please suggestions if anyone has time i would appreciate it!

Parent Cafe
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<p>anything anywhere i was really looking toward Boston university.</p>

<p>I would like to say thank you in advance for replying and posting i really appreciate you guys taking time out of your days to help me out. Thanks Thanks!</p>

<p>36 science
28 reading
34 math
33english
totaling to a 33 comp score
gpa is 3.0 and i go to a very competitive top 50 nation wide school.</p>

<p>Volunteer hours- around 400( done during summers)</p>

<p>Maintained 2 part time jobs and helped moms business.</p>

<p>Before i Begin on my question I would like to tell you my grades and EC's
I have a 3.0 Gpa and i attend one of the nations top 50 shcools. I plan on going into Finace and then Law.
Also to boost my Gpa i have taken the following at a community college.
Spanish 3 ( i got a B)</p>

<p>Also i have been an officer for published writers club and a officer for a career club.</p>

<p>Along with this i have had two internships, one at a dentist office and one in a silicon valley company.</p>

<p>As for my major i am going for Finance/ investment banking and maybe later Corp Law.</p>

<p>For me i think my life and my test scores make me stand out before other applicants.
I come from a financially weak single parent home. I maintain two jobs to help support my family (This takes a toll on my GPA)</p>

<p>Along with this we are low income and i am first gen to go to college.
I believe if i can show colleges my life story and illustrate my struggles as a child i can increase my chances for admission.</p>

<p>So my main question is
Is there anything i can do to help my admission into colleges.</p>

<p>Also should i even try to apply to schools like USC? or should i stick with CSU's, because i think i have good test scores.</p>

<p>My dream school is Boston University probably.</p>

<p>Ps: My sat2
Math 2-770
Physics-740</p>

<p>Ps: i got C's in my math courses so i really wanted to show colleges that im not completely dumb at math just short on time.</p>

<p>Also all my teacher recc's talk about my situation</p>

<p>Thanks!
Any advice is appreciated Thanks</p>

<p>Also how much Aid would i get for my scores if any?</p>

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<p>bump please no one ever helps me!</p>

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<p>It’s probably going to take a bit of time to get a lot of responses so bumping after 30 minutes is a bit much.</p>

<p>To summarize the big points:
Your ACT/SAT scores are overall excellent.
EC’s seem quite good – both volunteer and work related.
It sounds like you have the makings of a nice essay to explain life situations and obviously have had to work hard to get to this point.</p>

<p>GPA is iffy and I’m assuming that’s on a standard 4.0 scale – I’m not sure if that’s weighted/unweighted. This is a pretty big hole to explain. I’m assuming you are a senior so I don’t think there is a lot you can do to raise the number significantly at this stage, but a top notch essay and your test scores should help more than a bit particularly if your Teacher LOR can sell your situation, work ethic, and attitude (to do whatever it takes).</p>

<p>Financial is going to be really important if not even more critical</p>

<p>I don’t know any schools that give merit aid based exclusively on ACT/SAT (excluding to some extent Nat Merit Scholars), but many that will fill Need Based aid for excellent scores. Unfortunately this is harder to search for and often is an individual school decision.</p>

<p>Boston University is expensive and would be a substantial reach both from your GPA and finances, but I’ve seen bigger reaches. </p>

<p>Instate schools I think would be a more realistic goal. I’m not sure about UC system Need based aid, but a couple of the other parents here or over on the Financial Aid forum should be able to fill in some details. USC (or UC-B, UCLA) are a reach with your GPA, but if they are experienced with your HS you may get a boost if they know it as a tough grading school. </p>

<p>CSU’s I think are much more reachable for admission, but I think you have at least a reasonable chance at admission to one of the the UC campuses if you continue to work as hard at gaining admission as it seems you worked just to get through HS. I think with you scores somebody is going to see the potential there. Personally if I were deciding admissions you would get a substantial boost above a lot of the students I see who float through HS with soft ‘see what I did’ EC’s.</p>

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<p>thanks that was realy helpful,but would BU be a Reach or mid reach or match?</p>

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<p>From the information you’ve listed, I’d say BU would be a pretty big reach.</p>

<p>You’re ACT scores would seem to put you easily in the top quartile of their 2009 admissions profile. BU requires the ACT writing test, but you didn’t list that score (or SAT with 2 subject tests).</p>

<p>They admitted around 55% of applicants, but around 60% of their 2009 admitted class was in the Top 10% of their class (you didn’t mention your relative rank within your class) and had an A- GPA (I’ll assume that;s around 3.7+)</p>

<p>I can’t tell you BU’s bias regarding GPA vs Test Scores, but a lot of schools (particularly East Coast prestigious schools) seem to have a strong bias toward GPA first, Test Scores 2nd. You might want to ask in the Boston University specific section or even try to speak with someone in the BU’s admissions department for a long distance consult. i think you can explain part of your GPA with special circumstances, but it can’t be ignored as a big factor.</p>

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<p>ok ill do that , but how about schools like Irvine (UC) and USc?
Also my writing portion hasn’t come back yet.</p>

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<p>bump bump dfdasfasdf thanks!</p>

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<p>I hope you have a lot of money because BU is super expensive, and they aren’t the stellar with their financial aid.</p>

<p>I got accepted and was going to go to BU until they sent their financial aid package. WOW.</p>

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<p>The UCs are tough with a 3.0 GPA, but you could try UC Santa Cruz or Riverside. With some of the admissions scoring you would get points for first-gen and hardship (having to work to help support your family). You can find admissions profiles for UC here and that will show you what percentages of people with your GPA got in. Your test scores will help!</p>

<p>[University</a> of California - Admissions](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles.html)</p>

<p>You will be a match for some of the CSUs. BU is a reach, and the financial picture complicates things, but everyone should apply to at least one reach.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

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<p>bump please anyone</p>

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<p>bump please anyone if they have time</p>

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<p>bump bump bump please help</p>

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<p>Hope I can help. You said you were interested in banking, finance, law, corporate law.
There are two financial and academic safeties in Texas. First one is Univ of Texas at Arlington. They graduate over 200 bachelors a year in banking and finance fields. U of T costs 15K per year for out of state tuition. Second one is Univ of Houston. They graduate over 300 in Finance and banking and they have a Masters LLM program to smack a corporate law degree onto the finance. Houston is 14K per year. I am only quoting the tuition because you said you already work and live fairly independently. I believe the cost of living is lower in Texas than Boston.</p>

<p>Now with your grades on tests, you may very well be the star of the program, not a bad place to be after your struggles at a top 50 HS. It would serve your business confidence ver well to be a star at the university level.</p>