Where should I apply?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Right now, I'm looking at SLU, Missouri State, Truman State, St. Johns College, and Illinois Wesleyan. However, from what I can gather, those are all matches or borderline safetys for me. I was wondering if anybody could give me a list of a couple safetys and a couple reaches I should consider applying. I'm looking for a smaller school, in a (mostly) urban setting. And depending on the school, Id go for a degree in medicine(SLU), Music Education(missouri state, truman state, illinois wesleyan, st johns), or political science(illinois wesleyan, SLU). Also, if anybody has any other match colleges I should consider, I'd appreciate that as well.</p>

<p>Un-weighted GPA: 3.22
32 ACT(first and only time so far, Im taking it again in June)
Freshman- 1st semester of Sophomore year I attended the #1 Public High School in Missouri(Ladue Horton Watkins)
2nd semester of sophomore year I went to Missouri Military Academy
Junior-Senior year I go to O'Fallon Township High School, in illinois</p>

<p>My low GPA: I had a 4.0 throughout my entire school career, but a few years ago, I was physically abused by my father, and at that point, grades just didnt seem to matter anymore, and my GPA dropped...a lot, but after my horrendous freshman year, which was right after the abuse, my grades have started to come up each year</p>

<p>Freshman Year
• Adv. Biology(1st semester)
• Bio(second semester)
• Adv Literature and Composition
• Advanced Algebra 2
Broadcast Technology
Band
US History
And Spanish 2</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
• College Algebra(1st Semester)
Pre-Calc(2nd semester)
• World History(1st semester)
Humanities(2nd semester)
Lit. Analysis(1st semester)
• English II(second semester)
• Chem I
Honors Spanish 3
Band
Broadcast Tech(2nd semester)</p>

<p>At this point, I should point out that at Missouri Military Academy, they calculated their grades by month, not semester...I think this contributed to my low gpa as well, because when I see my transcripts, it looks like a got a B in a class, when really, I only got a B in one or two months</p>

<p>Junior year
• AP Stats
• Honors Spanish 4
• Sociology(2nd semester)
• Physics I
• Expository Writing(1st semester)
• American Lit(2nd semester)
Marching band
Concert Band</p>

<p>President a of charity organization for 1 year
Volunteer on my own, 40+hours last year
Varsity Baseball(captain), and varsity basketball my sophomore year
Gay Straight Alliance Leader
O'Fallon Township High School Marching Band
I was in a position of leadership at the military school I attended 2nd semester sophomore year</p>

2

<p>Looks like you have a legitimate reason for that low GPA. You should make that your essay. </p>

<p>American University
Northeastern
Boston University</p>

3

<p>Xtreme- I’m not too familiar with any of those universities, would those be safeties, reaches, or matches for me?</p>

4

<p>no one else has any ideas?</p>

5

<p>Deathring109, if you can get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges, it will have writups on those colleges (and more info on most of the colleges on the list you originally posted). Your library or you high school guidance counselor might have a copy. It is okay to look at a version that is a couple of years old, it doesn’t change much.</p>

<p>I don’t necessarily agree about making your GPA situation or abuse the topic of your essay. Colleges like people who have overcome obstacles, but not necessarily dwelling on them or using them as excuses. It is a fine line to walk. See if you can get your high school guidance counselor on board with communicating that info to colleges, or include a brief statement in the additional informaton section of the application (if that section survives the current re-write of the Common App).</p>

<p>What is your financial situation? That is a huge factor for pretty much everyone in the college selection process today, and will make a difference in the recommendations you get.</p>

6

<p>intparent-I was thinking about using it as my essay because my freshman year(when it happened), my gpa was horrible, but it has gone up every year since then. As far as finances go, my family doesn’t have a TON of money, but we could probably afford a lot of schools, assuming I got at least a little financial aid, with 3 siblings, and a divorce, money is a little tighter than it used to be</p>

7

<p>Oh, and I just looked at wikipedia for those college stats, boston university seems a bit too large for me, but those other two seemed perfect, at first glance, I would have thought those would have been reaches (I didnt think I had any chance of getting into a very selective college), but (and I know these aren’t extremely accurate), college chances calculators put my chances rather high, above colleges like St. Johns, which people have said would be a match for me</p>

8

<p>bump for help</p>

9

<p>With a divorce and 3 siblings, paying for college may be more complicated than you expect. You need to check out the cost of each option. You can run the calculator on the websites, but with divorced parents the results are not always reliable. If the college requires the CSS profile or some other financial form from your non-custodial parent (the one you live with the least), then they also take that parent’s income & assets into account. Along with that of any spouses if either parent has remarried. You still may get some aid, but you need to understand how they treat all those players and their income/assets.</p>

<p>Have your parents told you how much they will pay for college? There isn’t much point in making a list you can’t afford, so you need to look hard at this component.</p>

<p>Also, you probably want to try to avoid taking on a lot of debt. You mentioned med school, which is very expensive – you will not want to be carrying much debt at all from undergrad if you go that route. Or musical eduation – not a high paying field, so you also want to limit your debt.</p>

<p>At least get an adult with some experience in the college process to review your essay. It is a topic that could play well or not, depending on how you handle it. I think you do want the colleges to get that info on mitigating factors for your freshman GPA. But think hard about whether that is how you want to define yourself, as that is really what you are trying to do in your common application essay.</p>

10

<p>Truman State would be a match, SLU as well I think, Illinois Wesleyan could be a low reach or match, Missouri State is a safety.
Since you’re in IL, you could look into UI-Springfield (bigger but good for Poli-sci majors!); Knox and Lake Forest would be reaches.
In any case “request info” from all these schools: you’ll get the brochures, you’ll read critically (they’re marketing objects - excellent self-taught lesson in business&marketing, BTW), but you’ll be able to figure out what they have in common, what distinguishes them from each other, and what you like. Among those that you like, you can research the stats, especially middle range of test scores, average GPA, but most importantly do they meet 100% need and do they offer merit aid you could “win” with high test scores and a better GPA?
I’m sure the CC can suggest more schools but we need a little bit more info:
I noticed you listed religious schools: are you mostly looking at them because they’re smaller or are you looking for an affiliated or religious college?
Do you want to stay In-state or close by, or would you be willing to venture further away in the Midwest or even to other regions?</p>

11

<p>How is your relationship with your dad now? If it’s not good, then you’ll need to avoid the schools that require your dad’s financial info. Unfortunately, those are the schools that give the best aid. :frowning: However, if you have documented abuse from your father (police reports, etc) then it’s possible that you could get a NCP waiver. </p>

<p>You really need to sit down with your mom and ask how much she can pay towards college. With a divorce and other children, she may not be able to pay much. You need to deal with facts now so that you’re not wasting time with unaffordable schools.</p>

12

<p>I don’t think NEU or BU are matches given the combination of the GPA and course rigor.
I am also concerned about how your intended major changes based on what college you go to. If you have multiple interests and have not decided between them (pretty normal for your age!), you should be selecting schools that have all of your potential majors. You don’t pick a career based on your college admissions, it should be the other way around :)</p>

13

<p>As for my financial situation, my dad has to pay about 11,000 of my college, my relationship with him is not good at all, but the courts said that he has to pay half of in state mizzou rates. I don’t have documented abuse, but last month, he admitted it in court for the first time(I looked like a liar for a few years), she is also getting married to a salesman(not sure about income), but that should help pay as well. I’m pretty much expecting to have some debt, I think that’s pretty common.</p>

<p>And beantowngirl- I wasn’t sure. All of them, even American, looked like reaches to me, but those look like schools I could see myself going to, and they do have excellent programs, so I’ll probably apply, at least to NEU, as a reach. And as to my major changing, I’m still not 100% sure what I wanna do, probably not med school, but I could see myself teaching music for the rest of my life, and I could see me using political science as a background for a degree in law, maybe I’m going about this completely the wrong way, but those schools do have all the degrees I offer, I just wanna have different schools with different strengths, and hopefully, by the time I commit, I’ll know for sure what I wanna do. Even if I do major in political science, I’ll still go for a minor in music.</p>

14

<p>my dad has to pay about 11,000 of my college, my relationship with him is not good at all, but the courts said that he has to pay half of in state mizzou rates. I don’t have documented abuse, but last month, he admitted it in court for the first time(I looked like a liar for a few years), she is also getting married to a salesman(not sure about income), but that should help pay as well. I’m pretty much expecting to have some debt</p>

<p>Ok…you may be too optimistic about financial aid and loans/debt.</p>

<p>Your new step-dad’s income will get figured into FA, and he may have NO INTENTION of helping pay for your college costs. He may have his own kids’ expenses, or he just may not want to contribute one dime towards your college costs. He didn’t raise you. </p>

<p>You need to ask your mom how much she’ll pay each year for college. </p>

<p>If you got $11k from your dad, and $11k from your mom, that’s not enough for a lot of schools. </p>

<p>YOU can only borrow the following amounts:</p>

<p>frosh $5500
soph $6500
jr and sr $7500 each year.</p>

<p>As you can see, with family contribution and student loans, that’s not enough to pay for a nunber of schools.</p>

15

<p>I agree that OP will need a lot of need-based FA. An advantage of good schools outside his geographical area is that some meet 100% need so you should prioritize applying to those, especially if you are in the top 25% applicants.
The court admission of abuse should be somehow included, perhaps by your counselor, and might be needed if you dad balks (because some divorced dads have court required contributions toward their children’s college funds, but somehow don’t make good on them, and even though the money is recovered, it can really mess up your college budget.)
When you say you don’t want to stay instate, do you mean stay in IL or stay in MO?
Grinnell has good FA, for example, although right now it’s a reach; they’re also likely to take the abuse into account.
This list could suggest other schools but you’d have to check their stats against yours.
[Colleges</a> that Meet 100% of Financial Need « Cappex College Insider](<a href=“Articles | Cappex”>Articles | Cappex)
[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>

16

<p>I suppose this is good to find out before I start applying, I’m glad I came here.</p>

<p>Anyway, I will ask her, because right now, I’m not sure when/if they’re getting married, I know that she does have an engagement ring, but as of now, there isn’t any date at all…so I don’t know what income will be factored into FA.</p>

<p>As to staying instate, I’d prefer to stay in Missouri or Illinois, but I would be open to attending elsewhere. Grinnell…I’ll look into that, as well as other colleges. I’ll still apply to SLU, I’ve wanted to go there forever, but, I’ll have to revise my college list, I just really don’t want to go to a big state school, even though I’ll have auto admission into mizzou, and I’ll likely apply there</p>

17

<p>So right now…I’m looking at Missouri State and Mizzou as safety schools, I know I’ll get accepted there, and I know I can graduate from there with $0 debt, as for matches, I’m looking at SLU (dream school), American University(reach?, I think tuition is good for me, but I may have read their website wrong, and Illinois Wesleyan, and for reaches, Truman state, Grinnell(maybe), and Swarthmore or Haverford college(?), I’m trying to look at schools that cover 100% of need, that realistically, I have a shot at getting into</p>