Hey guys, now that the ACT scores have been posted, I have decided to check and see what you all think my chances are of getting accepted to any of these colleges:
Notre Dame, Northwestern, Georgetown, Cornell, Columbia, UNC (OOS), UCLA (OOS), UMich (OOS), UVa (OOS)
ACT Composite: 33
I am scheduled to take the SAT in March and I will retake the ACT.
GPA Unweighted: 3.80
GPA Weighted: 4.27
I’m a junior this year and project that I will obtain around 4.33-4.39 weighted GPA by the time I apply for college.
Extracurriculars:
Founder of Philosophy Club
Speech (1 year)
Debate (3 years) – captain (1 year)
DECA (2 years) – state qualifier (2 years)
Ping Pong Club (3 years) – president (2 years)
Civics Club (2 years) – vice president (1 year)
TEAMS (2 years) – state champion (1 year)
Spanish Club (2 years)
Acacemic Super Bowl (1 year)
I am currently taking three AP courses. Next year, I am scheduled to take another 6 AP courses.
Outside of school, I have assisted in multiple political campaigns, including becoming a page for my state senator.
I would appreciate any advice to strengthen my application if it is sub-par in any way. Thanks for the input!
I am currently undecided on what I plan on majoring in while in college; however, I believe I would like to pursue a career in either psychiatry or in law. Although I am still unsure, I was thinking about the possibility of majoring in psychology or political science.
I have to admit that the out-of-state tuition for public colleges are a bit daunting; I realize that many out-of-state colleges are reluctant to give out financial aid and I was wondering if I would be a contender for some type of merit scholarship to any of them.
UCLA offers little merit. Their Regent scholars get $2000/year. The Alumni Scholarship could range from $4,000 to $20,000 but you are still looking at $45K/year if you receive the top amount.
For Merit, you need to be one of top 1-2% of applicants and your SAT and GPA are probably not up to par.
25th-75th percentile for SAT: UCLA: 1340-1540
25th-75th percentile of OOS weighted GPA: 4.42-4.83
All of those schools are reaches for anyone. Try to pull the ACT score up. You will also need three subject tests for Georgetown.
You need safeties and matches.
Have you asked what your parents can pay each year? Do that now and then run the Net Price Calculators for these schools and see if any are affordable.
We have very similar stats and I got into UMich out of state so I think you could get in. You can check my recent post. I haven’t gotten any merit money yet, however. I think Columbia and Cornell are definite reaches, but you should still give it a shot if you have your heart set on either!!
Do your finances before you get set on any of the public OOS universities- most do not give meaningful merit. UNC meets full need, so see if you qualify- but also be aware that UNC’s have a hard cap of 18% OOS (including recruited athletes), and between that, the popularity of the school, and the meets-need admissions would be reachy for you at CH (Asheville would be an option though).
As either law or psych will require expensive grad school, avoiding debt will be more important than getting a fancy name.