Reverse match please

College Search & Selection
1

Hi

I am junior and am in the process of trying to assemble college list. I am full of self doubt and want to avoid to overreach, especially when it comes to my safeties. Hopefully someone can suggest some schools that still meet some of my criteria/interest!

My stats:

GPA: 3.9156 UW / 4.2538 W
Class Rank has been eliminated at my school, however looking at current senior class resumes after their junior year, should be around 30th out of 470
Attending Magnet Math& Science Academy (requires entrance exam, grades, recommendations etc).

9th: AP HumanGeo - A (3), Latin III (had it already in MS) A, Adv Algeb II - A, Honors English 9 - A, Japanese I - A, Oceanography - A, Chemistry - A-
10th: AP Chemistry A- (4), AP EuroHist A-(4), MolecularBio* A, Meterology* A, Physical Geology A, Precalculus A, Honors English 10 A, Latin IV A, Japanese II A
11th: AP CalcBC B (first B ever), AP Latin A, AP Physic 1 A-, AP Language & Comp, USHist , Integrative STEM A, Japanese III, OrganicChem*, Biochemistry*
12th: AP Lang/Lit, AP Physic C, AP Bio, AP Japanese, USGov, Marine Bio, DiffEquation/Multivariable*, AnalyticalChem*, MicroBio*, Senior Capstone Project (already in the planning phase in junior year)
*college entry level class, indicated on school transcript

SAT: Oct Junior year (I did not prep, regretting it) 1380

EC:
Piano since 7 yrs old (performing in retirement homes and for musical scholarship fundraisers) no awards
Robotics Club since 5th grade: 10th - Vice Pres & Regional 1st place for ePortfolio & Semifinalist , 11th - Pres
Virginia Junior Classical League - 11th Secretary (state level position)
National Latin Honor Society - 10th & 11th - Historian
Beach Classical League - 11th Chair Committee for Soc.Media outreach
Japanese Honor Society - 10th 11th (positions only given to 12th graders at my school)
Member: German club, Astronomy club
Volunteer: Environmental cleanups like Clean the Bay Day, or King Tide citizen scientist events, helping maintaining pollinator garden at an Environmental Center.

Personal:
1st generation
Bi-cultural
Bi-lingual (german, no cert though)
150K+

The idea of a huge 20K+ student campus scares me a bit. Not really into college sports or greek life. Want to do an additional minor in Japanese language/culture to a Science major or 2 science major (I know it is a lot of work)

I know I will apply to VTech, W&M and UVA but do not have much idea beyond that or for OOS.
Please be honest. Any input is much appreciated

Thank you !

2

The great news is that VA has a great range of in-state choices, and you are in the top 10% of your class in a strong cohort.

To paraphrase a certain 2001 movie, the rules of college apps are simple & finite:

  1. Follow the money and
  2. Know thyself

Of course, the hard part is applying the rules!

So first things first: what is your financial situation? Will your parents write any check, no matter how big? If not, find out what your budget is. For most people avoiding any debt more than what you can take in your own name (~$5-7K/year) is the best path.

After that: why do you want to go to college & what do you want from the experience? what are environments where you thrive- and ones that really don’t suit you?

If you could share a little more about your financial situation and your college goals that would help.

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I assume you want to stay mid - atlantic. So - Va Tech you’ll get in, UV and W&M are huge stretches. Others to consider (sort of mid-Atlantic) :slight_smile:
Maryland (huge) is a target. Pitt if you like a city is a target. UTK is a safety. U of SC - may be too large. College of Charleston - safety. Delaware is a target/safety. Miami of Ohio might be a good fit. Privates - Elon, Furman, Sewanee. How wide is your geography - Miami (Florida) is a stretch. FSU is a solid choice (but big)…mid size - Alabama Huntsville, etc.

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Your stats are fine. Your SAT score is good just try to improve a little which I’m sure you can do. Find some SAT/ACT prep materials or class and try again. Don’t underestimate yourself. More schools are going test optional so you could go that route, at least for your reach schools. Just write really good essays.

It’s good you’re trying to narrow your list. Are you thinking urban campus or more rural?

If you want a smaller school maybe Dickinson or Fordham. They would be matches or maybe better right now. Bump up your SAT and maybe Haverford or Swarthmore if you wanted to stay closer to home (which isn’t a bad idea).

5

Look into Skidmore, Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Macalester, St Olaf, Beloit, and run the NPC.
College of Charleston (safety)?
For reaches, Bates, Pomona, Tufts, Wake?

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collegemom3717

my parents would be able to chip in around 20K annually, the rest would have to be covered by aid or scholarships. I enjoy my program as it is challenging (not cut throat) and I would like to keep that type of environment. Science has always been my main interest and focus. Biology/Chemistry in particular and I would like to pursue it at least into a masters degree eventually. May main goal is to be able to go into research. So a university with some good research opportunities is really a big draw for me

tsbna44

I am not really regionally set, though Cali and Texas would not be really on my list. Parents of course prefer something between Great Lakes down to Georgia and anything east of it.
I am not too crazy about rural areas and would prefer a city at least within reachable distance and with a generally more liberal vibe, but not to the extend of it getting dogmatic.

chmcnm

Yes, I definitly regret not preparing at all for the last SAT and plan on improving on the one in June. I am an introvert, so a smaller campus or midsize are more appealing, but if the right opportunity opens up I am flexible.

MYOS1634

I have looked at Tufts and attended some of their online presentations and liked it a lot.

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7

Tufts is a huge huge reach…it’s near harvard like. Doesn’t mean you can’t get there but you shouldn’t count on it.

Maybe some of the SUNY schools - like Binghamton.

$20K is going to be tough - if you include Room and Board. So in state VA has some nice schools - Christopher Newport for example.

Check out (bigger) Alabama…because their scholarships are unreal…and UAH - a mid-size STEM oriented school. MS State as well.

You have to chase the money in your case -that’s where the money is.

8

Some other’s to consider if you are interested in science and staying in the Northeast. Rochester, Rensselaer, Stevens.

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Stay with the money for the moment. First the good news: you can afford all your instate options except W&M and VMI. And, you are likely to get into most/all of them (UVa should be a match, but matches can still go wrong). So, no matter what, come next spring you should have solid choices.

Of course, the instate that sounds most like your cup of tea is W&M, so ask your parents to do the Net Price Calculator (NPC) on the W&M website. The sticker-price COA for W&M is $38K- see what it is for your family, and if they can afford it.

While they are doing that, ask them to also do some COAs for a few other colleges that are interesting to you (perhaps Tufts / Cornell / Rochester / Vassar / Muhlenberg?). Are any of them affordable?

The key is whether colleges will see you has having financial need (and how much), and if so whether your family can really can afford what the colleges think you can. If you are getting a lot of good outcomes from the NPCs (and your family doesn’t have complicated finances, such as owning their own business or a lot of property- that can throw off the NPCs), then all of the “meets need” schools come into play.

However, if colleges don’t think your family has enough “need” to give you financial aid then you are chasing merit, which is harder but with a budget of $25K ($20 from your parents & the $5-7K you can borrow) and a lot of flexibility on your part, is do-able (largely in the south and midwest/mountain states). I’m just not sure that it will get you anything better than what you have in VA.

For a research career you will want a PhD, but the good news is that they pay you (and you get your Masters along the way). Pretty much every school will have research opportunities, and there are (paid) Research internships available for summers- which are key to PhD applications. However, you don’t earn much until you finish (5+ years), so you want as little UG debt as possible.

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Is 20k your efc or below your efc?
(If you don’t know your efc: go to “FAFSA forecaster”)