Basic College Questions + Liberal Arts College...

haavain
Fri, 21 May 2010 23:44:25 +0000

If you are in the top band of applicants (solid chances at top 20-30 universities and LACs) then being low-income is something of an advantage for admissions and finaid. You still have time, so you want to work to put yourself into as close to this position as is possible. Best-case scenario, you will rely on a combination of reaches that meet full need and safeties that give big merit scholarships.

An ideal T20 candidate, IMO, has around a 3.8+ GPA in a curriculum considered “most rigorous” by her GC, a 2100+ SAT or equivalent ACT, and significant achievement–leadership or awards–in a couple different ECs. I say “ideal” because one can make up for a deficiency in one area with a strength in another, or with excellent essays. But this makes it harder and crafting a college list becomes more perilous for the unbalanced applicant. As you go into your junior year, concentrate on keeping your grades up as much as possible and pursuing extracurricular opportunities in a few areas of your interest (interest!), keeping in mind that depth is usually better than breadth.

Have you taken the PSAT? If so, what was your score? You will want to take it this coming fall, as getting a high score could put you in line for serious amounts of merit money, up to and including full rides. Last year Florida’s semifinalist cutoff was 211, but that figure does fluctuate. Ideally, you should take the SAT/ACT at least once during junior year as well, to give yourself more room for prep. Don’t forget SAT IIs, either–many top schools (usually the ones that give the best finaid) require them.

There are a lot of other things I could say, but I think stuff like Questbridge, app fee waivers, list strategies, and the like can wait until this time next year. Don’t think so much about specific schools; concentrate on doing as well as you can in school, and when you have a better picture of where you are as an applicant you can begin to start researching colleges, crafting a list, etc.