Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public (run-of-the-mill HS)
Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, recruitable athlete, etc.): None
White
Low income
Intended Major(s)
Polisci
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 96/100 (~4.1) w/ ridonculous grade inflation at my hs
Weighted HS GPA: no idea
Class Rank: val (1/~150)
ACT/SAT Scores: 1420 (confident in a 1540+ superscore on august retake)
List your HS coursework
(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)
English: AP Lang (expect a 4/5)
Math: AP Calc AB (expect a 5)
Science: APES (expect a 5), AP Chem (expect a 3/4/5)
History and social studies: AP Psych (5), AP US Gov (5), AP Euro (5), APUSH (expect a 5),
Language other than English: Spanish IV by end of senior year
Other: AP CSP (expect a 3/4/5)
Taking next year: AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Econ
Everything else was an honors class
Awards
top 1% in int. writing comp about politics (36000 participants)
x2 1st place FBLA states in areas relating to law/polisci
Boys state (will attend in end of June)
x2 Hon mention, critical essay, scholastic art & writing
Harvard book award
Extracurriculars
Created AP US Gov study web app (really donât know how to quantify this, any suggestions?)
Attorney general in online game/simulation w/ 20k+ members; led team of 30. basically roleplayed as govt official
Staffer, local party org (managed websites, comms across a few local races; created politcal attack and support ads. Also, how do I quantify these types of ecs?)
Volunteer @ state house campaign (basically did same thing as the staffer position)
Contributor for study guide website (think something like Fiveable; wrote part of AP US gov curriculum)
newspaper editor
treasurer of school business club
debate
NHS member
Iâm currently fishing for maybe an internship at a state office or notable NGO, and Iâm still waiting on some additional awards to be announced.
Essays/LORs/Other
LORs may be below avg., no idea though.
essay: no idea on the primary topic, but I will probably talk about financial hardship and how Iâve coped with that
Financial Constrants
Certain sub-ivy yet prestigious universities (NYU, BU, BC, Northeastern, etc.) donât offer enough aid for my situation, so consider them off the list. So it really is either a state school or a far reach (very little options in the middle) for my situation.
Schools
Safety:Fordham, UCONN, Umass amherst
Lower prob: Georgetown, Tufts
Low Probability: All ivies except Columbia and maybe Harvard (scared about possible accredidation issues in the future) w/ Yale REA, Stanford, Duke
Questions I have/advice that Iâm soliciting here (feel free to answer none, 1 or both)
In my EC list, Iâm considering about dropping business club treasurer from my ec list. i feel that it doesnât add cohesion to my app since it isnât at all related to polisci. At the same time, I donât have a lot of leadership positions.
Also, any advice on what order my ECs and awards should be in?
So one obvious suggestion is to look at some of the wealthiest LACs, which can be excellent for Poli Sci, preparation for law school, and have need aid competitive with the wealthiest private research universities.
And then the other obvious suggestion is to chase merit. With your grades and a high enough test score, you could be very competitive for merit at a variety of other LACs and private research universities, so would not in fact have to only look at publics as affordable alternatives.
If you would like specific suggestions along those lines, let us know. I note that even when you have high numbers, a good number of kids with such a list end up choosing a less Reachy private (or sometimes public OOS). Sometimes they donât get admitted to any Reach-for-everyone college, but sometimes they also end up choosing a college like that over a Reach offer.
Union College in Schenectady, NY is excellent for pre-law because it sets up internship placement in stare government in Albany and has a term in Washington which includes federal government internships. They are very good for merit age. They also have a 3+3 program with Albany Law School which enables you to complete college in 3 years, thereby automatically saving you 25% of the cost of college.
Connecticut College is unusual among New England LACs because it offers merit aid.
Colgate University in Upstate NY offers the Colgate Commitment, which guarantees financial aid depending on family income. Certain trigger points are published on their website and will tell you how much aid you will get.
Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA is good for financial aid and is close enough to Harrisburg to do state government internships. Like Union College, they have a 3+3 program with Penn State Law School, again saving you 25% of the cost of college hy only requiring 3 years of undergraduate study. Not only do these accelerated undergraduate/law school save money by eliminating a year of undergraduate study but they replace a year of college when you may be accumulating debt with a year of work when you are actually earning money. Look for similar programs elsewhere. University of Vermont is an example of another 3+3 program with Vermont Law School.
Yes, understanding I donât know what your budget is so I canât get guarantee these would actually be affordable.
But for someone interested in Poli Sci, for LACs with merit I would check out Washington and Lee (they have some BIG merit), Richmond (same and in a state capital), Gettysburg (basically a DC area school, and the Eisenhower Institute is pretty cool), and Macalester (cool location in the Twin Cities, a state capital, and also a strong international program).
For universities, holding aside publics I would recommend, privates would include George Washington (huge school for politicos), Marquette (excellent Jesuit college which can be very competitive on cost for some), and the University of Denver (particular if you are interested in IR thanks to the Korbel School).
Look into Hamilton, which offers a long-established term in D.C. with associated internships, a notable public policy program and an admission policy that does not consider financial need.
William and Mary is also less expensive than its peer privates even full pay, plus there is now an OOS merit component to the Monroe. Again I donât know if that would actually work for the OP financially, but if so it is a great deal, really at either of those price points, for someone with the OPâs interests.
Think about which of the Ivy League schools are a good fit for you.
If the Ivy League schools are affordable according to their NPCs, this suggests that you qualify for good need based aid. This leads me to wonder about LACs which have good need based aid. Amherst College, Bowdoin College, and Williams College come to mind as three schools to at least consider. All would be reaches, but are great schools, not too far from you, and meet full need (unless I am forgetting something).
Your ECs do not need to have anything at all to do with your intended major. You should do the ECs that make sense for you, and do not worry about whether they fit into any perceived narrative and also do not base what ECs you do on any perception of what you think university admissions wants to see.
I understand that MIT is not on your list and does not look like a good fit. However, the approach recommended in the âapplying sidewaysâ blog on the MIT admissions web site makes sense for other very good and selective colleges and universities also. I think that you should read this blog and think about it. The approach recommended here of âdo what is right for you and do it well, and treat people wellâ is the approach that my family has used, and it has worked for us getting the four of us into eight different schools (one each for a bachelorâs and a different one each for graduate school).
No one here can give you a âroughâ percentage chance of being admitted to any school, or how much merit you might get (unless itâs a school with merit based on stats.) because we canât see your whole app (essays, LoRs, etc.) Just make sure to have schools where you will be admitted and are affordable that you would like to attend. U Mass may be that school. You also have U Conn and Fordham listed as safeties so I assume you ran the NPCs and they look affordable. Not sure I would call Fordham a safety for admissions purposes though.
You are a strong student. All you can do is put in your best effort on your apps and send it in. Does your school have a history of sending students to Ivies and other highly rejective schools?
I echo the other posters who have asked for a budgetâŠwe can be much more helpful if we know that. You said the NPCs on your list were affordable so thatâs great but you also said that NYU/BU/BC/NEU didnât show affordabilityâŠis that correct? I am surprised that Tufts, for example, would be affordable and not those schools. NPCs may not be accurate in cases where parents are divorced, own a business and/or real estate beyond a primary homeâŠare any of those the case for you?
Why do you think they may be below average? Have you asked two teachers yet?
Select teachers who will write good recs for you and also give them a brag sheet and/or your resume to help them write a good rec.
I would keep this on your list as long as you have the room. If you donât have room I would drop NHS before I drop this. All activities donât have to support your intended major.
Put them in the order of their importance to you. You might put Boys State in ECs, not awards. I know itâs selective, but you can quantify that in your descriptions/commentsâŠyou get more room to describe an activity in the Activity section than in the Award section. Just an idea, up to you how you want to handle.
Does the app cost $? If so you could include revenues. Others Ideas: Number of downloads? Average time of engagement when someone uses the app?
I think you have a good chance at Gettysburg, and it might be affordable.
I think you have an OK chance at William and MaryâŠbut not as good as if you were instate. If you are a male, this improves your chances at WM, in my opinion.
Washington and Lee meets full need for all accepted students, and has a low acceptance rate now. @DramaMama2021 and @cinnamon1212 would be a better to address whether you are a competitive applicant.
Georgetown and Yale are reaches, and trying to predict your chance of acceptance is really not possible. Both require the SAT or ACT, and yours will need to come up to be in the runningâŠin my opinion. In both cases way more very well qualified applicants apply than there are seats available.
Washington and Lee has generous financial aid, so if you are admitted you may find it do-able without merit aid. Everyoneâs chances are low for their merit awards, but, as I say, they may not be necessary if you qualify for need-based financial aid.