Hello, I’m currently a rising Junior and I was wondering what schools would be considered safety schools from these stats. I plan to major in Computer Science or Accounting and I would like to have safety schools that are good in these programs and around the East Coast of the U.S.
My Stats
-3.6 unweighted GPA, I’m a rising Junior (did terribly freshman year that’s why GPA is so low)
-No weighed GPA yet(since I haven’t taken any APs yet and my school doesn’t offer honor classes)
-My potential hooks could be Under represented minority, low income (if that’s a hook), first generation college student, potentially a first generation American.
-I might create a business next year too
For a school to be a “safety,” you must be CERTAIN that you have ALL costs covered by ASSURED merit/grants, family funds, and a $5500 student loan. If you’re not sure, then it’s NOT a safety. Safeties MUST be affordable!
Likely to be accepted won’t make a school a safety for you since you don’t have the means to pay.
Until you have test scores, no can tell you much.
Home state?
My home state is NY
Fortunately you should have some good options through the SUNY and CUNY systems. For your areas of interest and your desire for a change of scene, SUNY Buffalo would be the ideal campus to shoot for, and there are certainly good backups if you don’t end up quite having the stats for Buffalo… but your GPA is already around median so hopefully this will be a good target for you. (If admission is looking well within reach, then aim to qualify for the Honors College https://honors.buffalo.edu/ )
If you want to go outside the NY public system, you will need private U’s that meet full (or very close to full) documented need. Some schools in that category to familiarize yourself with would be:
Union College (NY)
Babson College (MA) (note: has cross-registration with Brandeis, Olin, and Wellesley)
Tulane University (LA)
U of Rochester (NY)
U of Richmond (VA)
Wake Forest (NC)
Lehigh U ¶
Syracuse U (NY)
U of Miami (FL)
Bucknell U ¶
If you decide that you don’t need business-y programs and would be happy with a LAC that has computer science, then there will be a few more to add to the list; but for now, those are the ones that would keep your options the most open major-wise. These are already competitive schools - there aren’t any full-need-met colleges that aren’t competitive, as you might imagine. If your GPA rises and you get great standardized test scores, then you can always look more closely at even more competitive schools than these. But start with these and with Buffalo - look at the admissions statistics and where you’d need to be, GPA and SAT/ACT wise, for admission, and also look at the programs, campus life, etc. and see where you feel like you can imagine yourself. Run the Net Price Calculators to see what your estimated costs would look like at those you’re interested in. Then have the best junior year you can, take the SAT or ACT, and see where you are.
Are you eligible for Questbridge? It sounds like it could be a great resource for you.
What APs are you scheduled to take next year?
Safeties in the SUNY system would include Baruch and Albany (best in the state with Baruch for accounting but Albany is residential) - if you do well on your SAT (prepare – do NOT take the test ‘cold’) and take 2-3 APs each of Junior and senior year you’d have a shot at the honors college, which would make your experience much better and give you feet pick at all the courses you want.
Bryant would be another college to look into but it doesn’t meet needw so having a high sat score would be necessary.
Not safeties, but strong colleges that meet need and offer business (yet more accessible than the reaches listed in #3 above): Denison (excellent Commerce major), Dickinson (International Management).
I plan to take APUSH and AP Computer Science Principles in class, along with potentially self studying both AP Economics for next year.
What sth will you be taking? Foreign language? Does your school offer apush and are you eligible for it?
I’m not sure what sth means, the program I’m in only requires that I take one year of foreign language which I’ve done already and I’m taking APUSH at my school.
High school graduation requirements and college entrance requirements.
Colleges such as the ones you aspire to want you to reach level 3,4 or AP. NYU expect 4 as a minimum. The safeties listed above expect 2 although 3 makes you more competitive. Foreign language is one of the core classes.
My program exempts me from taking foreign language for more than one year as to add another elective. Would my chances at top schools be necessarily impacted by that?
Yes^!
Wait even if my school explains my circumstances?
Yes. Foreign language is considered a core courses like English or History 
Can you commute to a CUNY? They may work with your high school program. I don’t know if a SUNY will relax their foreign language requirement, but you can ask your GC if they know if any that might.
If you want to major in computer science look into UCF. It’s pretty affordable and you would have a pretty good chance of getting in. Their computer science program is wonderful and they have an amazing programming team that has long attended the international finals and recently placed 10th worldwide beating all the other North American teams including those from MIT and Stanford. They also have a great cyberdefense team that has won 3 national championships.
Sorry for the late reply(I haven’t been on for a while) and yes I could commute to CUNYs.
What math will you be taking?
Your safeties are likely CUNYs.
Have you found out whether you’re eligible for EOP/HEOP and your EFC?
I will be taking Algebra 2(Trig) next year than likely AP Calc AB and I still haven’t looked into that program yet.
Algebra2 is followed by precalculus, which (as the name implies) is a pre-requisite for calculus.