Match me for fall 26; <$45k; business/social justice?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

MA resident; competitive HS; fall '26 college student
many APs
ballet, weekend/afterschool jobs, newspaper editor, NHS

3.8 uw/4.2 weighted GPA
SAT 1330

Majors (maybe) - business & social justice

schools in NE & maybe NY, mid atlantic (nationwide if scholarship)

value fun atmosphere, sporting events, - looking at UMASS and some smaller LAC/catholic schools, but open other private schools. NOT looking for state schools outside my state (as UMASS Amherst is 1/2 the price)

ivies and the top 5-10 LAC a reach. so looking for more target schools

thoughts on Maine schools (bowdoin, colby, bates) , CT Schools (CT COllege, wesleyan, Trinity), NY State (Colgate, Union, hamilton), Holy cross, BC, mabye midatlantic like wash & lee and/or u of richmond.

Going to visit some schools this summer/fall. want to DC and didn’t like GW b/c no campus life

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(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)

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GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

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What are the AP scores so far?

What math class will the student have senior year?

What’s the class rank (approximate it if the school doesn’t rank…top 5%? 10%?)

For UMass are they applying to Isenberg?

Are there budget constraints? Will you qualify for need based aid? Run each school’s net price calculator to get an estimated COA. Here’s bowdoin’s:

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Yes Isenberg and honors college umass

Not sure of rank . Prob top 25 percent. Again the HS is top public. Lots going to top 20 university and lac

Ap stats and us history this year. Ap bio 4, environmental science 5

Math is the entry calc . Not ap .

1 sibling will be college jr when this student freshman .

Yes need aid or equivalent to state tuition. 30k ( give or take )

4

You need safeties.

I’d charachterize Richmond, Union, Conn., and Holy Cross as low reaches/reaches and everything else as a high reach. If applying to Isenburg, UMASS isn’t a safety.

Consider:
Marist, St. Lawrence, Hobart and William Smith, and Syracuse for NY schools. Merrimack for MA
Gettysburg and Lehigh if interested in W&L

It will be hard to get it down to in-state tuition but run the NPC’s.

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things have changes significantly since i went to school (cornell u in state tuition)

Hobart - near Cornell right? will check it out

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not interested in isolated PA; will look at st lawrence.

what about other UMASS or not isenberg? are those safeties? Like umass lowell?

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or can you apply to UMASS (if you don’t get into isenberg)?

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Got it…do you qualify for need based aid? Run the Bowdoin NPC I linked above. If schools that only offer need based aid/don’t offer merit (like Bowdoin) don’t meet your price target per the NPC, they have to come off the list. Even at the schools on your list that give merit, getting to $30K probably not going to happen (at least the ones that are reaches.)

I echo others who have said you need at least one affordable safety on the list. Isenberg definitely not a safety. Can this student take AP Calc instead of regular calc?

U Mass Lowell is probably a safety/highly likely…does the HS use Naviance/Scoir/etc so you can see historical acceptances on a scattergram?

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Yes, things have changed a lot even just since before COVID. Fortunately it’s not too difficult to adjust for this. Your student will simply need to construct a balanced list with affordable (or potentially affordable) schools across the selectivity range, preferably with two in the safety / extremely likely category, so that you can ensure that your student has a choice at the end of the process.

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Yes, the student can still be accepted to UMass if they don’t get into Isenberg. Would they choose something in College of Social and Behavioral sciences as their alternative major? Have your student talk with their HS counselor to categorize UMass Isenberg and UMass SBS.

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About an hour northwest of Cornell.

You can do a Union, Syracuse, Hobart visit (3 hours drive time/straight shot). You can add in Ithaca (another hour). That would be a nice selection of “likely” schools that have business/ social justice. St. Lawrence is 3 hours out of the way, so might be a wait til acceptances come in to visit situation. If not interested in isolated PA, perhaps not isolated NY.

Marist is in the other direction, but less isolated and has good access for internships.

At UMASS, you can pick a first and second choice major (with Exploritory as an option).

S23 was originally set on engineering, but on our spreadsheet I made him pick 3 majors within engineering and 3 other majors of interest at each school. Wise decision as he did a 180 on us over the summer and applied for a completely different major. If they are not set on business, you might want to do something similar. Not only did we not have to recreate the wheel after our visits, he also kept a more open mind and noticed other departments on our tours rather than being laser focused on engineering. (The schools we visited were all realistic for stats and budget).

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Can you please help build a better list? I have no ivies b/c thats too much of a reach as is williams, amherst.

Could go up to $60k if its a great school. (like holy cross) if not, then UMASS is better deal

also , calc AP prob won’t happen. Really difficult at this HS

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Is Syracuse a good school?

Ok for PA should look at Lafayette, Lehigh and bucknell ? Are those likely? Will add Gettysburg. Those schools have sports and a fun atmosphere

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Also what about Boston college or any of the philly area schools

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I understand, just know that for some business schools that will put the student at a disadvantage, and Isenberg is one of those.

Does this student have 4 years in all the core subject areas (math, science..including bio/chem/physics, english, soc studies, foreign lang?)

Definitely not likely. Bucknell the easiest overall admit, but business still pretty competitive. I defer to the HS counselor for categorization. Bucknell and Lehigh have high rates of Greek Life and work hard/play hard mentality…is that of interest to this student? Run the NPCs at these schools to get cost estimates.

I second Marist for a highly likely school. Don’t know if it will get to $30K though. Looks like average COA is in the high $30K’s. Run the NPC. U Delaware Lerner school of business would be likely, but also unlikely to hit $30K…but could be much less than $60K.

BC is a reach, and Carroll probably not possible. Villanova would also be a reach.

ETA: some resources for looking up college admission rates and such:

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Note that many of the schools you listed do not offer majors in business.

Social justice doesn’t appear to define any particular major. Does your child have anything more specific in mind?

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These sound like targets and some reaches to me based on what you wrote.

Will you have four years each of Math, Science, Social Studies, English and at least to level three of foreign language? Any arts courses at school?

What do you think is your sure thing for admission? UMass Amherst, Isenberg with honors? I’m not sure that is a sure thing.

Some of the colleges you have put forth above are also not sure things…Boston College is a reach.

Susquehanna might be worth looking at. Not sure about getting to your price point. Gettysburg same.

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Syracuse is a great school if it’s the right fit for your kid. It’s a bigger school like UMass, with lots of spirit around sports and a great reputation for business. It’s a hot school right now. Kids seem to love it. Syracuse definitely looks at interest, so if you’re going to put it on your list, be sure to visit and interact with any emails or social media.

I’d go with “low reach” for Lafayette, Lehigh, and Bucknell.

BC is not only going to be a high reach, but it is going to come in over budget.

If looking in Philly, I’d research Villanova as a low reach and St Joseph’s as a safety.
For LACs there are Haverford and Bryn Mawr, but both are very reachy (and no business).
Drexel and Temple are both very urban and co-op centered.

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Would she have interest in a school like Bryant?

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Not sure Temple, Drexel, Bryant will come in at this family price point.

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