Which colleges would be a good fit for me?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello,

I’m currently a junior and I’ve been looking at a few colleges. I haven’t made a definite list (I’ll be taking the SATs February 20th, so I want to take those before I do); but I wanted to see which you would recommend based on my courses/ECs. I would love to get into an Ivy League, but I will need to get a strong SAT score. If you have any recommendations on my senior year courses, that would be great! Below are my classes, extracurricular activities, and anything else that I thought would be helpful. (I would like to go into a Pre-Medical Program, most likely majoring in Biology or something along those lines.)

H=Honors
E=Elective

High School Courses: (Earning an A in all courses, all years; there are no A-/+ grades at the school)

Freshman:
H Biology
H Earth Science
H Geometry
H Literary Analysis and Composition II
H US History
Spanish I
E Computer Literacy

Sophomore:
AP Psychology (4 on exam, I know it won’t get me any credit)
H Chemistry
H Algebra II
H American Literature
H Modern World Studies
Spanish II
E Introduction to Health Sciences (not the same as “Health class”)
E Veterinary Science
E Forensic Science

Junior:
AP Calculus AB
AP Statistics
H Physics
H British and World Literature
E Environmental Science
E Introduction to Agriscience
E Archaeology

Predicted Senior Schedule:
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP Environmental Science
AP Calculus BC
AP Literature or AP Language or Both
Possibly AP World History
Possibly AP Physics independently (not offered at school)

Local Community College courses:

Junior Year:
Anatomy & Physiology I - A grade
Anatomy & Physiology II - Predicted A grade

Senior Year:
Microbiology course
Possible Physics course

PSAT Score (Junior; New PSAT, 1520 scale): 1300
(I didn’t study much, so I predict I will get a higher score during the new spring SAT)

Highest SAT Practice Score (Old 2400 scale) (will be taking Old SAT February 20th):
CR: 630-710
M- 700
W- 610-740
I know I definitely need to get these scores up to be competitive with any Ivy League.

I will most likely be taking a few SAT Subject Tests, I am confident that I’ll score well.

Extracurricular Activities:
Dance (Ballet/Modern/Contemporary)- since toddler age
Dance Assistant- 6 years
Member of a dance company, performing in NYC- 5 years
Website designer/Technical Consultant/Promotional Designer for dance company- 5 years
Summer Volunteer at Historical Building; giving tours- 2 years
Non-profit store volunteer- 3 years
Peer tutor- started this year

National Honors Society, Sophomore to Senior
School Award Recipient, Both Sophomore and Senior

I also was accepted into a Pre-Medical Summer Institute at Washington University in St. Louis. (3 week, noncredit)

If you would like to know anything else, I would be happy to provide it.

Thank you again,
Lakritz

2

What is your financial situation? What is your home state? Other than having a jones for prestige (the Ivies are a sports league, and the academic strengths and culture varies a lot between them), what else do you care about in a school?

3

-What’s your budget?
-Geographic preferences?

4

@intparent
Thanks for the response!

  1. I’m not sure how much financial aid I will be eligible for (the household income is upper middle class). So, I would probably be fairly reliant on scholarships, which I will hopefully receive.
  2. I am from PA.
  3. I would prefer to go to a Research University or one with a very strong science side; also with opportunities beyond the class setting (internships). I am backing away from the more southern colleges, unless they appeal to me in other ways. Smaller sized classes. Setting isn’t a big thing (though, I have fallen in love with WashU and William & Mary’s campus, from what I have seen online). I thrive best when the atmosphere is slightly competitive.
    Thank you for any advice!

@newjerseygirl98
Thanks for the response!

  1. As I said to intparent, probably scholarship reliant, I’ll be taking out a loan if not (or going to Sweden, I’m a citizen so free education). I guess, maybe 30k+? I haven’t talked too much about budget with my parents, they say that I will need to rack up the scholarships.
  2. Eastern side would be my best choice, but if I get accepted into a good school in the West, I wouldn’t necessarily turn it down. I’m not too interested in Southern/Middle States.
    I look forward to your advice!
5

You need to figure out the financial situation. Each college has a net price calculator on their website that you can run to see what the cost would be for you to attend. Your parents will have to help you with that. You should start with your state flagship. And go ahead and run Wash U and William & Mary, since you have an interest in those. See what your parents say about those costs. The best scholarships are generally given by the colleges themselves, but the very top universities don’t give much or any merit aid – only need based aid. So you need to understand what your parents are willing to pay. Even if you manage to find a few scholarships, they are usually just for the first year, and are not large amounts. Going to be honest, while your GPA is strong, your test scores (PSAT and prep scores) and your ECs lack the pop for the top Ivies. Maybe Dartmouth or Cornell would be options. So maybe run those net price calculators, too.

If your parents are only going to come up with $30K/year and your family makes too much for need based aid (which you can tell from the NPCs), then your list needs to be driven off of costs and large merit awards. The kind of colleges you are talking about are mostly around $60,000 per year, and you can only borrow $5,500 freshman year and a bit more each year after that. Any other loans would require your parents to co-sign them, and aren’t advisable (especially for a bio major that is thinking about med school). So if your parents aren’t willing to pay full price and you aren’t going to get need based aid, you are going to need to look for colleges that give large merit awards – those are going to be colleges that are lower ranked than the ones you have mentioned so far, and ones where your stats are in the top 10% or so for the college.

6

I’ve learned about Sweden’s education system in school. Even though education in Sweden is free, the cost of living makes up for it. Could you afford to live there?

As a freshman, you can only take out $5,500 in loans. Your parents would have to take out the rest. Would they do this, and can they afford it?

I’m not sure about the new SAT requirements, but you should automatically get full tuition/full ride at these schools:
-Florida A&M University (Full-ride)
-North Carolina Central University (Full-ride, $1,000 per year, internships, laptop)
-Temple University (Full tuition + $8,000)

7

@intparent

Thank you so much for your advice, I really appreciate all your input. I am definitely going to try to up the ante on my test scores, at least the SAT, possibly take the ACT if need be. I will talk extensively with my parents about our financial state. I could be completely wrong on the $30k, so hopefully the facts will be a bit brighter.

Thank you for the information on the loans/scholarships, I did not know you could only borrow $5,500 freshman year. I wouldn’t want to go in too deeply on loans, like you said, med school would just dig me deeper.

As you said, the lower ranked colleges would give me better scholarships, which would be wonderful. But, I would like to go to the top schools so I grow as a student, due to the competition that arises there. I wouldn’t want to go to a school and automatically be in the top 10%. It’s like winning by default. So, hopefully I can get my scores up for the higher ranked ones.

Do you have any suggestions on how I can “get the pop” for the Ivies? I’ve read articles which pretty much all say the same thing; exceptional grades, a spike in your academic career, etc. Is it too late you think, since I am in my second semester as a Junior? The science and math competitions are already closing sign ups; I’m actually in a cyber school, so there aren’t any local competitions/awards there. I feel like I’m grasping at invisible strings when I read what I should be doing.

Thank you again for your help, I shall use the net price calculators on the schools I am interested in and see what I can come up with.

-Lakritz

8

If you are pre-med, there is a lot to be said for going to a school where you can get a great GPA. The more competitie the school, the harder that is. And you will still find the pre-med requirements very challenging even at a school ranked outside the top 25. I don’t have any specific suggestions at this point to improve your odds of admission – but I also think you are just looking for prestige, because as far as I can tell you haven’t even investigated the differences between the Ivies. You just know their sports league name.

9

@newjerseygirl98

Wow, thank you for adding the full ride/tuition schools. That at least gives me a small optimistic outlook.

I think I would be able to afford to live there. I wouldn’t be going for all 4 years; maybe 1-2 and then transfer back to the USA. (There are also grant-like scholarships in Sweden, or for United States citizens to go to school in Sweden.)

We would probably take out loans, hopefully my grandparents could help as well. I am going to have to talk extensively with my parents about the financial situation. Since, it is quite a necessary burden.

-Lakritz

10

@intparent

I guess it would be fair to say I am a bit prestige-hungry. (I mean, who wouldn’t want to say “My school is one of the best in the country.”) But, the top schools are top schools for a reason. They have extremely good education. I’ve been resisting the urge to research more the schools, since I don’t want to get my hopes up/fall in love with a certain school before I know what my chances are. Since I haven’t taken the SATs yet either, (taking the Old and the New), I haven’t had a great gauge on the chances either. The Ivies are an ideal, of course. I usually try to aim for the top, so in case I fall short, there are still wonderful options that are slightly below them. Thus, schools that aren’t necessarily the top tops, but still great schools, are 100% options.

I do not doubt my abilities to push myself in a Pre-Med environment, even in the more competitive schools. That is not a major factor in my decisions.

Thank you again for your help,
Lakritz

11

You probably can’t take out US federal loans for direct enrollment in colleges in Sweden. You should check that out.

And you have a lesson to learn – there are literally HUNDREDS of great schools in this country, and lots of very good ones in addition to that. It is just silly to not research schools – get going. More info is good.

12

Bump & Update on financial Aid Situation:

Just found out that I would actually be eligible for need-based scholarships. From the Wustl net price calculator I would get around $30,000. At least there is hope there! I couldn’t believe tuition to there was almost $70k. Quite a lot to look into in regards to money. I have yet to check other college net price calculators, but I will be doing that sooner or later.

If anyone else has any input about certain colleges I would be a good fit to, I would be very eager to hear your thoughts!

-Lakritz