Please Chance a Black Girl w/ Awful Stats!

Your stats are far from “awful,” but your list needs a lot of readjusting. You’re making the right move to ask for advice before doing a lot of work on apps that are pointless.

First up, the UC schools - it doesn’t even matter if you can get in, as you cannot afford them, period. Do not even waste two brain cells on the UC app, which uses a whole different essay format from most others and would squander your time for no reason. Buh-bye, UC System.

NYU is wildly unlikely to be affordable, but run their Net Price Calculator and see, if you are really attached to the idea. (Are you familiar with net price calculators? They’re available on every college’s financial aid page, and it’s really important to use them in deciding where to apply. It’s possible at schools that give merit to get a better offer than the NPC predicts, but for the most part it will give you a pretty good idea where you stand. (Although, if your parents are divorced or have a more complicated income situation - i.e. owning a business or real estate investments - then the results may be less reliable.)

Run the NPC for Cornell. That’s a very unlikely admit but it will at least give you an idea whether the more generous full-need-met private schools are likely to be affordable.

Getting enough merit at Pitt for it to be affordable is pretty unlikely. I am not sure about U of Maryland - I’m not optimistic but will defer to those who know the school better.

You have terrific in-state options in Florida, of course, so that’s good! Run the NPC at Miami and see how the costs compare to the publics, after the state-level aid and possible merit.

Santa Clara doesn’t meet full need but who knows, merit might fill the gap. Doesn’t hurt to apply if you like the school. Similar situation with Fordham, but probably a little better odds of an affordable acceptance.

Have you looked at Lehigh, in Pennsylvania? They are really trying to improve their diversity, so you’d get a nice URM bump there, and they are very good for both of your areas of interest - sciences, and finance. (There are also dual degree possibilities if you find that you want both.) They meet full need, and you can apply test-optional. I think you’d be a strong candidate, so it could be worth applying if the NPC looks favorable.

If you want California, you might like this major at the Claremont Colleges: https://www.kecksci.claremont.edu/majors/sciencemanagement.asp CMC is the most business-y of the schools, but you’d probably only have a chance there by applying Early Decision. (Which you could, if the NPC shows that they’d give you enough aid, but that would be a big decision for a school that’s not yet on your radar.) Scripps and Pitzer also meet full need, but each school has a different financial aid formula. They’re all pretty reachy but not completely unreasonable reaches if you apply test optional.

There are lots of LAC’s that might work, but start by running NPC’s on the list you have and letting us know what looks affordable and what doesn’t - that will help to guide further suggestions.

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