@collegemom3717 By like me, I meant white (because Slavic is still white, even though we are culturally very different), currently middle class (impoverished past means that they don’t have savings typical for current income, but this is not accurately reflected by FAFSA), and not first gen (I am the first to be born here, but my mom redid her education here, and my dad recently got an online degree). I am on the verge of having hooks, but I don’t.
And my FAFSA efc means that my family will probably not be in the position to afford anything that isn’t local or public. They also generally have no interest in paying for my education, and have repeatedly told me that they won’t contribute a cent if I go out of state (which most of these schools are). I’m applying in part to solidify my candidacy, because I plan on transferring after I emancipate myself if I don’t get an affordable offer for first year admissions.
I can’t do NPC’s myself, because they are very secretive about how much we actually have, but my mom claims that Cornell’s calculator gave us nothing.
As for stats, I would say so, I have a 34 act, waiting on SAT, a 97.4 uw gpa, 7 AP and 6-8 college credit/dual enrollment courses, including this year. I think that I am academically competitive, but as you’ve mentioned, that isn’t enough by itself. Our school doesn’t do rankings (and stopped weighing gpas my freshman year, so I can’t compare mine to upperclassmen friends at top schools), so I can’t really see how I stack up, but I also am choosing my ideal humanities major as my first choice (I specify in my common app that I’m interested in both) at most colleges because I am almost certain there is no one from my school doing the same. So I think most of my competition will be regional and not directly from my school.
I do really like environmental science (and atlas is great, I’ve cited them before!), but I’m also really interested in public health and criminal justice. I would definitely double major or minor in at least on of those topics. I generally see what you are saying about being both, but I do really want a liberal arts experience. I go to a specialized technical school, and the humanities are often looked down upon compared to stem. I would prefer a student body where at least a portion prioritizes the humanities and sees their full value. I think that a school that attracts students from a variety of fields would be best for me, but that leaves me competing with said top students for a spot.
Yes, I have vaguely heard about those, but will definitely look into them more! And natsecgirlsquad looks super cool, I will definitely check them out right after! Thank you so much for all of your help and advice! I really appreciate it!