Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public, rural, less than 60 graduating in my grade
Cost Constraints / Budget
Parents can contribute ~12k per year, and they are very passionate about no or minimal loans, so I will be needing grants and loan-less scholarships. I also wouldn’t be opposed in any way to a part-time job and/or saving up as much as I can either.
Intended Major(s)
Applied Math
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.95
Weighted HS GPA: 4.11 (out of 5 from AP classes: A-5, B-4, etc.)
Class Rank: I don’t think my school does this but to the best of my knowledge my GPA is one of the highest in my grade.
SAT Score: 1410 (720R/690M)
PSAT Score: 1320, 199 NMSC, I do meet National Merit
List your HS coursework
English: 10th grade English, AP Lit (3), College Writing (dual enrollment), (I took 10th grade English as a freshman so I don’t know what I will end up taking during senior year, likely a class at my local cc)
Math: geometry (o), algebra 2 (o), pre-calculus (o), AP Calculus AB (5), discrete math (cc), calculus 2 (cc), differential equations (cc), vector calculus 1 & 2 (cc) (I haven’t taken all of these yet but this is what’s planned and feasable)
Science: physical science, AP CSP (online, didn’t take the test), biology, chemistry, intro to chem (cc), physics 1 (o)
History and social studies: world history, us history, economics (o), AP Gov (haven’t taken yet)
Language other than English: 3 years of Spanish (o)
Other academic courses: Health (o), PE, AP Calculus TA
Awards
3rd place at a calculus competition out of around 30 other high schoolers.
Extracurriculars
Worked at McDonald’s for 1 summer.
Leadership in STEM club and NHS.
Over 50 hours of volunteering.
Math tutor for elementary, middle, and high schoolers.
Schools
OSU
UO
MIT
CalTech
Stanford
Harvey Mudd
Pomona
I realize a lot of these schools might be a bit too delusional on my part, so please give me recommendations. I have already ran the NPC on all of these too, all are affordable except the safeties which I will need merit aid for.
This score will not meet the cutoff for National Merit Semifinalist or Commended. Possibly you can get the rural distinction, which you could mention in your applications.
I’d advise against bothering to apply to MIT and Stanford as those will not happen. Do your safeties provide enough merit to get to your budget number? If not, you need to add schools that do. Good luck.
690 on the math part of the SAT test is very low for MIT, Caltech, Stanford, and Harvey Mudd, perhaps particularly for a potential math major (although I do not think that any of these schools admit by major). When I was a student at MIT, I did not meet anyone who admitted to having less than perhaps 750 on the math part of the regular SAT. While there might have been someone, they did not admit to it in talking with other students. The last time that I checked, the 25th percentile for the math part of the regular SAT was 790, which sounds about right to me.
How are you in math? How many of the problems on the math SAT test did you find difficult? Are you still a junior? Was there either some level of math that you hadn’t taken yet that was needed for the SAT, or something that you expect to improve on, or both? If you are still a junior then there is of course still time to retake the SAT.
My College Board account just says I meet National Merit, I didn’t know there was a distinction for rural. As for safety merit, it should be enough, thank you.
I know that this statement in your College Board account can be confusing. It only means that you met requirements to enter the competition (by taking the test as a junior in high school, etc). The actual qualifying scores for this year’s National Merit competition won’t be officially determined until later. To give you a better idea of the process, here’s the top section of a flowchart from the College Board student guide to the PSAT / NMSQT:
We believe that the Commended cutoff will come in between 209 and 211, with a 210 being most likely. Based on our historical archive of Semifinalist and Commended cutoffs, we believe that the average Semifinalist cutoff will go up this year.
Do the net price calculators for MIT and Stanford show $12k?
That your parents budget that does not mean the schools will concur that it’s what you can afford.
Realistically only OSU will be an in. But your math is so advanced I may be wrong. But your SAT score does not jive and I’m guessing that’s an issue.
Can you get OSU to $12k with grants? You may be looking at community college otherwise and that can’t support your math needs.
That simply means you took the test as a junior and are a US citizen or legal permanent resident. Their statement has nothing to do with your score on the PSAT.
An index of 199 will not be high enough to qualify for national merit semifinalist nor commended in any state.
I see your note now that you haven’t taken the math yet. Don’t overstretch in hs.
Why not look at other meets needs schools that aren’t Stanford or MIT.
Rochester, Case Western, Union, U Miami, BU, Lehigh - do these show affordable ?
OSU this year is $31k billable - meaning tuition, room and board - so not $28k and that doesn’t include travel, going out with friends, insurance, books, other items.
If you get the Presidential and it’s not assured, it’s $10k so you are over $20k.
Or am I missing something ?
Where do you see that you can get to $12k ? Do they offer more money for low income ?
I think you should not waste your time on the biggies but there are other meets needs schools that are still hard admits but maybe less so
The 28k comes from their net price calculator (ran a couple months ago), and other than the Presidential Scholarship there is the Finley Scholarship worth 4.5k/year for a 3.5 GPA or better. I was planning on paying the rest through their ScholarDollars program or 3rd party scholarships, but yeah it will probably be a strech.
I will look into the schools you mentioned, are there any others that offer good need based aid that aren’t as difficult as MIT/Stanford?
As for the math, it’s only 1 course per trimester so it shouldn’t be bad. I have also consulted the principle and my counselor and they agree.
If you do end up going to Oregon State, note that the tuition cost is per credit unit. If you need to save money, you can dual enroll for some classes at community college to lower your overall tuition cost. The “Degree Partnership Program” allows you to combine these classes with those taken at OSU for the purposes of full time student status (thus allowing you to keep your financial aid and your academic scholarships such as the Finley). Student Information | Degree Partnership Program (DPP) | Oregon State University
I learned about this program from California parents who have kids at OSU. It’s one of the ways that out of state students can reduce the cost of OSU tuition, but it can help in-state students too.
