There are loans you can get in your own name…but how much in $$ do you think you need in loans for all four years of college?
This is excellent advice. Please at least consider it.
You have tremendous potential, but the reality is that past performance predicts future performance. Your 3.2 GPA coming from a NYC public school means that the kind of schools that offer full tuition (leaving you still with >15K/yr in living expenses) are just beyond reaches - they’re not going to happen. You don’t qualify for free applications, either, so please, save your money, and just accept that applications to your high reaches and dreams are thrown out money and effort, and frankly, so are the rest of them. No school that meets your needs is going to give you a 10K/yr package.
You have to go to a CUNY and live at home. Macauley Honors is the ONLY choice that meets your academic and financial needs. Hopefully, they’ll accept your AA credits, and you’ll be able to get your degree in 2 years, but since it’s essentially free, you could certainly spend 4 years there. Do well, and you can go anywhere you want to, for grad school, afterwards.
I know it’s hard, when you see others playing the strategy game to maximize their chances of getting into the most selective school possible. But you’ve got two major handicaps - low GPA, and little money, in the setting of a parent with a decent income that will preclude you getting any fin aid. Plus you really need to stay close to home if you’ve struggled with your mental health.
Macauley Honors is perfect for you. Try to grow to love the idea of it. And hey, there’s a lot to be said for staying in NYC, with all that the city has to offer. Do well, and you can go anywhere for grad school.
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You need to run the net price index (NPC) for each and every T20 liberal arts college because they will all be slightly different. Having a sibling already attending one will also have a big impact on how they calculate need. FWIW, if you like Wellesley, you might like Wesleyan too.
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A little light reading for you 
:
An Outsider’s Guide to National LACs - College Search & Lists - College Confidential Forums
You may want to also consider taking the ACT & submitting those scores if you score comparably or higher. If you can score a “36” in a section or two, this would provide admissions committees with additional standardized testing data. Take optional ACT science & essay if you think these results will add something meaningful. It’s a long shot & a risk, but one that might be worth you taking. You need stats to counterbalance the 3.2 GPA & the lack of AP scores (when also considered for application evaluation & not just for placement).
You previously indicated an initial interest in targeting Wellesley College and other highly competitive schools for admission.
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Seconding St Olaf - A (low?) reach but exactly what you’re looking for: academicky, lots of challenges if you want them (look into the “Conversations”), beautiful campus, Twin Cities 45mn away=major city that’s different from NYC. However for sure it’ll be within budget so you’ll need to compare for merit scholarships and those require demonstrated interest, so join their mailing list and click on the links they send. AFAIK the most competitive scholarships include a competition weekend and knowing a lot about the college matters.
Seconding Allegheny, Wooster, Gustavus Adolphus, Earlham, Cornell IA, Centre, Wheaton MA, Agnes Scott (and CUNY Macaulay). Apply EA and complete all the Honors/special program supplements to increase your odds of scholarships.
Geneseo should definitely be on your list.
St Mary’s of Maryland is a sort of Honors LAC on a beautiful river front, however nowhere near a city.
Hollins, in VA? Supposedly for “brainy” girls.
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A 1540 SAT, balanced as this student’s is, does not need an ACT score for confirmation. The committee will already see that the applicant is very intelligent and has mastered the material - another score doesn’t help balance out the low GPA. They’ll still see that there’s a problem going on. This applicant is going to have to explain their ADHD journey in their applications, and without even one semester of high grades consistent with such an SAT score, the committee will realize that this problem is not yet well-managed, and be wary of accepting her.
Not to mention that none of this solves their financial problem - they won’t qualify for enough fin aid or merit money anywhere to meet their 10K/yr budget.
How does it make sense to encourage Hail Mary applications that the applicant has to earn the money to submit (about $80/school now) in order to shotgun highly selective schools at which she has no chance, and which will not meet her budget, or slightly less selective schools that also won’t meet budget, even if they accept her?
Macauley Honors, assuming that she can get into it, is the solution to her problem.
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I disagree. The ACT and the SAT are two different types of tests. More testing data, if she can perform better on an ACT section or two could benefit her for schools like Wellesley. It is a risky long shot, however.
About one-quarter to one-third of all students take both tests with most submitting all scores. Some students do better on the ACT, other do better on the SAT, and some show mixed performance on sections of both tests.
I’m going to tell you the same thing I would tell any high-scoring applicant from a family whose income places them in the proverbial “donut-hole” (too much to qualify for aid; not enough to cover full-costs): make sure you have a good academic as well as financial safety. In your case, it will likely be a CUNY, but even within that group there are lots of choices and you have to be the judge of what’s best for you.
Having said that, hey - you’re 18; you have an older sibling already enrolled at a T20; your custodial parent appears supportive. There is a HUGE degree of FOMO hanging over you. And every adult in the room can understand that. You’re going to have to balance selectivity with capacity to grant generous aid to a middle-class family (i.e., the wealthier the college, the more people will be applying to it - so, don’t skip over the need-aware colleges), but so long as you’re able to manage your expectations, I see no harm in applying to a dream school or two (or, three.) People apply ED and EA to places all the time and turn them down because the aid doesn’t meet their need. It will hurt, but it won’t be a tragedy; it won’t require years with a psychologist. IMO, it will probably be better than the mirror-opposite: not knowing what could-have-been.
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Do you have a source that most students who apply with test scores submit all scores? Although most students in 2025-26 submitted test scores per the common app end of season report, when one layers in the UC/CSU application data, a majority of applicants did not even apply with test scores. Common app does not report the proportion of students who applied with tests and who sent all their test scores.
IMO, OP has more important priorities than preparing for one of the two remaining ACT tests before RD deadlines. OP’s main priority should be getting strong grades this semester.
Spending time prepping for the ACT rather than studying for classes, participating in ECs, completing college apps, or just enjoying their senior year makes no sense when the student already has a 1540 SAT.
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I never suggested to Vi_moral making the ACT a priority.
Ok. There would be even less of a reason to take it if one weren’t going to make it a priority.
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The OP did state definitely going very audacious.
This advice is generally provided to students who did not do well on the original test they took. But, this student has already done exceedingly well on the SAT. There’s no marginal benefit that justifies the time and expense of prepping for and taking another test. It adds nothing to their application, and will not “counterbalance” their lower grades, which will remain a concern to all of their reach schools regardless of additional test scores. 100% agree that this student would be best served by focusing entirely on having a very strong academic semester. If this semester goes really well, it will support OP’s narrative that they are benefiting from the medication that they started junior year. Unfortunately, I don’t think that it will be enough for OP’s reach schools, but it’s the best shot they have. Assuming that the medication really is helping with their ADHD, OP has the potential to do well in any college that admits them which will open up opportunities in the future.
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I’ll also add that I work in an elite grad school, and I see students here from all types of colleges, from T20s, to mid-tier state flagships, to directional universities, to all types of LACs (elite and not). No one is held back by where they went to undergrad.
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If your sibling is at a T-20, ask your parent to rerun their Net Price Calculator and indicate that THEY will have a sibling on college next year (you). The college may (likely will) increase their aid which hopefully would free up some of those savings for your education budget.
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Here is an important update:
Wellesley College announces free tuition for families with incomes of $200,000 or less, beginning in fall 2027 (09/09/2026)
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