Summer Before Senior Year. Please Help Me Chance/Match [SC resident, 3.65 GPA, 1220 SAT; history, photography]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Demographics

  • US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: South Carolina
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Private College Prep School
  • Other special factors: Harvard legacy. High Achieving Traditionally Underrepresented Student

Will apply for financial aid but can afford full tuition if necessary

History, Photography

4.45 GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: *3.65

  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.463

  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1220 SAT but will re-take in Fall 2025

  • English: English 1H, English 2H, AP English Lang (4), AP Seminar, (Sr Year: British Lit H)

  • Math: Algebra 1H, Algebra 2H, Geometry H, Pre Calc, (Sr Year: Statistics)

  • Science: Biology H, Chemistry H, (Sr Year: Physics)

  • History and social studies: AP Human Geo (4), AP World History (4), AP US History, (Sr Year AP Euro)

  • Language other than English: Spanish 1, Spanish 2, (Summer before Sr Year Spanish 3)

  • Visual or performing arts: Photography 1, AP 2-D Art: Photography

  • Other academic courses: Intro to Computer Science, (Sr Year AP Computer Science), (Sr Year AP Research)

Awards
Head of School Honor Roll

All-Region Soccer Player 2024 & 2025

Financial Award Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Moral Integrity

Selected for High School Regional Art Exhibition

Scholastic Art & Writing - Gold Key Award for Photography

Mayor’s Youth Volunteer Service Award

Extracurriculars
Club Soccer
Adaptive Soccer Program Volunteer Coach
Team Captain

Drums
Various Bands
Received multi-year scholarship to attend music camp

Varsity Soccer
All-Region Player 2024 & 2025
State Runner Up 2025

Student Ambassador Program - Lead Class Representative

National Honor Society

National Spanish Honor Society

Student Council

Interact Club

Local Government - Paid Internship - Facilities and Events

Historical Foundation - Paid Internship - Docent Trainee

Recreation Department - Paid Work - Youth Soccer Referee

Cultural Heritage Tours - Unpaid Internship - Tour Guide

Kids Summer Camp - Volunteer - Camp Counselor

Recreation Department - Volunteer - Youth Soccer Coach

Schools

SCAD
College of Charleston
Howard
Furman
USCarolina
Fordham University
Occidental College
American
Clemson
Wesleyan University
Boston University
NYU
USCali
Emory
Unc Chapel Hill
Davidson
U of Michigan
Pomona
Tufts
Swarthmore
Amherst
Georgetown
Princeton
Columbia
Williams
Duke
Stanford
U of Penn
Yale

2

I also have time to switch some classes for Senior Year if anyone has any compelling advise. These classes would include AP English Lit instead of British Lit Honors and AP Stats or Calculus instead of Statistics.

3

You have a lot of high reaches and little (if any?) safeties. Colleges focus more on your uwgpa since high school weigh differently. Full pay is a plus.

1 Like
4

I agree lots of reaches but definitely a couple of safeties (SCAD, C of C)…that’s all that is needed as long as you are happy with those.

You also have some targets, (basically all or at least most of the schools from Howard to Clemson on your list) so that’s good. But most of your list is reachy, and it’s a lot of schools. What are you looking for in a school.

1 Like
5

You have a great variety of type of school. Large, small, city, suburban. Do you have a preference on type of school? Would help to narrow your list. You mentioned you could pay full tuition, but how much full cost can you cover? Some of those schools are have high COA Your test scores aren’t in range for many of those schools and your GPA is on the lower side for them. At this point, you have many reaches. Think about the type of school you would most enjoy, and many here can help point you to additional ones to consider.

3 Likes
6

Thank you. I definitely would love more target recs. My safety’s are
SCAD
College of Charleston
Howard
Furman
USCarolina
Fordham

7

Thank you. I definitely do n to plan to apply to all of those reaches or to that many schools in general. I’m thinking more so around 15 schools total. 3-5 safety’s, 5-7 targets, and 5 reaches. I’m hoping to find a liberal arts school that has a strong history program, diverse and welcoming student body, engaged professors, and a strong alumni network.

8

Thank you. I am working hard and hoping to get my sat score up when I re-take in the early Fall. Otherwise I will definitely apply test optional. I am hoping for a school that considers my AP’s as well. I will have taken 9 and so far only have received 4’s, which is obviously not the best but not too bad. I went to a Yale soccer ID camp and was given the feedback that I have some qualities of a D1 player but could definitely make a d3 team. When I go to the ID camps of some of the D3 schools I’m interested in this summer, I’m hoping to make some connections that will assist in schools that view students holistically. I would like to be in or near a city, have smaller class sizes, be a school that’s fun without being too distracting, have access to good internships throughout, and also be able to continue my photography studies even if it’s not my major.

9

Good question. I’m not sure how much full cost I can cover but my parents said that they have already saved for my tuition and they know what kind of schools I’m looking at.

10

I would have that conversation with your parents before you get too far into school selection. You need to know your cost constraints and then look at the price calculators for each schools to see which are affordable. There is no point in applying to a school that financially won’t work.

3 Likes
11

And room and board and books and personal expenses?

A number of your reach schools require the SAT or ACT…and right now, your score is not a competitive one for these schools.

You attend a private school. Please talk to your college counselor there. They will have a good handle on how students from your high school do in terms of admissions at these colleges.

5 Likes
12

Thank you

13

Is the weighted GPA from the South Carolina calculation?
https://ed.sc.gov/tests/tests-files/eocep-files/uniform-grading-policy-february-2018/

2 Likes
14

AP statistics is not considered that difficult. Many colleges have a quantitative reasoning requirement that can be fulfilled by an introductory statistics course or a high enough AP statistics score. But the college introductory statistics course will cover the material in a semester instead of a year. Statistics is generally a useful thing to know.

The most selective colleges on your list would prefer to see the highest course rigor options in your courses, but they are very low probability with a 3.65 unweighted GPA.

2 Likes
15

Welcome to College Confidential! You’ve got some great ECs and your academic record shows that you are well-prepared for college.

Chancing for a recruited athlete is very different than chancing for non-athletes, and depending on the school and the athlete, there are athletes who are granted admission to schools that they are unlikely to have been accepted to had they not been a recruited athlete. You may want to post in the athletic recruiting forum for more feedback, but I’m also going to page @MWFan1921 and @cinnamon1212 who can provide greater insight than I can.

I’m going to chance you for the schools on your list assuming that you are NOT a recruited athlete.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • College of Charleston
  • SCAD – if no portfolio is required for your major of choice

Likely (60-79%)

  • Clemson (leaning toward toss-up)
  • U. of South Carolina (leaning toward extremely likely)

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • American
  • Fordham
  • Furman
  • Howard
  • Occidental

Lower Probability (20-39%)

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Wesleyan
  • Davidson
  • NYU
  • BU
  • U. of Michigan
  • U. of Southern California

Very Low Probability (less than 5%)

  • Emory
  • UNC
  • Pomona
  • Tufts
  • Swarthmore
  • Amherst
  • Georgetown
  • Princeton
  • Columbia
  • Williams
  • Duke
  • Stanford
  • UPenn
  • Yale
3 Likes
16

Some of the schools on your list (like Clemson & Williams) are not in or near cities. Most bigger schools tend to have a larger percentage of bigger classes, unless you’re in the honors program. And if you’re playing varsity soccer (D1 or D3), it will be a challenge to play your sport, take all your academic classes, and do an internship at the same time. You may want to think about how important it is for you to have school-year internships vs. completing some during summers.

Using this aggregator I pulled the percentage of class sizes by size for the schools I classified as extremely likely to low probability (except for SCAD which wasn’t in the aggregator, so I used USNWR).

Sorted from high to low percentage of classes below 20:

School Classes below 20 Classes 20-49 Classes 50+
Furman 76% 24% 0%
Wesleyan 76% 23% 1%
Occidental 70% 30% 0%
Davidson 69% 31% 0.2%
American 61% 38% 1%
U. of Southern California 61% 27% 12%
NYU 59% 32% 9%
BU 59% 28% 13%
U. of Michigan 54% 28% 19%
SCAD 53% 47% 0%
Fordham 50% 49% 1%
Howard 44% 46% 10%
U. of South Carolina 41% 45% 15%
Clemson 41% 42% 17%
College of Charleston 36% 58% 6%

Sorted from low to high percentage of classes with 50+ students:

School Classes below 20 Classes 20-49 Classes 50+
Furman 76% 24% 0%
Occidental 70% 30% 0%
SCAD 53% 47% 0%
Davidson 69% 31% 0.2%
Wesleyan 76% 23% 1%
American 61% 38% 1%
Fordham 50% 49% 1%
College of Charleston 36% 58% 6%
NYU 59% 32% 9%
Howard 44% 46% 10%
U. of Southern California 61% 27% 12%
BU 59% 28% 13%
U. of South Carolina 41% 45% 15%
Clemson 41% 42% 17%
U. of Michigan 54% 28% 19%

When you say “small classes” what does that mean to you? Is it classes under 20? Is it avoiding large classes? Or something in the middle? If you go to each school’s Common Data Set, you can get even more detailed data (like classes 0-9, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, etc), as a class of 25 is a lot different in feel than a class of 45 (though both fall in the 20-49 range of the aggregator).

4 Likes
17

Okay, last post.

Below are some other schools you may want to consider, sorted by my guesses as to your chances of admission. They range in size from small to large, but the vast majority are in cities, they have strength in history and/or (usually and) photography, and I suspect you would receive merit aid at a good number of them as well.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Drexel (PA ): About 14k undergrads at this Philadelphia school that places a big emphasis on co-ops and has strong arts programming. And Philadelphia is a great place to be for someone interested in history.

  • Loyola Chicago (IL): About 12k undergrads at this Jesuit institution (like Fordham and Georgetown)

  • Saint Edward’s (TX): About 2700 undergrads at this Austin school

  • Saint Joseph’s (PA ): About 4800 undergrads at this Jesuit school in Philadelphia

  • Temple (PA ): About 22k undergrads at this Philly school

  • Virginia Commonwealth: About 21k undergrads at this Richmond school

Likely (60-79%)

  • Ithaca (NY): About 4400 undergrads. If a college town like Ann Arbor appealed, then Ithaca probably will as well. Students can also cross-register at Cornell.

  • SUNY Purchase (NY): About 3200 undergrads at this school less than an hour from NYC and a strong arts emphasis.

  • The New School (NY): About 6800 undergrads at this school in NYC

  • U. of Houston (TX): About 38k undergrads

  • U. of Minnesota – Twin Cities: About 40k undergrads

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • George Washington (D.C.): About 11k undergrads, and it’s another great place for history (as you already have multiple other D.C. schools on your list). The culture here is very friendly to internships.

Lower Probability (20-39%)

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Northeastern (MA): About 16k undergrads and places a lot of focus on co-ops. Boston’s a great location for history majors as well. If you’re open to starting on a different campus (abroad the first semester or a first year in Oakland or wherever), then your odds improve significantly.
4 Likes
18

Some colleges show the class sizes in their online class schedule. This may be a way to get detail on class sizes for classes that you are likely to choose (e.g. those in your major).

3 Likes
19

Have you talked to your private school counselor?

Have you looked into fly in programs?

I do worry about your SAT - at, for example, U of SC. I’m not as optimistic as others.

Your list is certainly very very different.

SCAD is so different - I’m wondering is that what you want ordo you want more traditional.

You’ll get into some for sure - your rigor, depending on what your school offers, may be deemed a tad underwhelming.

C of C is a for sure. When you say can afford full tution - have you run the NPC for schools like BU that will set you back $400K over 4 years. It meets need. You shouldn’t say can pay full (or is that only certain schools) - you should check the NPCs and see how you fare - and if you can then pay full, you’re good. Or if you have $400K for four years, then the entire list is good.

You might fare best at TO schools.

Best of luck to you.

1 Like
20

Assuming you want to play soccer in college, I would focus on that. It is late to start the recruiting process, so you’ll want to move quickly. I always suggest a book called the Athletic Scholarship Playbook, which sets out the recruiting process clearly and concisely.

I am very familiar with men’s college soccer. I would focus on d3 schools. Send out emails to coaches with a highlight video.

The reason to focus on soccer is that if you get an offer it is virtually guaranteed admission. But start now. Offers are already going out, and will mostly be done in a few months (for d3).

2 Likes