What kind of colleges should I apply to?

Hello, I’m currently a high-school junior so I will be applying to colleges for EA and ED in six months and was wondering what kind of schools I should look into with the grades and scores that I have.

I currently have a 90 or A- GPA (3.6)
I did exceptionally well on my PSAT and am currently doing prep, I plan on falling in the 1400-1600 range after taking and retaking my SAT’s
I’m involved in theater, drama, speech team, improve team, among other drama programs and random stuff like prom committee.
I do martial arts and also teach woman’s self-defense classes once a month.
I volunteer at a mental health institution and my local hospital.
I’m taking all honors and AP classes, I also take 3 extra college classes and will take more college classes this summer and in the fall of next year.
I go to a very very small high-school in rural Maine.

I’ve toured Syracuse University and I loved it, it’s my favorite school I’ve ever toured, but I don’t know if I’m gonna make the cut to get in. So I’ve looked into other big schools like University of Rhode Island, FSU, URI, Clemson (also loved this school), University of South Carolina, and University of Miami. Do I have much of a chance to get into these schools or should I be looking at less competitive schools?

Also, I plan on majoring in political philosophy or political science.

  1. Talk to your parents about what they can afford.
  2. Run the Net Price Calculator on EACH SCHOOL’s web site (they’re tailored)
  3. Google Common Data Set and look at section C for stats on admitted students. You can see how your record stacks up against those admitted.

Congrats on your hard work and success!

It sounds like you like larger schools. It will be great if Syracuse works out. Clemson is a terrific school, as are the other ones on your list. You would certainly be a reasonable applicant at any of those schools. I’ll note that a friend’s daughter attended Clemson, and fellow students nicknamed her “Yankee Girl.” She was born and raised in Virginia, home of Richmond, the capital of the Confederate States of America.

You might also look at the University of Pittsburgh and Holy Cross, which is great in your areas of interest. HC also at least claims to meet full financial need. That is also a very important part of the equation. Advice above about NPC is very helpful.

Also University of Wisconsin. Madison is a great college town (and the state capital), and the university is pretty well integrated with the town, so it does have an urban feel also. It’s a top-notch school and does accept a lot of OOS students.

Good luck!

Thank you so much @TTG , that helped so much!

You definitely need to figure out the financial situation before even thinking of applying anywhere ED IMO. Talk with your parents. Fill out a FAFSA forecaster. Try some Net Price Calculators (like at Syracuse) and see if these are within an affordability range. BIG NOTE: EFC and Net Prices differ for many, but if your EFC is affordable that tends to work better with some schools than others.

There are plenty of places I suspect you will get in. Whether you can afford them or not is the big question (as it is for many students). I’m of the belief that some debt investment in college is just fine for most students, but massive debt is not.

I wouldn’t apply ED unless BOTH of the following are true: You know for sure that you have one particular university or college as your first choice. You have run the NPC and are fine with the results (or are fine with being full pay). If you have any doubt about either of these I would not do ED. EA on the other hand makes a lot of sense as long as you can figure out where you want to apply in time, and the school has EA.

Is your GPA weighted or unweighted?

I definitely wouldn’t suggest specific schools other than U.Maine without knowing your budget.

Given that you live in rural Maine I am tempted to ask: Do your parents own a farm, and if so do they make any income from it and is it worth much? The reason that I ask is that I know quite a few people who do own farms, and the rather lopsided ratio between what the farm is worth on paper versus what they can get out of it in the form of income can throw off NPC calculations in some cases and have unfortunate implications on need based financial aid.

Another one you might consider is Miami of Ohio. I like to post this merit aid grid. Note these are not guaranteed; you must apply by Dec. 1 to be considered for merit aid (true at some other schools, so keep an eye on all dates; and the school super-scores for admissions AND merit aid.

It’s a large school with a beautiful campus and very good academics.

http://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-grid/

I think you would have no problem getting into Syracuse, as long as it’s not Newhouse, but you never know with a high SAT score. Good luck.