rising from the turmoil of poverty - help, i need suggestions!

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hope you guys liked my title. :D</p>

<p>Hi, can you guys give me suggestions for some colleges to look at? Sorry for the long post but I really need guidance and my GC wasn't very helpful. </p>

<p>Here’s what I need:
- Some place with a good/great psychology major.
- A college no more than 12 hours away by car. I live in NY.
- TONS of financial aid/merit scholarships. Like maybe a full ride... </p>

<p>Here’s what I want:
- A not-huge school. What I mean about that is a school that often provides small classes. I need to be prodded and poked to contribute to a class, and I do best in round table discussion type rooms. I’m also very willing to be part of Honors in large schools, even though my stats probably exclude me from Honors. (From what I understand, Honors programs usually have small class sections.). But if need be, I can also do well in large settings.
- A place with a focus on undergrad.</p>

<p>The rest I can deal with. I just really want to go to college.. If anything else, I’m also willing to go to CC and then transfer if you guys think it’s a good idea.</p>

<p>STATS<br>
Long Island, NY resident
Race: Mexican/Hispanic/Latino/whatever I’m called nowadays…
Sex: Female
First-Generation, family income below $25,000
Intended Major: Developmental psychology, maybe Bio…
Financial Aid: Yes, please!!!</p>

<p>GPA: 3.8 Weighted, 3.3 UW (eep!)
Class Rank: No Ranking System in School. Top 20% at least.
School: Public School - sends tippy top (8ish) student to Ivys</p>

<p>SAT: 2000 Total
700: Reading
600: Math (I know, I suck at math)
700: Writing (Very disappointed. I got an 800 on the PSAT)
Plan to retake in Oct, aiming for 2260 haha</p>

<p>ACT: will take in Sept.</p>

<p>3 APs in 11th grade: US, English Lang., Psych. 5-5-5
6 APs in 12th grade: Gov’t, Microeco, English Lit., Stat, Bio, Spanish<br>
Honors track in everything except Math, where I’m only one level above “average.”</p>

<p>ECs:
Community Service:
Gay Lesbian and Straight Educational Network (GLSEN)
- 8th - 10th grade, had to quit because it was too expensive going into the city every week or so.
- Led Day of Silence
Religious Community Service, 10th & 11th grade - 8hrs/w, 12 wks/yr (Summer)
-Led day camp for children ages 4-11
Thrift Shop Volunteer, 11th grade - 5hrs/wk, summer only
- asst. youth manager
Local Jewish Center Volunteer, 10th grade - 34hrs/wk, 3 wks
- state crew manager for play<br>
Tutor, 11th grade
- English language
Stage crew:
- 6-12th grade
- secretary, 11th grade
Sports:
4 Years Varsity Cross-Country
4 Years Varsity Winter Track
Running for charity:
- Ran/will run 8+ races for various charities, ranging from 2 miles - 10 miles
- will start up and run a website for fellow runners for charity
Jobs:
Babysitting during summer, 48hrs/wk, whole summer
Babysitting for Local Center, 20 hrs total
Gave lessons in violin, 1hr/wk, 20 wks total
Looking at a part-time job during school year</p>

<p>Less Significant ECs:
Yearbook Club
Environmental Club - looking to be in leadership position for 12th grade
Promoter of music concerts promoting awareness, change (think Live Earth)
Human Rights Campaign volunteer
Invisible Children participant
Food Pantry server for a pseudo-meals on wheels thing in NYC</p>

<p>Awards/Honors:
- National Honor Society
- payroll in stage crew (it’s an honor. Given to top 4 members.)
- Scholar Athlete all 6 seasons in varsity, going for 8
- School award in humanities
- Town Hispanic Achievement award
- PSAT National Hispanic Recognition thing… I’m not actually sure about this one.
- Art Show participation
- SUNY Stony Brook Hispanic honors thing
- writing in literary magazine</p>

<p>Enrichment, etc:
- Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth participant 2004-2007
- American Psychological Association affiliate</p>

<p>Finally:
I failed orchestra because I couldn‘t afford to take private lessons for our music trip, and I barely passed precalc (70) and that'll probably hurt me. I also barely passed my physics regents - 68, baby. For anybody in NY, how much weight do regents scores hold (they show on my transcript)? </p>

<p>Thanks so much for looking and for any suggestions, fellow CCers!!!</p>

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<p>Your stats are superb, and will be even better with a higher SAT score. Most of the ivies have good psychology programs, so you can take your pick from those, along with some of these: </p>

<p>UVA
NYU
Carnegie Mellon
U Pitt
Rutgers
John's Hopkins
OSU - Columbus
Penn State
U Maryand - College Park
SUNY Stony Brook (safety for you)</p>

<p>All these are within reasonable distance from your location.</p>

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<p>kingofqueens, thank you so much for your suggestions! A friend of mine said carnegie, too. But aren't those out of reach considering my unweighted GPA? I heard the more selective schools look at UW only. And ivies - gosh. I've seen much better people than me get rejected.</p>

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<p>Cornell NYS Statutory College of Human Ecology (lower tuition for NY residents)</p>

<p>SUNY Geneseo, Binghamton, Buffalo, Stonybrook, Albany</p>

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<p>Thank you, collegehelp. Even instate tuition along with everything else is a stretch though. Grr!! Nobody mentions SUNY Albany in my school for some reason... haha.</p>

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<p>Your GPA will hurt a little, but everything else looks great (try to bring up SAT math by at least 50 points) and you have a hook (ethnicity + first generation). I think the Ivies would be high but reasonable reaches. Don't apply to all of them though--research and pick a few that you truly like. Dartmouth has the most undergrad focus. You might also look into LACs, which are mostly/solely undergrad and have small classes. There are tons of great schools in the Northeast, although I can't recommend any in particular because I'm not familiar with psychology departments. Definitely apply to a SUNY and then look at private colleges that meet full need (no/capped loans is even better).</p>

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<p>Thank you very much, keilexandra. The only thing I can do now about my GPA is do great first quarter of senior year :\ I will certainly try my hardest to bring up my math SAT score. Ivies are so intimidating, but thank you for that advice. Maybe I will look into ivies. Your final bit of advice is also helpful. So I guess now I'm looking at colleges that meet full financial need - hopefully I can get into those types of schools. Unfortunately, my family has qualms about loans- It's a cultural thing?? I don't even know. :)</p>

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<p>You can apply to 1 or 2 Ivies as reaches (I suggest you pick from U Penn, Brown, Columbia, and Cornell).</p>

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<p>Talk to your guidance counselor/college adviser this summer if they are at school (ours are) and also go and read those college books like Petersons (free @ the library).</p>

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<p>kingofqueens: thanks! I checked out your suggestions and Cornell seemed really interesting. A Cornell outreach person phoned me a couple of weeks ago but I had a brain fart and thought Cornell was some random 18th tier school during the whole conversation even though I know it's an ivy. I don't know what got into me. I feel really dumb. :]</p>

<p>oreo: thanks! I definitely will check out some books. Is Petersons the author?</p>

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<p>If you are interested in learning more about some LACs, get in touch with them soon. Have a brochure sent to you and mention in the email or phone call that you are latina. Several colleges have special minority recruiting weekends in the fall and offer help with the travel expenses so you can visit. One of the schools closed their list in late August.</p>

<p>We didn't qualify to be a part of Questbridge, but I think you might. Run a google search on it and search these message boards for it.</p>

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<p>ooo Questbridge is a GREAT idea! As for Petersons College Guide idk if its the author's name or what. At the library there will be lots of college guides & books about colleges- just go to that section in the library. I'm sure you will check out a lot- bring a bag!</p>

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<p>Also if you are a National Hispanic Scholar you will be getting offered full scholarships in the mail. Seriously consider these. Some give you everything including laptops, study abroad & summer research $. Finaid could be excellent too for you. Try think with an open mind & about where you would go geographically because places that have few Hispanics will woo you. Do not decide anything until you have all offers on the table (~4/1). You will have many great options!</p>

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<p>Btw sarmango, here's a list of schools that claim to be need-blind and full-need. Keep in mind that this is their CLAIM, and that full-need does not preclude loans.</p>

<p>Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

<p>Also, here's an informative article about FA in general; scroll down for a (much smaller) list of schools with no-loans or capped-loans policies.</p>

<p>Student</a> financial aid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

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<p>Oh my, CCers, I'm so grateful for your advice. I just got a letter in the mail that my college counselor and guidance counselor are BOTH on maternal leave until October 23rd and October 27th respectively. Thanks, school! :O</p>

<p>twomules, thanks for that advice. I got in touch with some LACs I've begun researching and they're ridiculously nice. I even got myself scheduled for some college immersion days :]. Also, to any other low-income kids reading this, if you ask, they'll definitely find ways to get you to their campus for free/very little cost. Texas A&M even offered to fly me there! Crazy! Maybe this process won't be as terrifying as I thought. As for Questbridge - I thought it was a scam when I got the brochure. Thank you CCers for telling me it's not. I dug up my brochure from then and now I definitely have a desire to do Questbridge. Hopefully I will be competitive even with my low GPA.</p>

<p>oreao - thanks for your input. I always forget to bring a bag for the library and then I get conned into buying a two-dollar tote bag from them. Two dollars my family could have used lol! </p>

<p>As for the Hispanic Scholar thing, I don't think I made it or else I would have gotten something by now, right? I'll have to research this. And as I continue my search, I realize you're right about geography. I'm seeing schools outside of my proposed radius have more available scholarships, like the midwest/south. Thank you for that advice about keeping geographic boundaries open.</p>

<p>keilexandra - thanks for the links! The list is definitely helping narrow my college search in terms of finances. Need-sensitive? Jeez, colleges are really term-happy. </p>

<p>I'm beginning to see there are definitely opportunities out there...</p>

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<p>Clark University. People will bad mouth Worcester, but the college is an integral part of its community, which is rare, and your description of your activities sounds like a Clarkie. They have money to give.</p>