Reverse chance me + chance me

College Search & Selection
1

White female in MA at a somewhat competitive high school outside of Boston

ACT: 31 composite and 7 writing

GPA: 3.3 UW, 4.03 W, 3.92 UC
My extremely low GPA freshman year is dragging me down, but my transcript shows improvement. Traumatic circumstances damaged my grades junior year but I ended with A’s and B/B+'s

APs: AP Bio (3), AP Lang (4), AP French, AP Psych, APHUG (senior year classes)
my school only lets us take AP classes junior + senior year, but I’ve been taking all honors since sophomore year

School does not rank

EC:
Volunteer work at local dog shelter (200+ hours)
Work (abt 20 hrs/week)
Tutored 4 French kids in English for 2 years (10 hrs a week)
National World Language Honor Society
French Club
France exchange junior year
Painting + art hobbies

Essay: writing about the generational connections of art in my family and learning to value my artistic talents OR writing about my cultural experiences on an exchange program in France (will this come off as privileged?)

Recommendation Letters:
AP Bio teacher: probably strong, I also took an out of school AP Forensics class that she led
APHUG teacher: strong
GC: average

Disciplinary: suspended freshman year for skipping school, will this affect my admission chances? I’ve had no disciplinary problems since this incident

Courses
9th grade: PE, Algebra 1, Art, English, Physical Science, Honors French 2, Honors World History
10th: Honors Biology, Honors US History 1, Honors English, Honors French 3, Geometry, Art 2, 1/2 year Psych course, 1/4 year CPR, 1/4 year Nutrition
11th: Honors US History 2, Honors Chemistry, Honors French 4, AP Biology, AP Lang, 1/4 year AP Forensics (online class proctored by teacher), 1/4 year Walking, 1/4 year Yoga
12th: Honors Anatomy, Honors English, AP Psych, AP French, AP Human Geo, Pre-calc

I’m thinking of applying to UCSB, UWashington, American University, UC Boulder, Temple, and Fordham but I need more match and safety schools preferably in large cities on the East or West Coast

2

You and just about every other high school kid on the planet has skipped school :slight_smile: I doubt it’s going to be an issue. The other question, can you afford the out of state tuition? There’s plenty of good in-state universities in MA. There’s Framingtom State, UMass Dartmouth, and Fitchburg State. All of those would be safety schools. Also, you have a good shot at UMass too, at least 50/50. That school is actually a match.

3

Major? Size of school preference? Budget limitation?

4

@taverngirl I’m planning on applying undeclared but I’m interested in psychology and biology. Preferably a school with over 5,000 undergrads, but no maximum size. Cost isn’t a big factor but aiming for under 60k a year, even though there are some on my list over 60k.

5

Your chances are excellent for CU Boulder.

6

University of Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington State are all safeties. San Jose State is also a safety.

7

Given your strength in French, plus Massachusetts not being too far from Montreal, I am wondering about Concordia in Montreal (which is just up the street from McGill). You don’t need any French at all to study there, but speaking some French will make 4 years in Montreal significantly more interesting. They will not care about your Freshman year of high school at all.

8

Your stats are good for some state flagships, such as University of Vermont, U Rhode Island, or U New Hampshire. Lots of people with similar stats like U Delaware and Indiana University.