We are having a tough time figuring out what is reachable/doable for my artsy, quirky kid.
Stats: 3.7 GPA, SAT/ACT unknown but might be in the 1300s, 7 AP classes, two honors, three college level courses. School does not rank.
My kid is transgender and attends a public art high school. Their school sends 90% of the kids to art colleges, but my kid, while being a phenomenal artist, wants to study political science or public policy.
They want to be in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic. Size of school is unimportant since they have attended both a small middle school and large high school. The school should be at the very least LGBTQ+ friendly.
The kicker - while their grades and test scores are just OKAY, their extracurriculars are PHENOMENAL and the principal of their school loves them and is writing a recommendation about how outstanding they are. They also have a compelling story about their political activism since middle school and coming out as transgender. They are in leadership positions in multiple clubs and student council, and have had prestigious internships. They have built their own business which got some media attention. They were just accepted into the Tufts Leadership for Social Change summer program.
We will need financial aid.
Right now they are very focused on schools like Cornell and Tufts, but I worry that they won’t even be considered with their grades. Their school does not grade inflate or rank, so even with their current GPA they are considered one of the top students. They are not a good test taker and that is reflective in their scores.
We really are unsure what is achievable and they have super high aspirations. What schools will look at their application holistically (truly)?
Thank you in advance!
Oberlin College in Ohio.
Skidmore College in New York.
Thank you. Oberlin is a great idea, but they won’t consider schools that far from home. Skidmore is on our possibility list.
Are Cornell or Tufts even a long shot possibility?
Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts might be of interest. Safe environment.
Cornell and Tufts are reaches. Tough to assess as your child has strengths in areas that cannot be quantified (for example: ECs, leadership, teacher recs).
Don’t ignore Oberlin as it may be a great fit.
P.S. Wesleyan University in Conn. & Vassar College in New York (Hudson Valley area).
Sarah Lawrence and Bard are worth consideration.
Wheaton Mass. if you show interest they are generous with merit, too.
3.7 weighted or unweighted?
Wesleyan would be another reach, but could be a nice fit and might appreciate the strong EC’s.
Would they qualify for admission to women’s colleges and if so, would they be interested in these?
Thank you. They identify as male so no women’s colleges. Wesleyan is on their possibility list, but I worry it’s a reach. 3.7 is unweighted. Not sure what their weighted would be since their school does not provide that.
Also look at American and UVM. American loves interest so you would need to go overboard there with tour, webinars etc but I think they would get in with good merit.
Leadership is a sought after quality. Diversity is also a strong plus for your student.
Hampshire College. Extremely LGBTQ friendly.
Thank you. Both Wesleyan and Vassar are on our possibility list, but I worry those are also long shots. Wheaton always comes up, but I kid is concerned that the academics aren’t as strong as they would like. Would love to find a way to convince them otherwise.
That’s what we are banking on, but hoping schools can overlook or understand some of the other stats.
UVM and Clark (in Worcester) might work.
We are going to tour American in the summer. We will look into UVM…thanks!
Thanks…We will look into both of those.
If an urban NYC location is of interest, Fordham LC (the Lincoln Center campus) has a huge and thriving LGBTQ+ scene.
They have some really cool internship opportunities
Clark could be a good high-probability option.
With a 3.7 unweighted at a grade-deflated school, high rigor, high rank, great EC’s and recs, I think that aiming high is more than reasonable. But of course you need matches and safeties that they could be happy with, as well.
Could be worth checking out the various options in the SUNY system.
Would URochester be too far?