Chance Me! Vandy, Duke, Yale, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, UCLA, UToronto, Brown

Chance Me / Match Me
1

White, Female Junior

33/36 ACT, 11 Writing
1490/1520 PSAT (223 Selection index)
SAT- taking in March
Taking 3 subject tests in April

GPA:
3.75 unweighted
4.76 weighted
Top 10% in class

AP scores:
Human Geography- 5
Seminar- 5
United States History- 3

Currently taking :
AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics
AP Physics C
AP Euro (service learning)
AP English Language
AP Research
AP Calculus BC
1st semester GPA: 5.5 weighted

Next year I am planning on taking either another full load of AP classes or doing dual enrollment at UCincinnati.

Extracurriculars:
Irish Dance (competed since I was 4 (12 years), have qualified for the world championships multiple times, placed 25th in the nation, and I help teach younger dancers)
Science Fair (8th grade, but I’m still going to include because I won multiple awards and scholarships and it started my interest in ALS research, which has continued to this day)
Model UN: attended multiple conferences, including the Harvard Model UN conference

Summer 2018 plans:
Applying for sickle cell research internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Dual enrollment courses at University of Cincinnati
Training for the Irish Dance national championships

Essays: I’m not entirely sure as to what my exact essays will be, but they will probably focus on Irish dance or my passion for ALS research.

I want to do a double major in Neuroscience and Political Science on a Pre-Med track, I’m not sure if this would affect my acceptance chances.

I’m just wondering as to whether or not I should apply to some of the schools on this list/if I have a chance of acceptance, any insight would be greatly appreciated. I know in addition to these schools, I am applying to safer schools such as Miami University, South Carolina, Mississippi, and other state schools :slight_smile:

2

Can you afford the OOS schools?
You need to think about that.

3

UCLA is going to be prohibitively expensive for OOS. Plus UC weighted GPA is calculated differently for OOS since only AP/IB/DE classes taken in 10-11 grades get the weighting.

Assuming that you’re instate for Ohio, then OSU should be your safety. Nothing wrong with the school at all. And it has a higher ranking than Ole Miss or USC.

I would not include any 8th grade ECs as colleges don’t care/want to see what you did since high school. The Common App pretty much indicates this. Unless you have done ALS research in high school, don’t include this.

Your sort of hook is the competitive Irish dance. It would make for a unique application essay.

4

I’m hoping at some of the out of state schools (ole miss, SC) that I have a chance at merit scholarships, and I do qualify for need-based scholarships at schools that do not offer merit scholarships. Also, based on my PSAT score I will be a semi-finalist (unless the index moves up 5 points for Ohio), and then if I become a finalist that would help too.

All in all, I’m not sure as to what I can afford—my family has some saved, and can pay for some—but I’m just going to judge as to what I can afford after scholarship offers hopefully come back. Thank you for bringing up the OOS cost though, if you have any pointers or anything about the scholarship situations at any of these schools please let me know!

5

@Hamurtle I have continued the ALS research into high school, and hope to continue it further into college, so I was thinking that could make an interesting essay or point of interest or something.

As for Irish Dance, I was thinking that would be the main focus of my essay and I would include a letter of recommendation from my dance teacher (who has taught me for 12 years).

Also, I didn’t know that about UCLA, thank you! That one is definitely a reach as far as location so after hearing that I probably will not apply anymore. OSU is definitely one that I will apply to, and Miami is another one in Ohio that isn’t too far or expensive, but I do want to try to go out of state for college if I can get scholarships elsewhere.

6

If you are interested in Neuroscience, WashU might be a school to consider, although that is going to be pretty expensive.

If you are National Merit Finalist (223 SI should be NMSF for Ohio unless something strange happens) consider schools like the University of Oklahoma as OOS options that give substantial aid for NMF. I saw on a thread that UT-Dallas will give aid for NMF and that’s an up and coming school.

7

You should start with affordability and then go from there. Talk to your parents and find out exactly how much they can pay each year for college. Then run the Net Price Calculators at the schools you are interested in to see if they come in range.

Being a NMF will help at some schools, but not by much for any of the schools on your list. Vandy I think gives around $2000 or so a year for that. UCLA will likely not be affordable but go ahead and run the calculator.

8

@suzy100 ok! I will do that. Thank you!

9

@Hamurtle I toured WashU, and while I liked it I didn’t get the feeling that I love the atmosphere of the school. I could be wrong though. I probably will still apply just to see what the financial situation is because it is such a good school.

10

The UCs provide no funding for OOS students. Nothing. That’s costs of $60k every year, regardless of your income.

If you win Natl Merit, USC will provide ½ tuition. You would still be on the hook for the other half and R & B. That would leave you to pay about $45k.
As Suzy100 indicated, you get around $2k for National Merit, which is what my son was offered annually from most schools.
This is why you need to have the parent money talk, with NPCs for each school you hope to attend. It won’t do you much good to apply to schools that you cannot afford.

11

@“aunt bea” I will definitely do that soon. I was also wondering if you knew how likely it is to get other merit scholarships at schools out of state. On the Ole Miss website it details the “Academic Excellence with National Merit Semifinalist/Finalist” which covers full tuition and room and board, so I was wondering if at state schools with scholarships like this if I can count on them or if there is further competition than just meeting the requirements.

12

Elite schools are highly overrated. What you don’t want to do is put yourself in a position where you have to take out large amounts of student loans. Too many college students do that and end up starting a career with crushing debt. Try going for a scholarship. In the working world, where you went to school won’t matter to them. The question will be “Can you do the job?”

13

If you hit a 1500 on the SAT with multiple 700s+ on your subject tests, your stats will be great. Your ECs are a bit limited but seem pretty interesting. The Irish dance could swing an admissions decision in your favor since you are very accomplished in it. You don’t have much leadership, though. You should consider starting a club at your school related to dance or ALS. With great essays, you could have a competitive application for a school like Cornell if you apply ED

14

No, you really can’t.
State schools are publicly funded universities. Most state schools do not fund OOS students because funding for state schools is limited. Where would they pull out free money?

You need to find universities that want high stats students.
Schools in the Midwest and South, like Oklahoma, try to attract high stats students with tuition and room and board coverage because they want high stats students.
Some merit scholarships are small. Some merit scholarships just cover portions of the tuition. You have to fill out the NPC’s to find out. I don’t know anything about Ole Miss.

State schools on the coasts, get hundreds of thousands of applicants and just don’t have the public funds for everyone who wants to attend.