Need help narrowing down my list?

College Search & Selection
1

So, I’m a senior this year and I have a serious problem with my college list. I’m allowed 9 schools, and 3 of them have already been decided by my parents (two in state schools and their alma mater, Maryland), but I’m having a really difficult time narrowing down my list. I’m not really sure what my chances are at a lot of these schools and I want to make sure I won’t make some terrible mistake and get rejected by all of them :frowning:

GPA: 3.3 unweighted (had a serious mental illness problem in freshman and death of a sibling, so I have a good explanation for my less than stellar frosh grades), 3.8 weighted, honor roll since late sophomore year
APs: 6 so far: 4 5’s, 2 4’s, AP Scholar with Distinction, and I’m taking 3 this year (AP Lit, AP Macro, AP Human), with the possibility of a 4th being AP Bio depending on my job/EC schedule.
ECs: JSA Chapter President + Founder, Lakewood Leaders, Key Club, French Club, Blood Drive Committee
ACT: 29 composite (with a perfect score on English + Reading, but with pretty average Math + Science scores), 31 superscored
I’m not sending my SATs, but I got a 1820 and 1870 respectively.

I looked at schools like BU, BC, and Vermont up north as well as Penn State and Syracuse, but I really need some suggestions for schools that I have a reasonable chance of getting into.

I plan on majoring in Political Science, btw.

2

First, you need to cheer up. :slight_smile:

You have a nice strong profile and you will go somewhere great. To me Penn State is a total waste of money, especially since you have Maryland at instate tuition.

Money aside, for poli sci I would look at Gettysburg, Lafayette, St. Lawrence and St. Anselm. St. Anselm is home to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, which is very cool and very well known. It is very unique.

You have a shot at BC and BU but UVM should not be a problem.

3

What about American or GW? And Very few schools superscore act

4

The school would be a change of pace compared to the others you’ve considered, but for a strong political science department and an average GPA (3.4) similar to your own, consider Hobart & William Smith. You have done impressively well on your AP exams; this should help you at some of your listed colleges and others. An episode of mental illness is not necessarily something you should convey to a college, but advice on that seems to be more than you are asking here.

Re #1: I don’t think this student is in-state Maryland.

5

Take a look at U Denver, on the smaller side for a university (5400 undergrads).

http://www.du.edu/ahss/polisci/
http://www.du.edu/ahss/ipps/
http://www.du.edu/korbel/

http://www.du.edu/learn/undergraduates/index.html
https://www.du.edu/financialaid/undergraduate/calculator/index.html

6

As a person with a political science degree, who has never used it, , it is not worth the money. Look at a business based or science based degree which will serve you better, even if your plan is law school.