Where am I going to spend four years of my life?? Please help me.

College Search & Selection
1

Yes hi time to jump on this bandwagon.

~THE STATS~

GPA: 4.4/5.3

ACT: 28 (32R 32W 25M 21S 8 essay) haha yep they get progressively worse. Planning on retaking in Sept for 30+

Senior Schedule: Hell. To be more specific: AP Lit, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Spanish, AB Calc, Band, Project Adventure (gym elective), Painting and possible TA in Spanish class. Though I may take a study hall instead of being a TA.

ECs:
-GSA (9,10,11,12)
-Graphic Novel Club (9,10) the club disbanded afterwards
-Model UN (11,12)
-Book Club (11,12) going to be club president next year
-neuroscience internship @ BU this summer
-community service w/ school band and some community service with the local giving tree
-National Honors Society (11,12)
-Swim Team (did in middle school outside of school and joined the school team for a couple of years)
-Lifeguarding? I started working last year at the Y and have been working ever since (usually 1 or 2 days a week)

The Financial Aid Situation: My mom makes like 70K ish (?) a year buuut my dad recently got a high profile job (in another country tho) so he’s making probably at least 100K a year. My older sis, twin and I are all going to be in college at the same time though so maybe I would qualify…? Not sure.

Hooks: URM (Ethiopian American + female)

Other Fun Facts:
-I live in Massachusetts
-Took APES last year and got a 4 on the exam, as well as some other honors courses (precalc, english, spanish) and cp courses (history, art, health and CAD)
-strong (ish) upward trend (fresh/soph year was mostly bs with some a’s sprinkled in, junior year was As & A-s mostly. Hoping to continue the trend senior year.)

~THE SCHOOLS~
Safeties:
UVM
UMass Lowell

Matches:
UMass Amherst
Sarah Lawrence College
Rochester Institute of Technology
University of Maryland-College Park
SCAD (they have an interesting ux experience program plus I could pursue my interest of art. Again, it is an art school and my interests are so diverse so I’m not sure if I am going to apply)
Mount Holyoke? (Acceptance rate isn’t too low but they have a high average gpa so maybe a reach)

Reaches:
Smith College
Hampshire
CMU?
USC

Things I am looking for in a school:
-pretty generous w/ aid + have scholarships as well?? aka isn’t stingy with money like BU or BC.
-decent art and music program so I could take some classes and/or participate in a band/orchestra
-strong study abroad/internship/co-op program would be great but not necessary

  • is liberal. Doesn’t have to be super liberal but I don’t think I could stand another 4 years in a very conservative school.
    -isn’t homophobic/racist/all that jazz
    -has a decent administration (not required though would be a plus)
    -small(ish) school (~1000-7000) would be great but not essential

Potential Majors/Minors: CS, Linguistics (maybe??), Spanish, Engineering (not sure abt this but am considering it?? gotta bring up my math and science act scores) possibly neuroscience/psych/cognitive science, kinda want to minor in sociology, art or english

What do you guys think? Also should I apply to Ivies? Not sure if it is worth it. Please let me know in the comments.

2

Yes! Apply for an Ivy. But If you are, don’t go to HYP, because those are way out of reach for most normal human beings. Go to what people would call a “lower ivy” like Cornell.

What’s the unweighted GPA? I can’t really tell off of your weighted, since I don’t know how rigorous your classes were. I’m guessing a ~3.5?

3

@isthisboreal
I would say no to Ivy’s, unless you just want to see but don’t waste EA/ED on them. Please retake, or take the SAT and see how you do.
I think you are right about your safeties, Matches, and Reaches. However I would add Emory if you can raise your ACT a bit like a 30.

4

@ConcernedRabbit Classes at my school are weighted higher if honors/ap. So a 3.3/B+ for a CP-2 (lowest tier) class would be a 3.8 for a CP class and a 4.3 (honors/AP). I took mostly honors classes, and got a mix of as and bs soooo I would guess around 3.3-3.5 UW. Thanks for the recommendation regarding Ivies! I’ll definitely check out Cornell, and maybe Dartmouth (though I’m not sure if that would be a lower Ivy). Any other recs for non-Ivy schools I could put on the list?

5

@VANDEMORY1342 I’m retaking the ACT in Sept, and am aiming a higher score. I think it should be manageable, as I didn’t study a lot and got a 28, so if I seriously prep for math/sci I’ll be ok. I’ll definitely consider Emory, though my parents are leery of anything below Virginia. Also yeah I’m not sure about Ivies. I think I’d apply to lower ivies just to see if i get in but would save my ea/ed for a school I love and have a (somewhat reasonable) shot at getting in. Thank you for the feedback and ideas!

6

@isthisboreal
Brown and Cornell are good Reaches as well, if you can get a 30.

7

DO take a study hall.
Prep for the SAT and ACT, retake in the fall.

Ivies and top 25 universities/LACs are out of reach. (32 is low for them… 28 might have been okay if you had compelling/extraordinary ECs but based on your profile above, that’s not the case - which is okay, by definition, there are very few exceptional people, and 90% of them get rejected by the most highly selective schools anyway.)
Moving to the ~30-60 range makes things much more promising for you.

Apply to UMass Lowell and UMass Amherst Honors college. Add Wheaton in Norton for a good match. Run the NPC with two kids in college.

Your best bet would be a 100% meet need University, in part because your scores aren’t high enough for significant merit* and in part because it’d be the only sort of school that takes your Twin into account when counting financial aid.
Run the NPC on St Olaf, Macalester (reach), Beloit, Lawrence, Earlham, Denison, Skidmore, St Lawrence, Hobart and WilliamSmith, Dickinson (reach), Clarkson, Connecticut College, Trinity college, Union (reach), Skidmore (reach).

*Beware if the Abigail Adams scholarship: check that it covers full tuition AND FEES because in Massachusetts tuition is 2k, so a " full tuition" scholarship is not a big deal since fees are something like 11k!!!

8

@MYOS1634 Thanks for the advice! A study hall would make my life easier, so I’ll definitely do that. I don’t believe you can apply for the Honors college @ Umass Amherst, it’s something that you are automatically considered for, though I’ll definitely apply to the school and see what happens ! I’ll definitely look the schools that you listed. Do you know if any of them have strong STEM programs? I’m not sure about my major but I want to go to a school w/ strong STEM & humanities programs, and I know that sometimes liberal arts schools can be lacking in that department.

9

All are strong in stem indeed :slight_smile:

10

@MYOS1634
OP is URM, I’m not sure if you missed that in her post, that will help her in admissions.

11

I don’t mean to be negative, but Amherst seems like more of a reach to me (14% acceptance rate is a challenge for anyone, and their average ACT is currently a few points above yours, even if you raise it). Have you thought about Reed College? Seems like it might also be of interest to you.

12

@Srabookworm UMass Amherst is a state school and a different school than Amherst College, and thus it’s a lot less selective. I agree Amherst college would be a huge reach, though I would love to go there. I’ll definitely check out Reed College! I’ve heard about it but haven’t really taken a look at it. Any other colleges I should look at?

13

VANDEMORY1342 : I did, which is why I suggested the above colleges. All are top notch for stem and meet need or offer merit. Most would be reached without the URM hook.
URM applicants to top 25 universities have to be exceptional. Ivies and similarly highly selective universities have plenty of exceptional URM applicants with a compelling story and achievements. They need some sort of regional or national recognition, and socio-economic background is taken into account too (evaluation is always done in context).
It’s important when aiming at top 50 universities/LACs to decipher what they want from reading their websites, etc.

(Also, i would caution OP against believing anything about “lower ivies”, with is some sort of East coast myth perpetuated by students enrolled in upper middle class high performing high schools; that myth makes lots of kids very disappointed in the spring senior year. Adults who know admissions don’t say anything of the sort.)

14

Thanks for the for clearing up my misunderstanding about Amherst - my apologies!

I’d also suggest taking a look at Haverford, Oberlin, and maybe Vassar.

15

@Srabookworm No worries! It’s an easy mistake to make, especially if you aren’t familiar with the area/Umass Amherst. I’ll check out the other schools you listed.
@MYOS1634 OP here, Ivies are nearly impossible to get into, including “lower ivies” like Cornell. I’m only applying to see if miracles really do come true, I don’t have my hopes and dreams invested in a school with a <15% acceptance rate.

16

Hi guys! I’m back with a revised list of colleges:

Safeties: UVM, UMaine–Orono, George Mason, College of Wooster (not sure if COW is a match or safety)

Matches: UMass Amherst, Clark University, St Lawrence University

Reaches: Smith College (likely going to apply ED), Northeastern

Pipe Dreams: Wash U, Dartmouth, Colorado College (EA?)

Misc Reach/Match Schools that I am interested in but not sure abt for various reasons: Wesleyan, Connecticut College, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, MHC, Barnard, College of the Holy Cross, Rose-Hulman, Hobart & William Smith, Emory, University of Rochester, USC, Carleton, Lafayette, Brandeis, Vassar & Rice???

Also I got a 30 on my ACT and am thinking abt taking subject tests but am not sure. I know if I was going to apply to Ivies I would have to but I am not sure if I really want to.

I’m thinking abt CS as a major, tho I’m interested in a variety of things. A linguistics program would be great, though not necessary.

Any suggestions? Thx.

17

George Mason is a state university, so not good from a cost p.o.v if you are OOS & therefore not a good safety for you

18

I was accepted into WPI (35k Presidential Scholarship) UMass Amherst (Honors College) and Colorado College (48k financial aid)!!! I’m so relieved, I can actually afford these colleges! Now I’m waiting to hear from Northeastern & am almost done applying to Smith & Wellesley. Thanks everyone for your help :slight_smile:

19

Congrats!

20

Congratulations!