US citizen*(US citizen or permanent resident)* or international student
State/Location of residency: MD
Public School
Not worried about cost
Intended Major(s) Political Sci or Econ
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.86
Weighted HS GPA: 4.66, my schools weight system, not sure how to convert
ACT/SAT Scores: 1440
List your HS coursework
English: Honors English 9, 10, and then Ap Lang, all As
Math: Geometry: B and A second semester, Honors Alg 2: 2 As, and Hon Precalc: B first semester of this year
Science: Hon Bio: 1 B 1 A, Hon Chem: 1 A 1 B, APES: 1 A, probably another A for this semester
History and social studies: AP Gov, APUSH, AP World, AP Macro, AP Psych, all As
Language other than English: Hon Span 3: 2 As, Hon Span 4: 1 A 1B
Other academic courses: Digital Art, Intro to Engineering design, Hon Health, all As
Extracurriculars
County and national Debate teams, 1 year mock trial, tutoring for school and SAT (outside of school) gonna have around 468 volunteer hours when I’m applying to schools, did one summer volunteering at a summer school program, also working with a DC legal aid group, then a leadership fellowship that is going to culminate in a 200 hour service project (helping people study for citizenship test), also school ambassador and surely other things I forgot.
Schools reaches are like Northwestern, U Michigan, NYU, and high target is Boston College,
Put in a strong effort to pull up your understanding of precalculus. Getting a better grade matters. Understanding the material is way more important. As we discussed on your other thread, you want to be fully ready for calculus at least by the time that you arrive at university.
Fine out what your budget is. There are some universities now that are over $100,000 per year. If you have any thought of ending up in graduate school that can add more cost. You do not want to borrow any significant amount of this.
Pick out at least one and preferably two solid safeties.
UMD is a very good university. I do not know whether it is a safety for you.
Political science and economics are areas in which some form of graduate school seems very possible. Staying in-state for your bachelor’s degree can both help to set you up for a strong graduate program, and also might allow you to save some money for graduate school.
I also agree that all of the schools that you listed are reaches.
My experience tells me that Northwestern would be a wasted ED and Michigan might also be wasted tbh. On the other hand, EDing into NYU (assuming the right school) or BC might work out. In fact, assuming there are no affordability issues (and you get your grade up), I would select 1 for ED1 and the other for ED2. Good luck.
CAS would be a reach (<5% admit rate overall implies still only 10-15% in ED, and SAT is below middle 50 for NYU) but liberal studies core might be an ED target/low reach, especially if OP is open to first year abroad (this includes the DC campus which might be attractive for an intended politics major, though not sure if it feels too close to home for a MD resident). LS core is a workable intro for a politics/econ major with non-competitive transfer into CAS after sophomore year if desired. I think some of those ECs will help too.
Of course, ED should only be used if it is an absolute number one school. “Strategic” ED often leads to “what if” regrets, and I am not sure from what OP said if this or indeed any of the schools on the list are enough of a front runner for an ED application.
OP, if you have any questions about this route feel free to DM me, my D19 did her first year with NYU in DC.
If you’re looking at it from a strategic ED perspective, agree. If you’re looking at it from the ideal school for a politics/econ major, no. But both routes ultimately get you a CAS degree so in this instance I think considering LS is reasonable. But again only IF OP wants nyu badly enough to commit ED.
Well, they do have these schools listed under “reaches” so they understand they are shooting high.
OP, would you like some suggestions for targets and safeties? If so, some idea of what kind of schools you’d prefer (big/small/urban/suburban/rural etc) would be useful.
Also, a +1 to getting help with precalc, especially if you want to major in Econ.
All are high reaches. It doesn’t mean not to apply. But your STEM rigir is very light for this level of school.
What is the end goal - ie any thoughts what things look like in 4 years ? Law school or something else ? You needn’t decide now Econ is wonderful but your math struggles may limit you there - no matter the school - so dig hard to learn.
Why mid size and then UM ? Beyond name, are there specific things you want in a school ? Do you want Catholic ? Villanova, Holy Cross might be high targets, low reach - especially in RD.
Did OP mention ED ?
And @DadTwoGirls UMD is a sub for Michigan. There’s no outcome at UM that can’t be had at UMD.
This is very true (unless there is some very unusual major that I do not know about, or you really like skating in late January outdoors on natural lakes and rivers). U.Michigan is a very good university. UMD is a very good university. I did wonder in originally reading this thread why a student from Maryland would prefer U.Michigan.
As a resident of Maryland, the difference in cost is likely to be quite large. The difference in the quality of the schools, or the value of the bachelor’s degree that you will receive, well you might want to borrow my daughter’s high power microscope to try to see this.
Regarding ED, I would not apply ED anywhere unless both of the following are true: (1) It is clearly your top choice; and (2) Either you and your parents are fine being full pay, including the cost of four years of undergrad plus any graduate program that is likely, or you have run the NPC and are fine with the result.
UM is near as pricey as private schools - and the cost shoots up the last two years.
OP can answer but a hyptothesis on why UM is #20 and UMD is #42.
Both are strong. UM is unlikely with these stats. UMD is a flat target. I’d expect an in but the SAT is below the mid point but with a 45% it’s a reasonable target. A strong safety that’s nearby, especially if the student looked at Public Affairs, would be the Biden school at UDel. And UPitt where they could major in Poli Sci or Politics and Philosophy (great law school training). Both UDel and UPitt are outstanding - and safeties for this student.
Yes but that’s most any competitive public that has an EA as they typically fill most their spots there. Of course, UMD isn’t on the list OP gave so who knows if it would be added to the list.
Looks like OP didn’t list senior year courses. Taking honors precalc as a junior, I would assume calc (unless a C precludes that) or stats senior year. I agree they should take physics senior year as well.
Essentially, you need to focus all of your time and energy to raise that C to a B. The schools you mention may tolerate a few B’s, but not a C in junior year math. You are clearly capable of doing it if you can prioritize your time accordingly.