<p>Knowledgeable and helpful CCers:
Would you please offer some advice for a college search/ reach, match and safety list for a student with the following profile:
Current 11th grade white female
Diverse, urban, non-selective but high achieving high school
All classes in gifted track (one third of school is in this track, must test in with IQ test)
“Normal” 11th grade curriculum (no extra sciences, languages, taking Elem. Functions now, etc.)
GPA 3.65 unweighted, 4.4 weighted
Class rank 43/345
Class rank will probably go down as she will serve as a Congressional Page and the school will not weight those classes as they do the gifted track classes
Consistent Bs in math, usual Bs in science
SAT 770 CR, 710 math, 670 writing (may take again to try to improve writing score), scored a 9 on the essay portion
Has not yet taken subject tests
PSAT selection index 199 (96th percentile but probably missed cutoff for commended)
Won a regional young playwrights contest (play was produced) and a regional high school short story contest in 10th and 9th grade respectively
Activities: varsity soccer, school newspaper, student conservation association national crew volunteer, participated in an improvisational theater education project about domestic violence prevention for teens, has dabbled in some other activities such as mock trial and junior statesmen of America
Would like to be somewhat close or accessible to the Boston-New York-Washington corridor
Does not want a super-urban campus (in a city is OK if there is a separate campus with quads, etc.)
Would like a school with a strong creative writing program (may not major in it, but would like to take courses in it), also likes history
Legacies: Cornell, Va Tech, Michigan (grandparents), SUNY Albany and University of Rochester (parents), Schreyer at Penn State, Penn and Yale (siblings)
Cost: parents will pay for value, but will compare everything to the state flagship (Penn State) in terms of whether it is really better or worth the cost
Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Bucknell. Lafayette, Holy Cross</p>
<p>Let me just summarize this for myself:
good SAT; good GPA; diverse ECs with focuses on sports, activism/politics, and writing; New England or Mid-Atlantic; not urban; English/creative writing, history</p>
<p>Vassar came to mind immediately. If she’s interested in women’s colleges she should look into Smith and Bryn Mawr. She should also look into Haverford, Goucher, and Bowdoin.</p>
<p>I’m thinking Wash DC schools…</p>
<p>How about **Georgetown **as a reach (but you’d be a strong contender - especially as a full pay - my nephew was just accepted EA with lower stats than yours.)</p>
<p>George Washington U - match</p>
<p>American U - safety</p>
<p>Catholic U of America - safety</p>
<p>Also, what “kind” of college do you like?</p>
<p>Big?
Small?
Single Sex?
Quiet?
Rah rah big sports?
Big City
Med City
Rural
College Town
Sunny weather
Cold/Snowy weather
Greeks</p>
<p>just an FYI --Grandparents leg at U Mich -sibling at Yale–is really not going to help. For the most part these are NOT considered leg’s. For the most part state schools do not factor in leg’s at all. Leg’s are consider PARENTS who’ve attended.</p>
<p>Momof2collegekids question–What was your nephews hook? I find it hard to believe Georgetown would have excepted him with a GPA of 3.65.</p>
<p>my bad 
*accepted</p>
<p>*Momof2collegekids question–What was your nephews hook? I find it hard to believe Georgetown would have excepted him with a GPA of 3.65. *</p>
<p>The OP’s weighted GPA is a 4.4. His weighted GPA was about the same, but his SAT was lower. (I don’t know if Georgetown exclusively looks at weighted or not. ) And, he had no hook. He may have gotten some consideration since goes to a Catholic high school and is a full payer. He has no ECs at all. It was a long shot when he applied, but he was accepted.</p>
<p>I’d say given your parameters, you’ll end up at Penn state. Siblings don’t make you a legacy, and even if they did, Yale and Penn are highly unlikely. Only 2% at Penn for example, were not in the top 10$ of their class. That rank will make Cornell tough too.</p>
<p>So I guess it comes down to what your parents see as value. You seem like a shoo in at Rochester if they’ll pay for that. But being outside of the top 10% with good but not top college good scores will land you at schools most probably that make Penn State honors attractive to money conscience parents.</p>
<p>If the parents are going to compare everything to Penn State to determine “worthiness” of the extra money, then you really only have reaches and Penn St to consider. </p>
<p>There’s no point to applying to various matches and safeties if their costs will be more than Penn St’s cost and will be more lowly ranked. </p>
<p>So, it sounds like…</p>
<p>Reaches and Penn State will be on your list.</p>
<p>However, you do have another option, if you want to apply to some schools that may cost more than Penn St, but aren’t higher ranking.… Since you have the following SAT score (SAT 1480/2150 - 770 CR, 710 math, 670 writing ), you could apply to some schools that will give you automatic scholarships because of your stats that would bring the costs down to Penn State or even below Penn State. :)</p>
<p>I’m only suggesting the above as a possibility in case you want to go Out of State, but you don’t get accepted to an elite school that your parents will pay for. :)</p>
<p>Now, some schools have competitive scholarships and some have automatic. You could apply to a mix - some competitive and some assured (automatic). American U would be a competitive one, while a school like UMiami might have an assured one with your stats (there are many other schools who have assured scholarships for your stats - UMiami is what just immediately came to mind).</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. If anyone else has any more advice based on the following modifications to the original post, please fire away!
NOT interested in women’s colleges, in fact would prefer colleges where there are equal numbers of men and women, or more men!
NOT particularly interested in being in the middle of nowhere, unless there is a nice college town to go along with that.
NOT interested in a Catholic or Christian college, in fact, would like a college with a significant Jewish population.</p>
<p>What are realistic reaches? Is Schreyer a realistic reach?
GPA seems low compared to SAT score, especially if writing score can come up…because of the number of really, really bright students in this high school! Of course, this offers lots of intellectual stimulation which is great…16% of graduates go to schools in USNWR top 20; brother goes to Penn and was NOT in top 10% - sister went to Schreyer and was NOT in top 10%, but still want to be realistic.</p>
<p>And, what other schools have assured scholarships with these stats?
Thanks again for the help, everyone!</p>
<p>Does Penn St use a weighted GPA or unweighted GPA or both for Schreyer consideration?</p>
<p>Georgetown may be “Catholic” but it’s not religious, AND it has a significant number of Jewish kids. It has Jewish ministry and a Hillel. Georgetown’s location in DC makes it a good choice.</p>
<p>Thank you! Maybe someone on this forum knows about Schreyer’s use of the GPA. Penn State in general uses an unweighted GPA AND a single sitting for the SAT, I have heard, and Schreyer weighs ECs heavily.
In regard to Georgetown, do you know whether the attitude leans toward following a heirarchy of authority or encouraging the challenging of authority (in terms of inquiry, that is!)</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Georgetown is Jesuit…they’re the most challenging of authority out there. LOL</p>
<p>Jesuits are intellectuals…they question EVERYTHING.</p>
<p>Thanks, mom2collegekids! Georgetown is worth consideration.
Do you know which schools offer the automatic scholarships that you referenced?</p>
<p>LEVIRM-Georgetown is really, really a reach–please dont hang your hat there–mom2collegekids nephew who got in with such a low GPA and no X is a RARE exception.</p>
<p>I appreciate your opinion. I guess what I am having trouble with is judging the value of all classes in the “gifted” track (students must test in with an IQ of 130 or higher to get in this track). These are classes starting in the ninth grade. Does this change the way that the colleges view GPA because the grades are relative to the other students in this track? I think that these students, for example, would be in Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, North Hollywood, and other schools like that. It is common, for example, for some NMF not to be in the top 10%, or for students with very high SATs to have a lower GPA. Do the colleges view SATs as a way to sort of “even out” the various grading scales of schools and judge students on a national basis?</p>