Less-than-stellar student: SUNY ESF, UM-Twin Cities, New College of FL, etc...

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Long time no type, CC!

I am a rising senior at a good, large (2700+ students) public high school that does not rank its students. I live in Northern California, and have dual Pakistani-American nationality/citizenship. I was born in Pakistan, and speak Urdu and Hindi with native fluency, and Mandarin with adept conversational skills.

I hope to major in something around the likes of environmental policy, human ecology, whatnot…
GPA/ Courses:

The hardest courses I could take in every subject besides math.

My 9-11 GPA was about 3.47/3.6

Honors track for English/History, “varsity” academics, highest GPA in school’s Women’s basketball program.
APs:
Soph: Euro.
Junior: Env. Sci, Lang, USH.
Senior (predicted): Lit, Gov, Psych, Stats, Bio, Chinese, Macro/Micro

Standardized test scores
SAT: Just took last October, 720 CR, 730 M, 710 W (9 essay).
SAT Subject Tests in Math 1, Lit, and USH.

Extracurricular activities, my pride and joy!

Elected to national rights council with major organization.
Founder and president of a club at school relating to social justice in an international context. 140+ registered members.
Involved in a political organization at chapter, regional, state and national level. Writing for major organizational newspaper.
Mentor/trainer for fifth graders.
Work 45+ hours/week during summer with art/science camp kids, youngest to be hired by the company.
Polyglot! I study Arabic and Farsi at home with my parents, Inuktitut on my own, Chinese at school. The only non-native speaker in the program.

Hooks? I’m unsure. First in family to attend school in the states. Identical twin. I like puppies.

Chance me for as many as you can:

SUNY ESF
New College of Florida
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
University of Wisconsin Madison
University of Washington
UH-Manoa (Honors)

2

This is a good list. Can you afford all of these schools?

3

@CaliCash - SUNY ESF, NCF, and UHM will be cheapest for me, so they’re my top picks- otherwise UW, UW-Madison are iffy and I don’t know about UM-TC.

4

" Can you afford all of these schools?" Seems like the OP only needs to afford one.

5

True true! I’d also like it if someone actually chanced me hahaha

6

You should get into NCF, and it could be a nice fit for you. My son had comparable stats (if not slightly lower) and got in. He chose it over Tulane, Occidental, UCSD, et al, because the financial package was so good. He Apply early for maximum scholarship award. My son has similar interests, without your international background and language mastery, and he is enjoying the opportunities at NCF. NCF has embarked on a special scholarship program for young women from the Middle East, and so they will probably like your background a lot. Sarasota is a very pleasant place to attend college.

7

This is incredibly helpful, @woogzmama ! Thank you so much. Out out curiosity, how much aid did he get? I heard about a $15k/ year merit scholarship for OOS students but I don’t know!

And, I hope this isn’t too much, but has he noticed anything in particular about the student body? I’ve heard its racial diversity is fairly low, especially for a liberal school!

Thanks again :slight_smile:

8

My son received the $15k automatic scholarship. We were not entitled to any need-based aid there, but that brought the cost of attendance down into line with our own state colleges. NCF is a very small college. It is liberal, but it is also self-selecting, meaning that it doesn’t have the diversity that a large university has. I think that many in-state minority students are likelier to be attracted to UF, FSU, UCF, and USF for more pre-professional programs and big-time sports. Like most small, liberal arts colleges, NCF has a gender imbalance (roughly 60% female), and has fewer underrepresented minorities. The Florida “Bright Futures” scholarships make it affordable for strong students, but many of them would prefer the environment at UF. NCF has a definite hipster, geek-chic vibe, but the flexible curriculum and independent study options allow for a lot of academic exploration. They’re too small to offer Farsi and Urdu, but you can design a self-study program if you want to. They do change their scholarship structure from year to year, and - as a public college - they have ongoing struggles with the Republican government in FL, and so you should check their website for any changes (or even call the admissions office). The $15k automatic scholarship was new for the 2014 admission cycle; I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first read it. They used to have graduated scholarships based on SAT/ACT scores, GPA, IB/AP scores, etc. Students wouldn’t always know how much they were entitled to until they had year-end grades and IB/AP results. Fixing the amount for non-residents might have been critical when establishing the rates for the international scholarship students.

9

You are great for all these schools. I think you will get merit-aid from many. However, SUNY ESF is very small, as is NCF, and you may encounter a lot of students from those respective states, so not much diversity. Just a warning. Also, SUNY is terrible with merit-aid.

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@woogzmama ahhhhh thank you so so so much! you’re my new favorite person… I hope they keep the scholarships automatic, because once they add in the GPA/SAT requirements, my GPA disqualifies me. My parents have been really… parental about NCF, they don’t think it’s a real school since it’s not an Ivy. Hopefully a small bill can convince them otherwise.

@jdschooled5 thank you thank you! I just got a big packety-type thing from SUNY-ESF, and I was surprised to see that their merit aid ranged from $3k-$8k/year and is based on both GPA and SAT, which means I probably won’t get any :(! I’m hoping it works out!

(You guys ROCK)

11

freezycool - Many immigrant families have similar attitudes. Maybe you could persuade them to visit Sarasota with you for an accepted student event (let’s remain optimistic). They might change their minds when they have an excuse to visit you there in the winter. There are some very affordable accommodations within a block or so of the beach on Siesta Key (frequently named the “Most Beautiful Beach” in continental US). There are usually cheap flights and car rentals out of Tampa International Airport. Send me a private message if you want more info. NCF also has group rates at a number of hotels in the area. The Ringling Museum has a lovely, small collection, with some good traveling exhibits, and the Circus Museum is lots of fun. They are both adjacent to the NCF campus, as is Ca D’Zan, a Ringling family mansion available for touring. The main NCF administration building is a former Ringling mansion. When we first brought my son to visit NCF, we had a few minutes to kill before the admissions presentation, and wandered out to the waterfront behind the building. There was a dolphin frolicking directly offshore. What was not to love?

12

Very true! And thank you, again! I wish New College did interviews, I feel like I’m best in person. I want to try applying to at least two more schools- I used to dream about Barnard and Scripps (despite $$$) but their emphasis on GPA has me thinking my app fee money should go elsewhere.

Suggestions always welcome!