Why tier of colleges should I be looking at?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Well Junior year is now over. Final report card came in and I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed. My grades were real close in two of my classes, and both sank down to B+'s in the end. I'd like to set some realistic goals at this point. I'm looking to ultimately major in environmental science or biology (not pre-med). Money is a factor - I'm a middle class white kid. My parents are not dirt poor, but they aren't rich either. Scholarships are important, so I wouldn't mind going to a state school or well known private school. At the same time, I also really liked Cornell and Princeton. Would I be shooting for the stars? Any advice is appreciated.</p>

<p>SAT: 680 Math 660 CR 650 Writing
Class Rank: 4/398
Current Unweighted GPA: 3.9</p>

<p>Transcript:</p>

<p>Freshman Year</p>

<p>Honors English - A
Honors W History - A
Honors Algebra II - A
Honors Biology - A+
Italian I - A+
Band - A+
Gym - A
Health - A+</p>

<p>Sophomore Year</p>

<p>Honors English - A
Honors US I - A+
Honors Geometry - A
Honors Chemistry - A
Italian II - A+
Advanced TV Production - A+
Gym - A+
Drivers Ed - A</p>

<p>Junior Year</p>

<p>Honors Physics - B+
AP Music Theory - B+
AP English - A+
AP US History - A
Honors Pre-Calc - A
Gym - A+
Tech Drawing - A+
Health - A+</p>

<p>Extra Curricular</p>

<p>Environmental Club - President
Student Council - President
Drama Club - Vice President/Lead AV Tech
TV Production Club - Bulletins Manager
Science League (Bio Team/Chem Team/Physics Team) - Biology I Team Captain
Freshman/Sophomore/Junior Councils - Fundraising Committeee</p>

<p>Honors/Awards</p>

<p>United States Senate Youth Program Delegate
NJ Governor's School on the Environment
Boys State
HOBY Leadership Conference
League of Women Voters Internship to Democracy Program
Eagle Scout Award</p>

<p>I do a lot of volunteer work, but I don't keep record of most of it. I feel kinda down that all my hard work may not end up paying off in the end because I don't have perfect SAT scores and a perfect 4.0. Like I said earlier, any advice would help. What would be a realistic set of schools to focus my attention on. Where could I end up getting scholarship money from. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>-Pat</p>

2

<p>*Money is a factor - I’m a middle class white kid. My parents are not dirt poor, but they aren’t rich either. Scholarships are important, so I wouldn’t mind going to a state school or well known private school. At the same time, I also really liked Cornell and Princeton. Would I be shooting for the stars? Any advice is appreciated.</p>

<p>SAT: 680 Math 660 CR 650 Writing
Class Rank: 4/398
Current Unweighted GPA: 3.9*</p>

<p>Your test scores are low for ivies and ivies don’t give merit scholarships. They only give aid based on determined need (after reviewing family income and family assets). </p>

<p>Your scores are more mid-tier range…which are still very good schools. However, not all will give you scholarships for your stats. Some will, but you first need to determine how much money you’re going to need and then apply to the right schools.</p>

<p>However, you need to find out what your money situation is. You need to ask your parents how much they will pay each year for college. That will largely determine where you should apply. </p>

<p>So, find out how much your parents will contribute each year and then come back. :)</p>

3

<p>To give you an idea of the scores for the middle 50% of freshmen students at Princeton…</p>

<p>Test Scores of Middle 50% of First-Year Students </p>

<p>SAT Critical Reading: 690 - 790<br>
SAT Math: 700 - 790<br>
SAT Writing: 700 - 780<br>
ACT Composite: 31 - 35 </p>

<p>The upper 25% of students have scores above this range. The lower 25% of students are “special admits” - athletes, under-represented minorities, etc.</p>

4

<p>My parents can afford about 15k a year, without loans. This year, my brother (who is a rising sophomore in college) submitted his FASFA which stated that the household contribution should be around 20k, so I would expect it to be a bit less when I go to college.</p>

<p>I’d prefer to avoid student loans as much as possible.</p>

5

<p>Retake SAT,
How’s your SAT2, AP scores?</p>

6

<p>Waiting on AP scores - Planned on taking SAT II’s in the fall, but I now want to improve the SAT I scores, so i’ll be doing the SAT I in october and SAT II’s in November.</p>

7

<p>If you can significantly improve your SAT scores, your options will open up a lot (in terms of schools you can get into and schools you can get scholarships from) because you already have great grades and some respectable ECs.</p>

8

<p>How would you suggest preparing for the SATs? I’ve taken a classroom SAT course and read through an SAT prep book. Are private tutors really essential? Have you used any particular books that made a difference?</p>

<p>-Pat</p>

9

<p>I took an SAT prep class. I think the most important thing about the SAT is to approach it the right way, because in terms of actual knowledge, it’s not much.</p>

<p>Writing (essay) - don’t embellish, stick to the point. Limit your introduction to a couple of sentences in which you introduce your stance and the examples you are going to use. Write two body paragraphs in which you explain your examples and relate it back to your position on the topic (one body is enough if it’s a really long example). Wrap it up in a short conclusion. As for examples, spend some time researching examples that can be used for a variety of prompts; usually these are people, historical events, literature, etc. Even reading about them on Wikipedia is fine, you just need to know the general background info/story and how it relates to the prompt. And since SAT prompts are so general and often related to past prompts, you’ll be good to go. I personally got a prompt that I’d never even thought of before, but I had an example (JFK’s involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis / Bay of Pigs incident) that worked perfectly and I got a 12 :)</p>

<p>Writing (other stuff) - go through all the questions and make sure you know what kind of grammar errors they are looking for; there are many, many predictable patterns and if you can find those patterns it makes it significantly easier. When I started the SAT I’d do very poorly on this section because I didn’t understand what they wanted (and thus had a lot of “no errors” when there are typically only like 4-5 max). I’d go more in depth here if a) I had examples to talk about and b) this weren’t a public post.</p>

<p>Critical Reading - what worked best for me was to read the whole passage and then go through the questions one by one. I don’t recommend reading the questions and then go looking for it in the passage because, while you might have located the section in the passage the question is talking about, a lot of the questions are very general and relate to other parts of the text. Another tip is to choose the conservative answer. Don’t make any assumptions. Stick to what’s explicitly said in the text; there aren’t very many questions that will ask you to make inferences. And most importantly, PRACTICE. Really, repeated practice on critical reading passages is what will help the most. Oh, and brush up on vocab, because that’s the easiest place to get full points on.</p>

<p>Math - to be honest (I hope I don’t sound full of myself), I never really had trouble with the math section, so I’m not sure how to make suggestions. I suppose just make sure you practice, practice, practice, and check your answers to make sure you don’t make any silly mistakes (which will cost you a lot on the math section).</p>

<p>Sorry for the long-winded post, I hope it helps. The most important thing is to PRACTICE a lot on every section, including the essay (so you know how to write about your examples without any hesitation). If you’d like more specific advice on writing (good examples to use, etc.) you can send me a PM.</p>

10

<p>Have you considered test-optional schools, such as Bowdoin College?</p>

11

<p>It’scloser to 50% who are hooked admits at schools such as Prinnceton.</p>

<p>Get over not wanting student loans. Unless your parents can pay in full, you get a rare full ride or you get into HYP (highly unlikely for most without something phenomenal) you will have to take some. Just try to keep them reasonable.</p>

12

<p>Have you considered taking the ACT? It is offered again September 11. With your GPA and class rank, it seems that you could perhaps improve your standardized test score.</p>