My D is a rising Senior in HS. She’s a NJ resident and her high school is a good, public school. Following is her information:
- UW GPA of 3.73. 2 AP courses so W GPA is not much higher
- ACT score of 28 with a 30 in Reading and a 31 in Science
- Solid EC activities including President of Future Business Leaders organization, executive member of SADD, 4 years of cheerleading including 1 year of being a captain, Special Olympics Coach in NJ, continued Dance training, volunteer at Food Bank, Counselor at sleep-away camp
- Main Essay will be good. She’s planning on writing about her love of Public Speaking
- She’s an hispanic student
- Interest in Criminology, Social Justice and possibly Sociology. She’s geared toward a College of Arts and Sciences, not Business School, Engineering School
- We’ve visited a number of schools and she loves the big state schools with enthusiastic student bodies, even though she’s not opposed to relatively smaller private schools. We’d like to keep her along the East Coast (North to South) or the Mid-West
- We’re thinking about applying to no more than 10 schools
- Money is not an issue
Right now she’s got the following schools on her list:
- Indiana University Bloomington - Her older sister currently attends IU and was admitted as an OOS student with lower numbers compared to her sister
- Michigan State University
- Virginia Tech
- Penn State University University Park (Her No. 1 school to date but she’s open)
- University of Wisconsin Madison (Her Reach school)
We’re thinking about some of the following schools:
- University of Maryland - Excellent Criminology program although the school is getting harder to get into
- Rutgers University - State School
- University of Delaware
- Syracuse University - No Criminology, however, has an interesting IL connection in Forensic Science
- Florida State University
- Considerations for American University and GW University in Washington DC, although not large state schools. GW University would be a reach.
Please let me know what else am I missing and if the school(s) would be considered a match or a reach. Any help is appreciated.
Rutgers is a great in-state option.
For other schools in-state, you might want to take a look at Stockton, Rowan, Ramapo (Has all desired programs), and Rider. Based off of your daughter’s stats, it seems like she wants to go out of state! Not a bad thing, but she might want to get her ACT up a tiny bit. Especially if she wants to go for reachy OOS schools.
MSU is in range and sounds like it has what she’s looking for
Thank you for the reply. I’m a Rutgers Engineering Alum myself and would love my daughter to stay in-state. However, she’s thinking differently. In addition, Rutgers has become more selective especially over the past few years.
I’m somewhat confident of a few schools on her list. My daughter applied to a number of state schools 2 years ago and received entrance with significantly lower numbers.
This year, I’ve pushed my D as hard as possible on the ACTs. She took the ACTs earlier in the year and the June results of a 28 Composite are an improvement. I believe she’s maxed out.
She’s very curious about Penn State. Her numbers appear to be in line and I’ve checked Naviance for her school. They’ve accepted many students from her school with less ACT scores and slightly less GPAs than her. It will be interesting to see if she’s able to get in.
“MSU is in range and sounds like it has what she’s looking for”
Yes, completely agree. I visited the MSU campus 2 years ago with my older D. Even though she did not end up there, we both loved the campus, the student body and the atmosphere. They have the oldest Criminal Justice Department in the country and it’s definitely on our list.
If she’ll consider a smaller LAC check out Washington College in Chesterstown, MD
Thanks for the recommendation. Washington College looks like a good school with Social Sciences being the number 1 studied programs. However, my D is interested in larger schools. A student body under 5,000 just doesn’t sit well with her, reminds her of HS. She’s not mature enough at this time to really understand the benefits of smaller class sizes. She is outgoing and assertive so approaching Professors at larger schools will not be an issue for her.
Highly recommend NC State. Great location, lots of school spirit, reasonable core curriculum, and ranked a best value (out of state cost around $32,000).
@NJIUdad
Lafayette, Lehigh, Muhlenberg, TCNJ (puzzled this one isn’t on the list), Clark, St. Lawrence, Union, Hobart, Gettysburg, St. Michael’s, Connecticut College, Scranton, Providence, Villanova, Loyola Maryland.
Do you realize those OOS schools cost the same as private schools with no prospect for aid? They are terrible values. Penn State 55k to be in giant classes?
I am a NJ parent as well.
“Highly recommend NC State. Great location, lots of school spirit, reasonable core curriculum, and ranked a best value (out of state cost around $32,000).”
Thank you. I do see they have a Criminology major and the curriculum looks like a good one. How is the campus? Is it more urban or rural? Do the students go into Raleigh for night life? We’ll definitely have to check out NC State.
"Lafayette, Lehigh, Muhlenberg, TCNJ (puzzled this one isn’t on the list), Clark, St. Lawrence, Union, Hobart, Gettysburg, St. Michael’s, Connecticut College, Scranton.
Do you realize those OOS schools cost the same ad private schools with no prospect for aid? They are terrible values. Penn State 55k to be in giant classes?
I am a NJ parent as well."
There’s a huge part of me that 100% agrees with you based on my experiences at Rutgers, as well as, my Masters from a much smaller program where all my classes with 30 students and under. It’s my D that needs the convincing and to date I’ve been unsuccessful. She sees her older sister at Indiana and has visited numerous times. She loves the social environment. My only saving grace is she’s not the type of kid that will sit back in a giant class and self teach herself without interaction from teachers and other students. She has a lot of energy and is assertive to pursue the Professor/TA/GA when she needs additional support, as well as, seeks out working with other students.
TCNJ is really interesting to me. It’s got a Criminology major that heavily focuses on the social behavior and mind of the criminal and that’s what she’s interested in. Looking at data, TCNJ appears to be a Reach. Naviance data for my D’s school indicates students with ACT scores of 29 and above, as well as, slightly higher GPAs are successfully admitted. Nevertheless, I’d like my D to visit the school and explore.
Would love for my D to consider Gettysburg as an example. The issue with most LACs is they offer a Sociology major that briefly touches on Criminology as a component of the overall major. She eventually wants to narrow down her field and focus, and feels the LAC majors are too general, beside not wanting a small school.
She is right in the middle 50% for TCNJ and she is an URM. She will get in. I have no doubt.
Scranton is not that small. It has criminology and a great campus.
NC State appealed to DS because it is in Raleigh, an easy Southwest Airlines flight from the Northeast, and located between the airport and downtown. 90 percent of students are from in state. My son found everyone he met to be very friendly. I think nightlife happens on campus and off, but the NC State forum is probably a better place to ask that question. I think a visit will be well worth it. Apply by 10/15 for priority admission.
“She is right in the middle 50% for TCNJ and she is an URM. She will get in. I have no doubt.”
Thank you. As soon as she gets back from sleep-away camp and is done with her summer cheerleading program/practices, I’ll plan to get her set up for a visit to campus to check out the school. Definitely want to visit when school is in session. TCNJ has become a really strong school.
@NJIUdad And Campus Town will be open.
With such great In-state options such as Rutgers, TCNJ and Rowan, why pay OOS cost for a major such as “Criminology, Social Justice and possibly Sociology”? Such as major doesn’t pay that well for new graduates (if they can get a job). Looking at the In-state cost, we are talking about roughly $26K per year (including Room & Board). The OSS options that comes close to your in-state options are Florida State and NC State (~$32-35K). IU runs about $44K-48K per year and with two children attending College at the same time, your total cost could potentially exceed $100K for at least two years. Is he planning on going on to Law School anytime in the near future?
…It’s my D that needs the convincing and to date I’ve been unsuccessful.
Are you saying it is your daughter who will dictate whether the parents pays In-state or OOS tuition for College? I find this hard to believe. BTW, the reason why Rutgers and many state flagship Universities have gotten so selective, is the due to the fact that more and more students are applying In-state due to the ever increasing College tuition.
“Are you saying it is your daughter who will dictate whether the parents pays In-state or OOS tuition for College? I find this hard to believe.”
As an 18 year old back in the day, my parents allowed me the responsibility of making my college decision which included attending in-state Rutgers, attending an expensive private school such as Boston University or attending an OOS public school such as Purdue. They helped me gather data and made recommendations. I chose Rutgers due to my own analysis and reasons. It was made clear to me that this responsibility also involved living with the decision I made and working hard to achieve success. Once again, this was part of growing up, and Rutgers did indeed test my maturity in many ways, inside the classroom and outside the classroom.
My D may decide to pursue a Law degree after college or may choose a different path such as a Criminologist (also typically requires a Masters degree) or a social field. With most rising Seniors, 5+ years out in the future is not always clear as day.
In regards to cost of attendance, as stated in my original post, this is not an issue/factor. My D will research, analyze and make her decision as it is her life to lead. I will provide support for her, as well as, weigh in, but ultimately she is responsible and will have to live with her decision, which includes working as hard as she can once she gets to college.
I understand many people view a decision on selecting colleges based on ROI as the most important criteria, however, many people have different situations and have different values and goals of what they want to achieve, including both parents and their children.