I wanna major in astrophysics or particle physics but a lot of the colleges that have those programs are very difficult to get into (colleges like uchicago and columbia). I’m a junior, I have a 4.7 gpa, a PSAT score of 1230, and I do ECs like Science Olympiad and Track and Field. Does anyone know of any colleges that I could possibly put down as a safety?
Not really safeties for anyone, but there are a number of lacs with excellent physics departments: reed college, Lawrence university, haverford, grinnell, and vassar. Those are all significantly easier than Columbia and Chicago in terms of admission, but some of them arguably offer similar levels of academic rigor.
Cost constraints? State of residency? Unweighted HS GPA?
Depending on the above, there may be an in-state public that is affordable, is not excessively difficult to get admitted to, and has a good physics department.
Lawrence and st Olaf would be good matches. Excellent sciences with great grad school placement.
ASU Barrett would be a good bet for physics/astrophysics.
Run the NPCs.
You need to prep seriously for the SAT and/or take the ACT.
Your current score puts Columbia and UChicago out of reach (1400 would be bottom 25%).
@ucbalumnus
Cost Constraints: Probably max $40,000
State of Residency: Pennsylvania
Unweighted GPA: 3.9
The issue is that I don’t really qualify for financial aid with my parents’ income, so I kinda want to go to a college with a good program but has a lower sticker price.
Penn State is a solid physics program that shouldn’t be too expensive for you. If you do have a shot at Chicago and Columbia, you should have a pretty good chance of gaining admittance to Schreyer Honors’ College, which is a fantastic program.