Tell Me If My College List Is Reasonable Please

College Search & Selection
1

Can someone tell me what schools should be reach, target, etc. I’m class of 2022.

Here’s my list as of right now:

Yale University
Princeton University
Brown University
Columbia University
Barnard College **Dream School
New York University
Carnegie Mellon University
Duke University
University of North Carolina
Johns Hopkins University
Georgetown University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
University of California: Berkeley
University of California: L.A.
Wellesley College
University of Florida
Northeastern University
University of Maryland
Boston University

My Info:

I am a white, (bisexual), middle class, jewish female from South Florida. I go to a competitive public high school. My parents are separated and I have one sibling who goes to the University of Florida.

Stats:

GPA (Unweighted) - 4.0
GPA (Weighted) - 5.3
SAT (Practice - I’m taking the real test this month) - 1440

APs, AICE, and Scores:

Freshman Year - Human Geography (4), AICE General Paper ©
Sophomore Year - World History: Modern (4), Psychology (4), Calculus AB (2 lol), European History (4), AS English Language (not scored yet)
Junior Year - Environmental Science, Computer Science Principles, Statistics, English Language Composition, United States History, Dual Enrolling Freeing the Actor’s Voice (S1) and Fundamentals of Music (S2)
Senior Year - Literature, Government and Macroeconomics, Computer Science A, AICE Sociology, Dual Enrollment

ECs:

Yearbook - Staff Writer (9th), Head Writer (10th), Section Editor (11th), Editor in Chief (12th)
International Thespians Society - Treasurer
School Musicals - Ensemble (9th), Lead (10th)
YMCA Teen Leaders Club - Executive Board (300+ Community Service Hours)
Stagecraft Club - Treasurer
Psychology Honor Society
National Honor Society

Future Goals:

Attend a Pre-College Program (depending on $$$)
Student Direct a Musical
Executive Board in Psychology Honor Society
Executive Board in National Honor Society
Start either an Eco Club or a Political Awareness Club (haven’t decided which one yet)
Work Part-Time

Intended Major: Psychology

2

College budget?
UC GPA’s? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

You realize that UCLA and UCB will be full pay at $ 65K/year? No financial aid for OOS students. These schools would be a Reach.

3

Oh that’s gonna be a no from me then.
Unweighted GPA: 4.00
Weighted GPA: 4.89
Weighted and Capped GPA: 4.44

4

Really depends upon one’s definition of “reasonable”

If the term “reasonable” refers to chances of admission, then several schools seem unreasonable based on your AP scores and on your practice SAT score of 1440.

Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Duke, Chicago, and CMU (Calc AB AP score of 2 raises concerns unless applying as an acting / theater major) seem somewhat unreasonable reaches.

As you intend to major in psychology, your psych AP score of 4 doesn’t help your chances for admission to Yale, Columbia, Duke or Chicago.

As a non-resident of north Carolina, UNC-Chapel Hill is a reach school for you.

5

Start with this. In order to determine your budget you will need to run net price calculators (NPCs) for each school. Most of the schools on your list require both the FAFSA and the CSS profile to determine your “need.” The CSS profile will include detailed financial information for both parents, while the FAFSA assesses the finances of your custodial parent with whom you have your primary residence.

If your parents are divorced, rather than separated, and there are step parents in the mix, that adds more complexity and less predictability.

Once you have NPC numbers in hand, you will then have to discuss with your parents what they are willing to pay and if they are willing to cooperate. There is often a gap between parental and NPC definition of need. Sometimes that gap can be filled by loans but it’s unwise to take more than the federal student loan (5.5K for first year, rising to 7.5K by senior year). Anything more than that would have to be cosigned by at least one parent.

Merit scholarships are possible at the following schools but are EXTREMELY competitive and a 1440 SAT is not likely to put you in the running.

Duke University
University of North Carolina
Johns Hopkins University
Northeastern University
University of Maryland
Boston University

There “might” be some OOS financial aid at Michigan or UNC - double check and run the numbers. Both are CSS profile schools and reaches for OOS students.

If you prefer big state schools - target those that offer merit for OOS like U of Arizona, Arizona State, UT-Dallas, U of New Mexico, etc. Due to COVID, SAT/ACT scores might not be required for some of these awards. For example, I read that U of AZ will be test blind for merit awards this year. It would be worthwhile to check frequently. However, none of these are as highly ranked as UF.

What I see in your record is somebody with strong grades and substantial strengths in the areas of theater, writing, and editing. Nearly all of the schools currently on your list are reaches for admission (and probably for finances, given that you said that the UCs would not be affordable). I would rethink your list with an eye to affordability and playing to these strengths. While you seem to be gravitating towards mid to large sized schools in urban or suburban areas, if you are willing to consider LACs other than Barnard or Wellesley, I think your strengths might play well there. Google Colleges that Change Lives, a list of mostly LACs where you might be in line for substantial merit awards that might cover up to half of total cost. An example of such a school would be Muhlenberg, which has a superb theater program, is strong for premed and psych, and is located not far from Philadelphia. Another would be Clark U, in Worcester, MA, that also tends towards the artsy, is great for psych, and has merit scholarships. Some more competitive options would be Oberlin, Kenyon, and Grinnell (if you’re open to small town midwestern living) or Macalester (Minneapolis/St Paul) if you’d prefer urban. Agnes Scott (women’s college) near Atlanta also has some big merit awards.

best of luck!

6

This is a challenge because Net Price Calculators may not be accurate for you. And the net cost when one child is in school can be much higher than it is when two are in school, so make sure wherever you go will be affordable after your sister graduates.

Do you know your EFC and budget? What’s your safety school?

7

Agree with all of this.

Get an EFC estimate here, use 2019 income for your custodial parent and you, as well as current assets: https://fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fafsa4c/?locale=en_US#/landing

Then run Princeton’s NPC using 2019 income and current assets for BOTH parents and you, and let us know this cost estimate: https://admission.princeton.edu/cost-aid/financial-aid-estimator

Run the NPC both with and without a sibling in college.
The NPC may not be accurate if you don’t put in both parents’ financial info, one or both of the parents own a business, or if they own real estate beyond a primary home.

What can/will your parents pay for college per year? Hopefully you have an affordable safety school in Florida on your list.

8

My EFC is 23675
Princeton’s NPC said $15,800 which is affordable for my family
University of Florida is my safety and Bright Futures will cover my tuition there

9

With your GPA and optional SAT/ACT scores this upcoming cycle McGill in Montreal would be a safety. But a climate shock for a Floridian.

10

I think you could easily cut your list in half if you think hard about what kind of place you want to be for the four years of your undergraduate degree (disregarding current pandemic issues about being on campus). Some of the universities on your list are in the heart of major cities, while others are more rural or in traditional college towns. What kind of place most appeals to you? They’re also in places across the country with vastly different climates and cultures. Really give this some thought. If NYC is your dream destination, e.g., there are enough universities within NYC and nearby to make up your entire application list, ensuring you wind up where you want to be. Likewise with colleges in Florida, if you want to stay in your home state, where tuition will be more reasonable at the public universities.

The Ivies and other top universities will look for top test scores as well as international or national recognition, which I am not seeing in your ECs and awards list. I recommend narrowing the top universities down to a couple of your favorites, and focusing on what is more in reach. I would look at admission safeties and financial safeties primarily, and toss in some dream universities as well. Take a look at the psychology programs at each place, and think about what attracts you to that university specifically. Often a university will publish admissions data for specific majors or departments within the university, and that can give you an idea of how competitive you are. Otherwise compare your stats with the overall admissions data. The higher you rank compared to the types of students they admit, the better your chances.

11

Grades would obviously put you on a competitive basis everywhere. In terms of SAT, if your actual score meets your 1440 practice score

Big reach - median SAT around 1500 or higher - tough to make up this gap with GPA/EC/etc.
Yale University
Princeton University
Duke University
University of Chicago
Columbia University
Johns Hopkins University
Carnegie Mellon University

Reach - median SAT 1450 or higher, but GPA could make it possible
Brown University
Georgetown University
Northeastern University

Match - metrics are competitive (SAT low to mid 1400s). Even students with competitive metrics may have low admission percentages at some of these, so “match” doesn’t equal “likely admit”.
Barnard College
New York University
University of Michigan
University of California: Berkeley
University of California: L.A.
Wellesley College
Boston University

Semi-safety - metrics are strong in comparison, but I don’t know if any are a true safety.
University of North Carolina
University of Florida
University of Maryland

12

If you want to become a psychologist then an advanced degree is a must. Taking on any debt would be a bad idea. Maintaining a high undergrad GPA for grad school would be ideal.

13

“McGill in Montreal would be a safety”

Acceptance wise, yes. It is also very good for psychology. In terms of finances, I do not think that McGill is a safety with an EFC of US$23,675.

I am concerned about the number of reaches on the list. This will make it hard to do a good job on each application.

“University of Florida is my safety and Bright Futures will cover my tuition there”

This is a very good university. I am usually more comfortable with two safeties but if you really know that you will get accepted at UF and that it will be affordable, it is a great choice even if everything else either is a reject or is not affordable.

With separated parents I share the concern expressed above that the NPCs might not be accurate. I am concerned that you have many reaches, and a few schools were acceptance is very likely but affordability is hard to know.

Of course with one great safety, the rest becomes less stressful, or at least less critical.

Perhaps you should run the NPCs, throw out schools that the NPC suggests will be unaffordable, pick 5 or 6 (at most 10) reaches that are your top choices, and apply to them plus UF, and maybe one other in-state public university.

To answer your question, I would put Northeastern and BU as matches or probable for admission, but highly unknown and possibly reaches in terms of affordability. UF looks very highly likely to me. I do not know about UNC and UMD, other than “not safeties” since you are out of state. The rest to me at least seem to range from low reaches to high reaches.

14

OP, did you take a foreign language? For how long? I also don’t see those core sciences that would be expected for top-tier schools (chemistry, physics, bio and an advanced version of one of these). How does your course rigor match up to the top students at your school? Is your counselor prepared to say you have taken the “most rigorous” coursework?

15

I took Spanish for two years then I decided to drop. I am taking the most rigorous courses that my school offers other than Calc BC and Chemistry/Bio

16

I quickly went to Harvard’s website and see they want 4 years of a foreign language and bio, chem, physics and an advanced science. You should do the same fact-gathering for your list. It will help you determine whether you are a fit.

17

If you only took 2 years of foreign language and haven’t had 4 years each of math and science (including bio, chem, and physics) then your guidance counselor can’t check the “most rigorous” box. I think that will make a lot of your reaches out of your reach no matter what your GPA and test scores are. I think you need 4 years of the core courses (Eng, math, history, science, and foreign language) to be competitive.

What courses have you taken so far? What are you planning to take for your junior and senior year?