So I'll sit back and let you choose my schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Ha! Not likely. But I'd be very grateful for a few suggestions. I'll even do my best to be concise! (Which is not always easy, let me tell you.)</p>

<p>Let's begin with the mundane...grades:</p>

<p>GPA (as of end of sophomore year): 3.07 UW/3.4 W
Class Rank (same): ~58/160
Long story, failed PE and art, D first semester freshman biology. All other grades have been A's or B's.</p>

<p>I'm in my junior year; the first semester is nearly over and I've gotten back all my midterm grades except for French, so these should be reasonably accurate predictions of this semester's final grades:</p>

<p>Honors English III - A
Honors Global Issues Seminar - A
Honors Algebra II - A
AP US History - A
Journalism I - A
Chemistry - B, most likely =(
AP French Language - A (unless I completely bombed the midterm)</p>

<p>self-studying AP Psychology</p>

<p>SAT scores: </p>

<p>PSAT: 224 (should be a NMSF)
80 CR, 74 M, 70 W</p>

<p>I'm somewhat superstitious and pessimistic, so I won't try to predict my final SAT scores, but I'll be taking it in March. I will say that my PSAT math score (based on practice tests at home) was unusually high for me, and my writing score unusually low (I made some stupid mistakes psyching myself out.)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (all unfortunately started this year):
Co-founder and co-president of a schoolwide tutoring program
Founder and co-president of Amnesty International at my school
Founder and co-president of the Movie Club
Writer for the school newspaper, hopefully editor next year</p>

<p>As you can see my stats are a little whacked out, so I need colleges that 1) might possibly accept me, and 2) I want to attend. So far the only ones on my list are USC (Southern California) and Tulane, so...I need safeties and just more schools in general! I'm looking for:</p>

<ul>
<li>Someplace nice and warm. Palm trees are a big plus, but I'd prefer not to go to Florida.</li>
<li>A school in a city. I might consider a nice lively suburban area, but urban is really preferred. </li>
<li>Not too small - I'm not saying I won't look into any LACs, but I'd have to have a good reason.</li>
<li>Generally, a school with a lot of character. I'd prefer to steer away from total hippie schools and super-conservative ones, though - maybe a little more diversity?. (Definitely NO religious universities and NO all-girl schools.)</li>
<li>Mainly looking for privates, since I have no interest in attending my state's universities and OOS is too hard to be worthwhile.</li>
</ul>

<p>Oh yes, and I'm white. And a girl. Anywhere I go I'm going to need MASSIVE financial aid, since my single mom makes ~20k a year. Not first-generation though, by any means.</p>

<p>So, can you help me find my dream school?</p>

2

<p>If you become an NMF, you could get some nice scholarships, possibly a full ride from Alabama, ASU and Florida(though I' not sure if UF still does this) and some other decent schools.</p>

3

<p>hmm... your gpa and rank are seriously low for your test scores and ec's, although your recent grades should pull them up a bit. </p>

<p>but i'd say look at LMU (not too diverse, but a good safety)
chapman, occidental, usd (also not too diverse)
wake forest (high match/reach)
maybe one of the 5c's? scripps is all girls which you dont want, pomona would definitely be a reach, pitzer is too hippieish, but claremont and harvey mudd could work if your academic interest is in business/IR or science, respectively.
you might like GWU... not palm trees or too diverse, but warm and a city
maybe emory? again, its hard to find a seriously diverse private college, but atlanta's warm</p>

4

<p>hawaiiboy15, I'd be thrilled to be a NMF, but I'm afraid my GPA/class rank is not going to impress them much.</p>

<p>kcmdonahue - Thanks for the suggestions! I'll start looking into all the ones you mentioned. One thing I forgot to add which you pointed out is that I forgot to add my area of "academic interest", as you so aptly phrased it. I'm looking to go into Political Science, maybe a minor in Psychology, and - if all goes as planned - I'd like a law degree later on.</p>

<p>Anyone else have suggestions? This is really helpful!</p>

5

<p>oh then definitely check out claremont mckenna, it's known for strong polisci programs</p>

6

<p>I think you may need like a 3.5 for Alabama for the scholarship, but I think that includes weighted averages.</p>

7

<p>Hmm...does that still apply for OOSers?</p>

8

<p>what do you want to major in?</p>

9

<p>Political science, possibly a major in Psychology. ^^ In other words, definitely nothing in the math/science field...sorry, I'd edit that into my original post if I could!</p>

10

<p>I think you may want to reconsider a public school, your grades aren't that impressive so a state school with a strong political science program would take you. The best school that I could find for you is Syracuse University but that's not exactly warm or in a big city.....</p>

11

<p>Hmm...what I've been told before is that large state schools are actually more likely to base admissions off of formulaic GPA and SAT scores, whereas private schools are more likely to look at the person and try to figure out if he or she has potential. Was I misinformed?</p>

12

<p>that is true, but private schools are harder to get in while most public schools are a cake walk to get in (relative to the student, a student with a 1.6 isn't getting into for say Alabama)</p>

<p>I have similar stats to you (3.06 GPA, 2020 SAT) and I've already been accepted to the University Of Pittsburgh, a top 50 school which is out of state for me so I don't think publics are that hard regardless of your state</p>

<p>If you want, I can suggest some publics and you can take a look and decide for yourself. I think that you're in at most publics except top the 10 top public schools in the country</p>

13

<p>I think you should look at more state universities, otherwise you could apply to LSU.Try to raise your GPA, you could probably get into San Diego State.</p>

14

<p>Right now, your time is best spent preparing for the SAT exam. Forecasting based upon PSAT scores is not realistically meaningful or productive. After you have your SAT scores in hand, your realistic options will be much more identifiable.</p>

15

<p>What about Rhodes in Memphis or Berea in Kentucky? Berea is tuition free for low income students.</p>

16

<p>lolygagha - Not a big fan of Louisiana apart from New Orleans, but I like the sound of SDSU okay.</p>

<p>P JAMISON - You're absolutely right, and I've done almost all the practice tests in the CollegeBoard blue book. </p>

<p>cbrand - Thanks, I'll look into those!</p>

<p>Wow, I'm surprised to see this thread bumped up. But it does give me a chance to say that my final grades for this semester are all A's except a probable B in chemistry (waiting to see about this one.) That puts the first half of my junior year's GPA at no lower than a 3.86 UW, 4.86 W (by our school's crazy inflated scale). Of course my overall GPA is still crappy, but it makes my situation even weirder, added to the fact that my "academic GPA" (minus classes like health, pe, art, etc) is much higher, around a 3.5-3.6 UW or so. Does this change anything, or is it all too little too late?</p>

<p>EDIT: Oh, and is Occidental a good school to investigate? High/low reach?</p>

17

<p>If you are a NMF, definitely check out University of Tulsa. I was really excited about that school until stuff at my first choice worked out, and they give full rides guaranteed to every NMF who is accepted (which you should be by all means).</p>

18

<p>Occidental seems like a good choice now that your grades have improved. Also, look at Chapman and University of Redlands. You might consider Trinity University in San Antonio, too.</p>