Florida resident, Public (non-competitive, rural-ish) HS, Female
Important to Consider: First-gen college, First-gen, Low-income, (Hispanic)
Intended Majors: Economics + INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS/AFFAIRS
(also interested in poli-sci and environmental sci)
UW GPA: 4.0 on 4.0 scale
W: 4.88
Rank: 8/546
SAT: 1230 (projected to reach 1340 by SR YR—how high should i aim?)
Coursework: AICE and AP (and honors)
AICE Gen Paper as, AICE English as, AICE Psychology as, AICE Marine Sci as, AICE Travel and Tourism A
AP Human, AP Spanish Lang, AP ENG lit, AP Pre-Calc, AP Macro
SR YEAR:
AICE Global, AICE Spanish or AP Spanish Lit, AP Stats, AP Bio, AP Calc AB , dual enrollment classes (2)
FEEL FREE TO COMMENT ON RIGOR OF SCHEDULE in general AND of Senior Year (SUGGESTIONS???)
Awards: Spanish 3 Award,
Plan to win “Gold Volunteer Service Award (for volunteering practicing Eng. to non-native speakers org)–> 120 hrs of service + fundraising” by senior yr (awarded to all that meet the requirements)
Extracurriculars: covid–not a lot of “in-school” opportunities 9th grade
Scholarship Costa Rica Climate Change Summer Study Abroad (this yr)
Environmental Club Vice Pres. (hopefully Pres. next year) (technically co-founder) 10,11,12
Citizens Climate Lobby volunteer,11,12
Model UN (VP- sophomore yr)10,11,12
Language Classes (Korean)+ Solo Learning (Arabic)9,10,11,12
Volunteering (English teaching to non-native speakers)10,11,12
" " Volunteer Org. Ambassador/11, 12
recently “hired” for a position in a student-led non-profit which offers cultural awareness and lang. programs to children (hoping to work on their chapters program)11,12
Mock Trial/10,11,12
NHS (started my own initiative),11,12
Marching Band 2 Yrs *(4th in state)9,10
Cost Constraints / Budget:
Hopefully the school offers NEED BASED scholarships (low-income student)
GOOD FINANCIAL AID
I am not willing to go into massive debt
50-60K income household rn
If I meet my goals I am eligible for Bright Futures → 100% paid tuition in most public FLORIDA schools
SO I have an inclination to stay in Florida unless there are schools with good scholarships or aid and great programs, study abroad, and internship opportunities
Schools including Safety, Match, Reach (imo)
I currently am not entirely sure where I stand. I don’t know a lot about where I should aim since I have practically no guidance. Please let me know if I should aim for “”““better””“”" schools OR IF some schools on my list are a match when I think they are a reach or vice-versa.
Fellow Floridian here - strongly recommend Macalester.
They are amazing with financial aid! Awesome location, reputation, and education. One of the best mock trial programs in the US.
Depending on your area of residence, you may be eligble for the Miami Posse scholarship program, which shows its partner schools as Davidson, Franklin & Marshall, Hamilton, Mount Holyoke, Pomona College and Syracuse:
@MWolf may be willing to offer insight regarding this potential opportunity.
I’m not aware of a path to affordability for a low-income OOS student at UT-Austin. UGA has some big merit awards but it’s a big reach to get one and it wouldn’t be affordable otherwise. I don’t know whether there is full-ride merit at Stony Brook but I don’t think so. Most public U’s don’t give need-based aid to OOS students; UVA is an exception, but this makes it a tough admit.
American practices yield protection, so it probably isn’t even a safety admissions-wise, but it definitely isn’t a financial safety since they don’t guarantee full-need-met aid. GWU is more generous than American but still doesn’t necessarily meet full need.
You need to run the Net Price Calculator for each school you’re considering, and build your list accordingly. Every school has one; here’s one example: Net Price Calculator
Fortunately you have great prospects in Florida (although I’m not sure whether Rollins would give enough aid - run the NPC to see), plus possibilities for Questbridge and possible Posse.
Since you’re interested in Virginia schools, you might want to check out U of Richmond. They meet need, and the International Economic Policy concentration within the Global Studies major might be a good fit.
If you’re eligible for Posse, Syracuse might be worth a look as well. Model UN was invented at their Maxwell School, which has an undergrad IR major. All of your languages are offered, too. Not sure if it would be affordable outside of Posse, though (again, run NPC and see).
Dickinson is another school that’s known for IR and meets need.
Use financial aid and the NPC as your first filter, so you don’t waste time and energy on schools that have no potential to be affordable. There are quite a few schools that do have generous aid, so focus on those, and on QB/Posse. And of course on your in-state options which offer great affordable choices - all the more reason there’s no need to be looking at OOS schools that are too expensive.
Run the NPC on these 2 as well as on all colleges listed: “meet need” should be even cheaper than a Florida Public with BF because they’ll factor in room&board+personal costs when determining their financial aid package.
What’s your school’s ACT or SAT average? (See your school profile, it should appear there, but if it doesn’t make sure your GC adds it since it’s an important part of their “evaluation in context” 1340 at a school where the average score is 840 doesn’t mean the same thing as that score from a school where the average is 1160).
Generally speaking, 1340 would be a bit too low for all the top private schools but just a little more would work. Depends on the context. You can also apply test optional if you have trouble breaking 1300 but it looks like you’re on your way to reach your target score now that you’ve taken more math and have taken both Gen Paper and Aice English.
Is there a way for you to take external exams in Korean and/or Arabic?
How did you do with your AICE and AP exams?
Have you taken bio/chem/physics if your school offers these classes?
Have you taken AICE history? 2 solid history courses in addition to AICE Global would be essential for your academic interests.
None of the public universities beside UVA will be affordable- and UVA has a mandate to Virginians making it very hard to get into.
Start digging into the Questbridge universities. You can use a Fiske Guide (anything 2021+ works) or a Princeton review’s Best Colleges.
Thank you for the advice. I will definitely look into Richmond and Dickinson! I appreciate it—I will start using the Net Price Calculator going forward
My school’s average SAT is 1140, so I will continue to put a lot of effort into improving my score.
About the external lang. exams–I will begin looking into that
AP’s-APHG(5)-I have not taken the rest yet
AICE-Psych (A) GEN (B) ENG (C)–I have not taken the rest yet
I have taken bio honors and chem honors (physics is offered-- is it essential?)
My school only offers 2 AP history courses (no aice history) (I was against taking APUSH because I would have taken it with a first time AP teacher)
Would you recommend me taking 2 History Dual enrollment classes?
Many of the Questbridge partner schools are strong in your areas of interest - in addition to Macalester, look at Tufts, and also the Claremont Colleges - Pomona, Claremont McKenna, & Scripps. Other women’s colleges (in addition to Scripps) too - Wellesley and Smith.
In the Boston-Area Consortium with Wellesley, you might run the NPC for Brandeis. They meet need but aren’t quite as tough an admit as many full-need-met schools, and they’re strong in econ/business, with an international focus, and many foreign languages offered.
You’re probably aware but just to be sure… Questbridge also has a program for juniors that you could be applying to now - deadline in March 20th QuestBridge | College Prep Scholars Program
Yes I would recommend taking a US history and another specialized (by region, period, or theme) as DE if they’re available.
Typically top Humanities/Social science students would take Bio/Chem/Physics (or the reverse with physics first) then AP Environmental or AP Bio. You’re in Florida so Marine science is a common choice followed by AP Bio. I don’t know whether you’d be penalized for not taking physics (doesn’t need to be Honors -can you access the class over the summer via FLVS? Or just keep your fingers crossed, considering Marine science is often taken in Florida v.other states?
If your HS average is 1160 you need to aim for 1400. Use Khan Academy going over mistakes till you know where each comes from and can do this type of questions several times in a row correctly.
Would you qualify for the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program?
I am able to access the class via FLVS (maybe I can plan to take it out in 2 months).
Unfortunately, I don’t qualify for the national rural and small town recognition program (regrettably I didn’t take any AP’s my sophomore year).
If going the environmental science route, check out Washington college in Maryland. They really encourage double major, so you can major with economics —very good business school that just got major grant. The environmental science is really amazing there. Undergrad research opportunities and internships. Collaborative and close community. With your stats, you would get good merit too!