Need some help in selecting colleges :(

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hi everyone,
This may end up being a long post but I'll try to keep things short. I'm a rising senior who goes to a pretty competitive public school that sends quite a few people to ivies and top colleges per year. My grades freshman and sophomore year were not outstanding by any means but they weren't terrible either (3.57). However, during my junior year (specifically the first 3 quarters) everything went downhill primarily to family circumstances. My mom was previously diagnosed with cancer and she had a relapse around the beginning of the year. My dad has also been unemployed for more than 2 years because he was studying to get a degree after he was laid off from his previous job. However, he was unable to find a job and coupled with my mom's hospitalization for cancer treatments we had to apply for unemployment pensions. I really regret not being able to keep my grades up because I've always been taught that even when your personal life is falling apart nothing should interfere with your academics. Now I'll get to my point: My dad managed to secure a job that pays relatively well and my mom was discharged from the hospital a couple of weeks ago. As junior year comes to a close, I'm starting to worry about the colleges I am supposed to be looking at. I am very passionate about volunteering and I was previously very interested in pre-med and going to medical school but because of my mom's relapse and financial difficulties I am now more interested in a business career (accounting and/or finance). I was wondering if anyone can comment on my current college list and maybe perhaps suggest some more? Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, I truly appreciate it. </p>

<p>Here are my stats:
Ethnicity: Asian
School type: Public</p>

<p>Academics:
-GPA: 3.3 UW/4.0 W
-AP Courses taken: Gov&Politics (4), Bio, Chem, English Lang, World History, Environmental Science, Calc AB, Psychology
I haven't received my ap scores back yet.....
-SAT: 2370 (second time taking it) Essay: 11
-SAT II: Math (800), World History History (800), Bio (800)</p>

<p>ECs:
National Honor Society
Future Business Leaders of America*
Science National Honor Society
Science Olympiad
Mu Alpha Theta
History Scholars (Honor Society)*
UNICEF*
Red Cross*<br>
Chemistry Olympiad*
Spanish Honor Society
Tutoring Club*
cross country for 3 years
works at Kumon
*denotes leadership position (either president, vice president or secretary)</p>

<p>lots of volunteering probably 400+ through the volunteering clubs as well as on my own time
summer: working at Kumon, volunteering at homeless shelters and/or soup kitchens as well as hospital, running</p>

<p>Awards: National Merit Commended, AP Scholar with Honors (or National Scholar if I manage to get at least 4s or 5s on all of the tests I took this year), Honor Roll, regional and state medals for both science + chemistry olympiad, some cross country medals and plaques</p>

<p>Household Income
$100k+
no hooks</p>

<p>Current College List
UMBC (in state)
UMCP (in state)
UIUC
IU
NYU (?????)</p>

<p>as for recs, they should be pretty good as they both know me well
I am going to meet with my counselor and update her on my situation and ask for some advice on college suggestions</p>

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<p>You have a very impressive resume and seem like a great kid. I think that the drop in your grades is understandable. </p>

<p>I don’t understand why the relapse and financial difficulties makes you more interested in a business career than medicine. Maybe if you could expand on that a bit it might help. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t go too far from home given your mom’s condition. </p>

<p>One great option I can think off off the top of my head is Lehigh. They are really big on showing interest. Their admission rate early decision is something like 60%, otherwise it’s pretty hard to get in. They have decent financial aid and will overlook your grades for sure if you apply ED. </p>

<p>Other options might be Wake Forest, William and Mary, Villanova, Fordham, URichmond</p>

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<p>NYU is expensive with poor financial aid. I’d suggest you take them off your list. You have good test scores and a good reason for your drop in grades. Ask your guidance counselor to discuss your family situation in their recommendation. I agree that there is no reason to give up on your med school dream unless you truly want to change. You can get to med school from a lower ranked school if you get a very good GPA and do well on the MCAT.</p>

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<p>I don’t know much about those particular schools, so I would not be the best to chance you per se, but I can offer you some advice. If your mom is going through some of the hard circumstances as you mentioned, make sure you mention it in your common app somewhere or your guidance counselor recommendation as it could be a sign of extenuating circumstances that colleges may not be taking into consideration with financial aid.</p>

<p>I’d also, given your situation, strongly consider schools that have good merit aid. I’d be cautious about applying to nyu or too many out of state schools that don’t have good merit, because you may be disappointed when the financial aid letter comes around. You seem like a good kid who will go very far. You have impressive SAT scores and have taken a rigorous courseload. Good luck to you my man.</p>

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<p>@intparent @shawnspencer Thank you for your kind words and suggestions and @ClassicRockerDad‌ I will definitely look into the colleges mentioned. Anyone else?</p>

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<p>Sorry to hear about your family difficulties, but glad to hear that things are improving.</p>

<p>have you asked your parents how much they can spend each year on college? with your dad’s six figure income, you will have a good-sized EFC…probably around 23k+ per year. </p>

<p>you can get into med school from any good school. </p>

<p><<<<
One great option I can think off off the top of my head is Lehigh. They are really big on showing interest. Their admission rate early decision is something like 60%, otherwise it’s pretty hard to get in. They have decent financial aid and will overlook your grades for sure if you apply ED.</p>

<p>Other options might be Wake Forest, William and Mary, Villanova, Fordham, URichmond</p>

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<p>@classicrockerdad …how much would those schools expect this student’s family to pay with a six figure income? </p>

<p>W&M is OOS and would likely expect the family to pay all/nearly all costs. nova is horrible with merit and doesnt meet need. </p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids Actually combined with my mom’s salary (when she can work again) household income is more like 120k+. We also have some money from investments and the like. Right now, my parents are primarily concerned with me getting into a decent school because it is extremely difficult to break into banking coming from a low ranked school. UMBC and UMCP are financial matches for us because we are in state and also because I will receive tuition remission benefits (parent is an employee), hence making the cost even lower. I’m just really worried because while my ec’s aren’t terrible I don’t have many awards and none of the ones I have are very prestigious (besides perhaps the scioly medals) and my gpa is low. Some of the schools I’m looking at also don’t accept recommendations, like UIUC so I’m concerned that I will not get a chance to explain my situation. Regardless, thanks for your input! </p>

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<p>Whenever I hear of someone “passionate about volunteering”, I always think of the Bonner Scholars program. Check out the attached link to see if any of the schools interest you. </p>

<p><a href=“The Bonner Network Wiki / How to Apply for a Bonner Scholarship”>The Bonner Network Wiki / Home;

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<p>Sad to hear that you appear to be giving up your dream of a medical career to go into investment banking…</p>

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<p>@intparent‌ One of the primary reasons I’m leaning towards banking is I don’t trust myself enough right now to study pre-med. My mom was diagnosed in my freshman year and she was getting better but when she relapsed I couldn’t handle it anymore. I know I still have all of college to figure this out but it’s just hard because whenever I think of pre-med it reminds me that there’s always going to be a chance of relapse and I don’t think I would be a very good doctor if I am susceptible to burst into tears everytime I am around a patient haha. </p>

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<p>The problem is, with a 3.3 HS GPA, both goals should be considered reaches. A medical-school-acceptable college GPA is significantly higher than 3.3, and college is more difficult to get a high GPA in than high school. Meanwhile, investment banking is both school-elitist and GPA-elitist, so the 3.3 HS GPA probably shuts the student out of highly-recruited colleges, and does not bode well for getting a high enough college GPA to keep investment banks interested even at highly-recruited colleges.</p>

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<p>I don’t like the view of goals being reaches, implying that s/he is unlikely to accomplish them. </p>

<p>Either of these goals is totally within the OP’s control. We talk about colleges being reaches or matches because someone else gets to decide based on fluffy criteria which we’ve all just taken on faith as being reasonable. It makes sense to take a probabilistic view in that case. </p>

<p>But goals being reaches? That’s such a negative statement and is inappropriate in this situation. Studying finance and excelling at some of the schools that have been discussed will take the OP pretty far. I don’t think s/he needs to take medicine off the table either, though I too learned early on that I didn’t have the stomach for medicine. </p>

<p>I think s/he explained the 3.3 GPA adequately. I look more toward the standardized test scores as a metric of academic prowess. I think with proper explanation, colleges will too. The volunteerism appears genuine and I think the OP will go far. </p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids‌ I think Lehigh provides pretty good financial aid and often meets need. Richmond is on the list of schools that meet demonstrated need. I don’t know about the others. </p>

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<p>Banking is more about school and networking/hustle than GPA, though having a good (not perfect) GPA helps.</p>

<p>Also, there’s no indication that the OP can’t get a high GPA if external circumstances don’t derail him/her again.</p>

<p>However, that is a real risk.</p>

<p>As for school, you’ll want to know what targets and semi-targets for banking are. Look at Wall Street Oasis for that. BTW, some schools really like high test scores and volunteering and would overlook GPA for that. I wouldn’t give up on Ivies (like Dartmouth or Brown) just because of the GPA, especially if you explain your story in a heartfelt manner, as you did above. JHU won’t get you in to banking, but back in the day, a perfect SAT along with so-so grades got my best friend a full-tuition scholarship (or was it a full-ride?) there. U of Chicago is pretty generous with merit aid for a school at its level and is at least a semi-target for banking. The thing with some of the suggestions (and ones you listed) is that they’re not targets or semi-targets for banking. I know someone who got in to equity derivative sales from Richmond, but Lehigh won’t give much of a boost (or UIUC or the UMD schools) for Wall Street. Don’t UNC and Duke offer scholarships with a volunteering component as well? (though they might be difficult to get)
McDonough (Georgetown) gets theirs kids on the Street. Not sure about scholarships, though.</p>

<p>BTW, are you good at or like programming? Both UMCP and UIUC are known for CS, and in that field, it’s more about your skills than GPA.</p>

<p>Also, I wouldn’t give up on healthcare just because you’re unsure about whether you can maintain a good GPA. There are other health fields (nursing, etc.), and if your passion is in helping people rather than making money (banking) or coding (CS), you should go there. Or consider teaching (in which case, a cheap but good school like UMCP would be best).</p>

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<p>@PurpleTitan I’ve looked at some of the semi-targets and target schools and unfortunately, the gpa is the one thing holding me back. I’m hesitant to apply to many reaches as I already consider some of the schools like Lehigh UIUC (interested in their accounting program) and maybe UTexas at Austin to be reaches because of my gpa. (and also I don’t want to rack up $500 worth of application fees haha). Another option I was considering is going to my state flagship school (UMCP, hopefully I get in) and then applying for a transfer? But again, that is also a risk. </p>

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<p>Don’t make assumptions.</p>

<p>However, one thing with IBanks (I’m more familiar with the trading floor) is that you do have to have the right temperament to succeed there. You have to love to compete and want to win and have the attitude that you’ll do whatever it takes to succeed (and for IBanking, need little sleep). That’s why they love athletes and military folks so much. If you’re not that type of person, there’s no point in trying for IBanking. Getting in just to be miserable and wash out doesn’t make a lot of sense. For most jobs outside of IBanking and consulting at an MBB, UMCP will get you just as far.</p>

<p>Also, if you think about the stakes, $500 in app fees is nothing compared to the money your parents will pay for your education and amount of fin aid and scholarships you could get.</p>

<p>If you give up IBanking, then a lot of privates with scholarships and sympathetic adcoms who love a high SAT score and volunteering are worth aiming for.</p>

<p>BTW, are you a national merit semifinalist? Taken PSATs?</p>

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<p>It is a more realistic statement in that these goals are a “reach for everyone” at the high school level (even someone with 4.0 HS GPA and high test scores – but especially a student whose high school academic achievement is somewhat lower than that). Having a backup plan in case these reach goals do not happen should be something that a student can plan for, just like having a safety college in the list when applying to reach colleges.</p>

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<p>If you’re a girl, you may want to consider MIT as well. Go for broke. What do you have to lose?</p>

<p>With your very idiosyncratic profile, you could actually be rejected by UMCP and get in to MIT. You’re not vanilla.</p>

<p>@ucbalumus: Yes, having a backup plan is smart. Studying accounting or nursing while aiming for med school or Wall Street would be my suggestion for the OP. However, that doesn’t mean the OP should give up on those goals already. HS GPA never doomed anyone in life. At least in this country.</p>

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<p>Lehigh is very likely to admit you ED, and is a reach if you apply RD.
UIUC is very far from home - not just distance, but it’s a royal pain to get to changing planes at O’hare. Every time I’ve gone there I’ve missed my connection to the puddle jumper and had to drive because the next flight was the same plane when it comes back. Are you sure that’s what you want given your mother’s health?</p>

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<p>OP, based on your personality and ECs alone, CMC in California seems a good fit for you, except that you would have to move away from your parents. They have a great finance program, decent merit aid, and puts more emphasis on leadership than anything else (which you have). That said, CMC is rather selective, so it could be a reach added to your list (it is a reach for everyone with around 10% admittance rate). I’ve also heard (rumors) they place more emphasis on test scores than the GPA, so that works perfectly for you. </p>

<p>Good luck with the college process.</p>