Hi, everybody. So, I am a high school senior who is starting to apply to colleges. I am wondering what reputable colleges I can get into with these scores:
ACT-28
GPA- 3.7
I have a reasonable amount of ECs, community service work and was student body vice president for my school.
Also, I did an exchange year during high school with a rather prestigious program
Please let me know what you all think. Thanks!
An exchange year is not a “hook”, regardless of prestige.
Are you looking for in state or out of state?
Location doesn’t really matter for me. Anywhere within the contiguous US.
You wouldn’t get into many GREAT colleges but mediocre: yes.
-University of Alabama
-Auburn University
-UCLA: Try applying but you have a 12% chance of getting in
-UCSC
There are lots of others. Here is a link:
http://www.collegesimply.com/guides/28-on-the-act/
There are a huge number of reputable schools that you can get into with these stats. We are going to need more information to suggest a few.
What state are you in? What can you afford? What are you thinking about majoring in? Do you want a large school or a small school? Is your GPA weighted or unweighted? Are there schools that you have visited, or schools that you are already considering?
Budget/year? Intended major?
Look at Mt. Holyoke – https://www.mtholyoke.edu/
and Bryn Mawr – https://www.brynmawr.edu/
and Smith – https://www.smith.edu/
these three are scores-optional and are top schools and are part of consortia, with coed schools, that expand your campus and your experience
Mills
Agnes Scott
Bard
It would help if you say if you prefer city, suburban, rural
etc
No offense, but why are you rating the chances of a student getting into a certain school when you just made a chance thread?
@Muad_dib : while it may not be a hook in the traditional sense (legacy, URM, athlete), it is a very significant differentiator, especially if it’s DoD or Rotary but also if it’s YFU or AFS.
@unigirl27 :
What’s your parents’ budget and how does that differ from their EFC?
What state are you a resident of?
What country was it and did you take the SAT Subject in the language this November (or will in December)?
Have you applied to any colleges yet?
Do you have access to a Fiske Guide or a Princeton Review’s Best Colleges?
There are more than 3000 four-year, accredited colleges in the US. Your academic credentials will get you into the overwhelming majority of them. What do you consider “reputable?” Are you thinking in terms of prestigious “brand-names?” If so, then you might be disappointed. You can get a “reputable” education at thousands of colleges that you might not be familiar with. Your stats might not be sufficient to earn you a merit scholarship at some colleges where you have a strong chance of admission, and so that can affect your prospects if you hope to receive a generous financial package.
I always suggest building a manageable list from the bottom up. Define your financial, academic, cultural, social, and geographic preferences. Your interests do not have to be strictly academic. It is entirely rational to consider factors like climate, opportunities for athletic and extracurricular activities, urban/suburban/rural community, etc. Focus on realistic colleges for your profile as it is today. Do not listen to people saying “. . . oh, just study really, really hard for your next round of SAT/ACTs, and raise your scores to 1500/34+ . . .” If you spend your time obsessing on the colleges you can’t get into, you will be wasting time better spent identifying those where you can get in and thrive.
If you want suggestions, please give us a little more to work with.
I am thinking about majoring in Biochemistry. I don’t have any preference as to where the school is located, but I would prefer a medium to large sized school. As far as reputable goes I realize that I am not up to par for the Ivy Leagues, but I’m still applying to Cornell as an extreme reach school. I’m looking into Purdue, Tulane, Duke, and College of William and Mary (another reach school). What schools that are similar to those do you think I should look into? Also, the cost of the school doesn’t really matter to me, just the quality of the education. Thanks
I think all the ones you mention are reaches. As someone said earlier, Alabama would be good. Rutgers, Univ South Carolina. OTHER state schools, just not flagships - UTD, UMBC, Penn State Harrisburgh, etc…
Syracuse
Binghamton
UMass Amherst
Boston U
UMaryland College Park
Penn State–agreed. Excellent sciences
U of Pittsburgh
Drexel
Temple
unfortunately, unless your parents are millionaires, with the cost of college, that’s an impractical wish. In addition, quality of education doesn’t relate to cost. Some colleges are excellent yet cheaper because they’re located in low cost of living areas, whereas others are mediocre but are located in desirable or high cost locations so you pay for that. Finally, “in state” residents get a discount at their public universities due to their parents paying taxes to fund the university. If your parents aren’t residents and thus haven’t paid taxes to fund the university, you become a cash cow for the university that will make you pay as much as they possibly can since they have no responsibility towards you.
For instance, unless you live in Indiana, Purdue will not give you any financial aid (they’re a public university so they serve students from Indiana, not other states). In addition, if you ARE an Indiana resident, as a student who spent a year abroad, you’d be better served if that language is represented in the Language Flagship at IU, and major in biochemistry alongside the Language Flagship program (which trains you in high levels of fluency for a non-language major, so that you can be a bilingual professional).
Although it’s smaller than what you want, look into Dickinson: they’ll highly value your year abroad and, since it’s a LAC, it means you’ll have full access to labs and will be able to do research (since there are no graduate students to do it instead of you). It’d be a high match for you due to stats but their emphasis on international education means they become a match thanks to your stay abroad.
Same thing for St Olaf, which is in addition very strong in the sciences.
Both “meet need” so run the NPC and see if your parents could afford them. Then, post here to indicate the budget range your parents gave you (i.e., “EFC 35K, parents can afford 25K, NPC for Dickinson 32K, 29K for St Olaf, 44K for IU”… or "EFC 14K, parents can afford 13K, NPC 13K for DIckinson, 17K for St Olaf, IU 25K…)
Apply to Cornell if you really want to but don’t expect to get in: their BOTTOM 25% threshold is ACT 31. Fewer than 10% have a 28 or lower and you can bet those are super hooked (like, highly recruited athletes or kids who went to a school where the average ACT is 15).
Tulane, Duke, W&M, are all reaches too.
What state do you live in?
What are your two affordable safeties?
You could apply test optional to Wake Forest and Brandeis; Brandeis in particular would appreciate the year abroad.
I strongly suggest you look at Creighton.
You will need to hit the books hard wherever you choose to go with a 27 ACT and biochemistry as your intended major. Very difficult subject which requires plenty of intellectual horsepower.
No offense, but unless you are a D1 athlete or a Martian, Duke and Cornell are pipe dreams. Just being candid. Save the application fees.
Good luck to you!
“What state do you live in?”
“What are your two affordable safeties?”
These are two very important questions from @MYOS1634. I also haven’t yet noticed whether OP’s 3.7 GPA is weighted or unweighted.