<p>My daughter is currently a Junior and is trying to go to some of the most selective schools in the country (Columbia, Princeton, Northwestern...) I think she realizes how small her chances are of getting in, and if she doesn't make it into her top choices she has two schools in-state she'd still be happy at but she'd feel like she was settling for less I think.
Can you please recommend some schools that may be a slight "reach" or a match for her to get into? Just looking for schools that aren't insanely competitive but that are still good schools.</p>
<p>Here are her credentials/some information about her:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.8 unweighted (All A's except math)
APs/honors: honors english, honors math, AP US History. Next year: AP Stats, AP Gov, AP Lit, maybe AP Psych.
ACT/SAT: 27 on practice ACT (taking in March), 170 on PSAT
Class Rank: probably top 15%</p>
<p>Extracurriculars/Service:
NHS member 3 years, officer 1 year
DECA member 2 years, officer 1 year
Elections committee 3 years
Youth City Council Member 1 year (service committee)
Volunteer at museum
President of church group 1 year, counselor/secretary 3 years
~200 hours service
Girls State
Helped open and run school store as a DECA fundraiser
Church Medallion (supposed to be female equivalent to Eagle Scout)
Counselor for a young woman with autism in church group 6 months</p>
<p>Awards/Accomplishments:
Article published in state sports newspaper
DECA student of the year last year
1st place, region DECA; 3rd place, state DECA; top 20% test score International DECA; Finalist (top 15) International DECA
3rd place FBLA region; 2nd place FBLA region</p>
<p>Wants to major in Journalism, English, or Business/Marketing
Location: Preferably a college on West coast or near Utah (where we live) or on the East coast; she loves NY.
Size: mid size to large</p>
<p>“GPA: 3.8 unweighted (All A’s except math)
APs/honors: honors english, honors math, AP US History. Next year: AP Stats, AP Gov, AP Lit, maybe AP Psych.
ACT/SAT: 27 on practice ACT (taking in March), 170 on PSAT
Class Rank: probably top 15%”</p>
<p>You’re right. Very unlikely she’d get accepted to those schools. </p>
<p>Unless she gets a much higher ACT, I would limit her to only applying to a couple of those high reaches…unless time and money is no object. Each app will likely cost you at least $100 when you add in sending scores, etc. </p>
<p>Being outside of the top 10% is also a very limiting factor.</p>
<p>As to mid-level schools she should apply to…(and will likely accept her…)</p>
<p>Much will depend on how much you can afford. Once you’re outside of the top schools, most schools don’t give much aid. And she’d need much higher ACT scores to get enough merit scholarships to make a good dent in costs.</p>
<p>However, if you can spend $55k+ per year for any school that she wants, then super! :)</p>
<p>If not…Have you run the Net Price Calculators on various schools’ websites? </p>
<p>Try some of privates in Calif…LMU, USF, Redlands, Chapman, USD, and so forth. </p>
<p>Columbia, Princeton, and Northwestern are virtually out of reach. Her stats are good enough to have a shot at a school like Boston University, which covers about 89% (on average) of demonstrated financial need. You would have to cover the ~11% gap (or whatever it is in your case) on top of the Expected Family Contribution. Use the school’s online Net Price Calculator to estimate your costs.</p>
<p>Other possibilities:
George Washington University
American University
Northeastern</p>
<p>These colleges probably will cover a higher percentage of demonstrated financial need than any out of state public university on either coast, with the possible exception of UNC or UVa. However, if you don’t qualify for need-based aid, you might want to consider state schools like the University of Maryland. On the West Coast, she might have a shot at some of the University of California schools, but the University of Washington would be cheaper and less selective.</p>
<p>arwarw makes a good point. Need-based financial aid is better at Barnard than at any of the schools I’m suggesting. </p>
<p>Since journalism and business/marketing are her potential majors, I would suggest Syracuse or Ithaca.
Another option would be Emerson in Boston.
For California options, Occidental and LMU should be on the list.
I also agree with the poster above who mentioned Barnard. If she’s OK with women’s colleges I would also add Bryn Mawr and Wellesley to her equation.</p>
<p>If she were interested in Economics&International management, Dickinson may be a good option (especially if she’s interested in spending a year abroad). For journalism and communications, Ithaca.
She could try to get into ASU Barrett, not sure how much it’d cost.</p>
<p>Beside the 7 sisters and Scripps, most of which would be reaches except perhaps for Mount Holyoke, she could look into Agnes Scott (match) and Simmons (safety).</p>
<p>The others don’t, so in order to get a good financial aid package, she’d need to be in the top 25% of applicants. </p>
<p>Colleges in CA and NYC have more applicants than they can hope for, so she’s unlikely to get good financial aid there. The SUNY’s aren’t too expensive OOS, and SUNY New Paltz would likely provide her with a scholarship; her stats qualify her for Fordham but to get merit she’d need to reach a much higher ACT. </p>
<p>Thank you! We would qualify for quite a bit of aid at some of these high reach schools she wants to go to, so that’s some of the appeal. She’s been studying fairly regularly for the ACT and has taken a couple prep classes so I bet she will do better in March. Is there anything else she should be doing EC-wise? Where should she focus the most? I realize those last two questions don’t really correlate to my original question, I’m just curious about what you think.</p>
<p>Academics:
Can she take AP CalcAB instead of AP Stats (= is she getting mostly A’s in her current math class)? Can she take another AP than AP Psych (which is seen as a “soft” AP, like Environmental Science or Human Georgraphy) - AP comparative gov or economics may be a good choice for a future journalist. Does she have all three of biology, chemistry, and physics? Does she have 3-4 years of a foreign language? Does she have AP English Language?
EC’s:
Is she editor of the school paper (or at least a regular contributor)? Is she writing a blog, involved in creative writing?
Can she offer the state sports newspaper to write for them, perhaps a weekly column about high school sports in your area? At least can she write a weekly column for your church, “teen inspirational” or something?
She can practice using the online system number2.com, it’s free.</p>
<p>"We would qualify for quite a bit of aid at some of these high reach schools "</p>
<p>then affording all these apps, sending scores, and paying for CSS Profile will get expensive. Unless she gets at least an ACT 30 (really a 32), I would only have her apply to a couple of those high reach schools. Applying to 5 or 5 of those schools with lesser scores is like burning 5-6 hundred dollar bills. </p>
<p>Maybe she doesn’t understand that those in the lower quartile for the school are special admits: Athletes, URMs, and other talents ( a fabulous artist doesn’t need a high test score, just needs a fabulous portfolio).</p>
<p>She should try Wake Forest because it’s test optional.</p>
<p>Will you qualify for fee waivers?
If not, can you buy a Fiske Guide, or Insider’s Guide to the colleges, and have her read not only about “dream schools” (which are pretty much out of reach) but ask her to find 5 schools she likes and where she’d be average, 5 schools she likes and where she’d be in the top 25% or so, and 5 schools she likes where she’d be in the top 10%.
This way, she’ll start building her college list - many of these schools will shift and change over the next months but she’ll get a better idea of what she wants and what she doesn’t want. In addition, make her read about the women’s colleges and some of the very selective but not quite as selective as the others colleges from the 100% list.</p>
<p>To answer MYOS1634’s questions:
She’s ended up with a high B+ in her honors math class this year so far. Last year she had one A- in her honors math class; the rest were A’s. She can take AP Calc, but her teacher told her that for Humanities major students, AP Stats would be better. I don’t know how well she’d do in AP Calc either. The only other AP classes offered that she would not be taking are AP Music Theory and Spanish. Students can’t take AP Spanish if they are not native speakers in my daughter’s school. She’s taken 3 years of Spanish, but one was in 8th grade. Should she take another year? Yes, she’s taken Bio and Chem and is taking Phys next year. There is no school paper anymore, but she took Creative Writing last year; unfortunately our church doesn’t publish a newspaper or anything. Do you think her EC’s are good enough, if she can get her scores up? Are her scores the main thing holding her back?
Also, I asked and she is in the top 10% in her class.</p>
<p>If she does major in business, she will have to take calculus and statistics. Calculus in college will move at the BC pace rather than the slower AB pace, although many colleges offer an easier calculus for business majors course. So taking AB in high school may be a way to get the first semester of calculus done at the more gentle pace than calculus will be in college, although if she goes to a college that offers a calculus for business majors course, that may be an easier option (although faster paced than AB in high school).</p>
<p>Statistics is generally useful for anyone, although it the AP credit is not always accepted in place of college statistics at some colleges for majors that require it.</p>
<p>I think statistics is a great choice for future humanities/social science majors but you asked how she could strengthen her application that’s why I brought up Calculus AB. Is there a non-AP Spanish class she could take? Is she interested in music and Music theory? Do you know if her counselor would check the “most rigorous schedule” for her?
She (or you) will have to prepare a bullet-point list for her counselor, and underscoring the fact there’s no school paper is essential otherwise it’ll look strange that she wants to go into writing yet wasn’t involved in a writing EC.
Is there any way yshe can get involved in a newspaper? Or a website, after all, which church doesn’t have a website nowadays - and your daughter could publish a (priest/pastor reviewed) weekly or bimonthly column?</p>
<p>Okay, I will have to look into Calc vs. Stats. Yeah, she could take Spanish 4. Would you recommend that? She loves music and is actually taking a college music class next year; AP Music Theory is recommended only for students who have taken several music classes. I could ask her counselor for that schedule. I forgot to mention that she tutors in her school’s writing lab weekly or a couple times a week. She also helped a bit with starting that program since it’s its first year. Our church has publications but they are made by church officials (we are LDS). I will encourage her to look into local newspapers.</p>
<p>If she intends to take additional Spanish in college (which may be helpful in a journalism career; there may also be foreign language graduation requirements in college), then taking another year (higher level) in high school can get her to a point of being able to start at a higher level in college, meaning that she will need fewer college Spanish courses to reach the desired level of proficiency.</p>