Hey Guys! I’m a white female and middle class and attending a public high school in MA. As the youngest of five my parents, one of whom works the entirety of the day, have been distracted in during my high school years and in terms of any college search. My siblings have gone to UNH, MassArt, UMass Lowell, and Boston College.
So what’s the strange situation? What are you looking for in a school? What are your grades/test scores? What can you afford? What year are you in?
My post was incomplete. I am a senior
My current achievements are as follows:
UW/W GPA: 2.88/3.04
SAT: CR: 570 Math: 610 Writing: 640 MC Subscore: 10 (these were taken when two sections were not included)
SAT Subject: Bio M: 620
Senior Course Load: AP Eng, Tech Theatre/Help Desk, H Spanish, Band, AP Stats, AP Psych or Gov, AP Euro.
(I might end up taking APUSH)
I have great recommendations from teachers who know me very well (one of whom has a Doctorate)
ECs and Leaderships:
- Drama Club (4 years, Vice President)
- Marching Band (3 years)
- Stage Band (4 years)
- Symphonic Band (4 years, past Secretary, current Vice President)
- Winter Percussion (3 years)
- Student Government (3 years)
- Model United Nations (4 years)
- Playwriting (3 years)
- GSA (4 years)
- National Spanish Honor Society
- Upper Connector
- Freshman Advisor
Not listed is Co-founder of Rockets Help Desk. RHD is a NEW course at my high school that was proposed by myself, another student, and a history teacher at our school. The course focuses on creation tutorials of education apps for teachers and students. The program also consults various teachers on building a paperless classroom. The program has allowed me the opportunity to present at nationally known conferences such as:
Blue Ribbon, Florida and MA
MassCUE at Gillette Stadium
Our Superintendent’s Class
The program also had write a grant securing over 7,000 from our education foundation and interview CEOS of some high end tech companies. It has also made me closer with my superintendent and principal.
Classes taken by graduation:
4 years of Foreign Language
4 years of English
4 years of Math
4 years of History
4 years of Band
3 years of Science (2 taken in one year)
One might be confused about my long list of extracurriculars considering my GPA and SAT Scores, I can explain:
Although I’ve never been a highly dedicated student and mainly focused on the ECs I love, I had maintained around a 3.5 for the first two years of high school with mostly honors classes. Unfortunately during my junior year I had a mental health crisis involving some very adult issues requiring me to get some counseling and miss a lot of classes. This created a serious dip in my transcript across the board.
I am interested in majoring in something in the liberal arts field or theatre/music. Ihave assistant directed a show at my school and would be interested in pursuing directing. I want a school that is willing to hear my story and is still prestigious to some degree. I also am interested in Co-op programs like the FTW at Bennington. I prefer East Coast, CA, and WA.
Thank You for Any and All Suggestions.
You should eliminate the word “prestigious” from your vocabulary. Can your family afford to send you almost anywhere? Build your list “from the bottom up.” Start with some open-admission schools which might be attractive (e.g. Evergreen State, in WA, or Columbia College Chicago), or possibly some colleges within your state’s public system (e.g. Bridgewater) if finances are an issue. Your ECs are impressive, and you are obviously intelligent. Bennington or Goucher will be reaches for you. Drew is very expensive, but it sounds like a good fit for you and your interests. Muhlenberg and Elon are also probably reaches for you. Maybe UNC-Asheville? EugeneLang/New School is a moderate reach, but also quite expensive. I’ve heard good things about St. Mary’s (not religious, despite name) in MD. You could also try Redlands in CA: my nephew was something of an underachiever in H.S., but a talented writer, and he was very happy there.
@woogzmama I’m unsure of our finances but why do you think Bennington and Goucher will be reaches? They both have applications that do not consider transcript or GPA.
@lostsenior, The first thing you need to do is find out how much your parents will pay and how far they’ll let you go from home. None of your siblings went very far and since you’ve had a mental health issue, your parents may be reluctant to let you go OOS.
Start by finding a couple of safeties (financial and academic sure things that you’d be happy to attend), then add a few matches and a couple of reaches. Unless your parents can be full pay, are willing to spend the money, and are comfortable with you going far from home, creating a list of OOS colleges is a waste of your time. So talk to them first, then make your list.
First and foremost, make sure your first semester senior grades come up. You want to make the case that the mental health crisis was at the root of your dip in grades, and that it was indeed a dip, not a plunge.
Second, the fact that one of the people recommending you has his PhD is immaterial-- that’s his achievement, not yours. And make sure that the letter from your guidance counselor explains the dip… you can drop him/her a letter with a reminder of the issue and reassurances that you’re in much better mental shape now.
I agree absolutely with @austinmshauri. Finances are the very first issue. Finding the perfect school that you can’t afford to attend, or one that’s too far from your counselor, is disheartening and accomplishes nothing. Have the talk with them about both finances and distance before you even begin the process.
@austinmshauri @bjkmom thank you for the advice. my parents are willing to pay upwards of 60,0000 if they believe the school is the right fit.
That’s per year, right?
Next talk to them-- and to your counselor-- about geography. He/she may want you close enough that you can be home in the event of some small crisis, to prevent it from becoming a bigger crisis. And you may take comfort from the knowledge that you can be home in 3 or 4 hours, to talk with your mom and dad, or one of your siblings, should something come up.
There are so many schools within 200 miles of your home!
If you liked Bennington, you might like Hampshire as well, and you could probably get in, but their financial aid isn’t great. But UMass Amherst would give you the Five College Consortium, which would give you access to multiple schools with great theatre/humanities offerings. IF money really isn’t a dealbreaker, there are multiple private colleges in and around Boston that would give you access to the city and its wealth of theatre/arts offerings: Suffolk, Emmanuel, Lesley, (and a bit further) Wheaton…
I’m focusing on MA schools because those are what I know best. Honestly, though, you do have a lot of great options around that you could attend with minimal travel costs. Also, be sure to meet with your guidance counselor and figure out the best way to present your GPA: you don’t want to let the dip go unnoticed, but you also want to be careful to present your health issues in a way that makes it clear that you are dealing with them, so colleges won’t worry that admitting you could be detrimental to your wellbeing.
Google found me this: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/801037-big-list-of-mt-colleges-by-state.html Go to post 215 on the last page for the most current list.
Tackle that list in terms of geography: look at schools in New England, and see where they fall in terms of money and GPA.
I agree with @woogzmama - remove the word “prestigious” and replace it with “good fit”. That said, if your senior fall semester is 3.5 (in other words, you regained your previous level), and your guidance counselor can explain what happened your junior year, the schools in her post are good suggestions. If Goucher is a reach, then St Mary’s College of Maryland may be a high match but they need students. UNC Asheville is a good match for you. Look at Hampshire.