What are the best schools I could get into?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Gender: Female
Race: White
State: Texas
High school: Public, somewhat competitive</p>

<p>GPA: 3.59 unweighted, school doesn't tell us weighted GPAs but reports them on official transcripts
Rank: 37/290
SAT (first attempt, retaking): M:560, CR:560, W:650
ACT: 25 Composite, 26 English, 25 Math & Reading, 24 Science, 9 Essay
AP: English Language & Composition- 3</p>

<p>9th grade classes & ECs:
Pre-AP English I
Pre-AP Biology I
Algebra I
World Geography
Spanish II
Yearbook Staff (head photographer)
Volunteer Organization (trustee)
National Junior Honor Society
Piano (National Piano Guild)</p>

<p>10th grade classes & ECs:
Pre-AP English II
Chemistry
Geometry
Pre-AP World History
Spanish III
Volunteer Organization
Piano Lessons (National Piano Guild)</p>

<p>11th grade classes & ECs:
AP English III
Physics
Algebra II
AP US History
AP European History
Newspaper Staff
Journalism Team
Volunteer Organization (in-school)
Volunteer Organization (outside of school, Manager)
Piano Lessons (National Piano Guild)
Future Career and Community Leaders of America</p>

<p>12th grade classes & ECs:
AP English IV
AP Environmental Science
Pre-Cal
AP Economics
Dual Credit Government
Intro Accounting- night class at local college
Newspaper Staff (editor-in-chief)
Yearbook Staff (section editor)
Journalism Team (captain)
Volunteer Organization (in-school)
Volunteer Organization (outside of school, Manager)
Piano Lessons (National Piano Guild)
Future Career and Community Leaders of America
National Honor Society (maybe, there's some confusion with the sponsors at my school)</p>

<p>AWARDS & HONORS:
9th grade:
President's Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence
Chosen for National Junior Honor Society</p>

<p>11th grade:
Various journalism awards at the state, regional, district, and local levels
Temple Sweetheart (volunteer award)
Chosen as All-American Scholar
Washington Journalism and Media Conference: National Youth Press Correspondent nominee
National Student Leadership Conference: program nominee
National Young Leaders Conference: program nominee
People to People: leadership program nominee
United States Achievement Academy: English Award
Chosen as a published author in the Creative Communications essay and poetry contests
National Society of High School Scholars</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>No exact estimate, but I do think you could try whatever schools you like, (but remember choose some safeties) any top30 would be okay;however you may have some difficulty in getting into top 10 schools-I mean HYPSM and the like.</p>

3

<p>Wow! Really!? Thank you for your response!</p>

4

<p>I will be a little less optimistic. First, I don’t think you hit the top 8% class rank for automatic admission into UT-Austin, but I don’t know about TAMU. Out of state major universities are are going to be tough as well. I don’t think you stack up favorably against Rice’s numbers.</p>

<p>So regional in-state public schools would be an option. The second tier of LACs would be a fit. I think Southwestern might be really interesting school for you to explore.</p>

<p>You are of course free to apply anywhere you want, but it is prudent to have some matches and safeties in your list.</p>

5

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<p>With a 1770 SAT and 25 ACT? Hoo boy I don’t think so. UVA, which is 24th, I remember some other poster saying that anything less than a 650 per section is a bad score. Don’t know anything more about that through 30th. She might have an outside shot at any of the state schools ranked 20-30 that she’s instate for, or maybe Wake Forest. I think that the colleges ranked 30-50 are better reaches. Tulane, for instance, is a fabulous school, but considering that she’s less than their 25th percentile SAT/at their 25th percentile ACT, it’s a reach. Maybe a low reach, because her ECs are pretty good, but definitely still a reach. Top 30 LACs might well happen, though. Check out Mizzou–one of my very journalism-y friends turned down a top-15 college for its journalism program. Or the University of Iowa. Great creative writing program.</p>

6

<p>What do you think my chances are for Wake Forest? I’ve heard many good things, but don’t know too much about the school.</p>

7

<p>^^go SAT/ACT optional for Wake; a 25 ACT will not cut it there (not sure about the GPA); possibly ED?</p>

8

<p>What can your family afford to pay? That might put Wake out of the game, even if you could get in.</p>

9

<p>I would apply ED, but I’ve planned on applying to Vanderbilt ED. I know I probably won’t get in, but it’s worth a shot.</p>

10

<p>We can’t afford to pay a lot. I don’t know exactly how much we can because my parents don’t like to talk finances with me.</p>

11

<p>“because my parents don’t like to talk finances with me.”</p>

<p>So, are you saying that you have no idea how you are paying for college? or have they told you that you can apply anywhere you want?</p>

<p>Vanderbilt is way too high of a reach to waste an ED on; seriously…and I am not usually one to discourage an application…</p>

<p>Wake is still a reachy choice, but a more reasonable one, especially since they do have the SAT/ACT optional choice…</p>

<p>but if you have no idea how you are paying for college, that discussion needs to happen before you apply anywhere; ED or otherwise…but especially ED</p>

12

<p>I will be more brutal, but accurate. Dawncoming is way off telling you top 30. Not a chance with those grades and test scores, especially the latter. You are just outside the top 10%, so that helps. There are some schools that don’t use standardized tests at all, find the best of those, like Wake mentioned above. You might have to spend a year at a lesser school and my making really good grades be able to transfer. If money is an issue, you might try UT Dallas (which btw is a rapidly improving school). If your thing is music there is UNT. You haven’t told us if you are thinking of a particular area of study, I don’t think. But both the SAT and ACT scores are lowest percentile at most of the top 50 schools, and your grades are not strong enough to make up for it. And as rodney says, you really have to have the discussion about finances. You are not getting any scholarships with those stats, so if money is tight, it is in state for sure.</p>

13

<p>Unless your parents are willing to pay $180,000-$200,000 for your college, you ABSOLUTELY have got to have that talk. Now. There are more schools that would take you as a “full pay” than are willing to offer considerable aid to you. So you get in, but can’t pay–then what?</p>

14

<p>Thanks, everyone. I’ll try to talk to my parents about it tonight. </p>

<p>I appreciate all of the input here. I kind of know my limits now.</p>

15

<p>Just one quick question- do y’all really think I won’t be able to get scholarships?</p>

<p>I’m starting to get really worried about all of this now.</p>

16

<p>Well, maybe someone knows something I don’t, but I assume you are not National Merit since you don’t do standardized tests well. But let me be clear. We are talking about merit scholarships. If your family’s finances are that tight, you will be eligible for need based aid, which can consist of scholarships and loans. It all depends on the details contained in the FAFSA, the main financial aid form.</p>

<p>So don’t panic yet. You need to talk to your parents, see your financial aid counselor at your school or at a college near you, and see where things fall out.</p>

<p>Also, while the comments made about where you will get in sound depressing, it is only in relation to the schools you were thinking about. People get all hung up on prestige, and sure there is value in going to a school where the kids are mostly pretty smart. But in the overall picture your grades are very good and your test scores are certainly not bad. There are plenty of fine schools that would love to have you, and where you will get a super education while having a great time. The more you are a standout for that school, the more acholarship money you are likely to get rather than loans. Again, depending on your FAFSA and EFC. We know nothing about your financial situation.</p>

17

<p>Thanks, fallenchemist. I’ve talked to a few people on here who have said that I should qualify for a nice little bit of need-based aid. </p>

<p>I’ll still talk to my parents and the counselors at my school once school starts.</p>

<p>Once again, thank you.</p>

18

<p>

She says she will RETAKE those tests. A 2100+ really is not hard; with that prerequisite in mind I think she could get into a top30 U. GPA&Rank aren’t great, but aren’t bad either.
Besides, those “national” "United States"awards, at first sight at least, do indeed give good impressions-“so she must be quite an accomplished student!” one may say-and good impressions indeed are of vast importance, especially if applying to large schools. </p>

<p>The money thing isn’t the most important issue; I still hold my ground-try whatever schools you like, but remember safeties. Those top 30, or even top10 schools, you may regret for a lifetime if you haven’t tried. Last year when I was about to apply to schools, school fellows said HYP were impossible for me; so I never tried them. Now I am regretting my life out why I didn’t try HYP at the time. One never knows-until he’ve tried.</p>

19

<p>

May have?? I bet there is not one person at HYPS with a 1770. If there is I bet there is a building named after a family member. It was just a poor piece of advice.</p>

<p>One can only chance on where a person is at this point. I did say those grades and test scores, not some theoretical scores. People can do hypotheticals all day, they are useless. Sure, if she happens to retake and go up that much, her chances are way better. But to say a 2100+ is not that hard is almost mean. It is obviously hard for her. The vast majority of time people do not raise their scores significantly, and certainly not hundreds of points. Yes, we read the anecdotal exceptions on here, but statistics show it is relatively rare. Some people just don’t do well on these tests. And given her financial situation, applying to a lot of schools where her chances are very low is a waste of money. Otherwise of course it doesn’t hurt to try, except getting all those rejection letters can be pretty demoralizing. Maybe it wouldn’t bother you, but not everyone is like you.</p>

<p>And to say the money thing isn’t the most important issue…I am not even sure what that means. If one cannot afford it, they just can’t. Why get one’s hopes up if in the end it is just unaffordable. But one should never come out of undergrad with a lot of debt.</p>

20

<p>

I usually write euphemisms. “might” “may” “would” “could”“probably” and the like. “You can not get into a top10 school” is a sentence too harsh for me, and for OP too, I dare say. </p>

<p>

well this is my fault. I mean, don’t be parsimonious when applying to schools- try some dream schools even if you know you can hardly get in, seventy bucks isn’t so important in this case; if ever got in, better not go to a state school rather than the dream school simply because the former is cheap, dream school is worthy of debts of whatever amounts(there won’t be a lot of debts actually, and from what I hear, the most debt is 8,000-12,000 for HYP students), if she is really your dream.</p>