Chance Me/Match Me for my son - NoVA Resident with 3.9 UW, 1460 SAT, <$50K, for English/Creative Writing & History Double Major

Chance Me / Match Me
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S26 asked if I can post a Chance Me/Match Me for him. We are unsure of the “chance me” estimates below. S26 wants to make sure he is not missing other schools. He is not interested in schools under 1,500 students. Prefers schools mid-Atlantic, northeast, PA, OH, no more than 6.5/7 hours away from northern VA. His HS counselor is encouraging him to apply to Princeton & other ivies (!!!), but S26 thinks that would be a long shot, so he left them out of this Chance Me. This is what he shared after giving him the CC guidelines.

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student: US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Northern VA
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): New high school in area (4yo), 2,600 students, school’s avg SAT is 1037
  • Other special factors: (first generation to college, legacy, recruitable athlete, etc.): Legacy to UVA

Cost Constraints / Budget - under $50K

Intended Major(s) - Double major in English/Creative Writing & History OR History major, Creative Writing Minor

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.9
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.4 on a 4.0 scale
  • College GPA: (for transfer applicants) N/A
  • Class Rank: School does not rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1460 super scored (740 R/W, 720 Math)

List your HS coursework

  • English: Advanced English 9, Advanced English 10, AP Lang (11th), AP Lit (12th)
  • Math: Advanced Algebra II (9th), Advanced Precalculus with Trig AB (10th)(AP Precalc not offered at school until the next year), AP Calculus AB (11th), AP Stats (12th)
  • Science: Advanced Biology I (9th), Advanced Chemistry I (10th), Physics I (11th), AP Physics 1 (12th)
  • History and social studies: Advanced World History I (9th), AP World History (10th), APUSH (11th), AP Govt (12th), AP Psychology (12th)
  • Language other than English: Spanish II (9th), Spanish III (10th), Spanish IV (11th)
  • Visual or performing arts: Intermediate Brass (Band) (9th), Advanced Band (Symphonic Band) (10th, 11th, 12th)
  • Other academic courses: Creative Writing I (9th), Creative Writing II (10th), AP Seminar (11th), AP Research (12th), Econ (12th)

College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
(Include college courses taken while in high school if not included above.) - N/A

Awards

-AP Scholars with Distinction, 2025
-National Merit Commended Scholar & National Recognition Program - School Recognition Award
-School Outstanding Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Awards, 2023, 2024, 2025.
-Senate of Virginia Certificate of Recognition for Academic Excellence. Principal’s Honor Roll, 2023-24, 2024-25.
-Certificate of Distinction, Principal Honor Roll, Recognized for achieving academic excellence by the Virginia House of Delegates, 2024, 2025

Extracurriculars

- Kenyon Young Writers Summer Residential Workshop 2025, Gambier, OH, Workshop Participant. Highly selective program. Developed & honed skills in fiction writing through workshops (5 hours/day) with professional writers.

- The Kenyon Review Young Writers Summer Residential Workshop at Kenyon College, Gambier, OH. Leadership Role: Served on editorial board of The Kenyon Review Young Writers 2025 Session 1 Anthology. Contributed input to Anthology design, deadlines, & layout; published works of 100+ students within a short timespan.

- High School Literary & Art Magazine. Leadership Role: Editor-in-Chief, 2025-26; Senior Writing Editor, 2024-25. Reviewed 50+ writing submissions; selected pieces for publication; designed layout; collaborated with editorial board and faculty sponsor.
Writer of short stories selected for publication (2023, 2024).

- High School Marching Band. Leadership Role: Section Leader (11th & 12th Grade); Band Member (9th & 10th Grade). Mentors 10+ new members as a student leader & helps improve performance. Dedicates time to practice (15-20 hours per week) & assisting band director. Plays trombone and the baritone.

-Independent Projects:

  1. Short story and Journal Writer (daily), 2015 - present (since 2nd grade)
  2. Writer, editor, creator of short videos/films, 2022 - present
  3. Editor, publisher, creator, curator, manager of a YouTube Channel archiving school’s Marching Band and concert band performances, 2022 - present.

- Food Pantry. Leadership Role: Station Manager, 2022, 2024 - present.
Managed & sorted food donations; responsible for distributing over 150 items & serving up to 35 clients per shift.

- All-County & All-District Bands. Selected through a competitive audition process to perform w/ the highest level county/district HS band performers. Ranked Top 10 Trombone Player.

- National Honor Society, Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society, National Math Honor Society, National English Honor Society (2024 - present). Volunteer within school as a tutor and for other school/community events.

Essays/LORs/Other
Essays - work in progress. LORs from AP Lang teacher (knows S26’s skills in literary analysis and writing, AP Research/Creative Writing mentor (knows S26’s creative writing skills best, wrote LOR for Kenyon Young Writers Workshop application), AP Seminar teacher (knows S26’s classroom style best - public speaking, discussion, collaboration), Band/Marching Band teacher (known S26 since freshman year, knows S26’s leadership skills, resilience, perseverance, desire to be a writer), Precalc teacher (knows S26’s classroom skills - discussion, collaboration, tutors classmates, re-teaching math concepts to fellow classmates).

Schools

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): George Mason University (in-state, EA)

  • Extremely Likely: James Madison University (in-state, EA)

  • Likely: Virginia Tech (in-state, EA), Susquehanna University (EA, NPC with grant under $40K), Muhlenberg University (EA, NPC with grant under $40K)

  • Toss-up: William & Mary (RD) (Very affordable due to being in-state)

  • Lower Probability: UVA (EA, very affordable due to being in-state), Kenyon College (RD), Denison University (RD) (NPCs with grants under $50K for both Kenyon & Denison, hoping for additional scholarships but not sure if they’ll stack).

  • Low Probability: University of Richmond (EA, NPC with grant under $50K), Vassar (RD, NPC with grant under $50K) & Wesleyan University (RD, NPC with grant under $45K)

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There are a wide range of schools which could meet his needs academically.

State universitues which would be under $50,000 include any of the SUNY campuses depending on the dorm and meal plan chosen. Binghamton would be the best at meeting his interests, is the closest to home, and has been partial to out of state applicants in recent years.

My GS is at UMass as an out of state student and they gave him a very attractive financial package which brought the costs under $40,000. His academic profile is no better than your sons and his family does not have greater need than you do. UMass presents the advantage of being able to take courses at any of the other 5 colleges in their consortium - up to 2 courses per semester and there is no extra charge. Amherst College, one of the very top LACs in the country, is only 2 miles from the UMass campus and is in that consortium. There is a shuttle providing transportation or you can ride a bike across town. Like my GS, your so would probably be a candidate for the Honors College at UMass.

Here’s a list of LACs in your target region which offer merit scholarships for which he should be competitive and which could bring the cost under $50,000.

Denison
Dickinson
Gettysburg
Hobart & William Smith
Lafayette
Union

Richmond and Washington & Lee in your home state also offer merit scholarships for which he could compete.

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Seems like a good, balanced list that’s well-vetted for costs.

I’m curious as to whether his interests in creative writing and history are relatively separate, or whether he’s interested in combined pursuits like writing historical fiction or using his writing ability for pursuits that would fall under the “public history” umbrella.

I don’t know that you need additional “likely” schools, but App State (which is around the same size as JMU, and like JMU, has a great marching band if he’s interested in continuing that) has both a Creative Writing BA, and a Applied & Public History BS. OOS sticker price is in budget and scholarships are possible.

LAC-wise, Sewanee could be a good fit ( Creative Writing - Fiction Track < Sewanee | University of the South ) but it’s a bit outside your radius.

I expect you know that VA ended legacy preference at its public U’s last year.

W&M seems like a great fit as well as a great financial deal. An ED application would help, especially for a NoVA student; but presumably he doesn’t want to foreclose on other options.

Has he considered Hamilton? (Just on the edge of your distance limit.)

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Thank you! We had Bing on his list, but crossed it out after reading not-so-stellar reviews on their creative writing program. He wasn’t too keen on their campus either.

I will let him know about UMass. Thank you!

Denison is on his list. Thank you! I will let him know about Union, Hobart & William Smith. I don’t remember him mentioning these colleges. Lafayette is above our budget, though you just reminded me that PA schools allow stacking.

I’ll have him re-consider Washington & Lee. I think he was a bit turned off by the high % of frats/sorority involvement there. Richmond is on his list!

Thank you!

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Yes, he’s open to writing historical fiction.

Thanks for the feedback on additional “likely” schools. S26 just wants to make sure he’s not missing any other schools. Marching band isn’t a requirement for him, surprisingly! Thanks for suggesting App State!.

Yes, unfortunately I am aware that UVA ended legacy preference. I didn’t realize he put that on here.

W&M does feel like it may be the best fit - financially, academically, socially - we’ve talked to him about it but for now (may change between now and Nov 1) he wants to have options.

Thank you!

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We’re back :slight_smile:

GMU, JMU and Susquehana - yes.

Va Tech - likely - but is that the right school for the student size wise? Did you look at UNCW which would be smaller and inexpensive?

I’d agree toss up W&M, because he’s male.

I think Kenyon happens - but whether it’s affordable I don’t know. Same with Denison.

I think you’re a bit conservative - but your budget is the issue.

It seems like Denison is generous - whether they stack you should ask before wasting an app.

Richmond seems an odd fit to me….just based on the type of school it is.

I wish you luck - but you’ll have places to go…and you just need one. But if the student doesn’t want big, there are smaller Va schools and aggressive LACs- I know you looked at them.

But you only need one - and you’ll have it with this list.

Good luck.

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I think that Dickinson is also one to take a close look at. A friend’s daughter is a sophomore there now and raves about her experience in their interdisciplinary Mosaics program. They gave her a really attractive financial package which ultimately made the difference for her choosing to go there.

Conn College and Trinity College, both in Connecticut, are 2 other LACs which offer merit scholarships. My niece’s daughter is at Conn College because their financial package was better than anyone else’s.

In a world where almost 60% of college students are female, there are colleges which are competing for young men, which gives your son an advantage both for admission and for money.

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Yes, we’re back! Took your suggestion to do a Chance Me/Match Me. Took S26 this long to fill out the template for it.

So S26 seems to have no preference between large schools and small schools, hence all the in-state schools (large schools). I told him to just keep them on his list. His preference may change between Nov 1 and May 1. Who knows!

UNCW - was on his list, but he took it off and decided to stay within VA and north of VA. He also took off CNU - he didn’t care for the surroundings.

Yes, thank you, we figured W&M will be a toss up.

Yes, he’s still considering Kenyon. He even interviewed with them in person after touring and interviewing at Denison. He liked both schools.

So you think my son is being conservative about his admission chances? I looked at his list over and we made adjustments that you now see here. Yes, $$ has a lot to do with it.

I will ask Denison about stacking…..thanks!

I agree, Richmond is an outlier - it’s more pre-professional, fratty, but he liked the campus and they have a creative writing major - supposedly, though S26 said he didn’t see the CW major as an option to select on thier Common App.

Thank you, I always appreciate your feedback. It’ll be interesting where S26 will end up after all this (application process) is done.

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Thank you, I appreciate the suggestions. I will ask my son to re-visit/re-consider Dickinson and Trinity College. He had Conn College on his list but took it off after connecting with a student who just graduated from their creative writing program, my son decided it will not be a good fit (unfortunately!).

I did not think to consider the advantage of being male, especially a male in a humanities major. Thank you! Crossing fingers here!

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Wow, Virginia’s in-state schools set a very high bar– I’m jealous of all your options.

The successful authors I’ve talked to say that a specific creative writing major doesn’t matter (some of them even suggest against it.) They say learn to be a good general writer, from term papers, to lab reports, to emails. They say don’t go into debt for an education. They say lead a rich life - work jobs, fall in love, travel, have hobbies, do lots of reading. Only later focus on creative writing.

I’m currently reading a terrific book by an professor at James Madison. He’s a professor of religion, but his books are cross-disciplinary (science, history, philosophy) and written for a general audience.

I feel like your student’s list is a good one and that he can’t go wrong with any of the choices.

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If you can get him to use descriptive language (i.e. “The program emphasizes screenwriting which I’m not interested in, and de-emphasizes literary writing”) that will be much more useful than “not a good fit”. There are so many colleges-figuring out what resonates with him requires some specificity!!!

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Those were my words, not his.

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Gotcha- so did he tell you why he felt the program was not a good fit?

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Thank you! Good points! I agree with you. He almost took out William & Mary off his list because they do not offer an English/Creative Writing major, only a minor. He kept it on his list at our urging because of their great History program, and we told him the same things you said about learning to be a good general writer does not require a major in creative writing necessarily.

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S26 read an opinion piece on their newspaper (from fall 2024) about a student’s disappointment with Conn College’s treatment of their creative writing program faculty. The student expressed frustration over the loss of her advisor, a visiting professor who left the summer before the student’s senior year for a tenured position at another university. The student felt that Conn College was not providing enough job security to their English dept. faculty. The student expressed that since that opinion piece, her advisor’s replacement for her senior year has also left at the end of her senior year. While visiting professors add so much to academic departments and even tenured professors may come and go, my son (who’s a creature of habit) prefers a program where the majority of the faculty are tenured - something he learned from talking to a friend of mine who teaches creative writing at Fordham. With that said, one of the schools on his list may not last on his list due to this preference.

Conn College is a great school, no doubt, just not a good fit for my son.

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I think that is a great list, appropriately categorized.

I’ll just ask–any interest in Jesuit colleges? Like Loyola Maryland feels a possible fit to me. Not sure what the NPC would say.

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Hmm…I will ask him. It was originally on his big list because the NPC made it under $40K for us. I’m not sure why it didn’t make the last cut. Thanks!

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No problem! Jesuit colleges sometimes work out really well for “reading and writing” sorts of kids in general, and then I know Loyola Maryland specifically has a very robust undergrad Writing program:

One of the cool things about the program is they have a bunch of designated Interdisciplinary Majors, and one of those is History. So not so much a double major as a single major that is designed for people with that combination of interests.

This “works” in part because the standard undergrad “core curriculum” is already covering a good part of a History major, say, so you basically just have to add some upper-level History courses. You can see what I mean in this worksheet:

They also have a BFA in Creative Writing, although that is a completely different level of intensity.

Just seemed to me worth considering, all the more so knowing it would be on budget.

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Colleges that Change Lives (website, fairs) might be a resource: ctcl.org

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You can reach out to see how many kids. Is there really a program with classes regularly happening ??

It might just go under English.