That’s a good address
(I started giving an idea of the format after I got emails from advisees with emails like ILoveUnicorns and SexGod1234…)
At this stage, the boxes in “request info/join the mailing list” tend to be used to connect you to on campus groups. If there’s no question about being AA/Black you can enter that as an academic interest.
In CommonApp, colleges can’t see anything till you submit so right now they can’t see anything.
You don’t have to answer any question beside the basic requirement (name email) but if you provide them with some info they will have a little record of your interests and send you relevant info too.
Do not provide them with parents’name.
^6 college “request info/join our mailing list” pages to get you started.
Okay so now you have 3 possible, affordable public “likelies” in PA, all solid with easy apps:
Pitt& academic communities
PSU& a liberal arts major+ Paterno Fellows Aspirant
West Chester University +Honors
You can apply directly from the website on Aug 1, using your dad’s address (but YOUR email) and without using up a CommonApp slot.
(BONUS: PSU-UP and Pitt are NOT easily accesible from Lancaster or NJ).
These may not be optimal (very large univesities) but you will hear quickly for Pitt and WCU; I’m willing to bet you’d also hear relatively quickly from PSU-UP’s CLA. That will lower the pressure so you can focus on Agnes Scott, Spelman, Howard, etc. As well as just-for-mom ED1.
Here’s another random idea: Northeastern University took over the campus of the former HWC, Mills College in Oakland, CA. It is difficult to tell how competitive it is to apply directly to the Oakland campus for all four years, since they don’t break out the stats by location, but a lot of students prefer to be in Boston, so a student who actually wanted to be in Oakland and stay there for four years might have an advantage. (Northeastern is also need-aware, so that’s another advantage.)
Pros:
There are fewer than 800 undergrads on the Oakland campus, so no worries about small school/small classes
Lovely campus - former women’s college with the aesthetic thereof
Great SF Bay Area location, LGBTQ+ community, Black community, etc.
Unique opportunity to have the co-op education experience that’s typically found only at larger schools, but on a small campus. (You’ve mentioned internships repeatedly, and this would be like getting good internships only more so.)
Unknown level of competitiveness for a student applying specifically for the full 4 years in Oakland. Likely quite a bit less competitive than NU admissions generally, but their acceptance rate has gotten very low.
Attrition from the cohort: Quite a few students are admitted to Oakland for first-year only, and then would be leaving for the main campus.
Some students settling for this location rather than really wanting to be there
Growing pains: the campus is still in transition, not fully established as whatever the new campus culture/community will look like
So… I don’t know if you could get in, and I don’t know if you’d want to. But it’s a great location, has some of the same sort of campus aesthetic as Scripps, and I could see you really liking the co-op education model if you could get it in a more intimate environment like this one. So it’s a thought. Would Mom be impressed by the Northeastern name?
For the public universities, use their own app. They’re not ready yet but will be on their website. This way your PA address appears. https://admissions.pitt.edu/apply/appquiz/
(Being instate only matters for public universities).
I believe you should still use your correct address in NJ. As you say, you’ll be graduating from a NJ high school so it’s not as if you can pretend to live with your dad. The way to get classified in-state is to submit a residency review: Residency Review | Office of the Bursar. I’m not clear how you get classified as in-state for admissions purposes - maybe better to ask an AO directly.
I don’t think it’s a case of reconsideration since a parent lives in PA (ie., didn’t move there in the past year), unless the mother has sole custody. @rosechild : you should ask (adapt as is relevant), indicating your parents are divorced with shared custody, your father has lived in PA since 2013, your mother has lived in NJ since 2004, are you instate for tuition purpose in PA?
That’s the link that is provided on the FAQ about a non-custodial parent living in PA. But yeah, there’s really no point in trying to puzzle it out when OP can simply ask.