TAMU has admitted the OP and is affordable, so it is assured.
Minnesota has admitted the OP, but the OP says unlikely (scholarship results have not been given yet).
UT Austin is generally considered a reach for those who do not get automatic admission (the OP is outside of the top 6%).
OP doesnât really like TAMU, and Minnesota, at present, does not appear affordable. I think itâs important that we find a school that OP would like to attend for four years that would be affordable and an extremely likely admit.
Okay. Interesting idea from St. Johnsâ. I guess my main question is job outcomes? I suspect I would greatly enjoy a curriculum like that, but I doubt a degree in philosophy will be attractive to potential employers. Iâm not really familiar with the types of qualifications necessary to work in government, and assume that a political science/administration degree would he preferred.
Yes I can find my transcript. Iâll copy it over when I have access to a computer.
My main priority is a small to medium sized school in a city larger than my current home (c.120000). Iâd like to move north if possible, but am also open to pretty much anywhere else.
Why 10-12? What about that number makes it special.
Iâm also leaning away from only highly selective schools right now because I donât want to be limited to, you know, maybe 1 (probably zero) highly selective schools and TAMU.
Have you tried their NPCs? I note NCES data seems to suggest they can both get down to a total net price of around $20K, and they both have merit as well. Seems a shame not to give them a real shot since they seem so perfect for you otherwise.
I agree about colleges like Richmond, Denver, and Macalester too, incidentally. They seem on target as well.
10-12 is generally recommended because of the amount of work that goes into each application.
Each application usually comes with its own set of supplemental essays you need to both draft and edit before the deadline hits. Depending on the schools, you may be able to re-use some of them, but dont bank on that.
In addition, youâre going to be both juggling HS schoolwork during the first semester of the Senior year as well as college applications. Keep in mind that for selective universities, they often require a Mid-year transcript to ensure that your academics dont fall off at the end of HS.
10-12 generally offers the best intersection of having not too many applications to work on, while still having a good spread of options. This is, of course, not a requirement. I know people who were content on applying to 4, and one who applied to 35.
Something else to consider are costs. College Applications, unless theyâre already free or you obtain a fee waiver, can cost upwards of $75. For those applying to many schools, the costs can be pretty high.
Iâll look into the NPCs there.
Ok. Thanks for the advice!
7th grade
1 year of physical science
1 year of Alg 1
1 year of band
8th grade
1 year of biology
1 year of geometry
1 year of spanish
.5 year of World Geography???
1 year of Jazz Band
9th grade (move to texas)
Adv Chemistry
Adv Span 2
Engineering
Debate 1
Adv Alg 2
Band
Adv Eng 1
10th grade
Ap Phys 1 (4)
Adv Precal
Ap World Hist (4)
Track (no credit)
Adv English II
Band 2
Adv Debate II
11th grade
Adv Debate III
Adv Band
Jazz Band
AP Lang (5)
AP Bio (5)
AP USH (4)
AP Calc AB (4)
12th grade (this year)
AP stats (4/5)
AP Lit (likely 5)
AP gov/econ (likely 4)
Band IV adv
Debate IV adv
(Would have added more classes if I wasnât planning on going into music at the beginning of this year)
For anyone else who was having formatting issues with the transcript, Iâve entered it as a table here.
| English | Math | Science | Social Studies | Foreign Language | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7th | Algebra I | Physical Science | Band | |||
| 8th | Geometry | Biology | 0.5 World Geography | Spanish I | Jazz Band | |
| 9th | Adv. English I | Adv. Algebra II | Adv. Chemistry | Adv. Spanish II | Engineering, Debate, Band | |
| 10th | Adv. English II | Adv. Precalc | AP Physics I (4) | AP World History (4) | Track, Band, Adv. Debate | |
| 11th | AP Language (5) | AP Calc AB (4) | AP Bio (5) | AP US History (4) | Debate, Band, Jazz Band | |
| 12th | AP Lit | AP Stats | AP Gov/Econ | Band, Debate |
@jameshawkings, are you SURE that physical science, biology, and world geography are being counted as high school classes? Typically, Iâve only seen English, math, and foreign language as receiving high school credits in middle school. But there are lots of systems out there, but this is something you need to be crystal clear on.
By my counts (edited after clarification from your post), youâll have:
English: 4 units (2 of which are AP)
Math: 6 units (2 of which are AP)
Science: 5 units (2 of which are AP)
Social Studies: 3.5 units (3 of which are AP)
Foreign Language: 2 units
ETA: But @Mwfan1921 indicated, some highly rejective colleges will not count some of the coursework in middle school, so the above tallies are the best that could be considered, but may not be how all schools will tally your credits.
My school district, and Texas public unis, count both years of my science. (Freshman biology is a graduation requirement here, so if it didnât count I would be cooked.) Iâm not sure about each specific college out of state.
I am taking .5 AP Gov/.5 AP Econ.
Those classes show up on my transcript, so if theyâre not counted as HS classes, Iâm not sure why theyâre on my transcript. (Thank you so much, by the way. Iâm very confusedâ:bangbang:
)
Thanks for clarifying. Iâve updated my post as a result of your comments.
If itâs on your high school transcript, most colleges will count them as credits taken.
You donât seem that confused to me; youâre doing really well through this process!
Even if they are on your transcript, some colleges wonât consider them as core courses taken in HS.
For example, the highly selective college where I read apps wonât consider those as core courses in HS (outside of FL.)
So, for example, in that eval, you would have 4 years of english, 4 of math (accelerated noted, but also noted took the âeasyâ choice senior year with AP stats, assuming calc BC or some other higher level math was available to you at your HS or thru DE/online HS), 3 of lab science, 3 of SS, 2 FL. All of the band are elective courses, and your senior year course load is quite light.
Different colleges are going to vary as to how they evaluate your transcript. I donât know many colleges that would consider 7th grade phys sci, 8th grade bio or world geography as HS courses.
You canât change much of this at this point, unless you were to add say a Spanish 3 dual enrollment class this spring semester (something I would encourage you to think about but it wonât be easy having not had Spanish 2 since freshman year.) Would that help at some highly selective schools? Probably, of course we canât know if that would be the difference between an acceptance or denial.
How significantly will this impact college decisions, in your opinion?
Additionally, this conflicts with what @AustenNut said about admissions policies.
With that in mind, what would you recommend I do?
Yield to @Mwfan1921âs knowledge, though I did update my language to say âmostâ colleges.
I guess Iâm left asking, where does my âlightâ course load leave me? I could have handled more if my counselors had recommended it. I didnât really understand what would be important to a college AO at all before this year; nobody had explained any of it to me.
It will be difficult to compete with students who have 4 years of courses in each of the 5 core subject areas, and who have full academic loads senior year at the more selective schools. The competition is fierce. Academically thereâs not much you can do now. Maybe adding Span 3 DE if that could work, butâŠagain that could be hard after not having had spanish for 3 years. I do want to reiterate that not all schools will be as harsh as my eval, but some will beâŠand the downside is itâs difficult, sometimes impossible, to know how a given school evaluates transcripts.
If you want another affordable choice in addition to TAMU (which is a great option to have!), look at Ole Miss as discussed above (some other highly likely schools could also work, but Ole Miss is really strong in your major.)
Definitely still put some apps in at schools that look to be affordable based on NPCs.
I donât know if any non-meet full need schools can get in price range for youâŠbut you can try a couple of those too (e.g., GWU, American, Richmond, Denver, Macalester, etc). Some schools have full tuition awards (also mentioned above)âŠThe issue is that those awards are all uber competitive, so make those schools reaches/high reaches too.
Lastly, you might consider mentioning that you were thinking that music would be your future major and that coupled with the change of high schools, this impacted your ability to take more core academic classes. You could put this in the box explaining the reason for your school change, see below. You could also ask your counselor to mention this in their LoR/report, if they are amenable to it.
Let me preface this by saying that I am NOT a college admissions professional. I am a parent who works in the education field who finds colleges an interesting topic. With respect to college admissions, particularly at highly selective colleges, I yield to experts like @Mwfan1921 and would strongly urge you to do the same.
Most colleges accept most of their applicants. It just so happens that the bulk of the schools that you had on your list are among the small minority of schools that receive far more qualified applicants than they can accept. Thereâs a reason why some people call them highly rejective schools.
I suspect that your âlightâ courseload will probably have the greatest impact on schools with sub-20% admission rates. It might have an impact on schools in the âlower probabilityâ category, but it might not. And I suspect that it will have minimal impact on admissions at any school that would be a âtoss-upâ or likelier school. But again, these are just my guesses.
Based on some of the additional information youâve shared (including the strong interest in music), I have sorted the list of schools based on my guesses as to what your chances for admission might be (not necessarily hitting budget) and bolded the schools that I think might be among the better fits. (Also, realize this bolding is from an internet stranger. If a school I didnât bold interests you, there is no reason not to consider it!) The lower the likelihood of admission, the lower the odds of receiving significant merit aid (i.e. to get to your budget via merit aid).
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Butler (IN): About 4400 undergrads and also has a strong music program
Drake (IA): About 2800 undergrads and also has a good music program
Hendrix (AR): About 1100 undergrads
Millsaps (MS): About 600 undergrads
Oglethorpe (GA): About 1500 undergrads
Ohio Wesleyan: About 1400 undergrads
St. Edwardâs (TX): About 2800 undergrads
St. Johnâs: About 500 in MD and about 400 in NM
Suffolk (MA): About 4400 undergrads
U. of Denver (CO): About 6200 undergrads and also has a strong music program
Likely (60-79%)
Gettysburg (PA ): About 2200 undergrads and also has a strong music program
Providence: About 4k undergrads
Southwestern (TX): About 1500 undergrads
Toss-Up (40-59%)
American (D.C.): About 7900 undergrads
Dickinson (PA ): About 2100 undergrads
George Washington (D.C.): About 11k undergrads
Trinity College (CT): About 2200 undergrads
Trinity U. (TX): About 2500 undergrads
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Denison (OH): About 2400 undergrads
Macalester (MN): About 2200 undergrads
U. of Richmond: About 3100 undergrads
Low Probability (less than 20%)
I donât think my school offers DE spanish, and Iâm not sure that it would be possible to take it. They offer Spanish 3 as a class, I could have taken it but I chose not to (⊠to practice instead)
Itâs hard both because my parents are convinced Iâll get into any school I apply to, and are reluctant to encourage applying to schools they deem as lower (i.e. that they havenât heard of before).
Iâll enter something about that on my common app later. Thanks for the tip.
Given my lack of rigor, what would be realistic schools to apply to? What would be made unrealistic? Are LACâs still in the equation?
Thanks for the honesty, I needed someone to tell me this
