cocacolaaa

Hey everybody,
I'm a high school junior looking to go to DePaul in two years.
I want to major in Secondary Education - Biology.
I just wanted to know the school's reputation for their school of education or any other information you can provide for me? Thanks!

Also...I'm an out-of-state student looking for some chances!

Freshman Year:
Choir - A
Biology - A
Health - A
Gym - A
Algebra I - B
Spanish I - A
History - A
English - B
total GPA: 3.75

Sophomore Year:
Algebra II - B
Spanish II - B
Honors History - A
Honors English - B
Physics - A
Journalism - A
Creative Writing - A
Health - A
Gym - A
total GPA: 3.71

Junior Year:
Spanish III - A/B+
Honors English - A
Honors History - A
Honors Chemistry - A/B+
AP Enviro. Sci. - B+
Geometry - A
Gym - A
total GPA: ~4.0
*could change*

Senior Year schedule:
Honors Spanish IV, Honors English, AP European History, AP Biology, German I, Gym

Extracurricular stuff:
Tennis - 4 years
Yearbook Staff - 4 years
National Honor Society - 2 years (most years you could be in it)
Part-time job - 4 years
Earth Club - 1 year

Awards:
Best Serve - tennis
Spirit Award - tennis

ACT - Taking them in June, hoping for a 28-30

Is there any possibility that I could get any scholarships for my academics?

Thanks for everything, guys!

KSMITH53

You will definitely get in! I did two years ago w/ a 3.2 uw H.S. GPA, very few extracurriculars, a 25 ACT comp, but I also had very strong essays (wrote of my love for chicago and how depaul was my dream school) and 4 AP's/3 honors courses. If you really like chicago and a big city atmosphere you will prob enjoy depaul. Its two campuses (in the loop and lincoln park) are two of the best locales in the city. The classes are typically 20-40 students, never over 40-45. About a third of the profs that I have had are either phd’s or part time profs from Uchicago and/or Northwestern—so they are quite bright. DePaul also has a strong regional reputation, so you will have no problem receiving a teaching job in the area. Also, the school’s financial aid is great. When I was accepted in 2006, they had three levels of merit based scholarships—H.S. GPA >3.2=$12,000 (what I got), >3.4=$14,000, >3.6=$16,000—each on a per year basis. The complete cost of attendance for my first two years combined has been only $16,000 without even including loans. DePaul is pretty strong in business, psychology, poli sci, digital media, music, and somewhat so for education majors. Other programs, in particular, the sciences (ie Biology) are relatively weak IMHO. The major caveats of DePaul: (1) ease of admissions=many mediocre students, (2) low rankings (ie us news) means school will continue to attract more relatively mediocre students, and (3) the entire school tends to be more “pre-professional” than academic=lacking in academic rigor/challenge (I have a 3.9 cum GPA) thus not the greatest for grad school prep. In summation, if you are not severely bothered by the above mentioned caveats and relatively weak science programs, I would recommend DePaul for most—if I could go back two years in time I would stick w/ my decision—but with your HS stats I would choose to go to a top-tier university. I completely cut my H.S. slacking when I came to DePaul, and am now seeking to transfer to a much stronger undergrad econ programs for grad school preparation. Nevertheless, I actually known two people from DePaul that both went to Harvard Law School (not making this up), so the school’s academics are at the very least respectable. I understand this is an important decision in your life so if you have any questions at all feel free to ask (post or PM me). Keep up the good work!

cocacolaaa

thank you so much!! i appreciate all the advice very much so.