Okay, so I know college apps don’t start until three months, but I just want to start weeding colleges out of my list–especially if I have no chance at all. I’m planning to go in as either undecided or business management.
Here’s my list:
American University
Babson College
Barnard College
Bentley University
Bryn Mawr College
UC Berkley
Case Western Reserve University
University of Chicago
Elon University (Martha and Spencer Love)
Emory University
Fordham University
Mount Holyoke College
New York University
Northeastern University
Smith College
Syracuse University
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Villanova University
Wellesley College
Stats:
GPA: 4.1 W (our school doesn’t calculate UW GPAs)
SATs: 2180
ACT: 32
ECs:
• Junior Varsity Debate (2012-2014)
• Varsity Debate (2014-present)
• Member of Select Choir (2012-2013)
• Member of Women’s Choir (2013-present)
• President of Church Youth Group (2013-present)
• Member of Science National Honor Society
• Member of National Honor Society
• Member of French Honor Society
Community Service:
• Mission trip to Nicaragua (June 2014-July 2014)
• Soup Kitchen with Hana Mission Church, every Saturdays (December 2014-present)
AP Classes: Lang, Lit, World History, US History, French Lang, Physics I, Environmental Science, Stats, Macro Economics
Income Bracket: ~$40,000
I know my ECs aren’t strong, and my grades can probably be better. I just need people, who aren’t my friends, to offer me an objective perspective. Thank you in advance. If you guys could recommend some colleges for me, that would be great too.
Is there any money saved for your college or is the $40k income your family’s sole support?
You have to VERY concerned about money. The school must be a meet full needs school (there are only about 60) or you need a full ride merit scholarship. You can probably eliminate some of these schools based on finances.
Are you an URM? What was your PSAT score?
Have you had a job? Your ECs are a bit thin but your scores are very good.
American University: Low match/Match
Babson College: Match
Barnard College: Reach
Bentley University: Safety
Bryn Mawr College: Match
UC Berkeley: High match (in-state)/Reach (OOS)
Case Western Reserve University: Match
University of Chicago: Reach
Elon University (Martha and Spencer Love): Safety
Emory University: High match
Fordham University: Safety
Mount Holyoke College: Low match
New York University: High match (poor FA)
Northeastern University: Match/High match
Smith College: Low match
Syracuse University: Safety
Vanderbilt University: Reach
Vassar College: Reach
Villanova University: Match (poor FA)
Wellesley College: High match
@txstella what is URM? Also, I’ve had a job as a receptionist but it was only for a month because school was becoming overbearing. I’m also planning to intern at my local vet.
I’m OOS for most of the colleges since I live in NJ
@Catria Wow thank you so much! When you say low match, does that mean the school borders on reach?
It’s great that you are thinking ahead. You need to google “Common Data Set” for each college you consider and figure out if you have a chance. My son, class of '16, has higher stats and EC’s and I would eliminate Vanderbilt, Berkley and U of Chicago from his list but YMMV. Go to the Financial Aid Calculator for each school and figure out how much each school will cost. Google “colleges that meet financial need” and check out some of those.
Find out from your parents how much they can give you. Guidance counselors are not always giving good information about merit aid and scholarships. NYU is one of the stingiest schools. I think I’ve seen that Smith is generous. Do a search. You might be pretty shocked when you see how much colleges expect you to pay. Try to borrow as little money as possible. You can only borrow $5500 the first year without a cosigner.
Be sure to apply to public colleges in your home state. There are usually state grants for lower income students. In my state it would be iffy that you would get into the flagship. Your grades are lower than the top 75% of admitted students. You can/should apply to early action schools but don’t apply early decision anywhere because you will have to withdraw your applications at other schools if admitted and won’t get to compare financial aid packages in April 2016. I know you’ll get in to some great schools but you gotta pay for them. Good luck!
Of the schools on your list, these meet full need:
Barnard College
Bryn Mawr College
University of Chicago
Emory University
Mount Holyoke College
Smith College
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Wellesley College
Note that not alł of these schools have a business major. You could consider economics or many other majors if you are undecided. Barnard, UChicago, Emory and Vandy might be the most reachy (I think) but I think you have a good shot at some of these. Check the ACT/SAT 25-75% for each of these and see where your scores fall.
Your next list needs to be some safety schools where you can get guaranteed FULL RIDES.
Print out this list and read the requirements carefully. http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com
I looked over it quickly, and you may qualify for a full ride at:
Howard, Troy, and Temple Universities plus some others
You need to ask your guidance counselor about your unweighted GPA.
Then a list of a few good match school that offer merit scholarships but that are competitive.
Some of the schools in your original list might work here but some of them won’t work at all. You have to investigate each one and read the scholarship requirements. This might be the toughest list to compile.
@txstella oh my gosh, you’re actually a life saver. Thanks so much for all this info!
Most of the colleges I’m applying to are private institutions because I heard that those schools give the most scholarships. Anyway, thanks again for providing me with a list of the schools that give full rides. Again, I’ve realized how little I know about the application process and tuition costs…
Also, Google schools that meet full need. Some of the schools on your original list have merit scholarships but I’m not sure you can get enough money. It sounds like your family can’t help much. One of the women’s colleges could work out great for you. Oh and URM means underrepresented minority.
Go ahead and run the NPC for Rutgers to see how much thismoption would cost.
Rutgers should be your safety. If you want to get out of NJ, apply to Temple: great Business program, and you’d probably qualify for some financial and merit aid. I’d drop Berkeley from the list, since the price-tag for out-of-state students is very high. I might cut Vanderbilt and Chicago, too, as super-reaches. You have great qualifications, but they might be tough for you. Since they promise to meet 100% of need, they are likelier to reject or waitlist marginal candidates who will require large aid packages, especially if those candidates are unlikely to contribute to campus diversity or play a varsity sport. NYU is legendarily stinky about financial aid, also, and probably won’t bend over backwards for an otherwise qualified candidate from NJ. Frankly, I think Temple is almost as good, and much, much, less expensive.
Since chancing is an imperfect science, the more information you give, the better. It really doesn’t help much to state your weighted GPA, especially if you do not mention the context. is your weighted GPA of 4.1 based on a 5 point scale? If so, it’s not very high, and you are likely out of the running for U Chicago, Northwestern, maybe even Vanderbilt, etc. But if it is based on a 4.3 scale, then the 4.1 is pretty good, and you could be in the running for these schools, maybe even the Ivy League Universities, if you can raise your SAT scores.
Also, you should be able to calculate your own unweighted GPA. Its easy. just don’t add the extra points for Honors and AP classes. You compute them as if they are all college prep/regular classes. So on an unweighted 4 point scale, if your GPA is 4.0, you have straight As. If it is 3.9 or lower, you have a couple of Bs. GPA is the most important factor for admissions, so you need to be clear as to what exactly you got. If you still can’t do it, just state if you are straight A, or if you have a couple of Bs total, of if you have a few Bs each year. Your grades, more than your SAT scores in most instances, will be the difference if you are U Chicago material…Good luck!
I calculated my UW GPA and it’s a 3.65, and I’m not sure what my school’s scale is. If it helps at all, the highest grade in an AP class is 5.6 for an A+
And no, I do not have a non-custodial parent. I’m a 1st-gen Korean with a widowed mother who went to college but never obtained a degree. I know being an asian-american puts me at a disadvantage, but by how much?
Unfortunately, being Asian and being a woman (except when you are applying for engineering) are the two worse demographics for college applications. But there is nothing you can do about who you are, other than to be as unique as possible so you are seen for your individuality rather than your race/gender/ethnicity.
I’m afraid that your current unweighted GPA might just put you in the outer circle for your tops schools like U Chicago, Wellesley, UC Berkley; and other schools like Emory, NYU, Vanderbilt will be reaches. BUT this is just based on the GPA. There are other things that define you and there is no harm in applying to all of these tops schools, as long as you can pace yourself and the quality of your applications does not suffer because of the quantity.