Never thought I'd say this, but chance me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Here's the scoop. My mom is an employee of Penn State, and as such, I will receive a huge tuition discount if I attend school there. That has always been the plan, but recently, I have been wondering if I could go to a slightly more prestigious school. I am just not that thrilled with the prospect of going to PSU. I appreciate any input, and feel free to suggest additional colleges for me!</p>

<p>Stats
GPA: UW- 3.85-3.9ish W- I believe about 4.3-4.4. Not exactly sure, but within these ranges.</p>

<p>SAT- 1800 on first try without studying, taking again in October. I've been getting 2050-2100 on practice tests, so that's what I am realistically assuming.</p>

<p>No SAT II's, but I could take them in November if need be.</p>

<p>Rank: High teens/low twenties out of about 270 (top 6-9 percent)</p>

<p>(I was in cyber school as a freshman. Big mistake. Therefore I am a year behind in some subjects)</p>

<p>6 other non-AP's</p>

<p>AP's
Junior Year
US History (5)</p>

<p>Senior Year
Calc AB
Micro
Macro
Biology
US Gov- self study</p>

<p>EC's/Awards
2 years Mock Trial, captain as senior. We have a legitimate chance to win the state title this year. Very passionate about this
1 year Odyssey of the Mind. State qualifier
Doing Speech and Debate Team this year
2 year Boys volleyball
1 year indoor soccer team
Avid ceramic artist
NHS member
2 different jobs</p>

<p>As you can see, ECs aren't really my strong suit. I didn't really do anything freshman year (cyber school) or sophomore year. </p>

<p>School- above average public. Sends students to a variety of schools, usually a couple Ivies per year</p>

<p>Financial
I can go to PSU for about 15k/year. I have about 85k in a college fund, and I am only really willing to take out a lot of loans if it's for a really good school. This plays a huge factor for me. I really need to go to a school with decent financial aid. Income ~ 80k I think.</p>

<p>Chance me for (Reach/Match/Safety)</p>

<p>Penn State (assuming safety)
Cornell
UPenn
Dartmouth
Brown
Carnegie Mellon
Tufts
Lehigh
Colgate
Kenyon
Bucknell</p>

<p>If anyone can shed some light on the potential financial aid amounts at any of these colleges, please do. I am expecting most of these to be reaches, so give me the honest truth. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Honestly, I think that going to a different college could be a big mistake. Unless you really, really don’t want to go to Penn State, it makes much more sense to go to a good school, if not QUITE as good as you want, and graduate not only debt-free but very possibly with money in the bank than to gamble on the chance that the other colleges will be better and thus go into mountains of debt.
I don’t know overmuch about these schools, so I can’t really chance you for them, but you will most likely not get into the Ivies and your SAT will be a bit of a trouble spot for the rest, though possibly overrideable by your other stuff (is there community service?). But I don’t think you’d get merit aid (or if any not much), which is why you’d probably be wise to stick with a good thing when you’ve got it.
Of course, if there’s some reason why you really, really don’t want to go to Penn, by all means forget what I said, because it’s your college experience. But you’ve got something valuable in your hands which you should probably take advantage of if you’ve got the choice.
Good luck!</p>

3

<p>On a side note (though I agree with the OP that it is worth it for the free education). It is sort of hard to chance with your lack of scores, as OP said your SAT is currently on the low end for most of them and most if not all the schools on your list require two subject tests if you choose to submit the SAT and not the ACT.</p>