But I do think your list is unfocused - but I don’t know your rationale other than Philly and Rhode Island.
Given you have a low GPA and shy from STEM, you’re unlikely to get in a high reach. It doesn’t mean not to try - but you have so many reaches - it’s going to be app fatigue and rejection.
It’s not just your GPA that’s an issue.
But there are solid LACs you should add - that will deliver you a similar experience, just with kids less academically competitive - but not bad - as you’re not bad, etc. Connecticut is a reasonable reach for you or Union near Albany vs. a Vassar. F&M is reasonable - I don’t see you getting in - but it’s reasonable. You don’t need more than 3…but you do need the low end. F&M, Connecticut type, Dickinson type, Union type and one Vassar/Smith type - because they are time wastes I believe.
And then a Juniata, Drew, Washington, Susquehanna, Ursinus, Wheaton - whatever - safety…2 or 3 of those.
Maybe. If your other parent is still alive, did you include their income when you did the NPCs? A number of the colleges on your list use the CSS Profile to determine the awarding of their institutional need based aid, and many require info from both parents. Also, the NPCs are currently set for students starting college in fall 2025, and that isn’t you. They will be reset for you in late summer just before your senior year in high school.
Re: your non-custodial parent…you will need to apply for a waiver for the financials of that parent with each college that would otherwise require it. It sounds like you might get this waiver, but you never know until it’s actually approved.
I think URI is a safety, if it’s affordable.
Re: American University…you need to show interest as an applicant and you haven’t applied yet.
I think your school counselor should explain your extenuating circumstances in their counselor letter.
I’m not sure why you would ED anyplace given that it doesn’t sound like the finances are a sure thing for you. Some of these colleges cost nearly $100,000 a year, and some don’t guarantee to meet full need. I think it’s terrific if your grandparent can help you, but if that is the case, that money should be in something like a 529 account with you as the beneficiary…so you are assured that the money will actually be there for you for college.
There are a lot of colleges where you will be accepted and where you will be a welcome addition to the student body there.
I do think you need to review your safety schools. Find two…and go from there.
And question…will you have taken four years each of English, Social Studies, Math, Science, and up to at least level three of the same foreign language? Some of your colleges recommend that.
So first, I would also hope your HS counselor can give you the best available advice.
But if you want an outside opinion as well, here is what I would normally say.
I think in cases like yours, it is important to understand the risk that colleges simply will not compromise on their normal grade standards. They might, but they might not.
So I think normally you would be well advised to start with the assumption they would not, and come up with a good application list assuming they would not. Normally this would include at least 2 Likelies, meaning colleges very likely to admit you just with the grades you have and also that would be comfortably affordable. You might then have 3-5 Targets, and 2-3 Reaches. All of these colleges should be very carefully considered and chosen because they would be particularly good fits for you.
For example, I would normally think an intended English major with your numbers would want to take a serious look at Iowa, which has a great English department and associated writer’s workshop (which is a graduate program but I understand contributes to the experience for all the people interested in writing at Iowa). Iowa happens to have automatic admissions using a formula which considers both GPA and test scores, and that is very much to your benefit. You can check here, but I think you might be an auto admit to Iowa:
Of course you don’t have to pick Iowa for your list, I am just giving you an example of how someone could take something like an interest in English and a very high test score and turn it into carefully choosing a Likely like Iowa.
OK, so you have done all that and picked a good list of 7-10 total colleges, broken down as above, assuming your grades are what they are. Now you can add a few more colleges on the hope they will compromise their normal grade standards for you. We could call these Hopefuls, to distinguish them from normal Reaches.
I would not do too many Hopefuls, but say another 3-5 you carefully choose, again based on particularly good fit for you–but also on a sincere belief you are a particularly good fit for THEM. Like, study carefully what they say they are looking for in a student, and honestly believe you are what they are looking for.
I don’t want to prejudge that for you, but hypothetically, I could see you concluding some prominent women’s colleges would be particularly likely to see you as a highly desirable student such that they might compromise on their normal grade standards. And I see some on your list. So those might be strong contenders to make that list of Hopefuls.
If you did all this, you would have a total of something like 10-15 colleges on your list. All of them would be carefully chosen to be great fits for you. Some would be very likely, some less likely but reasonably possible just with your grades as is, and some only possible if they compromise. But all those scenarios would be covered well.
You have some very interesting ECs, and I love that you extend some of your ECs to others (like ancestry research and shoe cobbler).
You’ve gotten some great advice already, particularly about using your school’s guidance counselor, the need and variability of getting waivers for your non-custodial parent, the need to find extremely likely schools that are a good fit for you, how to balance your list, etc.
But you’ve come on here to seek outside perspectives on your chances, so I’ll go on ahead and give you mine. These are my guesses as to what your chances might be; I am not a professional in college admissions.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Drexel
Ithaca
Rhode Island
Likely (60-79%)
Bard
Marist
Sarah Lawrence
Toss-Up (40-59%)
American
Emerson
George Washington
Stony Brook
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Brandeis
Mount Holyoke
Franklin & Marshall
Rochester
Smith (ED)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
Boston College
Bryn Mawr
Haverford
Smith (RD)
U. of Miami
Vassar
Wellesley
William & Mary
Very Low Probability (less than 5%)
Amherst
Barnard
Brown
Swarthmore
UPenn
Williams
I’ll probably be back with some other thoughts about your list.
You sound like a fantastic student and a wonderful person but I’ll gently suggest an attitude adjustment. It is VERY hard to predict how an admissions committee is going to view the “explanation” for your GPA. Some will overlook it- you are performing well at a competitive HS. Some will see it as a red flag. And there is nothing you can do about it- completely out of your control.
So what IS in your control is making sure that you find something to love about every school which meets your other criteria (not in the south, not hugely rural-- so I’m questioning Ithaca a bit-- Ithaca NY is a cute town but not exactly a raging metropolis, etc.)
Most of the time, in my experience, kids who have “a bunch of schools” they hate- the hate is based on a few Reddit posts or the fact that a kid they dislike from HS went there. That doesn’t need to be you. If your mom has already vetoed most state schools besides URI and Stonybrook (seems like an odd combo to me but whatever) you’re going to be even MORE limited in how many schools you can “afford” to hate.
So do your attitude adjustment now while you’re still evaluating what you want, what you need, what your mom will agree to. And please, please please make sure you’ve got at least one rock solid safety which will be affordable in a worst case scenario. The stock market drops even further with your 529 going South. etc. Remember that college endowments are ALSO taking a financial hit right now, so the mega generous schools may be a tad less generous by the time they evaluate your application.
I know you mentioned URI & Drexel because of their locations, but you also have other medium-large schools on your list like GW, Stony Brook, BC, U. of Miami, and UPenn. Is that because you’re undecided about what size school you want and therefore want to have choices of some larger schools in a range of selectivity levels? If not, I think it could be helpful to let folks know your rationale for including them, as it can help posters provide better feedback.
If Drexel’s on your list because of its Philadelphia location, have you thought about Saint Joseph’s? It’s a Jesuit school (like Boston College) but is more mid-sized with about 4800 undergrads. Or if you’re looking for a medium-large institution, West Chester (about 14k undergrads) has a really big English department and even has four different internship coordinators (one for English, two for the professional & technical writing minor, and one in the journalism minor), and it’s in a suburb of Philly and has a pretty affordable sticker price, to boot. Both of those would be extremely likely admits for you. Or you might want to consider Muhlenberg which has about 1800 undergrads and is about 1h17m from Philly, but seems as though it has more of the vibe of some of the other schools on your list. I think Muhlenberg would be a likely admit.
If you’re interested in other Rhode Island schools, Providence would be worth checking out. Like BC, it’s a Jesuit school, but it’s on the smaller side of mid-size with about 4200 undergrads. I think this would be a toss-up school for you, perhaps leaning towards a likely. And speaking of Jesuits, College of the Holy Cross might be one of the best fits for you among them as it has about 3k undergrads. Its admission rate has been dropping precipitously over the last few years, but they’re also trying to expand their geographic diversity, so being from Florida might give a bit of an admissions boost, perhaps falling into the lower probability bucket.
Since small liberal arts colleges comprise the vast majority of your schools, I’m a bit concerned that you don’t have any in the schools I categorized as extremely likely admits. Some schools you may want to check out include Wheaton (MA), Emmanuel (MA), Susquehanna (PA ), and Drew (NJ), most of which have been mentioned by @tsbna44. One other extremely likely admit I’d urge you to consider is Siena (NY) with about 3500 undergrads. For your areas of interest, I think it is particularly great, though it’s a bit larger than some of the small liberal arts schools on your current list.
The circumstances quoted above are important to explain your GPA, your ECs/lack of ECs, as well as your obsession with self/self-identity/heritage.
Your list of schools does not make sense.
Swarthmore, BC, & F&M should be deleted.
Swarthmore is unlikely to extend an offer of admission. Your profile doesn’t fit. (Swarthmore likes future PhD professor types.)
F&M and BC are polar opposites of Smith, Vassar, Bard, American, Sarah Lawrence, Haverford, Wellesley, Barnard, & Brown.
A more refined list of your 28 listed schools might be the following 10 schools:
Smith, American, Bard, Stony Brook, URI, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Haverford, & U Miami.
Consider adding: Macalester College, Oberlin College, Skidmore College, U Vermont, and rural, isolated Grinnell College.
Amherst, Williams, U Penn, Swarthmore, & Brown may be unrealistic even though categorized by you as reach schools. If unfocused in class, or in some classes, then Swarthmore College would not be an enjoyable environment for you.
Your essay should portray your focus on self as a pathway to helping others. Essentially, you want to present an obsession with self as something bigger than you as an individual.
You should find a way to show that you are an intellectually curious individual if targeting elite, most selective colleges & universities. This has to be genuine to be convincing. If you cannot do so, then reconsider your list of reach schools.
It’s fine for a high school student to not have a driving sense of intellectual curiosity; it just affects the type of schools to which you should apply.
P.S. Consider taking advantage of both ED 1 &, if necessary, ED 2. ( Maybe ED 1 to Vassar College and, if necessary, ED 2 to Smith College.) If the financial aid package offered is inadequate, then the ED contract is not a binding commitment.
P.P.S. I disagree with several of the schools suggested by other posters. I cannot imagine one with your intellect and preferences at a school like, for example, Susquehanna.
I know this is not what you are asking, but thought that I should say it.
If you look at your reach schools, but rather than looking at undergraduate students, instead look at graduate students, you will find that they came from a huge range of undergraduate schools. If you then consider the list of schools that @AustenNut listed in his reply, or any other colleges and universities listed above, you can most likely attend any school mentioned and still have a realistic shot at highly ranked schools for a graduate degree.
When applying to graduate programs high school will not matter at all, and which university or college you attended for your bachelor’s will not matter much. What you did since becoming an undergraduate student will matter a lot.
If you can afford a graduate program (when the time comes) and if you want to do it, your dream of attending a “top 25” school does not need to be forgotten. It just might be delayed a bit.
While i must say, I appreciate the feedback, i disagree with calling myself “self-obsessed.” I think that carries a negative connotation. Anyone in the same situation as me would be curious about their origins — as i have been — and I’ve taken it upon myself to go out of my way to help other people. It is nothing about how it is portrayed, it just is what it is. I am fully aware that my school list is all-over-the-place, but both my counselor and i agreed that me applying to a lot of schools is fine given both my circumstances and that i will most likely be given a fee waiver. I’m sure you didn’t mean anything negative by that, but I find myself feeling a little bit cornered pretty often on this site, so I just wanted to put that out there. Aside from that, skidmore is on my list of possibilities. I typed this list from the top of my head so a few will likely not be staying on.
Ok. Normally I talk about budget but you said you are good. Mom has money.
Then this won’t be true. If this is true, beyond the schools that give them to encourage more apps )marketing),then you need to have a budget and if it’s low move past schools like AU and Drexel, that not only don’t assure to meet need but will turn you down if you need too much.
So me - the guy who always mentions budget - did not go there based on what you previously said - but now I have to go there.
What is the # you can pay?
There’s lots of meet need schools but you are highly unlikely.
So you need to include schools, that full pay, can meet your #.
That # is more important than even your gpa.
Have that chat with mom now. We need a formal all in # -hopefully between $20k and $100k a year. Schools fit those buckets. You may not love the names but at this point that is secondary.
I go to school currently in a very isolated area that is smaller than Ithaca. I am fine with this. I am fine with any sort of environment as long as it is on the east coast. With regards to the reddit comment— the colleges that I’m uninterested in are this way for reasons, that to me, are legitimately valid. The schools that I “hate” are usually based off of location. A lot of liberal arts colleges that, while aren’t uber-selective, are in locations like the Midwest or Ohio. I have lived in major cities on the East coast for my entire life with the exception of my BS and I have family in most of the states here which is important to me.
I am going off of what my counselor has told me. I feel like I am receiving a bit of a hard time here— my counselor has told me, herself, that I would be able to receive one. My mother is past the retirement age and receives both social security benefits and a pension from the government. My family can contribute most likely up to $65k for college annually, assuming my grandfather contributes and we use savings. I have a savings account with a few hundred thousands dollars in it from when my mother was employed, though she no longer is so her income no longer reflects what it was when that account was being paid into.
No worries, I wasn’t offended at all! I just felt like it was a bit of a misrepresentation of my ECs. I’ve worked really hard throughout HS to help people and I feel like because of my GPA people take that work a lot less seriously, so it’s something I really try my hardest to defend : )
I’m not being hard. But $65k won’t cover all schools. If one qualifies for a waiver, that means you are indigent.
In your case you have third party funds.
Ask your mom this - you’re willing to stretch but will that hurt your day to day living ? She’s retired.
It’s not being hard - it’s finding the optimal school for all.
I gave you names above that will come in the 40s. Ithaca might be 65k. Would whaton at 45k or Susquehanna at $38k be better than Ithaca or AU at $65k
These are the discussions to have.
It’s not being difficult. It’s the real situations.
Every parent wants the best for their kid. At the same time, if she’s on a fixed income, you do r want to put her in a really tough position if that might happen.
Where you get your degree likely will have little impact on your future, given your majors.
NPCs have put me in the 30-40k range for all of these schools. It would not hurt my day to day living because we are a 2 person household. I have asked these questions countless times, which is why I do not want to worry about the financials. I have been told time and time again that I will be fine. Common App allows for fee waivers to be given based off of a statement from a school official— something that I would get either from my school financial aid officer or my counselor herself. I understand that it’s all the same degree is one thing, but I also want to go somewhere that will make both me and my family proud. My college counselor, too, is confident that I will have a few options to choose from, which I guess is why I’m a little bit jarred by the lack of confidence. I do believe that it’s probably because you can only factor in so much from a post on CC, but my school 60-75% acceptance rates for most of my targets as well. I’m (at the moment) above average at my current school. Average GPA here is about a 3.6 and I have a 3.8, and I’m a good performer in most of my classes (aside from the aforementioned occasional lack of focus).
None of us know you. None of us know your HS. None of us can evaluate the rigor of your curriculum. And furthermore- what for some families would be a hard cap (there is 200K in a college account and when it’s gone it’s gone) for others, it’s more of a “If the market goes down another 10% and it’s only 180K instead of 200K it’s fine because we have other funds”. So understand when you post on an anonymous board, you’re getting perspectives from people who DO NOT KNOW YOU.
If your guidance counselor says you’re good- you’re good and then stop worrying. So get off CC and go enjoy springtime in New England!
Yeah, I understand that fully! I just wanted to see what some other people had to say. I just felt like the response was a little bit negative which is why I felt the need to point out what my counselor had told me. My situation is very weird in all respects so nobody in my life, even professionals, can give me any kind of answer with any surety so my response to this was to just try and get as many opinions as I can. I am sick though, so no spring weather for me
That’s great. I also think you won’t have an issue getting the NCP waivers granted, but you will have to be timely submitting those at each CSS school that requires NCP info.
The biggest issue I see is that schools that meet full need don’t accept many unhooked applicants with 3.35 GPAs, including some C’s. That GPA can also make it difficult to get larger merit awards at the schools that offer merit. So, it can make sense for you to apply widely. I definitely defer to your counselor to categorize schools.
With all that said, completing college apps is difficult and time consuming. I encourage you to get all of your essays done this summer, because in the fall you will have hard classes, ECs, and less time to focus on doing a good job on your apps. Good luck.
Ok. Just so you know - all schools will make you proud. My son turned down his reach for safety so he could get his own room . My daughter is at # 16 of 17 rank wise. Both fit.
Mine turned down a top LAC, UGA and U of SC Honors (top2) and I was at an awards ceremony the other day. She got 3. She interned for the state. For arguably the top think tank in dc. One of her friends is going to Oxford in the fall. Fully funded. HR McMaster spoke to a class she visited yesterday. Look him up. The prof emailed her bcuz she’s so invested at school- come and interact with him.
You think I’m not proud bcuz she’s at Charleston? Nope.
She busted her butt. Not only am I proud - so are her co students and profs. That can be you - anywhere. She started a club to help integrate refugees in the community. She left a mark. Will you ? That’s up to you. If so, however it looks in your case, they will be proud. You’ve done a lot already so I’m sure they are already proud. A school name shouldn’t be the basis of that.
At Harvard or Hofstra you will make your name. Not your school.
The reality is in two years of public school, you have a low gpa and u admit you run from STEM classes.
So I love your hustle, but no family story makes up for that. No ECs do.
But guess what from URI to Juniata, all can make you a star. In some cases, like my daughter, she stands out where she may not have where everyone is a stud.
Lots of schools need people and will buy you.
You want to apply Williams - great. But make sure you have Washington College. These are just two opposite examples. But you are going to Washington, not Williams.
AU and GW are not likely. Worth a shot. Not likely. Charleston is - where my kid chose.
This is a reality
They will be proud of what you do there. A name, in and of itself, means little.
