Chance & Match a Junior w/ Solid ECs but Poor Stats [PA resident, 3.6 GPA]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hey friends! I’m a junior in HS working on my college list. I have a few colleges I’m interested in, but I’m not sure whether they’re reasonable or not. I’m open to any suggestions!

Demographics

  • Location: PA, US Citizen
  • HS Type: Uncompetitive public school; rural area

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • Obviously the lower the better, but I am very fortunate in my family’s financial situation. As long as the cost matches the product, my family & I are happy!

Intended Major(s)

  • Should I go to a LAC, I plan to either go for political science or international relations (preferably IR because of its interdisciplinary approach, although dependent on school).
  • If I go to a larger university, I plan to go for accounting.
  • I plan on going to law school following college, but I would certainly like a good backup (hence accounting). However, if I enroll at a LAC, I feel like the opportunity to develop my writing skills + the “prestige” would outmatch my whole “backup plan” philosophy.
  • I’d like to minor in Russian. I have a strong interest in it and would love to study in Moscow for a semester!

Stats

  • Unweighted GPA: 3.6 :frowning:
  • Decent upward trend: 83% / 3.3 freshman year, 90% / 3.6 sophomore year, 93% / 3.7 so far junior year.
  • I went through a ton of bullying throughout my freshman year, to the point where I had applied for and been accepted to a private school. Will definitely emphasize in interviews + additional considerations on Common App (not at ALL going for a sob story, but I feel like it should be considered)
  • Class Rank: 46th percentile / 87/163 (not including jr year)

Coursework

  • I took an accelerated course freshman year, which is where the majority of my bullying stemmed from. Never went back into the AP / accel crowd because of the bullying I went through in that class. As such, unfortunately, no course rigor.

  • English: English 9, English 10, English 11, taking AP English Language & Composition senior year, Journalism

  • Math: Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Stats

  • Science: Accel Earth & Space Sci, Bio, Chem, will be taking Physics senior year

  • History and Social Studies: American History I & II, World History, Sociology, Psychology, Personal/Business Law

  • Visual or performing arts: Band & Orchestra

  • Other academic courses: Accounting I

Extracurriculars

  • Intern @ Law Firm (Civil Defense) - primarily responsible for filing, assisting attorneys in general matters, etc
  • Intern @ Law Firm (Criminal Defense + Civil Plaintiff) - responsible for paralegal “busy work” – filing, general matters, wrote a few articles for firm’s blog
  • Volunteer Firefighter - exterior firefighter certified, responsible for responding to various calls
  • Volunteer @ Immigration Nonprofit - helped tutor immigrants for things like the citizenship test and driver’s license exam, filed work permits and other forms, managed filing for the entire nonprofit
  • Participated in a number of online mock trial and model government (including model UN) communities – lawyer (extended responsibilities from real-life mock trial – drafted motions, participated in pretrial proceedings, etc.), ambassador, etc…
  • Handled accounting & staffing (policy and whatnot) for an online content sharing platform, generating ~$37,500
  • Externships with county judge, fed judge, FBI, and county detectives (basically off & on shadowing – not sure if I should list this)

Preferences

  • I would prefer a LAC or quasi-LAC (e.g. W&M), although I’m open to larger schools.
  • I’d prefer a school in a city (e.g. Georgetown), but schools in close proximity to a city (e.g. Villanova and Lafayette) are definitely viable. I’d just like the opportunity to get solid government internships.
  • State doesn’t really matter (even open to international! I’ve been looking at Canada), although I have a preference for New England.
  • Preference for Catholic schools (the Villanova & Georgetown-type Catholic… NOT schools like Liberty or Grove City)
  • Preference for schools that have solid pre-law programs, reputable for law curricula / law school placement, and good study abroad programs.

Schools

Safety

  • University of Scranton
  • University of Delaware
  • Rutgers New Brunswick
  • James Madison University (if I have time)

Match

  • Dickinson College (EA, maybe ED)
  • Gettysburg College (EA)
  • American University (EA) (if I have time)
  • George Washington University (EA) (if I have time)

Reach

  • William & Mary (ED)
  • Lafayette College (EA)
  • College of the Holy Cross (EA) (if I have time)
  • might do UPenn and Georgetown for the heck of it (if I have time)

I’m debating between Dickinson or W&M for ED. They are both my top picks.

Any advice would be great! Thanks guys :slight_smile:

2

U of Denver seems like it fits your parameters. With fewer than 6500 undergrads, it probably fits your “quasi-LAC” category, but its greatest strengths are IR, business, and music, all of which seem to fit your profile. Good Russian offerings too, and over 70% of students study abroad. There’s also an accounting minor that’s open to non-business majors. Your stats are below their median, but their acceptance rate is around 70% and I think your strong EC profile would position you well. Pretty easy to get to, since Denver is a major hub and there’s good public transit to campus.

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forgot an EC – interned @ US House; primarily responsible for research-based assignments and general casework

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What does this mean - Harvard is worth $90K a year but Ohio State $20K?

Smaller IR but larger accounting?

Let’s stop there.

What do you want to study??

You go to school for that.

Should you go larger or smaller depends on you. Go visit some schools - urban, suburban, rural. Large, mid size, small.

Minor in Russian - will limit schools.

What math Senior year?? Stats? No Pre Calc?

I’d start with the Accounting or IR before LACs, etc. There are small schools where you can study accounting.

Will you have a test?

I don’t think you are a shoe in for any matches - but if they are $70K, are they worth it? W&M has accounting - so that’s a better choice but you are highly unlikely.

I’m thinking more schools like:

Loyola Maryland
Providence
Sacred Heart
Creighton (a bit further than the rest of your list)
Scranton is a good one
U Dayton could be another

For a not far, urban state school, College of Charleston

I wouldn’t bother with Penn or Gtown - and if you might want to be an accountant, I would not bother with Dickinson. You can swap in Richmond - but yes, it’s a high reach for you.

I agree with Denver - but I’m guessing it’s too far. They give good merit so would get under $50K - unlike AU.

You need two things - a budget and to know where you can study Russian.

Best of luck.

35 Institutions offering Russian Language Courses In the USA

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I want to be able to go somewhere worth the price, if that makes sense.

I’d like to study IR, I’m just worried it will limit my prospects after college if I end up not going to law school. I don’t really like accounting, but it’s something that I think is a decent plan B (decent pay and whatnot) if law school doesn’t work out. However, IR → law school is my dream.

I’ve visited a number of schools, and I honestly prefer the tight-knit feel (e.g. Dickinson, Lafayette). That’s why I’m looking at LACs for the most part. As for urban vs suburban vs rural, I prefer both suburban and rural as long as it’s near a city, giving me access to internships.

This isn’t a must-have. I was looking at Dickinson, which is very known for its international studies programs.

Statistics. My geometry teacher recommended I take statistics because of my intended major.

I don’t plan on taking the SAT, but I do plan on taking the ACT.

I want to be a lawyer above all else – that’s my dream. Like I said, accounting is honestly just a plan B. If I went to Dickinson, W&M, Gettysburg, Lafayette, etc., I’d go for IR or polysci rather than accounting.

Thank you for your feedback!

6

Makes no sense. My kid went for $16k or so a year for 4 years and works with kids that went to a top school paying $80k. That was engineering.

My daughter goes to Charleston in Imtl Studies / Poli Sci. Her scholarship covers tuition. She’s interned for our state and a top think tank in DC and will participate in a prestigious program when she graduates. Even with no merit, it’s cheaper than many higher price and better known schools with an outcome that might be better than those kids get.

You, not your school, will make your success - especially in IR.

As for IR, yes it’s not preprofessional like accounting. But if you don’t love it like accounting, then you should not go there. Any major can go to law school. If you want to go to law school and have the funds, you will. Will it be a good law school that nets you employment is a different question. And that will depend mostly on your LSAT and GPA, not Harvard or Hofstra.

I thought you liked urban sorry. Scratch Charleston. Internships can be had in the summer or if you do a DC semester like most schools have, they usually include an internship. My daughter had 7 offers in her DC semester so I don’t think they’re as hard to get as you’d think.

Maybe because I saw GW (very urban) and AU and Gtown did I think urban.

I’m going to recommend a large W&M to you that will fit you, has Russian, is rural, and is a great name.

Miami of Ohio. And will come with a decent cost. JMU and UD are good schools but this one has more an LAC feel. And is a match for you vs W&M which is highly unlikely.

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We have some experience with smaller schools in eastern Canada (we live in the northeast of the US, but both daughters were born with dual citizenship because I am from Canada). Canada does not use the term “liberal arts college”, but instead has a few “small primarily undergraduate universities” which is pretty close to the same thing. Most are not in cities however.

You might want to look at Bishop’s University in Quebec, Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, as well as both Acadia University and University of King’s College in Nova Scotia.

Bishop’s is in a small fully bilingual town, right next to the largely French speaking small city of Sherbrooke. While Bishop’s is an English language university, some knowledge of French might be required to graduate. Mount Allison and Acadia are both in small towns and are very good. King’s College is in Halifax (a moderately large and attractive city) and has some form of affiliation with Dalhousie University (which is larger). I think that King’s College students can take classes at Dalhousie, and transferring to Dal might be facilitated for anyone who ends up preferring to do so (eg, if you have a major that Dal is good for).

Your uptrend will help you quite a bit in general, and will specifically help you at the universities in Canada (which will not care about your freshman year of high school at all as long as you passed your courses).

The small universities in eastern Canada tend to be relatively affordable even for international students. Some merit aid is possible, but I have no idea how to predict it.

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Russian Flagship

Have you heard of the language flagships? They would set you up with funding, a government career or law school.

Not LACs but there are four. UWisc and UGA are not likely admits for you. But Indiana (a top language school) and Portland State are.

Depending on your seriousness for Russian, this can set you apart - in life.

https://www.thelanguageflagship.org/russian

https://www.thelanguageflagship.org/

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I’m sorry, but Rutgers will not be a safety for you. More likely a toss-up.

Safety schools I’d suggest exploring are: Drew University and Seton Hall.

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And the hall is strong in IR. And Catholic which OP likes.

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I’d dump Georgetown and UPenn supplements and concentrate on Holy Cross. And seriously consider adding Seton Hall, Denver, St. Olaf and /or Charleston.

Is Russian a new language for you? I don’t see a World Language listed for high school.

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Charleston is urban but so Is Gtown to an extent and Penn totally.

Denver is perfect - known for IR, on the outskirts a bit so not Uber urban. But seems outside their interest zone geographically. It’s also great with merit.

In addition to Miami noted b4, Brandeis would be a slight reach but full pay could work.

Allegheny is another with merit.

But DU is a splendid choice for IR. Well known.

I still think if serious about Russian, the language flagships give you a career leg up. It’s big but IU Hamilton Lugar is strong.

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It was a nice way for me to say, you have such a low chance (almost none, especially with no World Language and APs) of acceptance that they should spend their time on other great schools where they are more academically matched. If this was August and their was plenty of time, I’d be a bit more encouraging of doing those supplements.

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What makes a college worth a higher price varies from one person to another. What aspects would you consider to be worth a higher price, and how much higher?

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This program at URI might also be worth a look https://web.uri.edu/politicalscience/academics/isd-program/ ; unfortunately, Russian isn’t one of the languages offered for the dual major (although there are Russian language classes available at URI)… but then again, the ability to study abroad in Moscow can’t necessarily be counted upon anyway. There is also an international business dual-degree program if your goals were to swing in that direction. URI is bigger than you want but not huge - around 14K undergrads - but the international dual-degree programs (there’s also an engineering one) are somewhat self-contained and close-knit. If there’s another language you’re interested in that is on their list, it could be a nice option.

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American is strong on demonstrated interest so be sure to open all their emails, do virtual visits (or in person ones if practical) etc.

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Union College in Schenectady, NY, an LAC in the NY Capital Region, includes International Relations as an area of emphasis within their Political Science Department. Or it is possible to create an individualized major around the organizing theme if International Relations. There are plenty of courses on International Relations within the PS Dept to do this. Their “Term in Washington, D.C.” includes an internship in a government office plus 2 courses, one of which is on US Foreign Policy. Union also offers a major in Russian and strongly encourages students to study abroad.

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With a solid college prep background (except for foreign language) but little rigor, and 46th percentile (possibly somewhat higher by the end of this year) class rank, I think you have no safety schools on your list. Scranton may be a low match and even a likely if you are full pay. Will you be submitting an SAT and/or ACT score? I do think that some liberal arts colleges and Jesuit schools would be happy to have you, but I think you should add some that are less competitive than the ones currently on your list. I think you would be wasting your application fees and time by applying to Georgetown, UPenn, and William and Mary (as an out of state student), as your chances of admission to those schools would be extremely low.

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Rutgers is tough these days. My daughter was waitlisted for SAS with better academic stats.

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I’m sorry I didn’t see your post earlier, @astra1, but welcome! You have some really nice extracurriculars that I think will improve your chances for admission at colleges that do a deeper dive into applicants’ materials. So in that respect, your interest in more intimate colleges is excellent for you!

I am not an admissions professional, but below are my guesses as to what your chances for admission might be for the schools on your list:

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • U. of Scranton

Likely (60-79%)

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • American (if you show a lot of demonstrated interest)
  • U. of Delaware

Lower Probability (20-39%)

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • William & Mary
  • Lafayette
  • College of the Holy Cross

Extremely Low Probability (less than 5%)

  • UPenn
  • Georgetown

There aren’t any in-state publics on your list. Having one or more can also be a financial fallback in case there are any financial disruptions in your family’s life. For urban schools, have you thought about Pitt or Temple or for smaller options Penn State Harrisburg or Behrend/Erie?

When looking for government internships, I find that schools in/near state capitals can be great for this as there are all sorts of state departments/agencies and there’s much less competition for internships than there are in D.C.

Below are some additional schools that you may want to consider, sorted by my guesses as to your chances for admission. They all offer a major in Russia/Russian Studies unless specified otherwise:

Extremely Likely (80-99%)

  • Catholic U. (D.C.): About 3100 undergrads at this D.C. school that is…wait for it…Catholic! No Russian major.

  • George Mason (VA): This school of nearly 28k undergrads is in a suburb of D.C. and has very strong departments for international studies, policy, and foreign languages.

  • U. of Hartford (CT): About 4100 undergrads at this school that’s 3.5 miles from the CT State Capitol. Does not offer a major in Russian.

Likely (60-79%)

  • Goucher (MD): About 1k undergrads at this school; it’s part of the Baltimore Collegetown consortium that allows students to take classes at other schools like Loyola Maryland and Johns Hopkins.

  • Hofstra (NY): About 6200 undergrads and already mentioned. This school used to have more of a commuter reputation, but I’ve heard that’s been changing in recent years.

  • Saint Anselm (NH): About 2100 undergrads at this Catholic college that’s 23m to the NH State House. No Russian.

  • Seton Hall (NJ): About 6100 undergrads at this Catholic college that’s gotten several mentions. It’s got a really great diplomacy program and uses its proximity to NYC and the UN to its advantage. No Russian major.

  • Siena (NY): About 3500 undergrads attend this Catholic school that is 7.2 miles from the NY State Capitol. And all those political polls from the NY Times/Siena? Those polls are coming from here. No major in Russian.

  • U. at Albany (NY): About 12k undergrads and participates in the tuition match program (you would pay the same tuition as at Penn State-UP). It’s 4.5 miles from the NY State Capitol.

  • Wheaton (MA): About 1800 undergrads, offers a major in Russian, encourages lots of study abroad

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Beloit (WI): About 950 undergrads, a significant focus has been on foreign languages and cultures.

  • Muhlenberg (PA ): About 1800 undergrads

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Providence (RI): This Catholic college is less than 2 miles from the RI State House. No Russian major.

  • Union (NY): About 2100 undergrads at this school that’s already been mentioned. It’s also a 30m drive to the NY State Capitol.

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Brandeis (MA): This school of about 3700 undergrads has already been mentioned, but seems like it could be a good fit. 21m (12.7 miles) from the MA State House.

  • Connecticut College: About 2k undergrads and could be another good fit

  • Trininty College (CT): About 2200 undergrads and 1.9 miles from the CT State Capitol

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