I’m a junior and I’m just wondering where to apply. Specifically I’m looking for what acceptance rates. What I mean is I’m looking for a response like “you shoud consider schools with a _%- _% acceptance rate”
GPA: W 4.57 UW 3.8
SAT: 1250
I’ve taken 6 IB classes and 5 AP classes
I’m a IB diploma student
I’ll be the first in my family to attend college
ECs: ~150 hours of community service, dancer for 13 years (ranked 12th in the region), band, key club, mock trial, pre-law club
It’s hard to say. Acceptance rates for two schools can be the same, but the stats of accepted freshman can be completely different. Your gpa is fantastic, but your sat will hold you back, so definitely take it again
Acceptance rates are not an indicator of the quality of the school nor the average student body. Two schools may have the same acceptance rate, but have a different caliber of students they admit and different things the school are looking for. That is not a good indicator at all and if that is what you are asking for, you will not likely get good information that will help you make solid decisions.
I’ll give you an example: Lehman College has an acceptance rate of approximately 29 percent, making it just about as selective as Boston College, but they enroll two different caliber of students. Lehman College has an average SAT score of 1040 while Boston College has an average around 1430. Two completely different schools.
An important variation on your question is “how good of a college can I get accepted into and afford without crippling levels of debt”. If you are the first in your family to attend college, you need to familiarize yourself with how need-based and merit aid for colleges work. It’s great to look at the most prestigious school you could be admitted to - and in some cases, those could be the schools that offer the most need-based aid - but it’s also important to look at schools where you have a chance at merit-based aid if needed.
Many top schools only offer need-based aid. Schools that offer merit aid are usually offering it to raise their stats, so you need to be in the top 10-15% of applicants to receive substantial aid.
Your stats are strong - will you be taking the SAT again or have you tried the ACT? If you need merit-based aid, those scores can be very important.
Study the SAT & ACT study guides like crazy, & take the SAT AND ACT at every opportunity you can (they aren’t that expensive, & u only have to nail one of them once).
If you can get up to around an ACT of 29 or the equivalent SAT, you will be in position to get into reputable & affordable business programs, often with merit aid. I’m talking about places like Auburn, Mississippi, Iowa State, Nebraska, Miami-Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma, West Va, Texas Tech, Ohio U, Kentucky, South Florida, Oklahoma State, Florida International.
As many people have said, don’t look so much into acceptance rates. Look more at their GPA/SAT requirements and try to be above them so that you can qualify for extensive merit aid. As a college sophomore, I can absolutely promise you that the most satisfying thing is to be on track to graduate debt-free – it allows you to study what you want and focus on building a career. That being said, you have a very solid GPA, and a good SAT (but you should take it again if you can and try to get it up to at least a 1300). Some colleges, like mine, offer scholarships for first gen students, so you can look out for those as well. You should make a list of your priorities (money, the quality of the program, the size of the school, etc.) and then search from there. But your stats are decent!