Please chance my daughter! She is a bright, incredibly personable kid who has been through a lot and grown enormously in her maturity over the past few years. Matches welcome, too!
Demographics
US domestic student
State/Location of residency: NH
Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Large public HS
Other special factors: None
Cost Constraints / Budget
Around $200k in income, no assets, hoping to pay no more than $40,000/year
Intended Major(s)
Art history, studio art, history
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.22
Context: had very difficult first two years of HS, low grades, two schools in two years and then homeschooled, ended up reclassifying in tenth grade after homeschooling and GPA for repeated 10th + 11th grade is a 3.4 UW.
Weighted HS GPA: School does not weight GPAs
Class Rank: School does not rank
ACT/SAT Scores: 1180 SAT, taking ACT in October and got a 29 on the practice so hoping somewhere around there, but who knows
List your HS coursework
English: Honors English, Advanced English, electives. Grades all in the A range.
History and social studies: AP European History, US History regular track, various history electives. Grades all in the A range.
Language other than English: Spanish 3, regular track. Grades in the A-B range.
Visual or performing arts: Honors and regular art, all As and A+s
Other academic courses: Dual enrollment in technical training institute (she technically “graduated” from it as it’s a special regional program, two years of graphic design w/ credit at local community college. A grades both years.
Honor roll sophomore year, no other awards.
Extracurriculars
Job as restaurant hostess
Independent art classes at local art school
Independent voice lessons at local music school
Participation in independent choir at local music school
National Arts Honors Society
Feminism Club: Social Media Manager and Graphic Designer
Volunteering at food bank, volunteering at therapeutic riding center
Pre-college program at School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Summer program for gifted HS students
Essays/LORs/Other
Will have very good recommendation from her AP history teacher (she got an A in the class and they have a great ongoing relationship)
Also will have a very good recommendation from her Spanish teacher
LOR from school counselor will likely be generic; they barely know each other, but the counselor is experienced
Very strong essay IMO, written this summer in her gifted college-prep program
Schools
Wheaton College (first choice, trying to decide between EA and ED)
Sarah Lawrence (EA)
Bard (EA)
Keene State College (rolling)
University of New Hampshire (EA)
Salve Regina (EA)
Stonehill (EA)
Marist (EA)
Hobart William Smith (EA)
The New School Eugene Lang (admitted via Niche)
Roger Williams (admitted via Niche)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (EA) (We probably can’t afford this, but I told her we could see what happens)
It is true these colleges need you more than you need them. That said, they need $$.
I would not ED based on a merit promise. You are bound and they can look to cash in. At these schools, if you demonstrate interest and they are need aware, your ability to pay will speak volumes so if you’d get in ED I’d assume you will RD.
I’ll be back later with how I would handle - which may be different than you would and give more names.
Your list is very Northeast driven but you have a Chicago school. Are you open to the Midwest or other areas ? If so, any criteria - like easy airport access ?
Sarah Lawrence and Stonehill are on the higher end. The others are OK. Keene is of course the most affordable but UNH comes in around the same as some of the private colleges.
It was a school withdrawal, not a class withdrawal, and appears on her transcript with her grade and then a 0 for credit.
Also, just realized she retook Geometry and Biology through our state’s accredited online school! 89 in geometry and 89 in biology. I don’t think these go into her GPA but they are on her transcript. I would have to check with her guidance counselor.
If non-binding EA is available*, it is generally better to apply EA, since some colleges fill up most of their classes in EA and become much more selective later.
*And no restricted-EA application is made where you agree not the apply EA to other colleges; this seems unlikely within this set of colleges.
Not sure New Paltz is in range (worth a try) and I think Purchase has a lot of people going home weekends. I’d research some others like Cobleskill, Oneonta, etc.
Colleges she applies to will want to see all high school and college records, and may recalculate GPA over all of them, even if any one high school lists a GPA only for courses taken at that high school.
Definitely take the ACT. D27 should focus more on the English & Reading sections. If she is also a strong writer & can perform well on a timed writing (>=9), then she should take the optional ACT writing/essay, if accepted by the colleges. D27 needs stronger test scores to counterbalance the weak 3.2 “B+” GPA.
D27 should not apply Early Decision anywhere. I wouldn’t lock in any college choices too soon. Make the final choice next April.
Wheaton (MA) EA is a good low reach. If she can get her English/Reading scores higher (27+) her odds are very good in fact. Since it’s her first choice it’d be perfect! The issue ofc is cost, so she should show as much interest as possible (join their mailing list and click on links of interest, visit if you can.. see all the ways she can interact with Admissions) to ensure a scholarship.
What about colleges near DC or near Philadelphia, where she may be able to make use of the many museums?