Help me define safety/target/ reach schools!

College Search & Lists
1

I am currently a senior. I have no one, with the exception of the guidance counselors at my high school, to assist me in the college application process. I want to major in either biology or history. I am not quite sure as I am interested in many things and am indecisive. I would like to believe that I am applying to the wrong schools and thus, any input will be greatly appreciated. Below is some information about myself.

  • I am a Hispanic female.
  • I am a New York resident.
  • I come from a low-income household (less than $25,000/yr).
  • I will be a first generation college student.
  • My GPA is a 3.7 W.
  • My class rank is 74/241 (top 30%?)

SAT:
Evidence-Based Reading & Writing: 540
Math: 470
Total: 1010 (June 2016)
(I obviously plan on taking it again this November. I am an awful timed test taker. I never heard of the SAT I/SAT II/ACT until my junior year.)

SAT II:
Spanish: 800
U.S. History: (awaiting results)

AP Scores:
AP European History: 2 (Should I report it?)
AP English Language & Composition: 2 (Should I report it?)
AP Spanish Language & Composition: 4

Middle School Courses:

Algebra - A
Living Environment - B+

High School Courses:

Freshman Year: (MY OLD HIGH SCHOOL RAN UNDER A TRIMESTER SCHEDULE)
Studio Art- A
English - A
Spanish I - A
Freshman Seminar - A {FIRST TRIMESTER]
Global - A-
Geometry - A
Chemistry - A

English - A
Journalism - A
Spanish I - A
Freshman Seminar - B- {SECOND TRIMESTER}
Global - B
Geometry - B
Chemistry - A-

Theatre for Social Change - A
Realistic Fiction Writing - B
Spanish Culture I - A+
Freshman Seminar - C {THIRD TRIMESTER}
Human Geography - A

Geometry - A
Chemistry - B
Music History - A+

Sophomore Year:
English 10 - A
Earth Science - A
Sophomore American History - A-
Spanish 2 - A
AP European History - B- (Taken in lieu of Global II)
Algebra 2/Trigonometry - C

(MY HIGH SCHOOL IS THE FIRST GILDER LEHRMAN SPONSORED HISTORY SCHOOL IN THE UNITED STATES.)

Junior Year:
Playwriting - A-
AP English Language & Composition - A-
AP Spanish Language & Composition - B+ (Taken in lieu of Spanish 3)
Environmental Science - A-
U.S. History - A-
Algebra 2/Trigonometry - B+ (My school has a rule that if you do not pass the trig regents, you repeat the course.)

Senior Year:
College Now Intro to Philosophy
AP English Literature & Composition
AP U.S Government & Politics
Pre-Calculus
Senior Thesis
Health

(Throughout my sophomore year to my senior year of high school, there were major schedule conflicts due to limited number of spaces in the AP classrooms.That is why my schedule is lacking and may appear to be on the easier side. Not to mention, my grades are mediocre. I live in a one bedroom apartment therefore, I was expected to wake up very early to finish up any homework I did not finish the day before because the room light was turned off.)

EC:
Berimbau (Brazilian musical instrument):11,12
Electric Guitar (blues/rock/metal): 9,10,11,12
Bass Guitar: 9,10,11,12
Babysitting: 9,10,11,12 (I could not participate in any sports due to taking care of my youngest sister and autistic/schizophrenic eldest brother. I might participate in basketball and cross-country this year, not that it will make any difference in my college application.)
National Honor Society: 12
Glamour Gals: 12
Church Youth Group: 11,12
1500+ hours of work experience as a cashier: 10,11,12 (I work “under the table”. My employer, being my uncle, did not provide me any W-2. I work during the weekends on a school year and part-time during the summer. How do I verify my working hours if colleges would like to know if this is actually true? Besides, should I put how much I make on FAFSA or not?)
100+ community service hours
[I know two other languages besides English and Spanish: Portuguese & Italian. Does that count as an EC?]

Awards/Honors:
Certificate for excellence in English 10
Eagles Award: 10,11 (Equivalent to Principal’s Honor Roll)
Presidential Award for Education Excellence: 11

2

Colleges that I will apply to:

Safety
Hunter College (CUNY)
Lehman College (CUNY)
University at Buffalo (SUNY)
D’Youville College
Bard College
Oberlin College

Match
Rutgers University
University of Massachusetts- Amherst
Purdue University
Boston University

Dream
Wake Forest University
College of William & Mary (That is where some of our founding fathers went!)
University of Rochester

I NEED HELP!!!

3

I’m not familiar with the CUNY/SUNY schools, re: what’s a match/safety for stats, but I wouldn’t consider Oberlin or Bard safeties–with your GPA + SAT I wouldn’t count anything with a 30-ish% admit rate a safety. Oberlin says it meets need, but Bard doesn’t–with your low income status, a safety for you will have to basically give you a full ride. Have you run EFCs for both schools? I would make sure all your safeties will meet your full need.

BU is not quite a match. They do NOT promise to meet financial need and routinely gap low income students. Your stats are iffy for them–you have some downward trends in certain subjects and your SAT is low for them. I do think you’ll get some consideration for your circumstances, but they may track you to CGS, the junior college within BU (after two years, you transfer into another college at BU and graduate with the same degree as everyone else). Now, if you demonstrate your (very legit, incredibly compelling) extenuating circumstances, write well, and BU decides they really want you on campus (possible!) they may be generous. But it means I would move BU into the reach category, especially financially. I do have friends who were low income and got very-close-to-full-rides from BU for CGS (all but about 5K per year covered).

Financially I worry about U-Mass Amherst: you’re out of state and so you won’t get any financial aid. I would concentrate your match schools on schools that promise to meet full need, or are known for being generous with low income/first generation students (see below for my ideas).

What kind of school do you really want? Small liberal arts or large university? The variance on your list interesting. I don’t see a student who loves Oberlin loving BU… You might actually do VERY well to apply to some of the mid-tier LACs, including women’s colleges. I would look at the Colleges that Change Lives (there’s a website with a list!)… that might be your sweet spot, re: getting in and getting full aid. One I recommend looking at is Agnes Scott in Atlanta. They have a full ride scholarship specifically for Hispanic students. It requires an additional essay but if you get it it’s a full ride. There are others, but that one comes to mind.

Re: work. They’re not going to confirm that you worked (colleges don’t call to check up on that stuff) and I don’t think it matters whether it was under the table or not. In fact, don’t tell them it was! It’s really not their business.

Good luck! I’m sure if you tell your story and apply to a nice spread of schools (that meet need!), you’ll do well.

4

I agree. With your stats your list looks reach-heavy. Your match schools are reach schools. Even Bard and Oberlin are reach schools. I am also not familiar with the SUNY schools so can’t comment there. After SUNY schools, you have 8 remaining…if I were you I would figure out which will be affordable and narrow your list to 4, considering all 4 your reaches. You need to do more work on match schools and I would start with the CTCL school list as recommended above and the list of schools that meet 100% need and find where you fit stat-wise to some of them.

5

BU is definitely a reach. If you choose the CGS option at BU it may be a high match.

6

1° Do not report your AP scores. Simply indicate you took the AP classes.
2° Take the ACT and either SAT or SAT Subjects in December. You’re expected to have 700’s in two subjects. Unfortunately, because you’re a Spanish heritage speaker, your Spanish subject test doesn’t count for as much as a subject you learned in school. I’d recommend taking the Italian Subject test + one more.
3° This

MUST be included on your bragsheet that you’ll give your guidance counselor and your teachers to write your recommendations. If you don’t know what a bragsheet is, google is your friend, and compose one based on the examples you find. Give one alongside this
http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs
to all your teachers. Give them the documents within a week so that they have plenty of time to think about what they’ll write. Underscore that precise examples are necessary for the type of schools you’re applying to.
The quote above would also need to be listed, not as a excuse but factually “lived in one-bedroom emergency housing and lights were turned off at 9pm every day. HW had to be completed by daylight only”
4° Indicate all languages you speak in the “languages” section of CommonApp. If you do something with them (watch tv, read novels, participate in online forums, translate at a clinic or community center…) include them in EC’s.
5° List the number of hours at work, the type of tasks you do, etc. You don’t need to specify you work “under the table”. This counts as a “strong EC” for selective colleges. “Taking care of autistic sibling” is ALSO a “strong EC” that needs to be listed.
6° Since you live in NYC, ask about HEOP/EOP.
Apply HEOP to Barnard, NYU, Fordham, Skidmore, St Lawrence, Hobart&William Smith, Vassar, Hamilton; apply EOP to Bing, Geneseo, Buffalo, Albany, Baruch.

7

Your list doesn’t work. I understand it represents the type of colleges you like and that you likely received zero guidance about them.
1° get the Fiske Guide from your school library as well as the book Colleges that Change Lives.
2° for every college on your list or suggested here, you want to run the Net Price Calculator first. If “net price” is above 6.5K (federal loan + work study), it’s out. Note that “net price” must include grants and scholarships only, NOT any loan or work earnings.

CUNY applications will be FREE for you and SUNYApply will allow you to apply to as many SUNYs as you wish, no application fee. In addition, make sure you AND your guidance counselor check the “fee waiver” section on CommonApp. You’re also entitled to two free sittings for the SAT, two for SAT Subjects, and two ACT’s. Since test scores are an issue, use them. You can typically take the tests up to the month you app is due, ie., December or January tests for Jan 1/Jan 15 deadlines would be okay.

** Safety **
Hunter College (CUNY)
Lehman College (CUNY)

D’Youville College => cross out, will NOT meet need
Bard College => reach and doesn’t meet need, cross out.

Oberlin College => high reach but meets need; place in your commonapp dashboard but wait till you’re done with the rest before you tackle it. For high reaches that are very liberal, Social Justice Warrior-type schools, HEOP Vassar and Skidmore, your odds are better through HEOP than at Oberlin.

** Match **
Rutgers University => will not meet need, cross out
University of Massachusetts- Amherst => same thing
Purdue University => idem
Boston University => idem

University at Buffalo (SUNY) => match through EOP; add Bing, Geneseo, Albany through EOP. (Without EOP they’re reaches).
Add Baruch and CCNY through EOP.

** Dream**
Wake Forest University => are you sure it’s a dream school? Oberlin is super-duper liberal and Wake is pretty conservative/Southern.

College of William & Mary (That is where some of our founding fathers went!) => they don’t offer financial aid to OOS applicants so it’s out.

University of Rochester => high reach, use HEOP

**Summarizing from your list:

** Safeties **
Hunter, Lehman
HEOP St Bonaventure or Siena
HEOP Hobart&William Smith

** Matches **
EOP Baruch, CCNY, Buffalo, Geneseo, Binghamton, Albany
HEOP St Lawrence

** Reaches **
HEOP Skidmore
HEOP Vassar
HEOP Barnard
HEOP Hamilton
HEOP U ROchester

8

Have you tried the ACT? Take a practice test (you can download one from the ACT site) to determine if it is a better test format for you than the SAT. You also might want to look at test optional schools. Clark University came to mind as a school that might be a good fit for you.

9

@proudterrier I acknowledge that both my GPA and SAT score are iffy. Again, I plan on retaking the SAT test in November. Hopefully, my SAT score increases as I have been self-studying since the summer and I recently bought myself a TI-84 calculator. In regards to Oberlin, I utilized the EFC calculator and it estimated that I would only have to pay $19,350 of the $68,350 needed to attend. With loans and work study, it would only be $11,450. For Bard College, it is $17,147 plus loans and work study, it would be $9,897.

I’m reconsidering Boston University.

You are absolutely right about U-Mass Amherst. I have to pay $29,705. It is a price I frankly cannot afford.

To be honest, I do not know if I want to apply to small LACS or larger universities. I visited Wellesley College, Wheaton College, Boston College (all LAC’s?) while in Massachusetts and loved the aura it crafted while there. I do not mind applying to larger universities as it perhaps equates to a better social life. What I somewhat know is that I want to major in either Biology or History.

Thank you!!!

10

@NEPatsGirl Indeed, I need to do vast amount of work in choosing the right colleges, financially and academically speaking. Yet, with an indecisive and impatient mind like mine, it will be tough. I will take your input into consideration. Thank you!!!

11

@TomSrOfBoston Nice! Thank you very much for commenting.

12

I think you can get into w&m. I agree with others that ACT might not be a bad idea.

13

You might also look into colleges that are test-optional, depending on how much time you want to put into test prep vs. researching colleges and applying. I don’t have a good list of test-optional, need-meeting colleges, but I’m sure Google or other helpful posters may be able to supply that info.

14

@MYOS1634 Yes! You have just provided me with an insight on what to include on my bragsheet (writing one at the very moment).

When I say that I had to finish my HW in broad daylight only, I was not lying. My father did not want any disturbance to his sleep as he is easily tired from work. There was this one time where I brought a tri-fold display board, papers, and my laptop to the small bathroom to complete this huge project for Global (freshman year). The following day, I woke up extremely late, had to take the taxi to school, and to my luck, the taxi left me to the wrong destination. I failed this project and thus, I got a B+ in that class. Never will forget.

I could go on babbling about my life but I will not.

Thank you for summarizing colleges/universities for me to take into great consideration. Appreciate it!!!

15

@mamaedefamilia I have not actually but I do plan on taking the ACT.

16

@belmom Thank you for commenting!!! University of Hartford is a test optional school and I may or may not apply there.

17

Hmm, either those schools are lying when they say they meet need, or you input something wrong… or your family’s income isn’t actually 25K a year? At a 25K a year income, you should have an EFC of 0, or very close to it. There ARE schools where you would need to pay ZERO, if you get in. You need to find and apply to those schools.

The fact of the matter is: your family makes a poverty level income. Those who live on this line a) need the most help to get to college–you are the kind of student generous aid was designed for and b) you should NOT be taking on extra debt because you’re the kind of student who won’t have any cushion of financial help from your family; debt could cripple you in the future. Limit yourself to federal debt, or not debt if you can manage. You can’t afford a school that expects you to come up with 10K a year, at your income. Where would you get the 10K? 10K might as well be 100K to a poverty level family. It’s frustrating and upsetting, but like I said: you are the very type of student that generous aid is meant to help! There are schools out there who are looking for you.

But I know there are schools out there that might give you the aid, if you can find the right schools. I work with low-income students on college apps and every year someone gets a full ride. I know a girl currently at Smith for free. She just had to get into Smith first (easier said than done!).

Here is my recommendation: look at the Colleges that Change Lives, like I suggested: http://ctcl.org/category/college-profiles/page/2/. Look through the schools. Pick 3-4 favorites and run the EFC calculator on their website, making sure you input the right values. Look for those that offer specific scholarships that may fit you (I already mentioned Agnes Scott which may be ideal for you). I’d also like to recommend Kalamazoo and Denison. Denison is well known and liked here on CC for being generous with merit aid, and Kalamazoo has given full rides to many girls I work with in LA. Kalamazoo is definitely looking for candidates like you.

For your reaches, look at Bates, Bryn Mawr, Smith. All three are test optional, so you can apply but not submit your SAT score. Look at Mount Holyoke as a match–it is also test optional. All of these say they meet full need.

Talk to your counselor about fee waivers. You should qualify for them, so you could apply to schools for free.

18

U of Hartford does not meet need. Run the NPC, but they would saddle you with tons of debt.
Look at test optional schools such as Kalamazoo, Earlham, Goucher, Muhlenberg, Beloit, Hobart&William Smith, Beloit, Allegheny, Gustavus Adolphus, Knox, Wheaton MA, College of the Atlantic; Denison, Sewanee, St Lawrence would be possible reaches. I believe most of these are free to apply and are on commonapp, so it should be fairly easy to apply once you’ve refined your commonapp essay.
Women’s colleges ( Agnes Scott, Mount Holyoke), are test optional too, and provide good financial aid.

19

@MYOS1634 just wanted to say that this poster is very lucky that you happened to come along! you know your stuff!!

20

UPDATE: I got accepted to Kalamazoo College!!!