White Jewish male from NY, EFC ~$26k
GPA - My school calculates GPA weirdly, so I’ll just say I have an A- average taking one of the most rigorous courseloads in the context of my elite public school in which 15-20 people out of 350 have above a 4.0 UW, with an upward trend from a B+ average to A average. We don’t rank, but I think I do pretty well within my class.
Tests/Course rigor - 33 ACT (35E, 32M, 33R, 30S), taking SAT next week, I think I’ll get a 1480-1520 depending on the curve.
APs: World History (5), Spanish (proj. 3 or 4… RIDICULOUSLY HARD), US History (proj. 5). I’m taking IB English HL Year 1 but I’m not taking the test. Several honors classes and I’m a year ahead in math. ECs: Too lazy to list them, but 3-4 solid ECs with several hours a week in commitment, I founded a club organizing school trips, and I’ll have 1-2 other leadership roles next year.
Hooks: I don’t know if these are hooks, but I have dealt with severe depression, moderate anxiety, and high-functioning autism throughout HS. That explains the drop in grades I had freshman year and the first semester of this year.
Major: Political Science/Public Policy. I want to work in legislation and be a politician… for now.
Preferences: Schools over ~25,000 undergrads are virtually a no-go unless there’s a smaller cohort within it (Honors program, etc.). I’d like a school with a relatively politically moderate student body. Liberal-leaning schools are okay. But no UC Berkeley-type schools that censor conservative speech and certainly no Christian evangelist schools. I also want to find schools where I could get merit. My parents make too much to get good financial aid, but they can’t shell out at least $240k for me and my twin brother. I’d like work hard/play hard schools like Vanderbilt or USC - I want a good social scene parties and lively social life.Thanks for any input. I’m open to lots of schools.
How much will your parents pay per year for you and your twin? I would begin by using the net price calculators for schools such as Vandy… And see if your parents are comfortable with the cost. Have you considered SUNY Binghamton? That’s probably a good match.
I did not like Bing. The campus sucked and they have a stuck up, cliquey student body like my high school, which I am going to ignore like the plague. My parents can contribute about $25k per year for each of us, and I’m going to a community college honors next year to escape HS and save money, so they will only have to pay for three years.
hmmm… if you want more moderate/conservative, check out washington and lee, wake forest, and UVA. uofmiami has a good party scene, and i think it tends to be more moderate than people let on, but that’s just been my experience with some incoming students. (in other words, i saw an equal amount of liberal/conservative viewpoints expressed instead of just one or the other.) i’m not sure about its party scene, but check out brandeis as well. lehigh and colgate tend to be more left of center but give those two a look as well just to see if you like them.
also, depression/anxiety/other mental illnesses tend to not be hooks for applicants. hooks are being first generation, an underrepresented minority, etc.
Sit down with your parents and use the NPC for schools that meet full financial need: Wake Forest, Vandy, Lehigh. Ask them if the cost looks somewhat realistic.
Some schools where you may get merit: Ohio State, Clemson (?), U Miami, U of S Carolina (?)
I toured Miami. Loved the campus and atmosphere, but the reality is even $20k a year in merit leaves the cost at $50k a year, and the gap between that and my EFC may or may not be filled with a lot of loans. Ohio State is gigantic, so that’s pretty much a no-go. Clemson is getting really good now, but I haven’t South Carolina enough yet and if they gave significant merit I would surely consider it. Do you think I could get into Lehigh or Vandy?
Do you think I could realistically get accepted to those schools? My parents would NOT like W and L, simply due to the fact that I’m Jewish and they have a WASPy population and no Hillel. I toured Miami, and the tour guide actually mentioned that there were an equal number of students in the Dem + Rep. clubs in campus. Vandy is awesome, but it is practically harder than Cornell where I live, and our school has a ~28% acceptance rate to Cornell according to Naviance.
Vanderbilt is a reach. Lehigh is more of a match but you need to show tremendous interest. Sit down with your parents and fill out the net price calculators. Ask them if the cost looks reasonable. These schools meet full need but will not use the fafsa EFC- they will calculate a new one … and you need to be able to pay it. Will your parents pay their EFC for you and your twin for 4 years? This could be about $60,000 (+/-) a year x 4. I would not count on merit.
I would research the following types of schools:
LACs that meet need such as Colgate, Hamilton etc. Use the NPCs and ask your parents if they are comfortable with the final number. I would also see if there are any good but somewhat less selective LACs that meet need ( Franklin and Marshall?).
Use the NPC on schools such as Wake Forest, Emory, and Oxford at Emory. Ask your parents if the cost looks ok.
Find some lower ranked schools that might give you enough merit… you need a lot of it and will have to come down in selectivity.
Apply to SUNY Geneseo. You will find strong students there. Don’t discount Binghamton- it’s an excellent school and you will meet new people if you try. Be careful - don’t get so caught up in trying to avoid SUNY… that you take the merit to any school out there… just to avoid attending.
Also take a look at TCNJ. You may get some merit there. The University of Richmond is another school to investigate.