What kind of school does someone like me usually end up at?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I mean...I'm kind of in the middle. I have pretty solid scores (94 GPA on the rise, 700 CR, 610 Math (which I expect to go up to at LEAST 650, I destroyed my most recent SAT, and 710 Writing) with a couple of APs under my belt (3, 4, 4, 5) and not many, but some ECs (Vars. Volleyball, Assistant Stage Manager of Stage Crew, NHS, the usual fare), and I'm at a pretty dang competitive private catholic school. </p>

<p>But the issue for me is, I seem to be...stuck in the middle. There's this gray area that I see between the schools I really want to go to (BC, NYU) and the schools that I consider myself as having a pretty good shot at (Northeastern I recently got into with a scholarship offer, Fordham I just got accepted to today). </p>

<p>My question is...Are there actually any schools in this gray area that I see myself in? I'm between solid schools and great schools. I am applying to the business schools of all of these places, and NYU and BC are both extremely competitive for business. </p>

<p>To me, I'm just your everyday "smart-but-didn't-exactly-work-as-hard-as-he-could-have-early-on" kid. What's a perfect fit for someone like me? What school is absolutely teeming with my sort?</p>

2

<p>Congrats on Fordham. Don’t underestimate Fordham. Its an amazing school with incredible opportunities and wonderful people…all of which is inside New York City and yet its a classic college campus with sports and dorms and a gate community (Rose Hill). </p>

<p>You are well suited to Fordham and would be very challenged there. A lot of Fordham students are very intelligent with very high SAT’s. </p>

<p>You have lots of time to decide. So just reflect, do your research etc. Attend a Fordham basketball game if you are in the area. They have a game on the 22nd I believe at Rose Hill, before heading out West to the Cable Car Classic and also down to Georgia Tech. </p>

<p>Welcome to the Fordham family!!</p>

3

<p>Thanks! Yeah, Fordham is a great school. I visited and I liked it well enough. I definitely will visit again if I don’t get into one of my top two (which I’m growing more doubtful about every day), because it’s going to be in contention. I want to check out the recently renovated Business building, I saw the pictures online and its gorgeous.</p>

4

<p>Have you considered Loyola University Maryland? It’s another urban Jesuit school but much smaller than Fordham.</p>

5

<p>You’re applying to all the colleges the kids in my d’s school apply to. Take a look at last year’s graduating class and see where they went; you’d probably fit in at any of those schools, too. Those are great schools, but you could break out of the mold. Apply to a couple of LACs, maybe ones with strong theater programs, just for the fun of it. You might find your passion.</p>

6

<p>Kids like you end up at state flagships, depending on the state. Kids like you at my school end up at either UVA, William and Mary, Virginia Tech, or JMU. It’s a pretty big range, yes. But the point is that, depending on how your essays and recs go, you can end up at a top 30 university.
I’d say NYU and BC are well within reach. Maybe 30-50%.</p>

7

<p>Your scores and qualifications aren’t really in the middle even if you feel that they are, on the basis of spending lots of time looking at CC posts. Trust me, the average SAT scores in America aren’t 2200+ and most kids don’t have 4.0 averages, unweighted. You are a strong student and have already been accepted by strong schools. Students like you end up at fine colleges and universities and often excel in later life, far beyond many of those who seem to be outpacing you at this stage.</p>

8

<p>Haha, I’m hoping for a little more than a 30-50% chance. But I guess we’ll see. Considering the applicant pool at Stern, I might have to take 30% :P</p>

<p>And I didn’t really mean I was the average score-wise (small statistics joke, ten points if you spotted it), I meant I’m kind of in between the solid schools, like Fordham and Northeastern, and, like bzva74 said, the top 30 Universities. There are schools that want a little more than what I have to give, and then there are schools that will take less. I seem to have difficulty finding a school that pretty much exactly fits my profile. Am I in the middle fifty at these schools? Yes, but there are so many extenuating circumstances that can put people in the middle fifty that I can’t really be proud of that.</p>

9

<p>I think you misunderstood me, and I’ll admit, I was unclear.
When I say 30-50%, I dont mean there is a 50-70% of you not making it into any of your reach schools. I wouldn’t be surprised if you made it into both. At 50% for each, there is a 25% chance of making it into both, 25% chance for getting rejected from both, and a 50% chance to make it into one or the other.
Essentially, if you can cough up the dough, I’m 75% sure that you’ll be either in Boston or New York City next fall.</p>

10

<p>Thanks for the confidence boost!</p>

<p>But, the dough. Ay, there’s the rub. BC is pretty notorious for being stingy and NYU pretty much outright said to me, “We’re not very good at financial aid, but we’re getting better! We promise!” </p>

<p>I considered applying to UMichigan, but it’s got that whole…y’know, being in Michigan thing that I’d have to deal with. All the schools I’m applying to are in either New York or Boston. Fordham, Northeastern, Stony Brook, Iona, NYU, and Boston College.</p>

11

<p>Also you should be aware there is a different culture at every school you listed. Make sure you arent blinded by the USNWR rankings. Kids your age are often infatuated with rankings and make the mistake of doing a self worth analysis based on where they get in or where they get rejected. Big mistake. Trust me, at Fordham there are plenty of kids walking around (and doing well and being very happy) with very high SAT’s. </p>

<p>You should pick the school where you fit in the best and where you think you can excel. At the end of the day, you would be happier with yourself being at the top of the class in a school rather than a potential statistic or in the muddled middle. It matters for graduate school applications, believe me.</p>

<p>Don’t ever pick a school based solely on USNWR rankings. </p>

<p>Some kids are very easy going and would be happy and thrive anywhere. Others are more particular about their environment. Some are conformists and some are contrarians. Some like urban and some like bucolic-rural. Some want pretty buildings and some could care less and only care about content in classes. Some want small classes for heavy discussion and some want anonymity and big classes. </p>

<p>There is not one right answer, but likely a number of right answers for YOU, which may be different for someone else.</p>

12

<p>*But, the dough. Ay, there’s the rub. BC is pretty notorious for being stingy and NYU pretty much outright said to me, “We’re not very good at financial aid, but we’re getting better! We promise!”
*</p>

<p>What is your financial situation? </p>

<p>how much will your parents pay each year? </p>

<p>What is your likely EFC? If your family’s EFC is higher than they can pay, then even at schools that are great with aid, you’ll have a problem. If your family’s EFC is - say - $35k per yer, but they can only pay $20k, that will be a problem.</p>

<p>Are you a NY resident?</p>

<p>What are your financial safety schools (schools that you know FOR SURE you can afford to attend and you are certain of acceptance.)??</p>

13

<p>If you don’t like cold weather, can I recommend UVA, U of Richmond, and William and Mary? Admittingly, I am biased because I am from VA and have relatives (but not legacy…immigrant parents) at those two schools.
UVA has a fantastic undergrad business program (McIntyre School of Commerce) which is ranked #2 undergrad, and has a very good reputation as a feeder. William and Mary’s undergrad B-school (Mason) is ranked #25, while U of R’s (Robins) is ranked #15.
Unfortunately, you will not get much aid from either WM or UVA. UVA’s tuition OOS is 16,000 per semester, 33,000 per year, about. WM is the same.
U of R is actually pleasantly nicer. WHile it’s base tuition is among the highest in the nation, you can get some serious merit and probably need based aid from here. It may be one of your cheapest options once you get your FA stuff in.</p>

<p>Tl;dr version: If you want slightly cheaper-than-BC/NYU options with great undergrad business programs and warm weather, definitely look at UVA, WM, and University of Richmond.</p>

14

<p>And to add to mom’s comments, EFC is not what colleges use. They have their own formulas based on a myriad of factors, all of which they refuse to disclose, and its very common for a huge gap to occur between what you think they will give you and what they expect you to pay. Then they whip out that ubiquitous card called, “student loans” or “parental plus loans” and tell you to fill the gap. </p>

<p>From their perspective any scholarships and grants are simply discounts on their pricetag and they are not in the business of discounting their products to everyone. Its a tug of war and at the end of the day, they can and will say, “then go somewhere else” if you can’t afford it. </p>

<p>Students and parents think erroneously that just because they accept you, they will bend over backwards to make it affordable and give you what you need. They don’t and won’t. Its a cruel world, people, with a LOT of injustice and inequity. Its infuriating. </p>

<p>In short, a college education is quickly becoming an elitist gambit. Schools mouth all these lovely words of being holistic and making school affordable. But in fact, they are interested in advancing their own agendas, particularly with appearing to be “diverse” and bringing in URM’s. </p>

<p>Sometimes they may help you if they really want you. Some schools are a LOT more generous than others. The most generous schools tend not to be the prestigious schools (except a very few like the Ivy League and a handful of others like Davidson who have a no student loan policy…they give it all in grants.) </p>

<p>So the bottom line is this: You have to wait until all your offers are in and on the table, and compare costs and make a decision about what is the best school for you and which one you can afford. </p>

<p>No school is worth getting into too much debt for. You do not want to start out your life buried in student loans or plus loans. Because you must pay them back…with interest that keeps accruing. And you don’t know about finding a job, job security and if you are going to grad school and/or professional school.</p>

<p>Colleges are some of the most inefficient institutions in the world. They are bloated bureaucracies and have little incentive to cut costs, so they keep raising the cost to attend. Then add in the obscene sums they pay out in athletic scholarships, including Title IX, and the obscene amounts they pay out to coaching staff, athletic facilities and support and its really sickening. </p>

<p>They are quickly reaching the point of no return…er…the point of pricing themselves out of contention and they will pay a heavy price for that. </p>

<p>Meanwhile, when you get to college, you will hear stories from students about how much money they got from the school and you scratch your head about how that happened considering their stats or how much aid they got when they are driving a BMW and parking it on campus. Or they had relatively low EFC’s because mom and dad aren’t wealthy, and got tons of aid, but grandparents are loaded and footing the bill…which they can hide from the financial aid office. Etc etc etc.</p>

<p>Get ready to be po’d about this.<br>
Not much you can do. Except select the college that is the best fit and most generous.</p>

15

<p>I had considered schools in the Virginia/DC area, but I feel that they’re a little too far away for me. I was hoping to stay within about four or five hours of home, which is why I liked Boston.</p>

<p>And yes, every school I applied to has a different personality. However, I very much felt comfortable at each one. I’ve visited schools where I felt like I didn’t fit in, so I know the feeling well. I visited Babson College. Within 2 minutes of being on campus, I decided that I didn’t like it at all. I just didn’t get a good vibe from it. NYU and BC are both extremely different, yes, but I got good feelings from both of them. I felt that I would fit in. </p>

<p>I’m not exactly sure about my money situation. But, like you said, I’m definitely waiting until I have all of my options in front of me to make decisions. I’m not automatically going to NYU/BC if I get in. I do live in New York, and I feel like Stony Brook and Iona both fit my “financial safety” requirements. I would be okay with getting into BC/NYU and then having to go somewhere else for financial reasons. I would still be proud of myself, because I was accepted by them. </p>

<p>The only financial estimates I got were from Northeastern. While it wasn’t a huge amount or anything, I felt it was pretty fair. Fordham doesn’t send out financial info until February or so.</p>

16

<p>Well you seem well balanced and realistic and that is very very positive. I truly hope that Fordham does right by you. We need good people…solid people at Fordham. My remarks were not based entirely on Fordham, but anecdotally about many many schools. I’ve been through it with our family as well as from friends and family for years and years. </p>

<p>Your school choices are all solid and well balanced, yet distinct enough to give you some clear choices and not a muddled mess where you throw darts at the wall and hope for the best, which happens to a lot of kids. </p>

<p>I commend you.</p>

17

<p>Thanks. I didn’t apply to many schools, mainly because of my location requirements. But I really feel that I could end up at any school that I applied to, and be happy. At this point, it’s just waiting until Tuesday to see my SAT scores, and then sending a couple of emails, and I’ll be finished. Of course, I have to do great on midterms and such, so I can raise my GPA a little bit, but the college process will have been finished.</p>

18

<p>Sorry about that. I figured you wanted warm-er weather since you didn’t like UM. You’re right, NYC is about 6 hours from Richmond, 6 1/2 from Williamsburg, and 5 1/2 from Charlottesville. Upstate New York may be even farther (but not as long a drive b/c of traffic).</p>

<p>Good luck with w/e you choose!</p>

19

<p>ghostbuster, I think you should change your moniker to mythbuster. Thank you for your very wise words! I agree–fit matters. One can get a very warped view (and a good dose of depression!) from hanging out here at CC.</p>

20

<p>It’s true! Especially in the Chancing subforum. You see all these remarkable kids with pages full of leadership positions and 2300 SAT scores, and you tend to forget what college is actually about. </p>

<p>Bzva74-Thanks very much!</p>