What are my chances and how do they relate to paying for college?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Basically, I'm a rising senior in the second largest school in my state, and I'm trying to figure out what schools I should bother applying to. My ranking is 9 out of a class of 300 with a weighted GPA of 4.7 (4.0 UW).</p>

<p>I'm curious as to what schools I should reach to get into, as well as the issue of paying for school. Unfortunately, my family has no money; they are both students themselves and have a combined income below $50,000. I would like to attend some of the better schools, but I'm not sure if I can afford them, let alone be accepted...</p>

<p>Then there are those schools that I know I'll be able to get into (for instance UMaine in my home state) where I'd only have to pay $8,000/yr... I'm just really confused as to the approach I should take.</p>

<p>Reach Schools:
Brown?
Amherst?
UC Berkeley?
(I really have no idea what to reach for)</p>

<p>Match:
George Washington
Boston University
NYU</p>

<p>Safety:
University of Southern Maine
Colby College</p>

<p>My Stats:</p>

<p>SATs: 680 CR, 700 M, 700 W (1 attempt)
AP Tests: tbd</p>

<p>GPA: 4.7 weighted, 4.0 unweighted</p>

<p>Freshman: Hon. Algebra II, Hon. Earth Sci., Geography/Civics, Frsh English, Frsh Health, Spanish II
Soph: Hon. Biology, Hon. Pre-Calc, Hon. English, Hon. Spanish III, US History, Music Survey
Junior: AP Economics, AP Language, AP US History, Hon. Chem, Hon. Spanish IV, STEM AP Calculus (AB & BC)
*As in all classes</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Varsity Tennis: Grades 9, 10, 11
Varsity Swim: 9, 10, 11
Class Council (member): 9
National Honor Society: 12</p>

<p>*My ECs are very lackluster because I have had to hold a job the past 2 years in order to help pay bills</p>

2

<p>Don’t apply to schools like nyu and bu, two of the more expensive colleges in the country if u can’t afford it. They will grant u a lot but probably not enough </p>

3

<p>Have you considered QuestBridge? You might be able to be a finalist which would help a lot for finances and admissions.</p>

4

<p>@PrayforUF NYU is notorious for giving terrible aid actually.</p>

5

<p>OP, holding a paying job is NOT lackluster. In fact, that may help you! Also, UC Berkeley shouldn’t be on your list because you will not be able to get the price down to $8,000 as an OOS student.</p>

6

<p>If you can bring up your SATs, you have a great chance at excellent schools with very strong financial aid. You might want to write your essay about your job and need for it to help your family but make sure it tells a story, with lots of details.</p>

<p>In looking at reach and match schools, think about the sort of place you want to be. A city? A large university or a small liberal arts college? What do you want to study?</p>

<p>Ditto on QuestBridge.</p>

<p>By the way, why are you using USM as your safety school rather than UMaine? UMaine is the land grant, has a wider variety of programs, a better campus life, is more highly ranked, and is in much better financial shape. Their Honors College is also quite good.</p>