Match Me! Junior looking for Target Schools in NE/Mid-Atlantic [MD resident, 3.9374 GPA, political science / history / pre-law]

Chance Me / Match Me
11

I think that you will have a number of acceptances by the spring of your senior if you have a balanced list of colleges that you plan to apply to. As @tsbna44 indicated, pre-law is typically advising and can be done anywhere. A degree where there is a great deal of reading, writing, and synthesizing would be helpful preparation.

As you have a couple of D.C. schools and you’re participating in Girls State, do you have an interest in politics or public policy? If so, it can also be advantageous to attend a school in a capital (federal or state).

It appears as though you prefer mid-size to large schools. Have you visited any smaller campuses? These are some mid-size to large schools that you may want to consider.

  • Binghamton (NY): about 14k undergrads

  • *Butler (IN): about 4500 undergrads

  • College of the Holy Cross (MA): 3k undergrads

  • CUNY City College: about 12k undergrads

  • CUNY Hunter College: about 18k undergrads

  • Fordham (NY): about 9900 undergrads

  • Loyola Chicago (IL): about 12k undergrads

  • Loyola Maryland: about 3800 undergrads

  • Marquette (WI): about 7700 undergrads

  • Monmouth (NJ): about 4100 undergrads

  • *Providence (RI): about 4200 undergrads

  • Salisbury (MD): about 6700 undergrads

  • Seton Hall (NJ): about 6k undergrads

  • Siena (NY): about 3500 undergrads

  • SUNY New Paltz: about 6300 undergrads

  • *SUNY Albany: about 13k undergrads

  • SUNY Geneseo: about 4500 undergrads

  • *The College of New Jersey: about 7k undergrads

  • Towson (MD): about 18k undergrads

  • *Trinity (CT): about 2200 undergrads

  • Tufts (MA): about 6700 undergrads

  • *U. of Vermont: about 12k undergrads

The schools with asterisks are those that are in their state capital, or only a few miles away (TCNJ). The NYC schools (CUNYs & Fordham) also have most of the location advantages of Columbia, and Seton Hall over the river in New Jersey has generous merit aid and some interesting programs in international relations. If you read about political polling, you’ll often hear of Siena as it usually conducts polls with the NY Times. And you have some other great in-state options in Salisbury and Towson, too. The SUNY schools are also pretty well-priced for out-of-state students, and they’ve started a tuition match for many northeastern states, but Maryland is not yet one of them. But I could see the SUNYs doing their best to meet (or beat) your U. of Maryland price, too. There are a number of Jesuit schools on the list, but the Catholics tended to place their schools in cities, and the Jesuits in particular have a very well-respected tradition of open intellectual inquiry.

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