So for the past six months, I’ve been calculating my GPA wrong. I thought I’d finish junior year with a ~3.5, although now I’ll be finishing sophomore year with a 3.6, and if I really push myself (think: 4.0) I can eek out a 3.7 by the end of junior year. This is all unweighted. Weighted is a little more then two tenths higher (3.8/3.9). I’m excited to realize this, as I think I’ll be able to step my game up a little.
Adding onto those stats, I have a 30 on the ACT (my school lets us take it as sophomores if we want). I’ll hopefully be able to get this up to a 31, although my counselor says a 32 is possible.
If you hate reading, skip this paragraph:
On top of this, I’ve gone through some (diagnosed) health issues, and I’m recovering from that. Recently, I’ve also been diagnosed with ADHD - a psychologist thought it was either Dyscalculia or ADHD, and the results (there’s a test for each), came out a day ago. No dyscalculia, but ADHD. This makes sense, considering I’ve always needed 3x the amount of time to get my work done (homework) then my peers, and I’ve always struggled in math because of this. This can now be worked on, but I think my GPA could be higher if I didn’t have ADHD. Still happy though.
So, what schools could I possibly apply too? I’m thinking of a social sciences major, but nowhere near sure yet. I have a legacy at Cornell, which is really awesome, but I don’t want to set my heart on a reach school.
So what do you guys think for matches and realistic reaches?
Well what are you looking for in terms of size, location…?
@joecollege44 Should’ve said that…
I personally don’t have too much of a preference, although I would be a little less enthusiastic over a large state school; however, that would include exceptions. I would say “no” to ASU, but I would say “yes” to UVA…do you get what I mean?
Location wise, I’m open to basically anything (in the US), expect for a few regions/states: Alaska, Hawaii, The Southeast (excluding Georgia and Texas). Nothing against these states, but I like biking and skiing, and most other states would offer me that (Georgia has the Appalachians, and Texas has some nice national parks/forests).
So to sum that up, unless the school is a top public school, then student population under 15K. And the school can be basically anywhere, except the Southeast.
I see on another thread that you are in-state for U.Conn. I think that if you can get your GPA up to the 3.7 range it will probably become a match. An up trend in your grades would also help you here. I do not think that it is a safety. For some majors (computer science, nursing) it might be a reach. However, your guidance counselor should know better than I, and in general should know in-state public schools very well.
I think that Cornell is a very high reach for you unless there is something important that you are not telling us. Based on what I read on some of your other threads (I did not make it through all of them) I also think that it would not be a good fit for you.
Focus on getting well. There will still be plenty of good schools to choose from for the foreseeable future.
What is your intended major?
@DadTwoGirls Intended Major: Something in the social sciences. I don’t know exactly, and I have a bit of time to decide.
From my school (competitive public) students regularly get into UConn with 3.4s. Basically, quote my counselor “as long as a student has at least a B+ average and that student doesn’t torture kittens in their free time, that student will likely get in.”
It sounds like UConn recognizes us as a pretty rigorous/decent school, which is nice. That being said, I actually LIKE UConn, so I certainly wouldn’t say no to it. And that instate tuition ain’t bad either…
Anyway, if you dig through my past threads you might find reference to Lehigh. That’s a school I’m legitimately interested in, and when I realized I calculated my GPA wrong (I was putting in a 3.3 for all my A-‘s…sigh) I figured I might have a chance at Lehigh. Maybe ED?
And to Cornell…well, the only other thing I can think of is that I’m looking at the school of Human Ecology, which is a smaller school, and the students are more dedicated to go to that school, which might help. In all honesty; however, I have to go visit (when I can…hopefully this will end eventually). I might find that I’m not really a huge fan of Cornell anyway. I want to consider grad school anyway, so I might just want to follow (most) of the money, and then hopefully do well in undergrad.
Lehigh, while a great school for many reasons, doesn’t seem like a place where you can do outdoor activities easily. The campus is gorgeous but it’s high on a hill overlooking a city. Without a car, getting from there to skiing and hiking seems difficult. You might want to look to see if there are outdoors clubs there. Also be aware that Lehigh is heavy into Greek culture. You can find out Greek percentage of most schools by googling and
For social sciences that allow for outdoorsie activities, you may want to consider:
- Mt. Holyoke (a women’s college that might give you some merit and has a gorgeous campus, a homey feel, and has an annual hike up a mountain as one of its traditions; great social sciences as part of the Five College consortium; horses on campus–equestrian sports–and a goose called Jorge and homebaked cookies. Clearly I love this school…)
- Smith is part of the Mt. H consortium but seems less outdoorsie. Thought I’d mention it though.
- Colorado College (might be a bit of a reach for you …)
- Skidmore
- Hamilton
- Colgate
- St. Olaf
- Carleton
- Macalaster
- U of Maine at Orono–has nature trails on campus; lots of gorgeous scenery; skiing nearby; about 40min drive to Acadia National Park–this would be a safety and it has in-state-matching tuition.
- UVM – a more-expensive UofMaine at Orono–cute town, lots of skiing
- SUNY Binghamton – mountains, nature preserve on campus, right size, and one of the best psych depts on the country (top 18 I think)
- Connecticut College–has a nature preserve but I’m not sure that they have a lot of excitement about going skiing, frankly. But it’s pretty and close to home.
- Sewanee – has a 13,000 acre mountainous campus–yes that number is correct. It’s gorgeous and has lower tuition rates. It’s extremely outdoorsie and has very good academics. The 13000 acre preserve is called “The Domain” when you visit the website.
- Southwestern University – It’s in Texas, 3000 students about, but it’s a beautiful campus, next to Austin, has a river literally running through it, the campus is OLD and the weather is very reasonable in the winter. No skiing but that river… also very good academics
- You might want to look at U of Wyoming–it would be a safety school and it is very outdoorsie.
- Ditto for both of the major Montana unis–University of Montana and Montana State. Both are known for outdoorsie activities, they meet your size criteria and Missoula is super cute. Hank Green did an environmental degree there and still lives there …
- Ursinus – trails run nearby but I’m not sure of skiing etc.
- Bard has a very big campus–rural–very intellectual–you would need to check to see if they run skiing clubs or anything.
- Barnard–I know that it’s in a major city, but they share all things with Columbia. Barnard would be a within-your-grasp reach for you. Columbia has a skiing club that sometimes goes to the Rockies for example.
- U Colorado at Boulder.
There are probably many other schools…
@Dustyfeathers Thanks for the list! That’s a TON of schools, and it really helps with the process. I like the world of liberal arts colleges I could get into, especially some of the selective ones. Maybe NESCAC- certainly not Amherst/Williams, but you have Hamilton in there and maybe I could consider the Maine schools (w/ out Bowdoin).
On top of that, I likely get a tuition break from ALL the New England universities with the NE tuition break, as long as my major is eligible.
Thanks for giving a TON of suggestions, this really helps me out.
These might be reaches but you might want to consider Kenyon, Grinnell, Oberlin and maybe Reed if you like liberal arts schools.
https://www.bates.edu/admission/student-profile/
@paranoidhssenior Bates says for the class of 2023 the average GPA was a 3.73 (I would think that’s unweighted). Although the admit rate was 12.1%, so I agree with you.
Grinnell looks very interesting, however.
Hope it helps. Also Whitman has a special “Semester in the West” thing – http://semesterinthewest.org/
Whitman College – https://www.whitman.edu/
I personally would go to Whitman because then you can say “Walla Walla, Washington” a lot, but that’s just me. : )
Just remembered Deep Springs – it’s a very special college. Again, I would go there in a heartbeat. I think that they just started accpeting women, but check that out. It tends to accept extremely smart people, very few of them, and they live for two years and study on a cattle ranch. Tuition is free (or used to be). This is a great school and again, if I ever had the chance to live life over again, I would go to this school – https://www.deepsprings.edu/
You would have no problems transferring to a second college to complete your BA. It’s a highly regarded program with a storied history.