I am a rising senior creating my list of colleges to apply to, I know it’s a little long and I need to cut it down… But I want to make sure I have enough safeties and that they are reasonable safeties. :-?
If you think there’s absolutely no chance of a reach, also that info would be helpful
4.0 GPA UW
5/140 at a private competitive catholic high school
2 APs junior year
4 APs senior year
*most rigorous course load offered at my school
President NHS
President Model UN
Varsity soccer 4 years (captain MVP)
Varsity softball 4 years (captain 2 yrs. MVP 2 yrs.)
3 year anti-bullying public service campaign
1 month service trip to Haiti- built houses, ran day-camp, etc.
2 Summer internships with local law firm
Strong essays
Strong letters of Reccomendations
White female
Hope to major in political science
Reaches-
Brown
UCLA
Boston College
NYU
Emory
Tufts
Tulane
Matches-
Clemson
American University
SUNY Stonybrook & Binghampton
Safeties-
Syracuse
University of Alabama
University of South Carolina
East Nazarene College
Are you a potential athletic recruit? Would Tufts and Emory coaches be interested? In addition, you could play for any liberal arts college if you you have D3 recruiting potential.
I am guessing you are from NY. You need more area schools. As you go through the process you find that schools so far away lose their luster. Plus, how many of those can you actually visit?
It is good you are looking, however the chance you attend Clemson, Alabama or South Carolina is very low.
There is a theme in a good college list across the three selectivity groups of Reach, Match and Safety and I am having trouble seeing it. Your list is very random but the Reach schools are more coherent.
@NASA2014 I had read that Syracuse offers some merit scholarships. It’s expensive but I think if I got any merit money my parents would pay for it… I was under the impression safeties were schools you thought you could get into…
NY area Catholic schools are known to have the best athletes in the area and coaches know this. My son is out of one in NJ, all boys, and it sure did help.
You would be silly not to explore Patriot League and more NESCAC schools. You have one, Tufts.
Washington DC is full of poly sci internships. You have American. Why not George Washington and Georgetown? Catholic U may be of interest but I hear their financial/merit aid it not so good.
No, I would add schools like Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Colgate, Dickinson and Hamilton. You have good safeties with the SUNY schools. Holy Cross is also a very good option as are some of the other NESCAC schools.
One word on recruiting, D3 works when the student expresses interest. Please try a few and do the online questionnaires.
If you have the southern schools on for money that is fine, but otherwise you probably won’t attend them.
If you require financial aid you will get a better deal from some of the schools I mentioned.
BatesParent2019 is giving you good advice. There are dozens of MidAtlantic schools who would recruit someone with your profile. How can you be MVP and captain say that you are not a recruit? Geez…most of the Centennial Conference would scoop you up. But you must initiate contacts immediately. The recruiting window slams shut in September.
What is affordable for your family? At Temple you could get full tuition with an ACT of 32 and GPA of 3.8
Duquesne in Pittsburgh gives scholarships of $10-20 k which could bring your price down to $25 k.
Run the net price calculators on all the schools’ websites and research merit opportunities at each.
Have you only taken the ACT one time? 31 is a good score but you might be able to bring it up given your high reading and lower science subtest scores. Doing some prep for the science section could pay off. I would suggest working with an ACT tutor on just that section to learn how to quickly read graphs and charts and manage your time through the section.
I have no experience with athletic recruiting so I am commenting based strictly on your academic stats and the fact that the sports are good ECs that show commitment.
If you apply EA to Tulane and write a convincing “Why Tulane?” essay, I think you would be admitted with at least $23,000/year merit, perhaps more. Very appealing school, lots of NYers attending.
American is a good option although their merit can be erratic. Second the suggestion of GW (again, merit can vary quite a bit). They are quite different campuses to you might like only one of them. Georgetown is a reach and they offer no merit so unless you are eligible for FA, I’d skip it.
Re the southern schools: I recommend a road trip. You can visit South Carolina, then Emory, then Alabama, then Clemson on the way back north, and be back in NY within a week. You may want to research the Honors colleges at the three publics; they have different application policies but all are very strong programs. Don’t know about merit at Clemson but Alabama will definitely give you excellent merit $$ and SC is likely to be generous, as well (in-state tuition, or close to it, although that’s not guaranteed as it is at Alabama). Although all three are large southern publics, they have their own personalities and you may love one, like one, and hate one. They definitely have a different flavor than the LACs mentioned earlier which is why many students from the northeast and mid-Atlantic flock to them (in addition to $$ considerations).
Emory is reachy but apply if you like it. Gorgeous campus, some merit available (note the earlier deadline for consideration) but you may not be quite in that range (I mean that kindly; your ACT is very good but their merit is more likely with a 33+).
You would definitely be admitted to Fordham, but it is expensive.They do offer merit but even $20,000/year still leaves a lot to pay as room and board are very high (understandable due to NYC location).
@txstella I have taken it twice, I got a tutor after the first time and the science score remained the same :(… My intended major is political science.
@LuckyCharms913 thank you, that’s very helpful advice and info! I was looking into tulane heavily, it just seems like everyone who applied and got in had much better stats then me… I’m speaking from my stalking of the results threads on CC lol
