As a disclaimer, I don’t plan on applying to all of the listed colleges. Those listed are just the ones that I’m most interested in.
UW GPA: ~3.4 (through junior year)
W GPA: ~3.7 (through junior year)
ACT: 30 (folks want me to retake)
Other stuff: Student Senator, Junior and Senior Editor of school newspaper, wrote for local newspaper, creative writing club, was paid writing ‘intern’ for a website, member of yearbook staff for two years (text editor for one), editor at student-run radio show, member of student involvement group, member of a leadership class in which we performed community projects, writer for student-run website, published a poem and short story in a lit mag collaborative between a few high schools, member of our district’s superintendent forum, previously worked for ~ year.
White, middle-class male.
Intend on majoring in English.
Plan on law school after undergrad.
University of Kentucky
Northern Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University
Bellarmine University
Transylvania University
Centre College
Rhodes College
Sewanee: The University of the South
University of Alabama
Birmingham-Southern College
Ole Miss
Millsaps College
Furman University
Wofford College
University of Richmond
Washington and Lee University
From research, I think I know my chances, but it’s nice to hear from actual people instead of numbers on a screen.
From your other threads, you are interested in either a PhD or a JD after college, you are very interested in Journalism, but you don’t necessarily want to lock yourself in to a profession that may be on the wane (at least in print media, that is). You’re an excellent student, extremely active in the cultural life of your school and in the community. But you are not a valedictorian-level student.
W&L and Richmond are probably reaches IMO. If family finances permit, I would take a good, hard look at Sewanee, Rhodes and Centre. Sewanee is the one I know best (D goes there). They have one of the best LAC English departments in the nation, and are home to the highly-regarded Sewanee Review. They are well regarded by law schools and graduate schools. They have one of the highest percentages in the country of students who have gone on to become Rhodes Scholars. There are tons of opportunities for you to carry over your HS EC interests into college there. Your stats are within their profile. But they are small (a little under 2,000) and Ole Miss or UA would be an entirely different type of experience for you, so it depends whether D1 athletics, national fraternities (Sewanee has locals), etc are important to you. There are a series of Youtube videos called “My Sewanee Story” that I think are pretty representative of the opportunities there.
If you think you are interested in any of the LACs, be sure to visit campus. At Sewanee, in particular, a campus visit is very important for a successful application.
actually most of the fraternities at Sewanee are national. However, while a large portion of the school is Greek its not exclusive. All parties are open to everyone and I’ve yet to see one person wear greek letters on campus.
W and l and Richmond are reaches. The rest are either matches and safeties. This is a ton of schools, especially given you’ll get into most of them. Cut it down to no more than 10. Preferably 6-9
We have a family ‘friend’ who attends Sewanee, and we reached out to him recently to give us more information. From what I’ve read, Sewanee and Rhodes both seem like wonderful places. Centre is closer to home, my uncle is an alum from the early 70’s, but, times have changed…
Which brings me to the family finances. We’re in that classic rock-and-a-hard-place position, where (from what I’ve read and discussed with my parents and school counselors), we make too much to get significant aid, but too little to foot a pricey college bill. I don’t mean to pry, but based on your knowledge, how is Sewanee with financial aid?
And yes, Ole Miss and Alabama are outliers within that group, but alas, us teenagers are swayed quickly. I don’t think it’s likely that I’d attend a big public flagship when I’ve got my own, even if that’s what the heart desires.
Lastly, I’m thinking of applying to one or two bigger reaches (Washington & Lee, Richmond) just for the heck of it. That being said, do you think it’s even worth the trouble? Or should I be looking for more manageable ‘reaches’?
@blueguy99 Thank you for your response. Like I said, I don’t plan on applying to them all, and the input I receive here will, in part, contribute to the whittling down of that list.