Hi, I am an upcoming senior from Massachusetts who is wondering from admissions what schools I would most likely get into. I plan on applying early action to a few schools around my area. Right now as of end of junior year, I have an unweighted GPA of about 3.77 and a weighted GPA of 3.99. I took 1 honors class freshman year, 4 sophomore year, and 4 junior year. I have not taken AP classes yet so that is why probably my weighted GPA is a little low and I was so mad that I did not get to a 4.0. I plan to take 3 AP classes senior year: AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, and AP Computer Science. I was going to take AP Economics my junior year but I couldn’t since the class was full and my counselor didn’t let me. I have gotten A’s and B’s in most of my classes and 2 B-'s. No C’s yet. By the second semester of junior year, I have gotten straight A’s. For SAT scores, I have gotten an 1160, 520 on evidence based reading and writing, 640 on math which is not great. I plan on retaking the SAT in August and October (if my scores aren’t great enough). I am hoping to get anywhere from 1300-1400 range. I took the ACT and got a 23 which I do not plan to submit or take it again for college. I will just focus on my SAT from now on. I know my test scores aren’t great but reading is really difficult for me as I have always had a struggle in English class ever since I came to America. English is my second language and I have been in SPED English ever from Kindergarten to tenth grade. Junior year was the first time I was put in a regular English class. I am pretty sure my counselor is gonna put that on my recommendation letter. I have grown up speaking Chinese. I know my test scores are not that competitive. Aside from grades and test scores, I am part of my school band, played basketball as a freshman, run cross country from sophomore to senior year, going to run indoor and outdoor track next year, part of National Honors Society, in Badminton club, and in syrian relief club. For leadership experience: I am the captain of a Relay for Life Team and I am part of a freshman orientation committee. I have over 200 hours of community service from CITing at Camps, Relay for Life, helping with organizations, and helping at road races. For work experience: I used to be a bagger from 2014-2016 at Stop and Shop. Right now I am currently a cashier at Stop and Shop. For awards: I was on the high honor roll ever since freshman year and I am on national honor society since junior year. As you can see, I have not have won many awards or had many leadership positions during high school but I tried to run for a band historian which I do not get. I feel like I participate in activities but do not take in leadership control of them which I want to but I have a huge passion in everything I participate. I do not have any legacies at colleges because all my family members went to college in China. I am pretty sure that I could get good recommendation letters since I work with my teachers A LOT in basically every subject at school especially my English teacher whom I’ve had for two years. I should rank around 30% of my class but my school does not rank students. I am still thinking about what to write for my essay. I wonder what my chances are of getting to each of these schools with early action applying:
Umass Amherst
Umass Lowell
Boston University
Northeastern University
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Umass Boston
University of New Hampshire
University of Connecticut
Brandeis University
My top school on the list is Umass Amherst since I have always been interested in going to that school ever since I was young but my only concern is that my SAT score does not match up to the school’s average. I also want to go there since the tuition isn’t as expensive as many other schools around here. I have visited the campus and definitely can picture myself there for 4 years plus it has a lot to offer for all students there. I am interested in majoring computer science there and minoring accounting maybe. I also worry that since I did not take calculus in high school, my chances would be lowered since computer science is a highly competitive major at that school. I really enjoy math and science classes and I want to keep pursuing them in college. I would have taken precalc over the summer this year but then, our school had a policy that they are not allowing students to take math classes over the summer anymore and I really regret not accelerating my math earlier like I should have. I have always wanted to go into computer science since I was young and I do well in my math classes. I plan on studying really hard this summer for my August and October SAT’s. If you have any advice on how to increase my chances of getting to these schools, please let me know.
Do you have Naviance at your school? Have you compared your scores to the scores at those schools?
Or look at these schools on about.com…they have a nice scatter plot you could compare your scores to.
Umass Amherst High match
Umass Lowell Match
Boston University Low reach
Northeastern University Reach
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Low reach
Umass Boston Safety
University of New Hampshire Safety
University of Connecticut Match
Brandeis University Reach
I am 1st generation going to college in USA. All my family members went to college in China. I am also a minority and speak two languages if that helps.
You need to get your SAT scores up to have a shot at UMass Amherst. If you can get your scores up 100 point or so (often achievable with SAT preparation) then you should have a chance. I think that UMass Lowell is a solid match. I also think that it is a good school and you would do well there if you don’t get into UMass Amherst.
I think that Boston University and Northeastern may be reaches in two dimensions: Will you get in? and Will you be able to afford them?
WPI I know very little about. I do sort of like Worcester (the city). UMass Boston and UNH look like safeties to me also. Of the two I personally would pick UNH but only because the location seems more attractive (which is better for what you want to study, I have no idea).
As always, run the NPC and see how the finances work out. The in-state public schools should be good choices in terms of cost.
Yeah I toured Umass lowell and Amherst and seems like I really fit into the community of Amherst and lowell. Boston, not so much. One thing, the separated campuses at lowell isn’t convienient but that’s not an issue for me. I like WPI too but it’s a little expensive for me but my test scores aren’t up there also but I know that is an optional school so I might get in without submitting it. I can see myself at UNH but the tuition is a little expensive since I am out of state. I would definitely go to Umass lowell if I do not get into Amherst. I plan on applying early action.
I live in Mass and am from NH. My daughter is applying to colleges this fall including some on your list.
Do you live near Boston. MIT has an SAT prep class that you can see if it will be offered in Sept/Oct. It was on Sunday afternoons and cost $120. It helped my daughter. They do a pretest then put you into 3 separate groups based on your scores for reading, writing and math.
UMass Boston - issue 1 - they dropped lots of classes earlier this year so no idea what is going on with that
- issue 2 - no dorms though they said they will have a freshman only dorm for fall 2018 - do you live close enough to commute the other years since Boston apartments aren’t cheap
I think BU and Northeastern may both be a reach. Brandeis may be a high reach since I thought there 25-75% SAT score was in the 1400s. All 3 schools are very pricey.
Have you considered Eastern CT State University or U Maine Orono since they match U Mass Amherst tuition rates for Mass residents? My daughter didn’t like the size of Amherst at all and liked U Lowell a lot more. I grew up near UNH and find it much more rural. My daughter is interested but if she goes there she would probably live with my sister.
My nephew is a computer science major at Brown. He took AP Calculus AB in high school and thought he would be low on the math end but found several cs students who hadn’t taken Calculus yet so you might be fine.
I live like 20 miles from Boston. I have already taken two SAT Prep classes. I took A-List last summer and then Kaplan from this March to May. I have improved 120 points from my PSAT this year which is not a lot. I do live close enough to commute but I would probably apply there and not attend since I want to live on a campus that has dorms for student access and have apartments around the school that are cheaper. I don’t think I will apply to Brandeis since it is too close to home and I want to go somewhere a little far away that I can stay in a dorm. I have not considered Eastern CT State University or Umain Orono. I don’t know if I want to go to these schools. I like the size of Amherst a lot since it is pretty big and I feel more involved with the campus. I would like to go to a school that has a good computer science program and offers tutoring and extra support. I would also like to be involved in the school’s band and the club sports.