important to verify that you really do have an unrestricted budget. It’s also important to note that half the graduates of law schools never practice law. Again, that’s a lot of money for what is an iffy proposition. Do you know what type of law you’re interested in?

I agree with @Hippobirdy that Pitt is a good place to start. The College of New Jersey is in the state capital, a good place to be for the study of law, and NJ out-of-state tuition is pretty reasonable. Same would be true for SUNY Albany and Virginia Commonwealth, which is right in the heart of Richmond.

2 Likes
8

As a resident of Pensylvania, you should visit the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State (State College), and Temple University (probably not strong re: political science,however) due to resident tuition rates.

2 Likes
9

Fordham (in NYC), Holy Cross (MA), Brandeis (Boston area), Scripps (all women and small, but part of the larger Claremont consortium in LA area), Loyola (Chicago), American U (DC), Emerson (Boston), The New School (NYC), U Pitt, U Rochester,

1 Like
10

For Texas, maybe SMU, UHouston, TCU?

1 Like
11

Based on the information you’ve shared, I’d take a look at:

• Fordham (Bronx, NY)
• Loyola Maryland (Baltimore)
• Duquesne (Pittsburgh, PA)
• U. of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN)
• Loyola Chicago (IL)
• San Diego State (CA)
• Manhattan College (NY)
• Drexel (Philadelphia, PA)
• Virginia Commonwealth (Richmond, VA)
• College of Charleston (SC)
• St. Edward’s (Austin, TX)
• U. of Houston (TX)
• U. of Tampa (FL)

These are all residential campuses with urban locations and medium to large enrollments. Since you were okay with Chicago, I threw in Minneapolis/St. Paul as an additional large metro area.

12

For CA you should think about Loyola Marymount, USF, or St Mary’s

13

Will you be taking any foreign languages?

1 Like
14

Money makes that decision pretty easy. Talk to your parents about how much they can afford, then go onto the net price calculator and see if it’s within budget. Expect to pay double or triple for an out of state school. If you can get a high score on your SAT, University of Alabama would offer a guaranteed scholarship that would be cheaper than Penn State.

15

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.