Match me and give me advice as a current junior from CA with some specific needs (UW 3.9 GPA)

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Demographics

  • US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: California, LA County area specifically
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public underfunded arts charter high school (with around 500 students)
  • Other special factors:
    • Not a flex, but I’ve switched high schools three times (and that was not even because of moving… I just really didn’t like the first two [also public] schools…)
    • I do have (diagnosed!) autism, executive dysfunction (possibly ADHD but I’m getting tested), and a slew of mental health conditions that make life difficult. I suppose I’d be considered 2E or “twice-exceptional” though I find that a strange term. This is something that I have to take into serious consideration when applying to schools because when I was at a loud noisy school with over 2000 people it overwhelmed me so badly that I could barely even talk to anyone.
    • LGBTQ+
    • I am also looking mostly at the PNW, the West outside of California, the East Coast, and the Midwest. But mostly the PNW (slash West at large) and the East Coast. For sensory purposes I would like to be somewhere with SOME at least slightly cold weather as well as access to nature. So natural beauty wherever I go would be a huge plus!

Cost Constraints / Budget

Parents’ income (mom and stepdad): WAY over 100k so they are not just upper middle class but rich, and my dad (who I am trying to separate myself from as much as I can due to personal reasons and likely won’t be able to pay much for my college anyway due to his instability) makes about 100k or less from my understanding.

Willing to spend: My mom said I can go wherever I want, but I still would like her to have to spend as little as possible so I am not in any way being a burden. Plus I want to be able to rely on myself as much as I can in the future and be as economical as possible. I am heavily privileged but have had a rough life in some ways and do not want to live in complacency by leeching off my parents.

Intended Major(s)

English but I also want to study History along with Psychology/Sociology/Philosophy/Religious Studies (I know… there’s lots of options I’m considering. If none of those end up being my major I at least want to take classes in them since I enjoy all those subjects.) and possibly Drama on top of it all (since theater is something I am passionate about and I enjoy being in plays!).

Journalism is also something I am considering studying as it is one of the higher paying professions that involves writing from my understanding, though I’ve never been involved in a newspaper but would like to be involved in my school’s newspaper and possibly others soon.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.9 (had to calculate myself so it may not be the most accurate!)
  • Weighted HS GPA: N/A
  • Class Rank: N/A (school doesn’t give out ranks)
  • ACT/SAT Scores: N/A (haven’t taken it yet, my PSAT score in 10th grade was 1250, though I have barely learned enough math due to switching schools so many times and am not expecting a good SAT or ACT score math wise…)

List your HS coursework

  • English: Currently in AP Lang, highest thus far is Honors English 10
  • Math: Currently in Integrated Math III, planning to take Statistics next year
  • Science: Currently in Chemistry, planning to take APES (or Environmental Science, or Physics) next year
  • History and social studies: Currently in APUSH, highest thus far is AP World (got a 5 on the test!)
  • Language other than English: Currently in Spanish 1, taking Spanish 2 next year
  • Visual or performing arts: Film Production (freshman), Film then Instrumental Ensemble/Music Theory (sophomore), Upper Level Acting and Musical Theater plus Fine Arts 2 (junior year [now!])
  • Other academic courses: Advanced Creative Writing (currently)

College Coursework

  • Took ANTHRO 001 as a 7th grader via a dual enrollment program

Awards

  • None thus far

Extracurriculars

This is where I fall flat:

  • Never had a job before
  • Haven’t done a lick of volunteer work (though I will this summer as it is required to have service hours at my school in order to graduate)
  • Overall have been somewhat of a lazy bum though due to personal factors and mental health problems I’d argue it’s not entirely my fault? But I don’t want to make excuses for myself either…
  • I LOVE writing (currently short) fiction though, and have submitted 5 pieces to the Scholastic Writing Awards. Results are pending. I’m also looking to apply to writing workshops and lit mags and whatever else. It’s one of my biggest interests for sure. Writing is what I want to do in the future even when working other jobs. I love reading books and analyzing them as well.
  • I also play the drums on-and-off and am joining a band this upcoming semester just as an aside. Music is something that is very important to me.

Essays/LORs/Other

  • Essays: N/A (though I am a good writer so I doubt this being too much trouble for me)
  • LORs: N/A (my current English teacher likes me a lot though, and my history teacher too I believe!)

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if unsure, leave them unclassified)

I have no idea what my chances are currently since I am still a junior halfway through the school year. But in my head I have mostly two choices in terms of colleges:

  1. Private Liberal Arts Colleges (LACs), mostly considering the ones on the East Coast (places like Williams, Colby, etc. though I haven’t visited any of them, mostly New England ones since that is where a lot of my extended family lives) or in the Midwest, though as my username and love of Modest Mouse suggests I DO love the West and would also like to study here so don’t get me wrong on that front!
  2. Honors colleges within public universities like U of Denver (for example, I do like the look of Colorado), so I can still get small class sizes with the benefit of lower cost via programs like WUE.
  3. Public LACs, if any would fit me.

I would prefer to go really anywhere but California (I need distance from my immediate family, mostly my dad, though I am considering applying to SOME places here outside of LA) and other states with super hot weather… nor any states that are ultra-conservative. I am not NOT open to the South, but it is more so the laws regarding the LGBTQ+ community in some states there (as well as in the Midwest) that worry me. I have nothing personal against any region of the U.S. in particular and I appreciate them all equally.

So ultimately I am open to all regions of the U.S. in terms of college.

I don’t really care whether I go to a college that is public or private. I am someone who loves the humanities and therefore I also love diversity and different points of view. I’m not looking for somewhere that will just reinforce what I already believe. I want to be challenged and grow as a person. I certainly don’t want to be in a bubble with other rich kids, as I never have been and that’s something I fear about super expensive colleges. I also want somewhere that will prepare me to get jobs and not fill up my schedule with required classes that I don’t want (if possible!)

A definite safety I have considered is WWU, though I’m not sure if I’d like to attend there in reality due to things I have heard about the lack of diversity. I am unsure how selective I want to go. Colby would be an example of a big reach.

So let me know what places I should consider looking into for the future as someone with my interests and rather specific needs… and also let me know how I could possibly improve before senior year. Thanks! This is my first time posting so I am excited to know what people will think!

2

You’ve got a great record and you have done a good job of having some thoughts about the kinds of environments that would best support your learning while still being open minded to lots of different ideas for college.

Im optimistic that you will find some great places.

University of Redlands comes to mind as being supportive and having that nature connection.

3

For the specific question about state policies, the following may be helpful:

4

Given what you described and not really making an effort EC wise, I’m guessing a Colby/Williams are not going to happen.

You might look at schools like Ithaca, Susquehanna and Wheaton or in the NW - Willamette or Puget Sound. Or Beloit or Kalamazoo in the MW.

Since you’d like to be less a burden financially , you might look at WUE schools - you mentioned WWU. Schools like Southern Oregon or even New Mexico or Colorado State.

It’s a bit early but I see two issues with the Colby’s of the world:

  1. Based on his you defined yourself, you won’t get in
  2. Based on your wealth but desire to spend less, they have no merit aid but many schools do and can get you down to half the cost.

PS U Denver is private, not public.

Pps - WWU is about 70% white. Not sure what level of diversity you seek but a U New Mexico is less than 30% white. New Mexico Highlands is a small WUE school, about 15% white.

5

Smaller schools (with smaller classes) that are LGBTQ friendly that might be matches for you: Washington College (MD), Wheaton College (MA), St. Olaf (MN).

6

Not a huge fan of lists because so many aren’t included but this could give you some ideas. But I’d check each school individually.

For diversity, it’s the South so that might be a struggle for you, but Agnes Scott in Atlanta could be a great as well.

The list won’t appear here - they block college express but google college express + 50 lgbtq friendly.

7

How about SUNY Geneseo? It is New York’s public honors college. The cost of attendance is about $37k for out-of-state students. They have majors or minors in all of the subjects of interest that you mentioned, except for journalism.

The University of Washington has a beautiful campus, with views of Mount Rainier when the weather cooperates. I would consider Seattle to be slightly cold, for someone coming from L.A. The cost of attendance would be much higher than the price for SUNY Geneseo, though.

8

If you want to write and investigate, then great. But print journalism is out of style and often contract today. In most cases, it will be on the lower end of the pay scale. That said, you need to pursue what you love.

Most schools will have a newspaper, even if they don’t have a journalism degree so that wouldn’t stop me journalists don’t need journalism degrees.

9

If you feel the need to address this, I would make it a positive statement. Colleges want someone who wants them, not someone who is going to test them out and possibly transfer. They expect you to do the research in advance and be confident that you will thrive on their campus. If it is possible to leave this off of your application, my personal opinion is that you should.

California is a big state. You could head up to northern California and be just as far away from home as if you went to Arizona. Do you really need to move across the country in order to create an adequate distance from your parents? If you want to live/experience/explore a different region of the US, that’s a different story.

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