Hey guys! I already posted this under the chance me forum but I realized this is better suited for the college search and selection one so as a clearly very experienced CC’er, I’m just going to copy and paste it here since idk how to move it.
So I’m a junior at regular, not too competitive high school. I’ve gotten good grades in hard classes and I’ve been somewhat involved, but nothing too special. I was thinking I’d just list all of my classes and ecs and criteria for a college and you guys could suggest low reaches and matches.
Objective:
ACT:34
SAT II: none
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): not sure, but I’ve gotten all As in my classes (my gc said the school takes in account percentages so we can’t self calculate it)
Rank: not sure yet, anywhere from 1-8 I’d think but two Bs in 9th grade courses during 8th grade while not looked at by colleges will go into my GPA/class rank so I might not be val or sal
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lang- 5, APUSH-3, now taking Physics, Stats, Lit, Gov, and Bio
Also I’m in Spanish 4 Honors right now and I plan on taking Spanish 5 Honors so hopefully I’ll eventually be fluent!
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none that I can think of…
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): just Key Club and Mock Trial (attorney). This year my team is going to try really hard to get to states so hopefully something comes out of that. This year I’m doing NHS and Acadec too
Job/Work Experience: last summer I worked at a restaurant but it was only ~6 hrs a week and I quit so idk if I should even list it
Volunteer/Community service: junior volunteer last summer at an arboretum (~80 hours) and just random stuff with Key Club
Summer Activities: junior volunteer above
After typing this out I feel so unaccomplished but c’est la vie I guess. I do have family circumstances that make it hard for me to achieve things so idk if I should write about them because they are central to who I am and they explain for some things but i don’t want my essays to be super negative or even if I end on something light I don’t want them to seem like I’m trying to get in off of pity so also what do you think I should do? (My mom died when I was six and so my dad went into depression and my siblings and I have basically raised ourselves. My siblings (2) also still live in the household (they are 18 and 20). Literally my whole immediate family has depression so it makes it really hard to get motivation.) Oh and finances. My dad retired in June 2014 and was making ~70,000 but now that he is retired our household income is ~34,000 which is all coming from his pension. I really want to get in somewhere that will give me full need-based financial aid. I know there are colleges that would probably give full ride merit to me, but I really would prefer to be at a college where my scores and gpa are pretty typical. Also, I’d prefer a college that is is the New England area and private and focuses on undergraduate (although it doesn’t have to be LAC). Also a tight community and lots of ways to get involved is a must.
Thank you soooo much for reading the whole thing and if you need a second opinion on anything just post the link and I’ll be glad to give my two cents!
First of all - you are not “unaccomplished” - no more negative self talk! My goodness you have lots to work with!
What are you interested in?
I’m sorry you have gone through so much losing your mom, and your family’s struggles. In spite of these struggles, you have done well and should be commended. You are awesome!
It might help CC’ers to have a bit more direction on what you’d like to study, etc.
Many highly selective schools have good need-based financial aid, but you need to try each school’s net price calculator to get an estimate for you for each school.
@SouthFloridaMom9 Thank you for your kind words! And sorry-- I don’t mean to sound insecure; I just meant in comparison to a lot of students on CC. Oh and I can’t believe I left this out-- I want to major in political science and philosophy or PPE if the school offers that. @ucbalumnus Thank you for the helpful links!! And yeah I figured I’d have to use net calculators but I just don’t know a lot of details and my dad is never helpful in the college application process lol
Anyone else? Just to clarify it doesn’t have to be NE. Also, I’d want a school that is known to have happy students and good student-teacher relationships as well as small classes and an intellectual environment. I’m going to do research of my own but I just figured the CC community would have some schools in mind I can start off with.
Your stats are terrific. Stop being insecure. Apply to colleges. You should be targeting private colleges, but apply to Alabama or Temple if they have an automatic scholarship for a financial safety. You will likely get good financial aid to a attend a great school though and won’t need the safety. Keep a positive outlook.
@ClassicRockerDad Thank you for responding and for the optimism!! I know I can get into some nice colleges but I’m looking for a range of selectivity that is realistic (I know there are stats for each college online but they only take into account standardized tests and GPA) or some specific colleges that anyone thinks would be a good fit off the top of her/his head.
@HRSMom This is exactly the type of thing I was hoping for! Thank you so much! And having my gc tell them my situation is a great idea and then I can focus on something more positive in my essays. Thanks!
Dickinson is a low match for you, and they say they meet 96% of a student’s financial need.
Do you know how to run the net price calculator on each college’s website? Go to the financial aid page of each college website, and there is a calculator you can click on. Get your dad to help you fill in the numbers, and you can get a good idea of what kind of need based aid you would get, and what you would be expected to pay. I’d suggest you print the resulting screens out or save them so you can look back as you learn more about financial aid terms.
If you can get your dad to do it ONCE with you and you write down the amounts for each question, you may be able to run more of them without his help. Some of the net price calculators link to the College Board calculator on their website, and they can save your information so when you run it for different schools, they already have a lot of what you need.
This is probably the most important step you need parent help with in the whole college process, except filling out financial aid forms once you have applies. Tell your dad that some of these colleges might give you a lot of money for college if he will help you for an hour or so with this.
Not great with need-based aid (check net price calculator); OP likely would have to be aiming for merit scholarships, which may move them into the reach category.
For New England area schools that are undergraduate focused, consider NESCAC schools – each individually of course – as well as some of the other schools mentioned in this thread. Bates, for example, may work for you.
@intparent That is a very good strategy, thank you! @txstella I will add University of Richmond to my list! Thank you for the link too. Btw, I am female so I will look into some women’s colleges. @HRSMom thanks again for responding! That is my plan now! @ucbalumnus Thank you for pointing that out. @merc81 Thanks for the idea. Lots of Maine colleges! (I love Maine!)
@scubaaf - Tell us more about yourself so folks can provide suggestions that are a good fit. Do you have a size preference in a college? Do you prefer more rural, urban, something more suburban? What kind of student body are you looking for?
Take a look at Bryn Mawr. They have a good philosophy dept as does Haverford with which they have a bi-college program. Also, political science is good at Haverford. Check out Wellesley and Smith, too, which are very generous with aid.
I agree with others that your GC can address the family issues that have resulted in less robust ECs than some other strong applications might possess. Your stats are excellent, though, and considering your family stresses, very commendable. Make sure you are proactive about talking to your GC about this and asking her/him to advocate on your behalf.
@scubaaf: Two or three NESCAC colleges do, I believe, require SAT subject tests. So make identifying each college’s specific requirements part of your research.
@merc81 yeah I’ll make sure to check requirements of each school and I might do 2 sub tests anyway. @txstella Questbridge sounds amazing but I’m not sure if income is low enough and I’m not a urm or first generation so I’m not so sure I’d get accepted
Fortunately, identifying which schools are SAT I/ACT optional will not be a concern for you. Your ACT is above the average for virtually any school in the country.
I’m going to do research of my own but I just figured the CC community would have some schools in mind I can start off with.