Critique my college list?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I recently met with an advisor of mine, switched my schedule aorund, and my college list has been finalized, kinda.</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.8
Weighted GPA: 4.3
Class Rank: 32/587</p>

<p>SAT: 2260
Reading: 800
Math: 730
Writing: 730
Essay: 10</p>

<p>ACT: 34
Reading: 36
Math: 33
English: 35
Science: 32
Essay: 10</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP English
Field Biology/Forensics
AP Spanish 5
AP Calculus
AP U.S. Government
AP Economics
Study Hall</p>

<p>I’ve previously taken AP U.S. History and AP World History, getting 5s on both.</p>

<p>Activities:
-Done stand-up comedy for five years, the last two of which I have worked professionally
-Volunteer tutor for after school program for at-risk kids in a city near me
-Captain of speech and debate team
-Captain of varsity cross-country team
-Class President
-Service Officer for my chapter of NHS
-Senior Cashier/Concessionist (We get paid slightly more and do training) at a movie theater
-Assistant Coach to middle school writing team (interscholastic competition)
-Theater in high school. Student director and some lead roles throughout.
-President of Model United Nations</p>

<p>Academic Honors:
-2nd in state for an essay contest
-3rd in state for a Shakespeare monologue competition
-3rd in regional short fiction contest</p>

<p>My letters of rec should be good and I’ve been told my essays are very well done. I am looking to major in English, Comparative Literature, and/or a social science (Economics, Political Science, etc). Anyways, colleges:</p>

<p>Reaches Way Out in Space:
-Yale
-Columbia</p>

<p>Reaches Possibly Within Orbit:
-WashU
-UC Berkeley
-Emory
-Tulane (?)</p>

<p>Safeties:
-Ohio State
-University of Cincinatti
-Wright State University</p>

<p>I tried to include a good balance of reaches and safeties, so if anyone could just give me some advice on what schools to add/remove, that would be wonderful!</p>

2

<p>Nice resume. I don’t think your reaches are out in space. You should probably have more of them. Your writing and your standup comedy both speak to your creativity and it’s just a wild card. </p>

<p>Debate and writing - UChicago jumps out at me. You should consider it. It’s intellectual nirvana. </p>

<p>I assume that you live in Ohio. There is zero chance that you don’t get into Ohio State Honors. If you don’t want to go there, I’d pick another good school like Wisconsin which I think you also have zero chance of not getting in. If you are full pay, NYU is another safety. </p>

<p>If you need FinAid, Berkeley ought to disappear, and so should any OOS public school. You can make Alabama a safety as they will award you a full tuition automatic scholarship. You are very competitive for a large scholarship from UPitt. </p>

3

<p>I like the list and CRD’s comments. Lose Wright State, too. Tulane is a good bet if you show interest; otherwise, you’ll be wait listed. I like better Vandy, Penn, and USC–lots of entertainment venues and great places to be an English major. It looks to me that you could own a place like the Claremont Consortium, and I like you for Pomona or Claremont McKenna (social sciences). </p>

<p>Let’s talk money needs. Have you run the net price calculators and had The Talk with m&d?</p>

4

<p>@ClassicRockerDad‌ UChicago is an interesting school and I love the city. I was just concerned with applying to too many schools in which I have a very low chance of getting in. </p>

<p>I do, in fact, live in Ohio. I’d be content to attend OSU if none of my other options turn out to be viable. Financial aid is definitely a factor for me, although I didn’t know Berkeley wasn’t a good fit for that. If I received their “average” (by US News’ definition) scholarship, I would be able to float it. I haven’t looked at Wisconsin, UPitt, or Alabama, though I will now.</p>

<p>@jkeil911‌ LACs have never really ocurred to me, as I’m hoping to live somewhere fairly urban or with access to a city. Pomona doesn’t look too small, though, and its programs are certainly impressive. Vanderbuilt would be out of reach for me financially, even with an average scholarship from them. My net price calculators aren’t entirely accurate (divorced parents with minimal contribution from non-custodial), so I’m having to kind of play things by ear. My mom and I have figured out that, if I am able to get a job my freshman year, we could together put up an absolute maximum of 20k. </p>

5

<p>OP, Vandy is very generous, and if they want you they’ll come get you. You have the resumé they frequently want. I’d look into their Vanderbilt and Chancellors Scholarships. The residual would be around 20K.</p>

<p>WashU: Great in English and much else. Similar scholarship money to toss around and same desire for high stats freshmen.</p>

<p>LACs with access to a city: Haverford, Swat, Colorado College, Barnard, Dickinson, Rhodes, and Reed.</p>

6

<p>@jkeil911‌ Thank you so much for the advice/info!</p>

7

<p>Vanderbilt is generous, giving grants and scholarships. Plus they do not typically ask for non custodial parent info for financial aid. </p>

8

<p>@hawkbird‌ I didn’t know that, thanks!</p>

9

<p>Sorry, revising my post, just spotted your comments on the NPCs. One way to get around the divorced parent information issue is to ask both parents to run it separately, then put the cost of attendance together to see the total you would probably be expected to pay. Agree that UC Berkeley isn’t going to work out for you as an OOS student who needs financial aid. Most schools that require non-custodial parent info (lots on your list) will likely be problematic for you…</p>

10

<p>@intparent‌ That’s what’s most intimidating to me. I have a decent chunk of scholarship money so far, and I plan to apply for many more. Thank you for your help, I’ll do those NPC workarounds ASAP.</p>

11

<p>What you need to know is that many colleges just reduce need based aid when you bring outside merit aid to the table. Some reduce your loan portion first – but each college does it differently. It can be hard to tell from the website, sometimes you have to email the financial aid office and ask. I was just looking at your original post, are you likely to be NMF?</p>

12

<p>@intparent‌ Afraid not.</p>

13

<p>UChicago, you are really a boarder line case there. Maybe a good essay will entice them. They will count the non-custodial income and you need to fill their FA form, in addition to FAFSA and CSS profile.</p>

14

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<p>I disagree. Chicago really cares a lot about the uncommon essay. That’s why I suggested it. The OP has a competitive advantage in being a standup comedian and an excellent writer. I imagine the OP can have them rolling on the floor. It will carry a lot more weight there than at most places. </p>

15

<p>UChicago is visiting my school in a couple of weeks. I’ll sign up for their session and go in with some questions now, I think.</p>

16

<p>I’d say this student has a shot at U of Chicago, but I don’t think it does any good to continue to recommend schools that are possibly unaffordable given the divorced parent situation.</p>

17

<p>OP, yours is one of the best lists I have seen on CC. You show humility as you have not overvalued yourself. I can’t add much to what the other’s have said but do try and visit as many of the campuses as possible to see where you fit.</p>

18

<p>You mentioned that you may be open to LAC’s in urban areas or with easy access to a city. Given that, I would second Pomona and suggest Haverford and Swarthmore in the Philadelphia area.</p>

19

<p>Drop Berkeley, you cannot afford it with a 20K budget. As OOS, they will not give anything close to what you can afford. UChicago is the same, the maximum merit is about 10K/year and you are not close to get that merit. Find out EFC with the non-custodial income first before form a list. Maybe UAB should be in your list as a safety. </p>

20

<p>As sad as I am to remove Berkeley (my poor, English heart wilts at the thought), all of this is just more confirmation that it would be out of reach financially, something I really need to consider since I intend to go into graduate school, as well. Berkeley is struck.</p>