Chance me: Rising Senior with Psychology Interest, 3,76 UW, female, MD resident, applying to big state schools [1250 SAT, <$60k]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Chance me: Rising Senior with Psychology Interest, MD resident:

Demographics: MD citizen, US citizen, female, legacy at Penn State, large public high school ranked extremely well

Intended major: Psychology

GPA, Test Scores:

GPA: 3.76

SAT: 1250 (superscore)

School doesn’t have class rank

List your HS coursework: 7 AP classes, and multiple honors,

AP Gov, AP Lang, APES, AP Psych, AP Lit, AP Human Geo, AP Comp Gov, Honors french 3 and 4, honors english, honors us, honors stat, school psychology journal

Awards:

AP Scholar with Honors

Extracurriculars:

Cross-country and track

Member of local greek dance troupe (annual dance competition three years in a row)

7 years at Greek language school at church

Member of GOYA (church youth group)

Volunteer work for mission trip two years in a row

Editor-in-Chief of school psychology journal

Essays/LORS:

Good essays, two good LORs

Cost constraints/Budget:

Very important that cost is at least under 60k, preferably around upper 50s

Reach: UF, FSU, Clemson, UGA

Target: Virginia Tech, Penn State, UofSC (1st choice), UTK, UC Boulder, UMD, UPitt, Texas A&M

Safeties: Elon, College of Charleston, Bama

Applying EA basically every single school

School Type:

Big state school, fun school spirit, sports school, good academics but not overly difficult, not too far

What are my chances?

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Congrats on your record.

Is your GPA weighted or unweighted?

If the 3.76 is weighted, can you provide an unweighted GPA?

Give yourself a 4.0 for an A, 3 for a B, 2 for a C - and divide by # of classes. You can remove classes like PE, etc.

A few of the schools will be bordering on your budget, so if you’d like, we can maybe offer some additional or subs too.

Also - you have a variety of environments - urban Charleston and Pitt, isolated Elon (and I don’t think huge sports spirit) - have you visited all of these?

Let us know about GPA.

Thanks

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Can you get your SAT up? I think if so, your chances at your reaches (particularly UF I know is not TO) will be much higher. Getting your SAT up isn’t that difficult usually, sometimes just retaking it will raise it. If your math is low, that is easy to review and learn tricks for.

Another school to look into is tOSU. Don’t know if it will make budget though.

Maybe Purdue? Will hit budget but not sure if OP would get in.

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Thank you. My 3.76 is unweighted, sorry for not clarifying, but my weighted GPA is around 4.5 or 4.6, I think 4.6. I definitely do have some other kinds of environments, but those aren’t really my top choices. I know Elon and Charleston are much smaller, but the location for Charleston is something I really like. I have only visited Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and South Carolina. My top choices are the state schools that are my targets, as I’m looking for bigger populations. I don’t have a strong preference for urban vs rural locations, as long as I like the school campus and school itself.

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Yes, my math score is the much lower one. I was thinking of retaking it, but it seems a bit too late as I will be applying in the fall, and I will not be available to take it in August when it is offered. I know both Florida schools are not TO, which significantly lowers my chance of admission. I do like both Purdue and tOSU, however they are bit far from me, unfortunately.

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Texas A&M doesn’t Superscore, so OOS and SAT will make A&M a Reach.

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OK - thanks for the update:

Elon is safe - but Elon tuition and room and board is over $60K and I don’t think merit is plentiful. So in that sense, it makes it a reach. Elon is smaller than Charleston - but that you like the Charleston location tells me you should remove Elon altogether - as there’s merely a strip within walking distance.

College of Charleston - you’ll get into - but likely no merit. If you just look at tuition, room and board (not other things like personal, transportation that schools quote), it’s in budget. But I can tell you, as a C of C parent, when you move off campus - the rent alone is likely to be more than room and board (unless you live far away).

You might look at UT Chattanooga as a sub for Charleston - similar size, access to a cool, touristy city close by.

Bama - agreed safety - and you get $6K off if your 1250 isn’t superscored. The school is in budget. A similar school - sports, good spirit, etc. and even cheaper will be Mississippi State.

Target - Va Tech - you’re up there in budget but right there (but don’t forget inflation). I’d put it at slight reach. Auburn might be a bit easier subt or one to consider.

Penn State - another enrocaching on your budget (inflation will raise costs in future years) - more likely than Va Tech but getting branched is possible.

U of SC - we saw kids with your stats deferred - target is fine but could go either way.

UTK is likely, not assured.

CU Boulder won’t make budget - so I’d remove. A like school - Arizona. If you want a Colorado school, then Colorado State makes budget - not by a ton, but makes it. If you want cheaper and same region and it’s a bit of an off name, but Wyoming. Or if you want Winter, Montana is brining in kids from outside. Another cheap one in the “region” would be UNM.

Pitt - apply early - go TO, and it’s 50/50 but you have as a target.

A&M, like CU Boulder, not a budget fit. So I’d remove. But Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and as you like city, you might especially like Arkansas - these would all make sense.

Other biggies that make sense for you - WVU, Michigan State, Kansas, etc.

Smaller, closer to home but still big sports - JMU, App State, UNC Wilmington - budget, sports wise (UNCW doesn’t have football, but either does C of C). A bit more rural - but still enough there - and might meet your needs spirit and sports wise. - Ohio U and Miami Ohio.

As for your reaches, I agree - based on your SAT. Perhaps FSU will come in at Summer admit - but you know, if you don’t try, you’ll never know. All are within budget - but like Va Tech and Penn State, Clemson is awfully close so if I were going to cut one, it’d be it. Based on what you like, UMN might be a solid sub or if you want to be down south, a UCF.

So I might refine my list a bit based on financials and I gave some thoughts above.

Best of luck to you.

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Thank you so much! This is extremely helpful.

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If your username reflects your real name, I would strongly urge you to change it.

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Can you elaborate on what you mean by “not too far?” Boulder is nearly 1700 miles away (25-hr drive) from Maryland while College Station is about 1500 miles away (22.5 hour drive).

Also, what have your AP scores been for the classes you’ve taken?

I’m also going to second the recommendations of Appalachian State, James Madison, and West Virginia for you. U. of Cincinnati and U. of Louisville are two others that you may want to consider.

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I received a 4 on AP Gov, a 5 on AP Psych, a 4 on AP Lang, and a 3 on APES. For most of my schools those scores will give me credit, so I will probably include them. I didn’t realize that Purdue was actually closer than those two options, so I take back that it is too far, as long as it is decent driving distance from me I am ok with it. Texas and Boulder are both very far, but I would rather apply and see if I am accepted, and then worry about the distance. As they are a rather long drive if I was accepted to something closer I would highly consider that instead.

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Your bigger issue with those two and yes distance I may be ann issue - but budget is one not subjective. With all the extras college costs and with four years of inflation, you will make your parents very uncomfortable monetarily when similar schools ( not sure the appeal of those two) are readily available and better for the check book.

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Do you know the average tuition for Texas A&M, it’s a bit hard to find on their website. I know Boulder is around 62, which is a lot.

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College Navigator is a good tool that you may want to familiarize yourself with: College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics.

It’s produced by the federal government and has a ton of information, including tuition & fees and room & board costs as submitted by the universities in mandated reporting. It also includes information on the number of students who graduated in the most recent year with a particular major, the demographic breakdown, etc.

Texas A&M cost about $54k for tuition, fees, and room & board for SY23-24. If you’re including the “other expenses” then it’s around $60k. But since schools calculate (and are more generous or stingy) on the amounts for “other expenses” I find it fairer to compare just on tuition/fees and room & board: College Navigator - Texas A & M University-College Station

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Below are my guesses as to what your chances for admission might be at the schools on your list:

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • U. of Colorado

Likely (60-79%)

  • College of Charleston

  • Elon

  • U. of Alabama

  • U. of South Carolina

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Penn State

  • Texas A&M

  • U. of Maryland

  • U. of Pittsburgh (apply early…like August. It does rolling admissions and knowing how this application goes can help provide information about the competitiveness of your application)

  • U. of Tennessee

  • Virginia Tech

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Clemson

  • U. of Georgia

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Florida State (but likelier than UF)

  • U. of Florida

Below are some schools that have been mentioned on this thread that I think would be likely or extremely likely admits for you. I also added in Towson, because it’s good to have a school with in-state pricing that is an extremely likely admit, and it had an A- rating from Niche with respect to athletics.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Appalachian State (NC)

  • Michigan State

  • Towson (MD)

  • U. of Cincinnati (OH)

  • U. of Louisville (KY)

  • West Virginia

Likely (60-79%)

  • James Madison

Toss-Up (40-59%)

Lower Probability (20-39%)

Low Probability (less than 20%)

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For any school, google school name + cost of attendance.

I like to use Tuition, Room and Board - so everything is apples to apples.

Schools also add things like transport and personal expenses - but they vary - so it’s not apples to apples then.

CU is $62618 (some get $6250 merit) - but this is for the upcoming year - next year will be higher and most schools then go up 3-5% each year after although some lock costs.

A&M - you fill in their chart - OOS and major. Tuition is $39,230 and room/board $13,008 - so a bit over $52K.

Now when you add in travel, books, personal - it goes higher. I’m not sure on their aid scale but I don’t think much, if any and again your year will be higher and each year after will too - why I said it’s getting up there.

And suggested Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Arkansas - all would get you to where you want to be comfortably.

Good luck.

Edit - i’m reading the next message and see @AustenNut answered similarly already - but maybe these links will help you.

Costs for Incoming Undergraduate Students - Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 | Bursar’s Office | University of Colorado Boulder

Tuition Calculator - Texas A&M University (tamu.edu)

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Thank you all so much for your advice. This has been extremely helpful.

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FYI S24 got accepted to TAMU school of ENG OOS with UW 4.0, W 4.21 and 1440 SAT. He did not get any merit there. You may want to add Ohio State to your target. S24 got $14.5 K merit/year there, OOS COA would be around $40K.

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