university recommendations for high sat low gpa

College Search & Selection
1

Can anyone recommend any universities for a high sat low gpa profile?
My ideal university is
-reputable
-in a city that will provide internship opportunities
-environment that is not cutthroat and good scene for dating/relationships

Cost is a big factor but I will not be paying 100% out of pocket

I want to end up going into finance or economics but I enjoy humanities(critical thinking)
I am considering
-Erasmus Rotterdam
-St. Andrews
-Edinburgh
-Kings london
-U Toronto
-U of bc
-McGill (low gpa)

Domestically, I am considering
-Arizona State
-Cu boulder
-Rutgers
-Upitt
-NYU
-GW
-UMD
-Northeastern

Does anyone have any recommendations as to universities/majors? The whole process is a bit overwhelming

Stats:
1560 sat
3.1/3.8 uw/w upward trend
800 math 2
740 lit
780 us history
Two AP test scores w 3 in Lang and Music Theory

2

So how much can you pay/year?
Home State?

3

Thanks for the reply
Even though I can pay for the more expensive privates (60k a year), I feel that would be a waste
Maryland

4

Your profile and interests say " Macalester" to me!
Meets all your criteria to a tee.

5

You thinking about NYU? the price tag is hefty but you might qualify for a decent chunk of financial aid. NY has countless opportunities in the finance industry.

6

I’m applying NYU but unsure of what college
Would it be worth applying to stern? I know my gpa will hold me back to some extent

7

Congratulations on the upward trend! That is very important.

It’s important you ask yourself, honestly, why your demonstrated ability (at least as indicated by the SAT score) and your academic performance have not been in sync. It’s great you have an upward trend. Can you do what is necessary to make sure that that continues in college? Here’s what I’d recommend:

Commit to going to class. That is absolutely essential, and it’s easy not to do it without a parent or other family member getting you out of bed on a very cold (Macalester/NYU) morning. You won’t do well if you don’t go to class.

Get to know your professors. Go to office hours and test prep opportunities. You’ll be paying a lot. Why not take advantage of learning one on one, and on getting to know people who can help you with grad school, internships, and/or a first job?

Get a tutor for any science/math classes. This is a sign of academic strength, not weakness. This is what successful students do.

Communicate with academic counseling even before you get to campus. Schools often offer classes and other learning opportunities, especially to freshman. Often you can take a 1-credit class or something like that, which meets maybe once a week for several weeks. You learn valuable tips about succeeding in college, which is different from high school. It requires much more discipline and hard work and time management outside of the classroom. And if you do have a problem, you’ll have someone you know who can offer some help. Students fail because they don’t get ahead of any issues.

As far as schools go, NYU is great, but really does not offer a lot of aid. I know this from general knowledge and personal experience. Macalester is great.

Some others you might explore–McGill (right in Montreal, great city, great location, very cold), Temple University; Trinity University (San Antonio, not Trinity College in Hartford, CT); College of Charleston; University of Vermont (Burlington is fantastic); University of San Francisco; University of San Diego; University of Pittsburgh; and maybe Lake Forest in Chicago and Rhodes College in Memphis. Most of these will be pretty expensive.

In the Netherlands, look into the University Colleges. These are smaller, LAC type schools affiliated with large universities. I’d recommend Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Good luck!

8

I forgot to add that at the Dutch University Colleges all courses are taught in English. They are very affordable, and it only takes 3 years for a bachelors degree.

9

This seems like exactly the route I want to go down
I meet the admission requirements for Erasmus University College in Rotterdam and meet the requirements for Utrecht and Amsterdam aside from the one AP foreign language requirement which I will email them about
My only worry is how the degree will look for grad schools-assuming I have internships/strong grades as support

Thanks for your detailed advice it is very helpful

10

Your AP scores aren’t enough for the UK universities you mention, but the SAT2s work. Are you taking any more APs this year?

In the UK, particularly England, you need to study just the subject(s) you’re ‘majoring’ in, no exploration of other areas, no gen eds. There’s a bit more flexibility in Scotland, but still limited compared to the US.

So you will have to choose to study a humanities subject (English, history, etc?) with the aim of doing internships to get you experience in a finance field, OR studying something financey to start with. Where are you hoping to work post-degree?

Also, there will be no FA for internationals in the UK, sorry.

11

What can your family afford?

12

Up to 50k a year cost of attendance
My family is in a tax bracket where we would not get FA for American schools
I am taking 4 APs this year
I don’t know the specifics of where I want to work post-degree but I am good at networking and I have always excelled in English

Would it be worth applying to Oxford English?
I fit their minimum requirements and their process is suited to my strengths(test taking and interviewing)

13

What’s your visa/immigration status?

If your status is such that you would qualify for in-state tuition and in-state scholarships (e.g. on an E, H or L visa; or as a permanent resident), I would very strongly consider a public university in your home state.

Having a “spare” budget can open all sorts of doors for you. It may allow you to study abroad, or pursue an internship that doesn’t pay for itself, or go to graduate school, or join a fraternity (if you’re into that sort of thing), or even just partake in courses that require expensive course materials. (I once dropped a course in college because it would have entailed a $2,000 expense that I could not afford.)

Heck, I’d rather spend money on nicer living arrangements than tuition. Like a single room in a quiet dorm or apartment, so that I can sleep whenever I want to sleep instead of when my roommates and neighbors choose to let me sleep. Whether there’s 30 or 100 students in your courses will matter less than whether you’re operating on 4 or 8 hours of sleep… Depending on the distances between things, being able to afford a car can make a big difference in the academic and social opportunities you have.

Money matters.

14

Agreed, cost is a major factor
However, I can go to Erasmus Rotterdam for cheaper than my in-state(assuming I get into UMD which can go either way)

15

I am surprised that you are considering English-speaking universities all over the world. Does the location matter to you at all? For example, are you hoping to work in a particular country after college? Will you need a work or immigrant visa to live there?

16

I want to throw myself into a different culture
And I don’t think location puts a major limit on employment opportunities-I know plenty of people with European degrees that work in the US
I have no idea where I want to live when I grow up

17

Look into the Netherlands’ university colleges.
Your issue is lack of AP 5s - you’ll need a 5 in calc bc (very likely condition) if you apply for Economics or finance.
Look into entry criteria for Economic history at Edinburgh.

18

Just want to point out that pretty much any decent American college has an extensive collection of study-abroad programs now.

As for limit on employment opportunities, that depends. If you want to work in region X of the US, it’ll be tougher to do so if you go to college abroad than if you go to a comparable school in region X (or somewhere in the US) for obvious reasons.

Folks who work in the US who went to undergrad elsewhere typically weren’t born American and got established in their field before coming over or came to the US for grad school. You don’t have the first option if you don’t have work authorization elsewhere. If grad school is a goal, then sure, a degree from abroad is a feasible option.

19

I don’t know the specifics of your situation, but I’d like to second PurpleTitan that where you get your degree from can constrain your immigration options and employability.

For example, foreigners with a degree from an American university can work in the US for 1-3 years (on OPT) before they require work visa sponsorship by an employer. Since work visa sponsorship can be a lengthy (multi-year) process, the ability to start working immediately makes a big difference to employers.

There’s other hiccups too. For example, for US immigration purposes, a foreign 3-year Bachelor’s degree is NOT equivalent to a 4-year US Bachelor’s degree. Some visa classes that require a Bachelor’s degree (e.g. H-1B) allow applicants to substitute the missing year of university with 3 years of work experience; other visa classes do not allow for substitutions (like an EB-3 green card for professionals).

Canadian immigration too favors immigrants with Canadian university degrees. Their points-based immigration scheme awards additional points if you studied at a Canadian university for at least 2 years (and other things you might acquire while studying in Canada, like a Canadian work history or a Canadian spouse).

Of course there’s also plenty of scenarios in which the country of your degree (or your first degree, if you’ll ultimately get another one) does not matter.

20

Consider Durham in the UK top 10 university… It will take Sat II’s as an alternative to AP’s, it wont care about GPA. Depending on the course it could be 3 years so working out much cheaper. Maths and Philosophy 3 years you should be very competitive…