Anxious High School student about college admissions.

inthegarden
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 05:34:58 +0000

@Ingriid, your English skills are very good for someone who has only been in the US for two years not knowing much English prior to coming. You write much better than some of the native English-speaking kids who post here! If you apply to a good mix of reach, match and safety school, I can’t imagine you not getting an acceptance you like. Also, colleges will evaluate you in context with your competitive high school and know you’re a good student.

I also think the colleges previously mentioned are good ones for you to look into. Dickinson is a very nice and well-regarded school that you may have a chance at, especially if you get your SATs up a bit. I have heard very good things about Susquehanna University, and even though it isn’t as difficult to get into as some, it seems to have solid academic value, a growing reputation, great professors who are enthused about teaching, friendly students and a beautiful campus. It has some business degrees, as well as psychology (Just about all schools will offer a psychology degree but not all will have business.) I think you would have a good chance for merit aid there. If you would like a small college in a city, you might like Duquesne University (it’s a Catholic school but you don’t have to be Catholic to go there…don’t know how you would feel about that.) Duquesne has a famous Eastern-European music and folk-dancing troupe that you might find personally interesting! All the students in the troupe (The Tambouritzans) are on full scholoarships for being in the group, and perform traditional dances from all over Eastern Europe (including Greece and Albania) wearing authentic embroidered clothing. I’ve seen them perform and they’re amazing! (You can find them on Youtube.)

There’s a thread from last year on College Confidential that you can look up called “Parents of the H.S. Class of 2017: 3.0-3.4 GPA,” I think you might find it reassuring to read. It’s a very long thread, but toward the end of it is a list of all the colleges and universities these parents’ children were admitted to, with their stats, ECs, etc. Some of the students had somewhat higher GPAs, but all were B to A- students. Many of them not only got into schools they were very excitied about, but were awarded significant merit aid. There’s a similar thread for this year, but all the college acceptances have not come out yet.

Good luck to you!