I’m looking to be a bio/psych major, which college in the northeast is best for me? I’m a junior with a 4.3 weighted gpa and I’m taking the ACT soon (I’ve gotten 28-33 on the practice ones I’ve taken but who really knows). I’m looking for a schoool with above a 30% acceptance rate and reasonably priced, location isn’t a huge deal. I’ve been trying to find a good college but everyone around me says my picks aren’t good so I’m hoping someone here can help.
but everyone around me says my picks aren’t good
-what do you mean?
a 28 and 33 are very different. I think you should take it and come back.
good luck!
Most people I talk to say my choices for college aren’t good for me, mainly my councilor and parents. The practice ACT scores I got were 28,30,30,32,33, I know I should wait to get my actual scores but I wanted to get a general idea before.
For a general sampling of colleges that may be suitable for you, you can read through here:
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/lists/list/colleges-to-consider-if-you-want-to-study-biology/117/
In terms of affordability, you can access the Net Price Calculators for schools of potential interest.
I don’t understand why they say your choices aren’t good for you. Why?
Mostly my counselor is a moron who thinks you literally need to take 4 AP’s a year to get into a decent college and she basically hates me for not taking APUSH and dropping German, and my parents want me to go to a rural college and that’s not a priority for me.
Oh, I understand. I was a little confused because your gpa and act are both good…
Disregard your counselor, especially since you stated above that you want to go somewhere with an acceptance rate above 30%. You shouldn’t have an issue if your ACT ends up being in the range of your practice tests. May I ask why you want to go to a school with a 30%+ acceptance rate?
Is there a reason your parents want you to go to a rural school?
This is kind of unrelated, but since you want to study bio and psych, have you considered neuroscience? It has a lot of psych and bio courses. I’m a high school and I think I want to study neuroscience, so I just wanted to tell you about that option.
Bio and psych are very common majors, that won’t limit your choices much. In addition to test scores, you need to know your parents budget and your EFC to determine financial fit.
Thanks for for your help, I’mbeen considering neuroscience but I feel like maybe a bio/psych undergrad might be good at first to see what I like. The 30% is because my top school choice is probably NYU (reconsidering that, it’s insanely expensive) and that has a 33% acceptance rate, I’m trying to be realistic with where I can get into. My father wants me to go to a rural school because he went to one but I’ve always loved cities, just a preference for me but for him it seems like the end of the world.
In my opinion, if you end up with a 30-33 on your ACT, you can be competitive for schools with a <30% acceptance rate. It also depends on other things that you haven’t mentioned, though, so I can’t know for sure.
Is there any happy compromise you and your dad can make? I’m not sure exactly why your dad wants you to go to a rural school - if he just wants you to follow in his footsteps, maybe you can convince him. If it’s for safety, it may be harder. Maybe he’d let you go to a smaller city.
You should definitely determine what your parents will allow you to do and how much they can pay.
I agree that once you get an ACT score you will be in a better position to choose colleges that make sense. In the meantime:
–Have the “money talk” with your parents. Find out any financial constraints you will have on your college. Also see if they have any other limitations (ex. geographic or anything else) on where they want you to go to college.
–Think about what you want in a college – what size school do you like, any location preference (both geographic and rural/suburban/urban), do you want big time sports, do you want Greek Life, do you prefer religious or secular, anything else you care about (any EC you want to continue in college, any club sport you want to play etc.).
–Get your hands on some good college guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review) and start reading. You can probably find the books in your HS guidance office or library.
What is on your list now? Also, what is your financial situation?
NYU, if you can make it work for you financially, would be excellent for biology.
My parents have been saving for a while so finances aren’t a huge concern, I’ve talked to them about NYU and money wasn’t much of a concern. My list for colleges is NYU, stony brook, UConn, WPI, University of Rochester, VT, and university of Miami (or university of Florida). The last two are just there because I know people who are going there currently, but I generally prefer states in the northeast. I’m definitely open to suggestions for colleges or criticisms of my list because I basically made this list by myself.