<p>Hey, I'm a rising senior and I'm kind of confused on which colleges I'd have a shot at. So far I've been looking into Columnia, Amherst, and Tulane.</p>
<p>Here are my stats:
3.66 uw gpa
3.955 w gpa
SAT Score: 2230
ACT Score: 34
Most rigorous curriculum possible in my high school with 10 AP Classes and the rest was honors/accelerated
AP Scores: AP English- 3 AP Psychology- 4 AP American History- 3 (I'm taking 4 AP Classes this year. My first AP class World History freshman year, I got a 2 and I didn't take the AP Exam for my sophomore year AP Class)
AP Scholar
Morehouse Talent Search Program
Vice President of TSA
Service Chairman of Beta Club
Service Chairman of National Honor's Society
School Blood Drive Manager
Summer Internship at the Emory's Michael C. Carlos Museum
Hooks: African American
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Household Income: ~$60,000? (I have a brother attending college at the same time as me)</p>
<p>I'm mostly looking into colleges with small class sizes and good teacher to student ratios. I intend to spend my college life studying philosophy, anthropology, or some form of cultural studies. I would also prefer being near a major city. </p>
<p>If you convince Tulane of your interest (because they are shy about admitting students who might be using them as a safety), apply now, and write a good why tulane? essay, Tulane will probably admit you with a merit award of 20-25K upto full tuition. There might be some grant aid, given your family’s income. Pitt is also probably guaranteed money (perhaps full tuition) if you get your app in now (rolling), and they’re very strong in philosophy, for instance. Brandeis and Haverford would like to meet you, and they have the money for Black students they want. Throw in Oberlin, Rhodes, Michigan, Southern California, and Northwestern.</p>
<p>Columbia and Amherst are reaches for everyone, but they have lots of money; I’d add Princeton and Swat to the mix because their support of Black scholars and undergrads is pretty special. I think you could look at and get support from Vanderbilt, WashU, Duke, Emory, Chicago, UNC, and UVA. I think you can go to Howard for next to nothing and get a very different education than anywhere else, and if you want to know more about Howard you’ll pm me.</p>
<p>You have a ton of choices, OP. I’d recommend you take two SATIIs to give yourself more options.</p>
<p>If you’re serious about Anthropology, add Chicago to the mix. Columbia is great for it, as is Penn. Some other regional colleges are strong in specific areas (e.g. Native American Studies in the Southwest, etc.). Berkeley is legendary, but tough for financial aid if you’re not a CA resident. BU should be an academic safety for you: they have always been strong in the subject. You’d probably get a decent aid package, but consider adding Pitt and Temple to your list, if necessary at the last minute. I recommend taking advantage of Tulane’s non-binding Early Action option. If they accept you (which is highly likely, by my reckoning) with a great aid package, then you can focus all your energy on reaches thereafter. </p>
<p>If you’re African-American, make sure you call Sewanee and ask about their diversity weekend. They’ll fly you in and wine and dine you, introduce you to some professors and nice people. You sound like you would be eligible for some merit money too!</p>
<p>Ooh, thanks all! I didn’t think my scope of choices were so wide.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading that Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore are all really good LAC’s and it appears people accepted have similar stats to me. How are my chances with Swarthmore?</p>
<p>OP, not just Sewanee but many other schools will fly you in for a look, but most of them will do this this month and they’ve probably already booked those slots. It cannot hurt to call a school you’re really interested in and see if they have any room for you. </p>
<p>About the same as your chances with Amherst or Williams. These are 3 of the most selective LACs.</p>
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<p>Williams is not near a major city. Neither is Amherst (unless you consider Springfield, MA a major city). Look at a map, just in case your definition of “near” is different from mine.</p>
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<p>Swarthmore and Haverford (small LACs in the Philadellphia area) meet these criteria well. So do the University of Chicago and Columbia (which are both IN major cities). Macalester College (St. Paul, MN) does too (and is a bit less selective than Swarthmore, Haverford, Chicago or Columbia). </p>
<p>Remember, with a 60,000 family income, the richest schools like Columbia, Amherst, Harvard, Chicago and Princeton will give you essentially a free ride, all in grants with no loans to pay back. Very few schools can do that, but schools like that can do it, and will do it. </p>