<p>I was just talking with a wonderful young man who is just beginning his college serch in earnest. He attends parochial school and is an honors student(gpa 93; has taken the only 2 AP classes the school offers), but has limited ECs (mostly squash). His SAT scores good but not great (CR 670, M560, W580); he'll take the exam again in October. </p>
<p>His only only requirements are that schools be coed and no more than 5 hours from NYC. Academcally, he's interested in the social sciences, primarily economics.</p>
<p>U of Chicago has one of the strongest Economics programs in the US. And if he is applying to Columbia he should also apply to Chicago, as they are very similar in “feel” and distrobution requirements[ both have the “core”]</p>
<p>Why economics? Does he really understand what it’s like? </p>
<p>I ask this because econ requires good math skills. It’s usually necessary to take math at least through multivariable calculus and some colleges require more math than that to major in econ. Given his SAT scores, I doubt that math is his strong point. </p>
<p>Many “minority” kids–or really any kids from working class backgrounds-- labor under the impression that econ is a more “practical” major compared to others offered by liberal arts colleges and thus choose it as a prospective major, thinking it’s some liberal arts clone of a business major. Many of these kids switch to other majors in college when they discover how mathematically oriented it is and/or how theorectical it is. </p>
<p>Unless he’s taken AP econ (which tends to include less math in high school than college econ does ), I wouldn’t base college suggestions on the strength of econ programs.</p>
<p>“His SAT scores good but not great (CR 670, M560, W580)”</p>
<p>I’m afraid that for most of the schools you mentioned, and in particular the Ivies, these are not going to be looked upon as “good” SAT scores unless he has overcome major obstacles in his life. And even then, the very selective colleges are often cautious about admitting students that may not be able to handle the coursework.</p>
<p>Ivy’s are probably a super reach if he can’t get the scores up, but I’m not worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle the work. I agree though that economics might not be the best fit for him. The low end of the 50% range at Vassar is around 650 - as an URM he may get a bit of a break, but I’d be looking more at schools of the Vassar ilk, unless his school can say that a kid with his background, scores and grades is a reasonable bet for the Ivy’s.</p>
<p>Not sure jonri is right about the Econ major. Although I was always good in math, I didn’t have to go that far in calculus for the major, but that was the dark ages.</p>
<p>Anyway, no matter, he’s targeting well-rounded liberal arts schools. They’ll all have the Econ. He doesn’t really need the Heavy Hitters in Econ reputation, I don’t think. He’ll choose his major after he’s done some sampling.</p>
<p>He needs some safer schools, I’m thinking, just in case his SAT scores cause a problem. Or are the SUNY/CUNY options on his list plenty safe (I don’t know their admissions profiles)? The scores might not hold him back, except at the very most selective, due to his other strengths and URM status, but safe is best.</p>
<p>He might look to some of the other Catholic schools beyond Fordham for the safeties (although I’m guessing Fordham is safe): Fairfield? Non-safe option might be Villanova.</p>
<p>I think the CUNY/ SUNY is plenty for safety schools especially if he applies at the beginning of the cycle. He is getting 6 schools for $65 at CUNY and $ 40 each at the SUNYs (or up to 4 SUNY schools on a fee waiver if eligible). If he applies in september, he will have a couple of schools in the pocket by Thanksgiving. </p>
<p>I don’t know what your financial situation is but is but are you HEOP eligible? If yes, you can keep URoch, Columbia, NYU, Bard, Fordham, Cornell and apply through HEOP/EOP. Pull up the math score and add some of the land grant schools at Cornell to the list (cheaper tuition for NYS residents).</p>
<p>Has student looked into taking the ACT? Many students do better on this test because it is more closely correlated to what they learned in school.</p>
<p>I also recommend that student take the SAT IIs and possibly look into some SAT optional schools ([The</a> National Center for Fair & Open Testing | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org%5DThe”>http://www.fairtest.org)) Some SAT optional schools require the SAT IIs - (Conn College, Goucher, Bard) </p>
<p>Also look into Questbridge and the Chase Smart Start Scholarship program.</p>
<p>Check out Marist College. It’s only about 1 1/2 hours north of NYC and with his current stats qualifies for an $8000.00/yr merit scholarship. Go the the Marist College website and read up on it. Also, you should try to convince him to take the ACT test.</p>
<p>On another thread, I read a post stating that it didn’t really matter that a student’s list was “reachy,” so long as he had safeties. Since, as sybbie posted above, this list includes schools that are not just safeties in terms of admissions, but also in terms of finaid, does it matter that this student’s list is a bit top-heavy? </p>
<p>I’m not sure abut the Ivies, but I know of three girls with with similar or slightly weaker profiles who were recently admitted to Bates (white), Haverford (white) and Amherst (black, just got off the wait-list). Every admissions pool is different, but I would expect a boy to fare at least as well as the girls. And then there’s just luck; as the NYS lottery ads say, “You’ve gotta be in it to win it,” and “Hey, you never know.”</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters, but I don’t think the SUNYs are as good as state universities in some other states. I think there are some good inbetween choices. Fordham if he wants to stay in the city. Vassar, Marist if he’d like to be close, but still have a very different atmosphere.</p>
<p>socio-economically, do you guys live in a nice neighborhood? Would you get an advantage from that front? Otherwise, i don’t think race helps that much</p>
<p>Amherst is a bit of a crap-shoot. My dd had SATs several hundred points above, with at least half a dozen APs and is also black… and didn’t even get waitlisted after applying early decision. Yet I’ve seen kids admitted with SATs in the 500s, go figure. </p>
<p>Honestly, I would say Vassar is also a reach. I would recommend looking at some of the SAT optional schools (which I believe include Bates, Bowdoin, Hamilton and Dickinson); I suspect with his A average, he will fare well at those schools. He might also do well applying to some of the better Catholic schools like College of the Holy Cross and BC. (Keep Fordham on the list if he likes it.) My experience is that Catholic colleges/ universities like parochial school kids.</p>
<p>He should come to Cornell. We need more black males. We need more black people in general. Tell him to just apply and see what happens. I’m a black/Native american student at Cornell. We seriouslly need more diversity and It actually is a really good school. :)</p>
<p>I was going to say approximately what cu applecider said - be sure he applies to Cornell; they need more black males. If his essays are compelling, I think his chances of being accepted there will be good.</p>
<p>I second the “take the ACT” suggestion.</p>
<p>I also think that Fordham sounds like a great school for him. (If he is from the City though, a change of environment would be nice.) If he doesn’t mind a smallish school, Brandeis might be good and being in the Boston area could be fun for him. I also like the Vassar idea.</p>
<p>Some of the SUNY campuses are very highly regarded and that includes from OOS students. In addition, if this student is instate for SUNY then the costs would be significantly less than for any of the state universities OOS. In fact, the cost of SUNY for OOS isn’t much more than for instate where I live.</p>
<p>How good a squash player is he? Is he part of an urban squash program? Is he nationally ranked? There are several schools which are looking for squash players, even some who are not really great, to round out their teams. He should check out the college squash website and e-mail coaches.</p>
<p>I don’t think Binghamton or Genesco are completely safe, and neither is CUNY Honors (if that means Macauley). The SUNYs have gotten a lot tougher lately.</p>
<p>How did Goucher get on the list? I think it is a great choice, but just jumped out at me. He might be able to get some good aid there and he would like the girl/guy ratio. If he comes to visit and is interested in Catholic schools, he could also visit Loyola College of Maryland.</p>