Please judge this based off the information I have listed below (I am not including ECs, though I will say that I have extensive ECs and have committed much of my time to a club I run and founded, as well as music (violin); Also, I am a high school senior:
GPA: 4.49/5 (my school doesn’t do UW)
ACT: 33
*Asian-American
*Public high school located in the midwest
*Highly rigorous load of classes each year - I have taken all APs and honors whenever possible
*Majors I’m leaning towards (but I’ll apply undecided to the schools that don’t require a declaration of a major): Sociology/Anthropology (also, pre-med track)
Not absolutely sure what my reaches will be, but they’re looking to be WashU, USC, and Cornell at the moment.
I am fine with anywhere in the country, except for the Midwest and the West (I’m only fine with California on the West Coast). I would also like a medium sized university (large is okay, but not ideal/preferred). Thanks!
Can you tell us how many A’s you have versus B’s, and if there is anything less than a B.
Weighted GPA doesn’t mean much.
Also, without a budget and some better sense what you are looking for it is hard to know what to suggest. There are hundreds of schools we could suggest.
If you might put aside size for a moment, you could search “20 Best Value Small Colleges for Sociology and Anthropology Degrees.” Based solely on your ACT score, included schools such as Vassar and Pitzer might be high matches for you. Upon further research, these colleges may, for reasons related to program strength and degree of undergraduate focus, appeal to you more than your current reach schools.
Your school might not calculate unweighted GPA, but you can (and should, as some colleges will also). Take your core subject courses (just E, Sci, SS, FL and Math, no electives or gym) and calculate GPA based on the A=4 pts, B=3, and so on scale. Have you taken SAT subject tests? Also, you say no midwest schools, but WashU is midwest.
Missouri is the Midwest. Are you comfortable with WashU in that case, as @Mwfan1921 mentions?
33 is a good ACT score, but it’s likely in the 25-50% percentile for your schools. If you can take another ACT and get to 34+ the chances are better for your school choices.
Reply to @DadTwoGirls : Nothing less than a B, I’ve earned four B’s my entire high school career (otherwise all A’s), and those four B’s have been in math classes (I’ve been taking honors math to challenge myself, won’t matter too much since I’ll be majoring in a humanities major I’m assuming?) In terms of financial considerations, family income is less than 50k as only one parent is currently working - hoping to pay as little as possible and I’ll be relying heavily on financial aid (hoping to apply for full ride scholarships, if that gives you any sense of the financial situation).
In reply to @Hamurtle and @Mwfan1921 : Yeah, WashU is the only Midwest school I’m okay with. Sorry, it was hypocritical of me to say no Midwest and include WashU in my considered reach schools. My apologies.
Reply to @Mwfan1921 : No, I have not taken the SAT and don’t plan on doing so. I’m happy with the ACT score I have. I figured out that my unweighted is a 3.75.