Idk what I want to do at all in the future (HS Junior, NJ)

Applying to College
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Demographics
16F She/Her Junior

  • US citizen
  • New Jersey
  • Small Private School
  • Not first gen.

Cost Constraints / Budget
I do not know But I know that scholarships are a concern for me

Intended Major(s)
I GENUINELY HAVE NO CLUE
I Do NOT want to do anything med, nothing art school, engineering feels WAY TOO HARD, Business is overdone and has a negative stigma, and I need something that pays well

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.8 Sophomore
  • Weighted HS GPA: Idk
  • ACT/SAT Scores:

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: I’m doing AP LANG this year
  • Math: Honors stats
  • Science: I Was so bad at Bio and chem. (The only times I got an F) Doing physics this year.
  • History and social studies: Took AP Euro (3), Psych (4), and this year I’m in Ap Micro, Ap Business, & APUSH.
  • Language other than English: Took Spanish one in 8th and then I did it again and then I did Spanish II and then stopped.
  • Visual or performing arts: Did graphic design as a freshman and a 1/2 semester one where we learned Canva and simple animation.
  • Other academic courses: I’m not sure

Awards

Extracurriculars
Always changes. I liked yearbook and I think I’m starting a journalism club this year. I did debate last year but we didn’t get any competitions.

Schools
Hopefully Northeast Ivies like Harvard and Columbia. I’ll take Boston Uni or Upenn tho. NOTHING MIDWEST OR SOUTH OR LANDLOCKED. Mayyyybe California but probably not.

Outside of school, I don’t really have any PASSIONS, per say. I use Niche a lot and I sometimes read or draw.

I am not a fan of group assignments.

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Unsure about what college or major or future career pathway to do AT ALL (16F, HS Junior, NJ)
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Thanks for putting this up.

You’re a sophomore - so keep studying hard, take the most challenging classes you can that stretch you but don’t overwhelm you, take the PSAT and then SAT next year, and get involved outside of class - whether it’s walking dogs at the shelter, volunteering at a museum, scooping ice cream at Baskin Robins.

It’s great to have goals - but if it were me, I’d start visiting colleges, maybe nearby or on vacation. Forget the name - visit some of various environments (urban, rural, suburban), largem mid size, small, big sports or not big sports. Find what you want.

Ivy is an athletic league - it’s easy to say I want Ivy - but they are all different.

And you are far too early to chance - because you don’t have an entire profile yet but be the best you can be so you give yourself options later.

Cost Constraints / Budget
I do not know But I know that scholarships are a concern for me

So you don’t need to know now but eventually you’ll need to talk with your folks about a budget. Harvard and Columbia are $100K a year. Can your family pay that or more importantly are they willing to? Or will they qualify for aid. You don’t need to know that now - but when building a college list, where you want to go isn’t the most important thing.

Your ability to pay is.

So you mentioned Sweet Briar and Emmanuel on the other thread. What if Harvard was $100K a year but they are $25K and your family gave you a budget of $30K a year.

So when building a college list, it’s always based on budget. Now, the Ivies don’t have merit aid but they do have need aid so it’s too early, but as an exercise, your folks can fill out a net price calculator (I put below) to see - are you a full pay family or not.

Back to major - let it go. It doesn’t matter. Really - keep taking classes - English, Foreign Language, Natural Science, Math, Social Science. You’ll want four years of each for top schools. If Harvard becomes Hofstra, they wouldn’t have been needed but they do give you options.

If you got an F, why are you doing physics? How will you make up the F.

Given your science grades and stopping spanish, top schools (by perception, not necessarily reality) likely aren’t going to be on the table.

But it doesn’t matter.

Please get off Niche - please -and maybe talk to your folks about finding someone for you to talk to. Obviously, I’m not a therapist but I feel a stress you put on yourself, a negative vibe you are putting out, and the Fs - might you be overwhelmed?

Anyway, you don’t need to think about the future at all at this point. You do need to be the best you that you can be - and that will be good enough whether at a job, junior college, or a four year school.

I put in the other thread - MIT, Stanford, Bowdoin - you don’t need to have a major until end of 2nd year at two of those three and during the second year at the 3rd.

And people change majors - and change jobs.

I had no idea my job existed.

My son was going to apply to college for astrophysics. In one year he said, nah - i’m going to be a pilot. Then he flipped again. Meteorology - and finally applied for Mechanical Engineering.

All during Junior year.

My daughter didn’t really have a major in mind but we were at a session at American U and she got inspired by a prof presenting - and did international studies - which is multi disciplinary. And now she’s in a service program - and makes good money.

So slow down - you’re a kid - do kid things, get a job, take a walk with mom or friends…but get off niche. It’s not helping you.

Good luck. And come back in a year with more grades and an SAT score.

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I am A Junior btw. I am taking physics as I need 3 science credits to graduate. My lowest Report card grade was a B- I mostly get A’s, I HATE not having straight A’s on my report card as it makes me honestly feel kinda dumb which is not me. I am not planning on doing Sweet Briar anymore because it’s too far in the south for me and I heard that it’s a C college on Niche and idk abt Emmanuel. I don’t know about budget at all and I have no clue abt scholarships as ieither have to make an account on a website or they are for a specific school district.

I still need to take the true SAT …

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Did you fail Bio and Chem? I’m trying to reconcile that information with the 3.8 GPA. Did you retake them for replacement grades? Are the Fs on your transcript? (OR – did you mean that those were the only classes in which you got failing grades on assignments?)

How many total years of Math will you have, and what is the highest level you’ll reach?

Is it possible to pick up Spanish III next year? Highly selective schools will want to see at least three years of a language (meaning reaching the third level). They would prefer the 4th level or AP, but I think Spanish III would be the minimum.

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So I would suggest it is too early to do a serious Chance Me/Match Me, but there are some concrete things you can work on for now.

First, you can start your testing process and get an idea what sort of SAT or ACT you might have to work with. No rush, but many people find it helpful to take at least one test during mid junior year, and possibly a second later in junior year if you think that would be useful. And that still leaves room for another round before applying, again if you feel that would be useful.

Second, you can sit down with your parents and work out an actual budget. This can be awkward and some parents resist, but you need to explain to them that colleges these days can cost over $100K a year, and rising. If they can offer to pay for all that themselves without you having to take out any personal debt, great, you are full pay anywhere and that is your budget. But if your parents are unable to pay that much, or unwilling, or only willing at some colleges but not others, you need to know that before you start putting colleges on your application list.

Then with a budget nailed down, you can start exploring college options.

If you are not simply full pay everywhere, you can get used to the financial side of this. A lot of that might involve learning how to use the Net Price Calculators colleges make available. On top of that, you can learn how to investigate merit programs. It can take some work up front, but usually you get the idea pretty quickly and can start figuring out where you should be looking. People around here are also great at helping with that part.

The other early thing you can do is explore some of the major dimensions which differentiate undergrad programs in the US. For example, there is size, like some colleges have just hundreds of undergrads, some have tens of thousands, and anything in between. There are also different sorts of academic mixes and focuses. There are also different curriculum structures, including as to your general education requirements. There are different settings, like rural/small town, larger college town, suburbs of a larger city, or urban locations in a larger city. There are different campus styles. Different ways of doing housing and dining. There are different student cultures/vibes. And so on.

You’ll pretty quickly figure out there are some more common combinations, and some less common combinations, although there are almost always at least a few colleges with some of the less common combinations. But again if you get an idea of what is most important to you, the people here are great at coming up with options for that combination. But you may sometimes have to prioritize things, and compromise on the less important things to you.

I note that can seem like a lot to try to get a handle on, and one thing some kids find very helpful is doing some visits. And you don’t have to make that an expensive, travel intensive process. Like you apparently live in NJ, and you basically can’t turn a corner in NJ without running into some sort of college or university (only a slight exaggeration). So you can visit lots of different types of colleges near you, even if you already know some or all of them are not quite what you are looking for. Because those visits will help your refine what your options really look like, and what matters most to you.

OK, so that’s a lot, but as a junior, you have the time. Then next summer maybe, you can revisit this Chance Me/Match Me process armed with the sorts of information you need to really nail down a great college application list.

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I didn’t fail them my lowest report grad on one of them was a B-

I’m planning on taking AP Precalc next year and I’m not going to do Spanish anymore because I Hated foreign Lang the entire time I was doing it

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Right now, your job is to do well in HS, do as well as possible on the PSAT which you will be taking soon, and do well on the SAT or ACT when you take those.

The schools you have listed as possibilities are all ones with very low admissions rates. I would also suggest you start looking at colleges where you likely have a strong chance of acceptance, and are affordable, and that you like.

Agree, you need to know how much your parents will pay annually for your college costs…so, have this conversation with them.

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I would suggest you take Spanish 3 for these types of colleges.

You say you attend a private high school. Most of these private schools have decent college counselors. My guess is they will start working with you this year to help you craft a realistic list of colleges. I’m not sure where you got the info for the colleges you posted above, but you need a much broader list in terms of selectivity than that list suggests.

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Confused because you said this.

Also, I forgot to put an NPC. This is a net price calculator.

Have your parents fill them out. What do they say ? I put BU, which offers merit, and Penn. both meet need but both will be beyond the academics you’ve described.

It seems you like urban schools. Given how you’ve described your academics, you might add Pitt, College of Charleston (a blue urban city in the South, Drexel (adjacent to Penn), Temple, Suffolk, Mary Washington, VCU and more.

But let’s see what your folks can afford - that’s most important. And get off niche grades, they don’t matter. For real. What a school can offer you enrichment wise does - and many have Honors programs, programs within Honors and more.

What matters is what you are able to pay and then what a school says you can afford - is it as low as you can or are willing/able to pay.

If you’re at a private school and are a Junior, ask them for college counseling.

Thanks

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Most college-bound students are encouraged to take biology, chemistry, & physics as fundamental high school science subjects. Sometimes, earth science is also taken. PutgatoryPicnic should be taking physics.

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If you have no plans to continue with Level III or AP, you may want to avoid targeting Ivy League schools for your undergraduate studies. Completing only two years of a foreign language is unfavorable & will disadvantage you in the admissions process.

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Often students will use PSAT & SAT scores as a baseline in constructing an initial target list of colleges. For example, in general, a student that scores 1000 vs. 1250 vs. 1500 on the SAT will be targeting different types of schools based on competitiveness & admissibility chances. You should definitely be taking the PSAT/NMSQT in October.

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I had written this at around 1am in a state of slight crisis, so I MAY rewrite this in a bit

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OP- I’ve read through both of your threads (maybe ask a mod to merge them?) and I’m confused.

You pushback on the advice you are getting- so why post at all? You have MANY misconceptions about college majors, career opportunities, etc. and people here generally want to help you.

So here’s some help. Stop thinking about “what you want to do in the future” based on academic interests (since you’ve got a long list of what you DON’T want /aren’t interested in) and start thinking about what your non-academic interests are.

I’ll give you my quick story- a career I fell into by accident after some twists and turns of jobs I hated or merely disliked. I like reading mysteries, solving puzzles, that kind of thing- and I like talking to people-- strangers, friends, you name it. So by the age of 30 (after majoring in Classics- I had always been fascinated by history and ancient civilizations and art) I ended up in a corporate role helping large companies hire people.

It’s a puzzle. And I talk to a LOT of strangers. Where do you go to find someone fluent in some specific language who is an expert in monetary policy? I did that assignment. Which colleges do you target to find someone who wrote a thesis or did an honors project on the Black-Scholes model? Can you find someone who is both an expert in design/visual experiences AND is a fantastic writer and communicator? Which colleges produce the best actuaries, or aerospace engineers that are willing to move to Duluth MN for a few years?

I’m not suggesting my career for you. Just suggesting that your college major doesn’t have to relate to your eventual career, and that figuring out what you love to do that’s NOT academic will help you- eventually- end up in a career that builds on your strengths. So you love dogs. Or love soccer. Or are the person in your friend group that everyone wants to take thrift shopping because you have a great eye for color and proportion. Or you have a sophisticated palate and can taste the difference between a high end cup of coffee and a mug of Folgers.

You will find a path. Stop worrying about how much money you’ll earn when you’re 30. Focus on being the best student you can be right now, and being the best PERSON you can be right now. There are college majors you’ve never heard of (and some you’ve got outlandish misconceptions about…) and careers that don’t exist today but will by the time you’re ready.

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You sound like a potential candidate for a liberal arts school. You can go in undecided, explore options and declare a major sophomore year (or design your own curriculum at some institutions.) The schools you are listing will expect to see min. 4 years of language, an AP in each foundational category (including real math [i.e. Calc.] and real science {Physics, Chem. or Bio.]), not to mention exceptional test scores. That just gets one through the threshold before they are even considered. On a good note, there are many excellent liberal arts (and other) schools that do not require this level of rigor. Something to keep in mind as HS moves forward.

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Just quickly telling my own story, I started college as a Physics major, eventually switched to Philosophy and went on to Philosophy grad school, thinking I wanted to be a professor. For a long time people had been telling me I should be a lawyer, but I had been resisting, and yet as college friends were progressing through law school and then into legal careers, I started changing my perspective. I grew pretty disillusioned with academia, and eventually realized the right sort of legal career could be great for a curious person like me. So I finally swapped to law school, and I ended up doing antitrust law, which basically meant with each new case I got to learn about a new industry, new markets, new companies, new sorts of employees, and so on.

So many ultimately successful paths end up working like this. Is sort of beautiful really, but I understand it is also offputting to see so many other young peers who seem to have their lives all mapped out. But eventually you will see most of those maps won’t actually be followed.

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Why do you think business has a negative image? Finance, accounting and math have high ROI’s. My accounting major is a CPA, my finance major works in valuations, my finance major/math and accounting minor is an actuary. All are paid well. My health science major has a doctorate in PT and makes a good salary (been working less than a year). You need to know your budget before applying to any school. My kids did not have high budgets, and it’s harder to qualify for financial aid in NJ since COL isn’t part of the formula. We have 5 kids, 1 income, $0 in financial aid, even with multiple kids in college at once (fafsa used to take that into account but never moved the needle for us). My oldest graduated from Rutgers NB, tuition has gone up every year since at least 2014, pushing $40,000, you won’t get merit without a very high test score. TCNJ (#2) is a bit more expensive I believe. Out of state public’s are usually around $60,000 without merit (and many schools base merit on test scores and gpa). Don’t base your major on your perceptions of what others think (and no one is looking down on business, engineering, comp science -they’re popular for a reason). I won’t suggest healthcare because although high ROI, tons of hard science (I had no idea what I wanted to do, majored in English, terrible at math and science).

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Impossible to match you w/o knowing cost constraints. Please talk to a parent. Even just a rough idea is helpful, like, “probably can’t pay more than $40k/year” or something like that.

I recommend having a parent run the net price calculator on, say, Rutgers, just to have a baseline case to compare private and out-of-state public colleges against.

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I recommend seeking out liberal arts colleges that allow for broad exploration of topics (most do) and provide many opportunities for real-life experiences, such as internships or community engagement/service. Pick a major that you find most interesting for now, even if it seems impractical – or be undeclared.

I think you’ll figure it out (your career). It takes time.

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You’re what, 16?

How in the world are we supposed to know what we want do for 40 years when we’re at 16?

The few kids, I knew, who wanted to go straight for the doctor/ engineer role, I think, we’re being pushed a lot by their parents.

I taught at a high school for about a decade as a Speech Pathologist; tell me how I got there?

I had a really strong classical and English lit background in high school. It was a phenomenal advanced teacher staff. So I was strong in the classics, in history, in social science, and strong in biology, but not so much in math because it really didn’t interest me.

When I applied to college in my senior year, I thought my major was going to be English. By the time graduation came around in June, I knew I didn’t want to be an English major and I wanted to be pre law.

When I had to select courses for my private university, I picked a number of law and history classes. Because they had a law school at my university, my advisor suggested a number of courses that would help me to get into any law school.

I’ll have to say that my prelaw professors were phenomenal! I learned tons about interstate commerce that I didn’t think applied to me. I loved it! But I didn’t like my peers sitting across the rows from me. Their way of thinking and my way of thinking didn’t mesh.

At the time, very few females were interested in law school. There were five of us females in the basic (30+people classes).

The best way I can put it is: we were floored by the attitudes of the men in our classes towards women in that field. Needless to say I did NOT want to be around these icky people who made me angry about the profession. They were always talking about how much they could get on retainers from their clients. I guess I was too idealistic thinking I could change the world.

I don’t know how many times I changed majors. I transferred to the large public, but popular, university in my town. Went back to the classics and discovered speech pathology through an advisor who noticed that I had extremely strong grades in biological sciences and English.

I never looked back and loved my profession.

At 16, I was worried about my next tournament and how I could improve my serve.

What you need to do NOW is what everyone else has said, prepare very well, academically, for a college.

Ask your mom and dad, “hey Mom and Dad, do you know how much we can afford to pay every year for my college?”

You need a number. Then you go “shop” for colleges that have a little bit of everything that meet just under that budget.
One of my girls, looked at the course selection at Uc Davis and saw that she could take a fairytale class to meet her GE English requirement.

Oh and if you’re planning to apply to the very expensive UC’s in California, you need four years of foreign language. They say: two years, but they suggest three years, and really expect four years of proficiency.

The California schools are extremely expensive and very competitive. They expect hard rigorous coursework in high school and strong GPAs.

So right now do well in school, start prepping for your tests, and please get a budget.

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