RD suggestions

College Search & Lists
1

I would appreciate some insight on good schools to apply to, looking mostly for >20,000 students, decent financial aid, and preferably urban/suburban locations, what would be some solid matches with my stats? Done a lot of online research but it all sounds the same at this point

Intended Major- Political Science

ACT- 32 superscore (35E 33R 32S 28M)
31 regular (35E 33R 29S 28M)

GPA- 3.65 UW (b’s and a c sophomore year due to death in immediate family, explained in essay, great upward trend with almost all a’s junior year, all a’s senior year)

Rank- 27 out of 189

School Type- small, underfunded inner city
school, low graduation rate, no AP or IB offered

Clubs- Scholars Bowl (Vars. Captain 2 yrs) Elite Choir (Section Leader) Talented and Gifted Program (No leadership available) Academic Decathalon (Founding Member) Topeka Model UN (GA I and II) Link Crew (No leadership available) NHS (member, by-laws committee) French NHS (no leadership available)

Honors- 1 ranking at regionals for solo voice, 1 ranking at state for small choir, 1 ranking at state for large choir, Youth Civic Leadership Institute attendee (only 50 kids accepted) Girls State President of the Senate, Girls State Best Senator, Presidental Scholar nominee, Gold rank overall for music in AcaDec, 2nd Place at Topeka Model UN

Hooks- from low income school, woman, lgbt

Applied to
ED for WashU St. Louis (rejected)

RD for GWU, College of William and Mary, Trinity College, Southern Methodist University

Rolling for University of Kansas (accepted to honors college, offered full ride scholarship)

2

Have you looked at Tufts near Boston? Very similar to Wash U, and I had a tough choice to make. They superscore ACT, giving you a bit of an edge.

3

Have you run the Net Price Calculators for the schools on your list? Are they affordable?

Have you tried the Supermatch tool to the left?

BTW: “from low income school, woman, lgbt” - none of those are hooks.

4

Did you mean <20,000? If so, check out Macalester. The RD deadline is January 15th so you wouldn’t have to rush the supplement.

5

You really should check out Boston University and Northeastern as well as Tufts, which will be a match schools rather than a reach. Both aslso happen to have big acapella scenese, which I suspect may be of interest based on your EC’s. Look into Northeastern’s co-op program and see if it interests you before applying.

6

Are you looking for need-based aid or merit?

A lot of the very large universities (>20,000) are public schools, and if you are not in-state, they will likely be unaffordable.

Have you considered applying to any women’s colleges? Barnard is not that large, but combined with Columbia University it would meet your criteria of >20,000 and is in an urban location. If you are going for need-based aid it should be affordable.

7

Tufts is not a match school. Being a woman is not a hook, but being from Kansas might be one if you apply to schools in the Northeast or South.