Demographics
U.S Citizen, New Jersey, public school, white male, first generation college student
Intended Major(s)
Political Science and/or History
GPA
3.857 unweighted GPA as of end of junior year
4.988 weighted GPA as of end of junior year
Test-Optional
Coursework
13 APs (11 classes w/ tests + 2 i just took the test) (with senior year schedule)
15 Honors classes (with senior year schedule)
AP world: 4
AP psych: 3
AP lang: 4
AP comp. gov: 3
AP gov: TBD
AP comp sci: 4
AP us history: 4
AP macro: 2 (wont submit)
2 dual enrollement classes with Stockton University
Awards
National AP Scholar w/ honors
Extracurriculars
Student Council (officer from sophomore to senior year)(member freshman year with volunteer hours)
Tutoring - 10 families from elementary to high school level (sophomore to senior year, set up tutoring sessions through interact club, student council, and my own initiative)
Model UN (member all four years)(secretary from junior to senior year)
Interact Club (member all four years)(secretary from sophomore-senior year)
Two jobs (worked at restaraunt from summer going into freshman year to after HS- 40+ hours a week in the summer, 10+ in the school year) (did billing for a cleaning company)
Italian club (4 years, vice president)
Writer for online student led newspaper, junior to senior year
Food Bank (volunteer leader, 100+ hours)
Book Club (book club all four years)(library aid freshman and sophomore year)(started book club outside of school)
Key Club (member all four years)
Latin Club (member all four years)
Schools I Have Visited
Have officially visited (in-person):
Colgate University
Hamilton College
Boston College
Bowdoin College
Bates College
Colby College
Virtual visits with:
Reed College
Tufts University
Syracuse University
What are my chances at the schools I visited? Help me make my college list – recommend reach, match, and safety schools pleaee
Of the schools you have visited, all had an acceptance rate of less than 20% this year. You can throw Tufts into that group as well. You are obviously a strong candidate, but college admissions has gotten so crazy that even top candidates can’t feel secure when less than 1 in 5 candidates is being accepted or in some of these cases, fewer than 1 in 10. It’s not that you aren’t qualified, it’s that the colleges are overwhelmed with qualified candidates and have only a limited number of seats. This makes your essays very important, so they should be a priority.
Your best shots are at Syracuse and Reed where you are a very strong candidate. Of the rest, Boston College presents the best opportunity. That’s not to say you shouldn’t apply to the others, you should. But you need to look at other schools as well where the odds are more in your favor. For example, Union College in Schenectady and Trinity in Hartford are 2 very good LACs in the same region which are both very strong in poli-sci. Your chances would be very good here. University of Vermont is a mid size university which feels more like a private school than a public (70+% out of state), has good opportunities for poli-sci, and where your acceptance would be a slam dunk.
Your list is a mix of small and mid size colleges, rural and urban, heavily New England/Upstate NY, all private. Is that your preference? Can you afford all of them or do you need to include Rutgers or other state u as a financial safety? The College of New Jersey is in the state Capitol where there would be good opportunities for a poli-sci major.
Given your interest in political science, you might want to consider Quinnipiac (CT) as a match. It offers merit scholarships of up to 28K/year and for need-based aid requires FAFSA only.
I agree with @Bill_Marsh - college admissions became even more competitive and unpredictable last year under COVID and greater availability of TO. There is much to like and admire in your profile but many of the schools in your list are reaches for all. I don’t see any true matches or safeties on your list. Syracuse is the most attainable.
You seem to be leaning towards LACs and mid-sized private universities. For LACs, there are many in PA and OH that are more in the match category, some of which offer merit scholarships. For a public that has a more LAC feel, check out SUNY-Geneseo or U VT’s Honors Program. Clark U in Worcester, MA, is also a great option - very committed to diversity of all kinds, including first gen. Finally, don’t rule out Rutgers-NB - the Poli Sci and History programs are both superb, as is its Honors Program.
Congrats on a great record. You didn’t mention finances and these are always important.
For example, do you have significant need? Is your parents income/savings small - under $65K income - because if so, you might apply for Questbridge.
If you won’t get need aid, are your parents willing to pay $80K a year, etc because that’s what most these schools will cost.
The other folks are spot on with their chancing (Syracuse and Reed are likely) - the others are definitely possible buy unlikely. I’d put Bates into likely if ED.
I think you can get great merit aid - but you can’t at the top tier schools you listed because they do need aid only. The only school on the list that offers merit aid is Syracuse - so if you don’t have need and your folks don’t want to pay $80K, you need to scrap the list. While you didn’t ask about cost, that’s always a concern.
If cost an issue and you want small, you could look at schools like St. Marys Maryland, Richmond, Dennison, Gettysburg, Skidmore, Kalamazoo, Beloit. In other words, take the pedigree down a notch to schools where you would overperform the average student body.
You may also look at Washington & Lee which has the Johnson Scholarship and is as good in poli sci as anyone in the country. A professor there told me, per capita, they have the highest placement in government except for one other school - Sewanee. No way to prove that - but it’s what he told my daughter and I in informal chat. The Johnson Scholarship is designed to attract diversity - and while you’re a white male, you’re a first gen - so you never know. Getting on their email list will get you an application waiver. Other schools as well.
Without casting aspersions on Willamette or any other college on the College Transitions list, I find their methodology suspect. Not only is it similar to the US News methodology, they even use US News as one of their data sources.
Nothing wrong with perusing this list, but there is really no substitute for reading the catalogue to see what the college actually offers both in course work and in special programs and then visiting some colleges and asking questions. There are certainly schools not on this list which are also strong in poli-sci.
thank you for responding! to answer your questions, yes, I am heavily interested in the New England / Northeast area, and would prefer to go to college out of state. I have been researching need-based schools, which offer better financial opportunities for me and my family. In college, I will be on a pre-law track. Going on a pre-law track, I am worried about whether or not the prestige of my undergrad degree would affect later opportunities.
Do you think I would have better chances at Boston College if I do ED? That is currently my top school. Another question is whether or not College Vine is reliable? It has me chanced at 64%-73% with BC.
But you are looking for “better” financial opportunities.
So here’s the thing with ED. Have you run the net price calculator? What if you get in but you can’t afford BC?
So make sure your parents are 100% on board with you doing this, knowing BC costs $80K+ full pay. In other words, if it says your out of cost is $20K, then fine. But if it says it’s $80K, know that you’ll be tied to that # on ED. ED definitely enhances your chances. However, it’s a big risk because there are many fine colleges you can go to that will potentially cost many thousands less.
As for law school, poli sci is the common major - so you won’t stand out. More important than your undergrad school is your GPA and LSAT. Many now also work before going to law school.
There is no question at a top school, a large portion of the students are from top colleges, including the college itself. Yet you will also find kids from Boise State and South Dakota State, etc. at top colleges as wel since it’s the GPA/LSAT that is most important.
If it were my child, I would find a much lower cost school than BC. But I’m basing that comment on full pay and not your need based cost. For example, a school like U of South Carolina (not the North East) with its top ranked honors college will cost you probably $30K a year after merit. A Syracuse like $50K. An Alabama (bringing in tons of New Yorkers) or Miami of Ohio, much less.
BC is a wonderful school and I hope, if it’s your dream, you find a way there. It is, however, expensive.
I wouldn’t trust College Vine or any other predictor. Too much goes into each college’s decision, more than just a formula. BC is particularly unpredictable right now because they took a big jump in selectivity this year - from the high 20’s to the high teens. Will they stay in the high teens or revert to form? No one knows - not even BC.
You want financial aid and you want a top college. That’s a tough combination. You can improve your chances by looking outside the Northeast. All top colleges want a national profile. Their number of applicants increases in their immediate geographic area. If you are from outside the area, you have a better chance.
So you might have a better chance at colleges in the Midwest like Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, Kenyon, and Oberlin than at the small LACs in the Northeast which you’ve targeted. Same for bigger schools in the Midwest/South like Washington U/St. Louis, Case Western Reserve, Marquette, Emory, and Tulane which are comparable in size to your BC, Tufts, & Syracuse choices. I’m not saying not to keep your current list, but just that you might want to cast your net wider to increase your chances. All of the schools you’ve listed get a ton of applicants from New Jersey. Even in the Northeast there are some very good schools a notch down from your list but similar where you’d be a high priority admit. For example, Union, Dickinson, and Gettysburg would all be interesting for pre-law. There really is no pre-law track. An interesting alternative to an LAC but a top colleges where you can major in History/Poli-Sci is Babson. It’s overlooked because it’s thought of as a business school. But they have a very different approach to business education, heavily steeped in liberal arts and they have cross registration with Wellesley, just across town, to supplement their course offerings. A lot of law schools would love to see an applicant from Babson.
Go for BC where you have a pretty good chance of getting admitted but probably not great for financial aid. But cast your net wide so that in the end you have choices.
I saw today (in a marketing email to kiddo) that Dickinson will be test-free this year (I assume that is the same as test blind) so it might be worth a look from OP.