Hi all, new here, but I think I have found where I need to be. My D17 has a 3.4 GPA UW (3.8 W). Her course rigor is decent–by the time she graduates she will have taken 6 AP courses and most of the other core classes have been honors level. She’s showing up as in the top 10% of her class (23 out of 244) right now. She has taken the SAT once and the ACT once–SAT scores come next week, ACT scores were disappointing 25 C (26 E, 23 M, 29 R, 22 S), and we’re hoping the SAT is more her style. Despite not having scores back from the March SAT, we have registered for the June sitting, so we’ll be able to superscore (I’m pretty sure that every school we’re considering superscores). She hated the ACT, and I think would rather not retake it, but we will decide after we get the second SAT scores.
ECs are pretty weak. D is not much of a joiner and got snubbed by NHS, which would have at least been something to put on the application. She’s done some volunteer work/community service (~90 hours), peer counseling, and she’s been working 10-20 hours/wk since the summer before her junior year. She did a couple seasons of crew, one year of volleyball, and that’s pretty much it.
We live in MA and are looking primarily at schools in the Northeast. Her favorite so far by a long shot is UMass Amherst. It ticks most of her boxes with regard to size, social/cultural diversity, distance from home, amenities/resources, but with her stats I’d say it’s at best a high match/low reach. She’s leaning toward Political Science/Global Studies for a major. Other schools under consideration include UVM, URI, Allegheny, Temple, Marist. American is on the list, but as a reach. I would like to investigate further some other CTCLs like Juniata and Goucher, but am afraid that they will be too small for her (while she shows a definite preference for larger schools, she really liked Allegheny College a lot when we visited, so that gives me hope that some of the other smaller schools will be appealing). I would love her to consider Clark, but that’s too close (it’s not Worcester part that bothers her, it’s just too close). There are others under consideration (Susquehanna, Siena, Loyola University Maryland, U of Scranton, but we need to better understand what they offer. We visited Quinnipiac, but neither of us really liked it.
I feel like most of what we’ve identified falls into the match/low reach category, without enough in the safeties-she-will-be-happy-to-attend bucket. For the B/B+ student, schools that are even moderately selective are barely in reach, and moving to the next level of selectivity down on the ladder just leaves us feeling meh. In terms of cost, we are prepared to pay as much as $45,000/year, and we will not qualify for any need-based aid, some merit will need to be in the mix (unless by some miracle she gets into UMass). That actually seems like one of the bigger challenges, but if we had to dig deeper, I suppose we could cough up more. We’re REALLY trying to do this without loans (student or parent). So…
Reach
American
UMass-Amherst
UVM (?)
Allegheny
Ithaca
Match
Loyola U Maryland
Temple
Marist
Susquehanna
URI
U of Scranton
Safety
Siena
Goucher
Anyone want to weigh in and offer up any additional suggestions or provide feedback on what I’ve got here? All input gratefully accepted!