<p>I’m an African American male from SoCal living in a single-parent, low income household. I will be a senior in the fall. Need colleges that offer to meet 100% of need-based financial aid!</p>
<p>I plan on majoring in business. So far, there’s roughly 7-9 schools on my list that I really want to apply to - all of which are matches and reaches. I have no safety schools. I’m looking for a school that combines school spirit and athletics (football and basketball) with prestige. Weather doesn’t matter, but I really don’t want to be in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully my safety school(s) will have Division I sports.</p>
<p>Stats:
Cumulative GPA: 3.44 (RL issues freshman and sophomore year; I’ll elaborate on my applications. Everyone says I have “a story to tell.” Junior year GPA: 3.64) Senior year GPA will hopefully be a 3.8-4.2. School doesn’t rank percentage-wise.
ACT: 30
4 honors courses and 1 AP course - all math classes; taking Honors Precalculus and AP Statistics for senior year. I’ve taken Public Speaking and Spanish III at my local Community College and earned A’s in both; taking Introduction to Business this summer.
I’ve been a professional actor with an agent since I was 5 1/2 months old. Since then I’ve established a pretty long resume and been in numerous TV shows, commercials, billboards, print ads, etc. I have an agent and am currently on the IMDB website.
Started a non-profit organization for lung cancer patients who don’t receive the right treatment due to not having medical insurance (in memory of my favorite aunt).
I’m in NHS and CSF.
I’ve been part of a Church youth group since I was about 3 that goes out to witness to the homeless and people in poverty-stricken communities.
I’ve been in a ton of church plays and musicals.
Will have great essays and recommendations.</p>
<p>My list:
Boston College
Penn State
USC
UC Berkeley
UPenn (beyond a reach)
U of Illinois (might remove)
U of Virginia (first choice)
U of Notre Dame
U of Michigan</p>
<p>As you can see, nearly all of these are reaches, and some may be matches. What schools that fit my criteria can be considered safeties?</p>
<p>There’s no UCs that I’m particularly interested in other than UCLA and Berkeley - both of which, I’m sure, are reaches. UCLA doesn’t even have an undergraduate business program, so I’ve chosen not to apply. I’ll probably regret it later. =/</p>
<p>BC will meet 100% need-based financial aid. You have pretty good stats, so that should be a match for you. You might want to consider some LACs as they are good with finaid. </p>
<p>UCSB should be a match, depending on your gpa. Is the 3.44 your UC gpa? Generally a UC gpa around a 4.0 is good for a lot of the UCs-- Merced, Riverside, Irvine, SB, SC in particular. A higher one will obviously be better for UCLA, Cal.</p>
<p>Also, for undergrad business – you could look at Babson or Bentley (if you’re interested in other East Coast schools)</p>
<p>Your current list is all reaches and matches despite the URM status</p>
<p>Boston College- Low Reach (URM helps)
Penn State- Low Match
USC- High Match (URM helps)
UC Berkeley- Reach
UPenn- High Reach
U of Illinois- Low Reach (OOS is much harder especially for B-School)
U of Virginia (first choice)- Reach (very hard OOS)
U of Notre Dame- Reach (helps with URM)
U of Michigan- Reach</p>
<p>I would look at some real safeties. Business schools are generally much more selective. An ACT score of 30 isn’t very impressive at these schools. 33+ would help a lot. Your GPA is really hurting you, but the upward trend helps. Your ECs are a plus, but don’t help as much at public schools, which dominate your list.</p>
<p>You need some true safeties that are affordable. You should start looking into CSUs and lower UCs. Santa Barbara would be a match for you.</p>
<p>Should I take the OOS publics off my list completely and replace them with privates? =/</p>
<p>I guess I’m just trying to experience a traditional college experience with the school spirit and the packed football and basketball games. I don’t want to go to a school where all there is to do is study 24/7 =/</p>
<p>And a high match is closer to a low reach and a low match is closer to a safety, right?</p>
<p>I guess I’ll take Illinois and Michigan off my list.</p>
<p>So now I’m down to:
Boston College (100% of need met/URM helps)
Penn State
USC (100% of need met/URM helps)
UC Berkeley
UPenn
UVA (100% of need met)
U of Notre Dame (100% of need met/URM helps)</p>
<p>Any other suggestions? I still need safeties.</p>
<p>I think Tulane would be a low match. Good school, plenty of fun.</p>
<p>And I do think if you tell your story well, you have a decent shot at some very selective schools, maybe even Penn. Sounds like you’re on a good track and will do fine.</p>
<p>(Just don’t go party wild if you wind up at Tulane. I’d hate to have any blame for your ruin )</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure my GPA and ACT score are keeping me out of UPenn =/ I’ll apply anyways though, as it’s one of the top 2 schools I’d like to attend.</p>
<p>As a California resident, your financial safety is most likely your home-town community college. You can do two years there for almost nothing, and then transfer in state to a CSU or UC to finish up.</p>
<p>Maybe as a safety you could apply to University of Iowa of University of Minnesota. Lots of school spirit and easier to get into than Illinois or Michigan. With your academics there’s a chance they might offer you merit aid as well as need based aid. I think Iowa will probably meet all of your need.</p>
I’d love to go to BC. I might go visit there soon, but I wasn’t planning on getting in, especially as a shoe in.</p>