Hello all, I am currently a sophomore in high school (Indiana) and starting to become interested in researching college to gather more information for my applications in the future. I am writing this to gather information on what test scores will suffice for these universities that I am interested in. Also, I would like to see if my classwork needs more rigor to please these universities. My current GPA is 4.3 unweighted, 3.82 weighted. My PSAT is 1440 and PACT is 30. I plan to take the SAT this June. I plan to take AP Seminar, AP Calc (not sure AB or BC yet), AP Physics C, and ACP Psychology as a Junior. As a senior, I plan to take ACP Business Management, AP Statistics, AP Macroeconomics, and AP Government. Through an opportunity at my school, I will also have the opportunity to take a Accounting course at a local university as a senior.
EC’s:
Varsity Cross Country and Track 10-12 (assuming I stay on varsity)
DECA 10-12
Math Team 9-12
Volleyball 9
I will now list schools I have some interest in, however, I am not certain on whether some of these schools are reaches, safeties, or matches.:
Duke University
Michigan University- Ann Arbor
Michigan State University
Alabama University
Georgia University
Minnesota University
Indiana University- Bloomington
Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Purdue University- West Lafayette
Ohio State University
Notre Dame University
Loyola University Chicago
University of Chicago
University of California-Berkeley
University of California- Los Angeles
University of Cincinnati
Overall, any help would be appreciated, but I am looking for ways to build my resume and improve my chances into being accepted into these listed universities. Course work, SAT/ACT scores, etc, would all be very helpful for me! Thanks!
I would first start with your college budget. Sit down with your parents and find out how much they are willing/able to pay towards your college costs, if you qualify for néed-based and/or merit aid and what will be the possible gap if financial aid does not cover all costs.
You have UC Berkeley and Los Angeles on your list. Out of state students get little to no financial aid (need or merit based) from the California UC’s so you should expect to pay full costs at $65K/year (currently) to attend.
Each school will have a Net Price Calculator to help give you an estimate on your costs.
Some schools are also recalculate your GPA based on their formula so for example UCB/UCLA has 3 UC GPA’s they consider and only use 10-11th grades in their calculation. Weighted UC GPA for OOS students is based only on AP/IB courses taken 10-11th so HS Honors designated classes are not weighted in this calculation.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
You are on the right track with your academics and participate in the EC’s you love. Your passion and dedication will show through if you pursue your interests.
Visit each schools website where you can find plenty of information about the schools. I would also suggest you look at the decision threads here on CC to get an idea of the accepted students profiles.
BTW, UCLA/UCB should be considered Reach schools regardless of your qualifications.
Best of Luck.
I agree with @Gumbymom. You’re not going to get anywhere unless you know how much you can afford. Just a side note. An out of state university is triple the cost of a university in-state. A private university costs even more. Most families can’t afford either, and that’s why roughly 80 to 85% of students choose their in-state university. That’s where you start. Prestige is really just irrational hype. There’s nothing these big-name universities offer that you can’t get from a state university for a fraction of the cost.
Kids love to talk about the prestigious colleges they get into…but it really just amounts to bragging. When the “money talk” happens, you go where you can afford to go, period, and you don’t owe anyone an explanation.
@Gumbymom @coolguy40 That is a main point I forgot to include in my initial statement. Anyway, I agree with what you are both saying, Indiana University is currently my top choice but I haven’t visited any schools yet. For out-of-state tuition, I will need financial aid in most cases. However, with public in-state schools I may not need any. I appreciate the feedback, thank you both very much!
On a side note, going out of state means you DON’T need financial aid. Financial aid doesn’t cover the gap between in-state and out of state. That’s assumed paid for by mom and dad.