Question for Parents

<p>Do any of the parents here have any suggestions for schools in Boston for a science major student?</p>

<p>Here are the stats:</p>

<p>Cumulative GPA: 3.136
SAT I: Reading 550, Math 470, Writing 550, Total: 1570/2400
SAT II: Chemistry 540, Literature 510, Math Level1 460
Will be re-taking SAT I if I get a chance before applications go out.</p>

<p>I'm also doing coursework this summer at one of the state universities in my area:
Trigonometry and Precalculus</p>

<p>Took AP Chem/AP US. History - Still waiting on results</p>

<p>My senior year courses are:
British Literature II
Shakespeare
AP Physics
AP Calculus
AP Prob/Stat
AP Western Civ.</p>

<p>EC:
Math League
Chem Club</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Parent's Restaurant since forever</p>

<p>Schools:
Boston University (Early Decision)
Northeastern (2nd choice)
Also considering:
BC
WPI
Suffolk
UMass
Uconn</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch</p>

<p>Clark, Wheaton, Providence College?</p>

<p>I got my MEd from UMassLowell and also took quite a few bio courses there. There are some excellent bio professors. I can't vouch personally for the chem or physics departments, but they should be worth checking out.</p>

<p>I'm thinking that BU, Northeastern, BC and WPI will be reaches with the OP's GPA and SATs. It does look like you're taking a strong program, though, swf30. Were your non-AP courses in past years Honors level - or do they not have that at your school?</p>

<p>I'm thinking UNH is safe for you, agree on considering Wheaton. I'm not as familiar with Clark, Providence College, Suffolk, UMass and UConn. Guessing UMass and UConn are safe.</p>

<p>My estimations are based on a lot of kids from our area aiming for the schools listed.</p>

<p>Have you an idea of your possible major? Many of your schools are large (except BC) - do you want large? Are you from the Boston area? Knowing whether you bring geographic "diversity" will help us comment. I do think Boston is a great area for college and some of the ones we're suggesting are near, but not really there. Is that of interest to you?</p>

<p>Possible depending on your interests: Bentley.</p>

<p>I do not know what you want to major in, but Suffolk and UMass look like matches (some campuses at UMass are less competitive for admittance). </p>

<p>I am assuming that you are from Ma.. You might want to look into University of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, and the University of New Hamphshire to name a few other schools in New England.</p>

<p>Re: University of CT....apply early if you plan to apply there. In recent years the school has become more popular and the classes fill up more quickly.</p>

<p>I strongly recommend that you study for the SAT and retake it as your SAT is very low for a science major. Calculus won't help raise your score as the math on the SAT I only goes up to algebra II. Thus, make sure that you review your freshman and sophomore year math.</p>

<p>I see now, you want to major in science and stay near Boston. How about Clark?</p>

<p><em>goes starry eyed at SBmom and northeastmom</em> </p>

<p>I second Clark.</p>

<p>I'm leaning more towards a Bio or Chem major, not really interested in Physics as much. And yeah, I am looking for a pretty large school in the 5000-15000 range. As for where I'm from, I live in CT. I don't think I would have a problem witht he universities outside of Boston, but I would REALLY prefer that it was an urban university in Boston.</p>

<p>What kind of score would I need to get on the SAT out of 2400 to be considered a good candidate for BU or Northeastern?</p>

<p>Also, I know there are a number of UMass's, can anybody comment on those?</p>

<p>I'll definitely take a look at the colleges you guys recommended though.</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback!</p>

<p>I suggest taking a look at the BU</a> Common Data Set as an example -- most, if not all, schools will make these available annually on their websites (or will send you a paper copy if you ask), reporting on the previous year's incoming students (among other statistics). SAT I scores are listed as V & M only, since they're listing last year's data and the SAT I was only two parts then.</p>

<p>BU:
Middle 50% V = 600-690
Middle 50% M = 621-700</p>

<p>Percent admitted with:
V score 500-599: 21.5 %
V score 400-499: 0 %
M score 500-599: 17 %
M score 400-499: 0 %</p>

<p>Average GPA = 3.54; 60% of incoming freshman were in top 10% of class</p>

<p>With figures like these, your SAT I scores would need to be significantly higher, especially in math since you're looking at a science major, to be considered a good candidate based on scores. (I'd shoot for something in the 600s minimum.) Note that "Secondary School Record" is the only factor BU considers to be "Very Important" in admissions, with "Standardized Test Scores" to be "Important" (along with Interview, Essay, and Class Rank).</p>

<p>Do this sort of research at the websites for each of the schools you are interested in, to get a realistic picture of the qualifications of the students they admit. You'll have a better idea then of whether you'd be a good candidate for admission at each school.</p>

<p>(PS: The Common Data Set for Northeastern is [url=<a href="http://www.oupr.neu.edu/dataset/pdf/04fall_cds.pdf%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;www.oupr.neu.edu/dataset/pdf/04fall_cds.pdf]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;], in .pdf format.)</p>

<p>Some other possibilities:</p>

<p>Lesley (in Cambridge) and Tufts (in Medford). If you're willing to consider small shools and/or single-sex (all-women): Simmons, Emmanuel, and Wheelock.</p>

<p>Lesley and Wheelock specialize in education. Tufts is highly competitive (see "Tufts syndrome").</p>

<p>For a CT resident, there are a number of colleges and public Us besides UConn that might be more affordable than the MA schools; the latter are unlikely to provide merit aid. </p>

<p>I also wonder at the choice of senior year courses: AP Calc and AP-Physics are very demanding courses, especially for a student who scored 460 and 470 on the SAT-Math.</p>

<p>My advice: first things first. I agree with Marite, that senior course load you describe looks terribly unrealistic to me. Have you already taken an standard high school Physics class? What about AP Bio? Even with the extra math work this summer, your SAT math scores would indicate you are not prepared for 2 college level math classes.</p>

<p>This schedule looks to me as if you are trying to make up for not taking demanding classes in your first 3 years. IMO this is a mistake. You don't mention your other fields of study in high school; most colleges require some sort of foreign language study. Why are you dropping this for senior year? It's my impression from what I've learned here at CC that your future major doesn't make much difference in the application process, so if you're loading up on math & science to make that point, it probably won't mean much.</p>