Suggestions for a Realistic College List

College Search & Selection
1

Hullo! Rising senior here, looking for some help with my college list.

GPA (unweighted): 4.0
Class Rank: 5/477
SAT I: 2280 (CR: 760, M: 800, W: 720)
SAT II: Math 2 (750), French (680, retaking) Lit (~750, estimated)
PSAT: 233
ECs: Boys State, president/founder of a few clubs, NHS, AP Scholar with Distinction

Intended major of either Political Science, Economics, or Public Policy Analysis.

My family income is below the poverty level, so any insight on financial aid would be awesome. I should qualify for National Merit Semifinalist, so I have that going for me.

Looking for schools on the east coast (but definitely open to other locations), urban/suburban (again, not deal-breaking), and smaller class sizes.

Right now, I have my eye on University of Virginia, Georgetown (SFS), Dartmouth, and UChicago. So, I need to find some solid matches/safeties (but I’d also like to know how reach-y my reaches should be).

Thanks in advance, guys!

2

look into George Washington, top tier political science and you could get full ride

3

Look at all the Ivies you should be able to get full aid at each.

4

Have you signed up for Questbridge and the Posse Foundation yet ?
If not, get on it!! The Questbridge deadline is Sept 28!!
Those 2 programs are SPECIFICALLY designed for students like you!
They can get you into top colleges on full scholarships.

http://www.questbridge.org/
https://www.possefoundation.org/

5

check ivies, they love low-income families.

6

At most well-funded LAC’s you would get the great financial aid and small classes, and you would have no problem getting accepted to many of them. Many have great focuses on political science. These could easily be your matches.

7

The University of Richmond meets full need. Add W&M, too. Go through the list of schools that meet full need and pick a few that are not rated as very tip-top schools for your matches and safeties. I think you will have some great options. Also apply to an in-state safety. (Are you a VA residnet?)

I’m not sure about the recommendation for GWU. GWU has some good merit awards, but, since you are low income, you can apply to schools like GTown, Duke, etc., which meet full need.

8

Thanks for the suggestions so far, guys! And @txstella, I’m actually from Texas, myself. I should have mentioned that in my original post.

9

American University in D.C. would be close to a safety for you in terms of admissions; you would likely get a good bit of financial aid from them also.

For in-state, maybe TCU and/or SMU as safeties/high matches.