My top schools are Boston College and Middlebury but I also really like Villanova and Bucknell so let me know what my chances of getting in are!!
Demographics
US citizen (immigrant parents)
New Jersey
Small, relatively prestigious Catholic all-girls private school (most graduates frequently go to either Notre Dame, Villanova, or Boston College)
White Female
Bilingual (fluent in English and Polish)
Intended Major(s)
I want to go to law school in the future, so I’m thinking of having a major in the liberal arts on the pre-law track (ie: psychology, English, etc.) with a minor in Italian
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Weighted HS GPA: 4.25/5.00
ACT/SAT Scores: 1410 superscored SAT
my school doesn’t give out unweighted GPA or class rank
Coursework
Sophomore Year - AP Statistics, got a 2 on the exam so will not be submitting
Junior Year - AP Lang (score of 4), AP Calc AB (score of 3), AP Physics 1 (score of 2)
Senior Year - I am enrolled in AP Psych, AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Italian, and AP Physics 2
I took honors classes whenever possible
Awards
2x AATI National Italian Exam Gold Medalist, scoring in the 99th percentile of all test-takers and winning monetary prizes both times
Extracurriculars
Boston College Experience Pre-College Program - stayed on campus for two weeks and participated in the Design Thinking program under a BC professor, it was a non-credit program though
Certified Ski Instructor
Hostess at an Italian restaurant
Editorial Intern for a non-profit music organization
EngIn Volunteer - I host weekly sessions with a student from Ukraine to teach her more advanced English skills and about American culture in general
Girls on the Run Junior Coach Volunteer - I help coach a group of girls from grade 3-5 run a seasonal 5k and teach them lessons about empowerment and community
Schoolhouse World Volunteer SAT tutor - for one month in preparation for the June SAT, I tutored a group of students online biweekly to help them with the English portion of the SAT
Social Media Volunteer - I basically run the Instagram and Facebook for this music organization in my town that hosts free classical music concerts for people
Music
Piano - I have been playing the piano for the past 11 years now and perform in various concerts and recitals
I plan on submitting an optional arts portfolio to any colleges that accept it with two classical music pieces
School Involvement
Language: Italian Club (Co-president), Italian Honors Society
Leadership: Student Ambassador, Peer Leadership
Public Speaking: Mock Trial (Captain)
Writing: Towerette School Newspaper
STEM: Math League, Physics League
Essays/LORs/Other
Predicting that my LOCs will be quite strong (I don’t have access to them) considering that I am close with the two teachers I asked and have had one of them for the last 3 years
My Common App essay is basically about being raised in a household with 2 older generations of women (grandmother and mother) and kind of tying in the show Gilmore Girls into it (MY ESSAY IS NOT FINISHED YET, STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS)
Cost Constraints / Budget
I know that the schools on my list are relatively pricey, but I’m trying to also have schools that are more affordable/give more financial aid
I come from a single-parent household
Schools
I am not EDing anywhere, but I will do EA to any schools that have that option
I’m also applying to various scholarships and financial aid
SUPER reaches/Ivies - Dartmouth, UPenn, Yale, Harvard
Reaches - Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Boston College
What is your budget? Has your family run the Net Price Calculator on the schools’ websites to see what the cost is estimated to be? If your other parent is still alive, most colleges will also want that parent’s financial information included as well.
This is important to know because many of the schools on your list are need-aware, meaning how much financial aid you need may affect your chances of admission. For instance, if one student could afford to pay $50k and another student only $5k, the college would oftentimes take the student who could pay $50k first. (This is not always the case and if you have a high degree of need it doesn’t mean that need-aware schools are impossible, but it’s something to keep in mind when crafting a balanced college list.)
A safety is a school that is extremely likely to admit you, extremely likely to be affordable, and that you would be happy to enroll in and attend for four years. I would not consider Bentley an extremely likely admit, and are UVM and UDelaware affordable? Out-of-state public schools generally don’t provide any need-based aid that is not federally funded (Pell Grants and loan). Have you thought about any of the New Jersey publics?
By the way, I would not submit any of your AP scores with your applications, as I think your application will be stronger without them.
If your username is a reflection of your real name, I would urge you to change it. Directions are linked:
Actually…most colleges use only the FAFSA and will use just your custodial parent info…but make sure you know which parent that is. @kelsmom can explain
Some schools that use the CSS Profile also require the non-custodial parent form. That means financials from both parents must be provided. And some colleges have their own forms which do ask for non-custodial parent financials.
Lastly…if your parents are divorced, the NPCs might not be accurate…so view with caution.
Ivies and Williams/Amherst/Bowdoin in RD seem super reaches without national/state competitive academic achievements. Also success in rigorous AP exams is not there and you won’t submit anything under a 4 which will imply you did not do great. Little downside in RD but would be prepared going in. Some of the schools are not like the others and you may want to trim down.
If you like Skidmore, I would recommend considering Bates, Vassar, Kenyon, Oberlin and Macalester. These are highly regarded and well known at elite law schools if you do well in your college grades. Those may even have a bit of an edge on name recognition/prestige outside the Northeast over Skidmore, although none is in beautiful, fun yet frigid Saratoga Springs. Some here will tell you undergrad prestige/knowledge of quality education does not matter for law school; I disagree.
If you like Bucknell, consider Denison and F&M. The student culture at these schools is quite different from that in the prior paragraph. My sense is these schools are not as well known or highly regarded at elite law schools, however.
Villanova/BC are completely different beasts and both have law schools that usually give preference to their own undergrads compared to equally qualified applicants from elsewhere, relatively speaking.
I would not recommend Bentley if law school is the desired outcome. Law schools will prefer strong liberals arts curriculum and top grades over a business school like Bentley.
Overall I am having a really hard time trying to assess “fit” as your list has schools that are very different from each other in terms of size, location and culture, even curriculum offerings. I hope you give “fit” a lot of weight in refining your list.
Can you please explain the situation with your parents? Is one deceased, or do you live in a single parent home due to divorce? If divorced, is the other parent involved in your life? If so, which parent provides the most financial support for you?
Unfortunately your parent who is not in your life will need to submit financial background materials and information. Without his or her cooperation, you are at risk of not getting financial aid. That may mean you really need to focus on high quality schools with strong merit such as Kenyon, Macalester, Denison, Oberlin and Connecticut College. No merit at Ivies or NESCAC schools beyond Conn. Are you a MA resident?
Ahh, precision of language was needed! So here is my more precise wording: apart from U. of Vermont and U. of Delaware, all of the schools on OP’s list require the CSS, per the source below.
In your case, it sounds like the parent with whom you live is your parent for FAFSA. You will never be asked for any information about the other parent if you are only completing the FAFSA. Schools that require CSS Profile may request non custodial parent information. However, if that parent is not in your life, you can request a non custodial parent waiver from each school that requires non custodial parent information. Depending on your situation, which you do not need to share with us, it’s quite possible a waiver would be granted. Each school will have its own policies regarding the documentation required for a waiver (it’s school dependent, so you’d need to request a waiver from each school that requires non custodial parent information). Of course, if it’s a FAFSA only school or a school that doesn’t require non custodial parent information, you don’t have to worry about that.
Are you looking for more affordable schools? If so, what is the budget? Just make sure you have two definite acceptances that are affordable - so I’m not sure if you have that…or not.
Thanks for the UW GPA.
The beautiful thing about law is you can literally go anywhere - and get into a great law school.
Your school will be able to match you up stat wise - and you noted kids go to Notre Dame, Nova, or BC. How do you compare?
I would say the Super Reaches are that.
The reaches are that - although Williams/Amherst - may be a super reach.
I think your targets are appropriate - and your safeties are safeties.
So you’ve done a great job.
Now - the issue will be - UVM, Delaware - these are not inexpensive - so you need to plan budget wise. The other schools may not make cost due to the parental situation. Have you considered applying to NJ schools - I’d hate for you to be a student who gets aacceptances they can’t attend due to buget.
Finally - Bentley stands out as odd - as it’s a business focused school. And this doesn’t seem your path.
I believe that all of these schools, including Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Midd, and BC are super reaches for regular admission. All of these schools have 15% or lower admission rates overall, and if you factor in that all of them have much higher acceptance rates in ED, their RD acceptance rates are even lower.
Agree with other posters that you can go to law school from anywhere, and that the most important factor is to keep your costs down in undergrad as law school may cost $300k all in by the time you attend.
You have a big gap between your Reaches/Super Reaches (which I think are all super reaches) and your targets. Several posters have recommended some schools that are more “reasonable reaches” which I would highly recommend you consider: Kenyon, Oberlin, Macalester, Grinnell would all give you a better shot. Bates, Colby, Hamilton, Colgate, Vassar, Wesleyan are all also a bit easier (though in RD, many of these schools are still highly competitive with sub 20% admission rates.) You may want to give yourself some more “likely” reaches unless you’d be super happy with your safeties and targets. Good luck!
On the safety side of things,
Gettysburg, Muhlenberg, Allegheny College might be good fits.
I think your targets are all going to be tough admits and are all very pricey. Keep in mind with law school as the ultimate goal that is another 3 years where tuition alone can run 50 to 60k.