What schools should I look at? NJ Resident, 92 UW GPA, 1280 SA, undecided major, maybe public health or political science

College Search & Lists
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My mom wants me to major in psychology. I don’t mind it but if I did something like become a psychologist I’d go insane

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Ty, I’ll look at the OT job and try and find creative stuff to do as well

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There are lots of different possible focuses with a psychology major, including things like cognitive science or more neuroscience based. It’s a good “all-around” major and opens lots of doors other than being a therapist (which would need a masters degree anyhow).

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Okay, ty. I’ll look into those

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OP, you haven’t asked for one, but I’m sending you a virtual hug (or two, or three, or however many you need). It sounds like you’re in a really tough spot right now.

First, I’d urge you to speak with your guidance counselor, and before April. Let your counselor know about some of the family dynamics going on and see if you can be in a group/seen at school or if there’s a resource available for you to talk with someone. You’re going through A LOT and it’s really helpful to have an outside resource with whom you can talk through these issues.

Secondly, I’d look into the City Year program or Americorps options to see about getting yourself a break. You’ve made repeated comments about feeling burnt out, or hoping not to be broken by this process, etc. That doesn’t sound like an ideal way to start college. Things may be very different in a year and you won’t be feeling that way. But if you are, it’s good to have some options that you can act on.

It is 100% okay and normal to go into college as an undecided student. As others have mentioned, pre-med is just a series of classes you need to take, so you can take those while majoring in anything you want. Additionally, every good pre-med adviser recommends people to have a plan B for what they would want to do if med school’s not an option. So you can tell your parents that you’re following that advice by making sure you have a good plan B option via your major. If you think something in the health fields is of interest, you may want to explore this website which gives info on a number of different careers: https://explorehealthcareers.org/

I’ll be back later with some college recommendations.

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86

Check out industrial/organizational psychology. You might find it interesting.

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I’ll check this out ty

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Ngl I don’t know what I’ll do entirely. I think I don’t know what I want to do is becuase I really don’t want to do anything: I don’t want to be an adult and pay taxes and be in a dark and lonely place all alone, but I’m not enjoying being a teenager either. Maybe a gap year will make me less cynical. I think my mom would push for a religious gap year tboguh:

I think I want to help people but maybe I’m not the one to. I think that was just what was pushed upon me.

I’ll look at your programs mentioned though: someone else suggested city year I think. Maybe I’ll also do study abroad in college:

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That would require a PhD to be employable

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True. I was just suggesting a potential field if OP is interested in psychology but not the clinical side.

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Right but its gonna require an advanced degree

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Unlikely she will be financially independent for college financial aid purposes at age 21.

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Some of these schools have been mentioned by others, but these are some schools that you might want to investigate. The descriptions here are primarily about why your mom might give them the okay.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • George Mason (VA): Part of the consortium that allows students to take classes at Georgetown, GW, Howard, etc. (source).

  • Goucher (MD): About 1k undergrads and part of a consortium with Johns Hopkins, Loyola Maryland, and others.

  • Moravian (PA ): About 1900 undergrads and part of a consortium where students can take classes at other schools, like Lafayette, Lehigh, and Muhlenberg (source).

  • Xavier (LA): About 2700 undergrads, all the good stuff that @fiftyfifty1 mentioned, and it’s in the same consortium with Tulane, etc.

Likely (60-79%)

  • Agnes Scott (GA): About 1k undergrads and because it’s part of the ARCHE consortium, you can take classes at other area colleges like Emory, Georgia Tech, Spelman, etc.

  • Howard (D.C.)…already approved by Mom!

  • Ithaca (NY): About 4600 undergrads and students can cross-register at Cornell (source)

  • Loyola Maryland: About 4k undergrads and part of a consortium where students can take classes at Johns Hopkins and other institutions.

  • Loyola New Orleans (LA): About 3300 undergrads and part of a consortium with Tulane, Xavier, and Dillard.

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • U. of Connecticut

  • U. of Massachusetts – Amherst: Part of the 5 colleges consortium where students can take classes at Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Hampshire.

  • U. of Minnesota – Twin Cities: About 39k undergrads. Strong in many areas…#53 on USNWR

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Spelman (GA)

  • U. of Pittsburgh (PA ): About 24k undergrads, #67 on USNWR, and Pennsylvania is a hard state to cross with ease from NJ (i.e. benefit to you). The good news is that it does rolling admissions, so if you put an app in soon after the application opens (like August), you should find out your answer early, too.

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • The other schools on your list…most of which I would say are less than 5%
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I think by that point I’d cut her off. I’m not exactly sure when I’m going no contact though

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Ty for this list im going to do research on these and the schools the other people said

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Understand…you will not be able to cut your parents off from financial aid applications as an undergrad even if you want to.

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Oh, then when can I?

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Oh maybe that’s why she wants to pay for my college and I’m not allowed to work. What if I took out the loan

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You will be independent for financial aid purposes:

  1. When you complete a bachelors degree (note…many medical schools still will require parent financials.

Or

  1. If you are married

Or

  1. If you have a child who you provide the support for.

Or

  1. If you become a military veteran.

Or

  1. If you have ever been in foster care or under guardianship prior to a certain age (@kelsmom…what is that age)?

Or

  1. You are an emancipated minor. This is a legal proceeding, and it takes a LONG time with very sufficient documentation to achieve and must be completed prior to your 18th birthday.

Even IF you become independent, there is no guarantee you will get accepted to a college that meets full financial need.

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If you complete a FAFSA which requires parent info…here are the loan amounts you can take yourself.

Freshman $5500
Sophomore $6500
Junior $7500
Senior 7500

That’s IT. Anything in excess of those amounts will require a qualified cosigner, or someone else would need to take out the loans for you. You can not do this yourself.

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