1300 SAT (first time taking, see below for important information)
29 ACT (also first time, see below)
I go to a very competitive and wealthy public school in NJ
I am a Hispanic male with Tourette’s Syndrome, ADHD, ADD and OCD
This year’s classes:
AP Philosophy (English equivalent)
Spanish IV
Pre-Calc H
Physics H
APUSH II
AP Macroeconomics
Gym, Health, Digital Design
Freshman year:
AP World Literature (English equivalent)
Spanish II H
AP Algebra I
Biology
Global Studies H (History equivalent)
Gym, Health, Carpentry, Acting
Sophomore year:
AP English
Spanish III
Geometry H
Geo Science
Government Studies H
APUSH I
Gym, Driver’s Ed.
Extracurricular:
Studied abroad for a year in New Zealand
Part of CGI (Civics and Gov’t Institute, small learning community within my school) as a sophomore
Played soccer for a year
Part-time job
ECs I will do this year:
Model UN
Bowling, tennis and ultimate Frisbee team
Start a charity club at my school
Another part-time job
Tourette’s Syndrome Association youth advocate
I cannot improve my GPA at all as my school does not change it after junior year. I was not made aware of this until recently. I just recently took the SAT and ACT for the first time and received a 1300 and 29 respectively. It is important to understand that this was without extra time and that I have since been granted time and a half. I did not have enough time to answer at least 15 questions on both and I took both without studying at all. My tutor expects me to get between 1400-1500 on the SAT and at the very least a 32 on the ACT, but more like a 33 or 34.
My college counselor expects that my experience in New Zealand, as well as my being Hispanic, will help to partially make up for my poor GPA, which is simply due to lack of motivation.
I’m sure there are other things that I’ve forgotten so I will edit them as they pop into my head.
So, what are some colleges that I should be looking at? I want to be realistic but I also want those who answer to consider the impact that my year abroad could have on an application reviewer’s decision. Both my college counselor and myself are confident that it could really boost my chances.
The following are some schools in each category that I am considering. I am not necessarily applying to them.
Reach
Rice
Cornell
McGill
UCLA
U of Chicago
U of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Mid-Range
U of Washington
U of British Columbia
NYU
Reed College
St. Andrew’s (Scotland)
Boston University
Tulane
Safety
Rutger’s
Occidental
Syracuse
Fordham
I feel like these are slightly unrealistic expectations but my private counselor (who has over 30 years of experience) thinks they’re fair. Please let me know if they are realistic, and if they’re not, please show me some examples of schools that fit into each category!
Your year abroad, given the right essay prompt and used in the most optimal way would definitely give you an interesting essay, which is good of course, sets you apart from the competition. Unfortunately your GPA is fairly low and is a huge part of admissions, especially to competitive schools. Having said that, I would have to say that your reaches are quite high. That’s not to say you shouldn’t try for them, especially given your circumstances and your experiences. I know that you will get into at least one of the schools on this list, and if that’s what you’re looking for then there you go. But if you want to get into your reach schools, then it will come down to retaking your tests and how much of a fit the schools think you are based on your essays. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the response; it definitely helped. I don’t know if you saw what I wrote, but I took those tests without extra time and without studying. It is expected that the score I send it will be in the 1400-1500 range for SAT and thr 32-34 range for ACT.
Also, which schools on my list do you think I could get into? Are the mid-ranges acceptable for my stats? Are all of my reach schools unrealistic, or are some possible for me to get into?
Also, is there any specific type of school that tends to have a higher propensity to accept students based more so on essays and experiences rather than on scores?
@mstomper If your son has a 3.2 and a 1450/33 and he has Fordham as a reach, I’d say he should be shooting for more. Plus, I’m guessing your son didn’t study abroad for a year.
If you score as expected I think Fordham would be more of a match. I’m not sure that any on your list would be a safety other than Rutgers. There are probably a lot of liberal art colleges that are good options. You may want to check out Temple as well.
Is your 3.15 weighted just freshman and sophomore grades? Do you have any grades from your junior year in New Zealand?
I ask because all of the schools on your list have an average high school gpa for their students of at least 3.6 (with a 3.8 or higher for the top half of your list). So I’m not sure how you can demonstrate to schools that your ability to do well in courses is competitive with applicants with significantly higher grades. (Other than through test scores, which, if improved as much as you say, would be above average for your safeties at least.)
I was also wondering: Are AP Philosophy, APUSH II, and AP Algebra I actually courses? I haven’t heard of them, though maybe your school refers to things in different ways.
@Wilson98 Yeah, that GPA is only reflective of my freshman and sophomore grades. I have grades from NZ, but they were poorly translated into American grades and they do not affect my GPA.
In response to your second paragraph, what caliber of school do you think is appropriate for my mid-range schools? Reaches?
And lastly, both AP Philosophy and AP Algebra I are actually high honors courses, but hold the same weight as AP classes, which is why I put them as AP. APUSH II is a result of New Jersey’s ridiculous law that forces all students to go through two years of US history classes.
All of the publics on your list – McGill, UCLA, Michigan, Washington, UBC – focus heavily on GPA, test scores, and rank. UCLA, Michigan, and Washington do not consider race/ethnicity in admissions; I doubt McGill or UBC consider it either.
Rice, Cornell, and Chicago are highly unlikely.
Will finances be an issue? NYU and BU are notoriously stingy with financial aid, and you’re unlikely to get financial aid at most out-of-state public schools or at St Andrews.
For additional matches, take a look at some of the good but not extremely selective liberal arts colleges, which I think would love to have you – Allegheny, Lewis & Clark, Willamette, Trinity, etc. Given your interest in IR (per your other thread), American, GWU, and U Denver are worth a look, as are Dickinson and Macalester among LACs.
@NikolasAlcala, how much are your parents able and willing to pay each year? A lot of the schools on your list will run them $60-70K+ a year, which is why many people also consider “financial safeties.”
@pickledginger Money is not too much of an issue for me because my grandmother was kind enough to (unbeknownst to our family) bequeath over $125k in college money to myself and my cousins, and along with my parents’ savings for me I think I should be left with only a year or so’s worth of debt. However, I would, of course, like to save this if possible.
Others may disagree, but I don’t think you should mention (in your app) that your GPA was due to low motivation. Because if you aren’t motivated in college – competing for grades against other highly intelligent and (mostly) driven students – you will struggle. No adcom wants to admit someone with a fair-to-strong likelihood of either flunking out or dropping out due to lack of interest.
It is difficult to find true matches for someone with under a 3.15 unweighted GPA (what is your unweighted GPA, by the way?) and a 1450 SAT, assuming you score that high on your next attempt.
But I like a previous poster’s suggestion of some LACs that are not top-25 but still pretty good, where they will give you a URM bump to help offset your GPA. I’d add more schools like Beloit, Lawrence, Hendrix, Connecticut College, St. Olaf, Sewanee, Rhodes – solid LACs ranked from about 40-100 on the USNews National LAC ranking.
Above #40, I think you’re looking at reaches among the LACs. For universities, roughly the top 50 are probably reaches; but the private schools will be less so because of the URM bump.
So for reaches, research the top 50 (or so) universities and top 40ish LACs and for matches look at the next 60ish LACs and, oh, the next 100 universities. Evaluate them on cost and academic, environmental and social preferences.