<p>Schools Already Applied to:
-University of Maryland-College Park (Priority Deadline)
-Drexel University (EA)</p>
<p>Schools I'm Applying to:
-Penn State-University Park (Priority)
-University of Delaware
-Temple University
-Ohio State
-Rutgers-New Brunswick
-University of Georgia (RD)
-University of Connecticut
-Howard University
-Hampton University</p>
<p>Schools I'm Possibly Applying to:
-University of West Virginia
-Florida State
-University of Florida
-University of Central Florida
-CU-Boulder
-University of Arizona
-Arizona State
-IU Bloomington</p>
<p>About Me:
PA Resident
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Possible First Generation student (Mom has an Associate's degree)</p>
<p>GPA: 3.8/4.0 UW</p>
<p>SAT (Ugh): 1430/2400 or 920/1600 (I retook it this month. I'm expecting higher scores)</p>
<p>Class Rank: 180/325
Junior Year class rank: 143/321</p>
<p>HS Type: Well known and academically respected Catholic HS in the Philadelphia area. About a month ago, it was ranked the best private HS in my county!</p>
<p>EC's
-Marching band
-Drumline
-Percussion ensemble
-Private drumming lessons
-Wells Fargo College Bound program
-Semi-Pro baseball
-National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine, Summer 2011</p>
<p>Honors/Awards:
Sophomore Year
-Student of the Month award from Phys/Ed teacher</p>
<p>Junior Year
-Student of the Month in Theology 2 times-Junior year
-Theology department award for being tied for highest Theology avg. in Class of 2013
-First Honors (93 avg, No grade below 90)-3rd quarter of Junior Year
-Second Honors (88 avg, No grade below 85)-4th quarter of Junior Year
-2 Student of the Month awards from my Theology teacher</p>
<p>Senior Year
-Homecoming King-Senior Year (Also, I am my school's first black Homecoming King!)</p>
<p>Idk about a lot of these schools, but I will say UF’s application deadline has passed. Also, I’d recommend against applying for FSU unless your SAT scores went up to about 1200+ (CR + M). Of course SAT isn’t everything, but this is because many FL State schools do not accept many out of state students unless they have really good SAT’s, GPA, rank, ect.</p>
<p>You have a LOT of OOS publics on your list. Have your parents said that they will pay for those? If not, take many of them off your list.</p>
<p>A safety isn’t a safety unless you know you have ALL costs covered. Getting accepted is only half the issue if money is a concern. So, tell us what your budget is…how much your family will pay. </p>
<p>However, if your parents will pay all costs for those OOS publics, then fine.</p>
<p>What is your guidance counselor saying? If you are going to a good HS you probably have good counseling services.
Seems like a really long list, but you may need to “cast a wide net” since your test scores are fairly low. Were these scores the first time you took them?</p>
<p>If you are going to need financial aid, this list probably might not be good enough. You need one or two places that you can readily afford. Read through the threads on guaranteed merit-based scholarships in the Financial Aid Forum for more ideas.</p>
<p>Did you choose this list because of their drumlines? Are you recruitable for that? If so, it can make a difference in admissions even if the scholarships aren’t particularly big. Your music instructors should have an idea about that.</p>
<p>Maybe you are just so done with Catholic education, or maybe none of the Catholic universities you’ve looked at have a good enough drumline. But do speak with your guidance counselor about that option. One or more could be a safety for you. </p>
<p>Likewise, take a look at the regional campuses of Penn State, and the Philly area community colleges. If money suddenly becomes a big issue for you, something that you can commute to is nice to have available. Check their websites for scholarship opportunities as well. Our local CC has a full-tuition scholarship the doesn’t require any ACT or SAT score at all.</p>
<p>I really don’t know how big of an issue money is going to be. I don’t think it’s going to be a significant one, but it is definitely something to think about</p>
<p>I think you should apply to some higher ranked schools. Your stats are impressive and the private schools will give you an AA bump. You should take a shot at BC, NYU, Northeastern, GW, etc. Look at schools ranked in the 25-50 range in areas where you would consider living (city v. rural, midwest v. northeast, etc.).</p>
<p>Out of state public universities often do not give out significant financial aid and moreover, some of them have rigid SAT cutoffs and your scores might be too low. Given the discrepancy between your average and your SAT scores, you might want to look at some test optional schools. Take a look at this list of test-optional schools to see if any of the schools appeal to you [SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional/state]SAT/ACT”>http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional/state) </p>
<p>I might add some of the following:</p>
<p>DePaul
Holy Cross
Marist
Gettysburg
Franklin & Marshall
Sewanee</p>
<p>And I completely agree with a number of other posters–you need to have a financial safety and I don’t think you have enough information yet to figure out how much you can afford.</p>
<p>One other thing: be sure to practice standardized test taking skills. You will need to do well on the MCAT to go to medical school in the US; all medical schools in the US are highly selective.</p>
<p>@Wordworker Hampton actually wants me to apply to them for free as a VIP applicant so they’re definitely on my list! I’m also applying to Howard</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus Definitely will. That’s a must do for me because I am really determined to get into med school</p>
<p>@informative I actually like Northeastern a little bit. I’ll look into it further</p>
<p>Congratulations for raising your reading score. It’s competitive now.</p>
<p>As you must know, though, math is a problem, big-time. You’ve scored in the same range twice now, which suggests it’s a reasonably accurate measure of your current skill level. Even for places like Penn State branch campuses, it’s at the bottom for admitted freshmen. </p>
<p>Was this a surprise? Did you think you’d done well? Did you see questions about a lot of things you’d never studied?</p>
<p>You’ll have to start now to learn enough math to ace your college classes, including physics, chemistry, and calculus. Does your school have tutoring? Does your group offer anything? Does your guidance counselor know about anything that would be free or low cost? Does the Archdiocese? Your local library? Your friendly local community college, which I’m assuming is Delco (which teaches remedial math to its own students)? You need to treat this as an urgent problem. You’re smart enough to do it, and I hope you’re determined enough.</p>
<p>Enjoy your holiday but please start looking for your next steps.</p>
