new to college confidential need advice

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi im a rising senior in the middle of the college search/application process and wanted to see if i am on the right track with the colleges im considering</p>

<p>about me
-i go to a public school in northern virginia
-my weighted gpa after sophomore year was 4.09 and my weighted gpa for junior year was 4.44
-after sophomore year i was ranked 18 out of 669 and im not sure about after junior year
-ive taken all honors and AP classes when possible with APUSH(5), AP English(4), and AP Chem(3) junior year and AP English, AP Gov, AP Calc, AP French, and AP Psych next year
-SAT 1800 (570 CR, 630 M, 600 W)
-ACT 30
will take both again this fall
-SAT II's US History-770, Math 1-660, French-520</p>

<p>Colleges im thinking about applying to right now</p>

<p>Appalachian State
Brown
Cal-Berkeley
Northeastern
North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Vermont
Virginia
Virginia Tech
William & Mary</p>

<p>Possible Major that im interested in would be Geography, which i know isnt offered at a lot of places but im not 100% sure
I also like international relations</p>

<p>OPEN TO ALL ADVICE ABOUT IF IM ON THE RIGHT TRACK OR WHAT COLLEGES I NEED TO ADD OR REMOVE</p>

<p>Thanks in advance</p>

2

<p>my advice for you is to get off CC it can really mess with your head, especially as it gets closer to april and decisions</p>

3

<p>Can your parents afford a full pay school (UCB at $50K)?</p>

4

<p>Suggest looking into the top SAT Optional colleges like Wake Forest and College of the Holy Cross.</p>

5

<p>For Geography also consider Wisconsin.</p>

6

<p>How much will your parents pay each year? Berkeley won’t give you any money so unless your parents will pay $50k per year to go there, don’t bother applying.</p>

<p>If you don’t know how much your parents will pay, then ask.</p>

7

<p>im not sure if my parents could pay the tuition at UC Berkeley but I wanted to apply to one school out west so if any of you guys have any other options that could work</p>

<p>and for my SAT i am taking it again this fall so hopefully it will improve but i will probably just use my ACT score (which i will also retake this fall)</p>

8

<p>I believe that Clark University is very good for a geography major. Check it out.</p>

9

<p>Your grades and AP scores are way better than your SAT scores - can you study over the summer and raise your SATs?</p>

10

<p>^ The ACT converts to about a 2000 which isn’t bad at all. But we still need to know what the OP can afford.</p>

11

<p>Consider the University of Oregon as a west coast school with national ranked geography; graduates get into top Ph.D. programs in the country.</p>

<p>UC-Berkeley, Brown and UNC are very reachy given your SATs. I agree with the other posters who encourage you to try to bump them up.</p>

12

<p>i will definitely try to raise my SAT when i take it again this fall but im wondering if i could use my ACT in case it doesnt raise up that much</p>

<p>also i will definitely need financial aid because only one of my parents is currently employed</p>

13

<p>If you need financial aid (meaning you come from a lower income family) then you should look in-state or at schools where you might be in the top 25% of applicants for shot at some aid. Look at this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;
SUNYs in NY tend to be bargains for OOS students.</p>

14

<p>Below is a link to schools offering Geography. There are schools listed for every state but you will need to do your own research as to cost and possible scholarships. If you need a lot of financial assistance your instate schools may be your best option.</p>

<p><a href=“https://communicate.aag.org/eseries/scriptcontent/custom/giwis/cguide/opportunity/cguide_education.cfm[/url]”>https://communicate.aag.org/eseries/scriptcontent/custom/giwis/cguide/opportunity/cguide_education.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>To find out your EFC (the minimum that the colleges will expect your family to pay) run the calculators at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board) and [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org)</p>

<p>Since you live in Northern Virginia, put NOVA on your list as a financial safety. The tuition is very inexpensive, there surely is a campus close enough for you to commute to, and there are full articulation agreements with all of the public 4-year universities in Virginia. Apply early, and keep your eyes open for any scholarships that you might qualify for. It may even turn out to be free!</p>

16

<p>happymomof1
i would really not want to go to NOVA unless i did not get into any colleges at all and that being said im pretty sure i can get into Virginia Tech or George Mason which are all instate for me</p>

17

<p>How about James Madison? From your list I would say Va. Tech & Northeastern are matches, Vermont & App St. are safties. The rest are reaches unless your SAT or ACT goes up.</p>

18

<p>i am also a legacy at UVA so im pretty sure that helps
also i was wondering that having an uncle that went to brown would help me at all?</p>

19

<p>No, the uncle won’t help. Brown admissions have skyrocketed in competitiveness, not that they weren’t always difficult, but acceptance is now below 10%. You will have to bring something special to the table to overcome the lowish scores. (Brown’s great, though, so if you can go do it!)</p>

<p>The legacy status may only help you a little at UVA. They have to treat all instate students of taxpayers pretty equally, so you don’t get the boost some privates may give. However legacy students are admitted at a higher rates. That seems more to do with them being a smaller more highly qualified pool than the nonlegacy pool, than any significant tip factor.</p>

<p>I think you should discard Berkeley too. UC’s only accept a very tiny portion of out of state students, and these will be exceptional in everyway, so the numbers are not in your favor.</p>

<p>I know UNC does have a geography program, a friend attended. You wil need to look that up school by school.</p>

<p>If you want a west coast school look at USC and the Claremont Colleges. But you’d better do your EFC calculation right away, and you aid will change if the parent employment situation changes, so talk to them about affordability.</p>

20

<p>do you know how your friend like geography at UNC? I’ve visited it twice and i really like the area and feel of the campus however i havent gone on an official tour…</p>