<p>I am interested in political science, genetics, biology, or biomedical engineering as a major and Spanish or Arabic as a minor.</p>
<p>I would like to stay close to NY in an urban or suburban area. </p>
<p>I am a low-middle income Black Puerto Rican.</p>
<p>I am a junior and have a 3.4 GPA at a competitive NYC Prep school. My ECs are good in my opinion. I can get good recs. Im trying to do precalc over the summer so I can take calc. My school doesn’t rank or give GPAs. </p>
<p>Also, my parents went to college, but never got an associates. Would I be considered first gen?</p>
<p>I just received my PSAT score of 191, if that affects anything. I’m aiming for atleast a 2100 on the SAT.</p>
<p>What schools should I look at? Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Your school doesnt give GPA, yet you say you have a 3.4? How does that add up?</p>
<p>Fyi,
if you major in biomedical engineering or something that is involved with genetics (not sure what undergrad school has that exact option) you will have no need let alone time for a minor. unless you are einstein part 2 , you will be working full time on mastering your major.</p>
<p>You would be considered first gen, but that may not mean anything at various schools. The big question is what can your family afford for college.</p>
<p>@muhammed9211</p>
<p>Thanks for responding. My school doesn’t calculate GPAs, but that doesn’t mean I can’t convert.</p>
<p>@zobroward</p>
<p>Thanks, that’s a good point. I would likely pursue that by itself. I’m just afraid that not completing calc by graduation would harm my chances.</p>
<p>@Erin’s Dad </p>
<p>Thanks for responding. I will likely be able to afford college with good financial aid in scholarships. Right now I am fortunate enough to attend a school that costs 35k a year. Hopefully I am as lucky with scholarships for college.</p>
<p>I apologize. In the post above I meant to say “…with good financial aid and scholarships.” </p>
<p>I’m planning on taking the January, May, and October SAT if necessary. I’m taking the ACT as well. Right now I’m aiming for a 32-36.</p>
<p>Head on over to the Financial Aid forum and read up on FA vs. merit. The vast majority of good scholarships are offered by the school itself.</p>
<p>That’s why I need help finding specific schools.</p>
<p>Look at the stickied threads at the top of the FA forum for guaranteed merit.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>Well, sentient, sometimes cases like yours are the toughest to respond to because there is so little that is certain. You don’t have GPA or SAT. And you don’t have a major or two in one field. You want to remain near NYC. And you’re a December junior, so a lot can change. And you need a lot of FA. So I’m going to say you will have a 3.4 and a 1900 SAT and take it from there.</p>
<p>Alternative #1: a community college for a year or two to “get your GPA up.” Then a college that will want you for your now college GPA and your URM and will offer merit to transfers (there aren’t many of them, but URochester might be one).</p>
<p>Alternative #2: go straight to one of these schools:
Reaches: Lafayette, Rochester, Muhlenberg, Lehigh
Matches: Binghamton, Stony Brook, Albany, Siena
Safeties: Purchase, Old Westbury, Pace</p>
<p>When your grades and scores improve, you can adjust. No doubt other people will have their ideas about where to look. Good luck.</p>
<p>Being first gen, Black, Hispanic, male, with (potentially but let us take that for granted for now) relatively high stats in a challenging prep school curriculum that may be a feeder to top colleges makes you competitive for a lot of schools that cover 100% need for admitted students. However you should aim for the schools ranked 30+ for better odds - you can include one in the 25-30 range if you can keep expectations low.
[100%</a> Meet Need Colleges | CollegeGreenlight](<a href=“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students”>Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students)
In all likelihood, if you want to attend a top school with good financial aid, you will have to look much further than NY State.
In NY State, I can think of Hamilton that seeks out first gen students (their president is a first gen too). Vassar, Lawrence, Skidmore. All would be reaches due to their high selectivity.
Go to their website and fill out the “request information/join mailing list” to get on their radar.</p>
<p>I would recommend going straight to 4-year colleges and to aim for the most selective ones that are within reach. Indeed, there are few groups for whom college prestige matters, and it’s students from lower-income families, first gens, kids from immigrant families, and under-represented minority groups. The top colleges usually have extensive support systems and networks that do for them what families do for upper-middle or middle class students.</p>
<p>A 3.4 at a good prep school that doesn’t rank (ie, that is so high-level even the lowest-ranked students are competitive so they’re not ranked so as to not disadvantage them in admissions) probably means a very high GPA at your neighbordhood public school.</p>
<p>Check out this website:
<a href=“http://www.imfirst.org/[/url]”>http://www.imfirst.org/</a></p>
<p>Being first gen, Black, Hispanic, male, with (potentially but let us take that for granted for now) relatively high stats in a challenging prep school curriculum that may be a feeder to top colleges makes you competitive for a lot of schools that cover 100% need for admitted students. However you should aim for the schools ranked 30+ for better odds - you can include a couple in the 20-30 range if you can keep expectations low.
[100%</a> Meet Need Colleges | CollegeGreenlight](<a href=“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students”>Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students)
In all likelihood, if you want to attend a top school with good financial aid, you will have to look much further than NY State.
In NY State, I can think of Hamilton that seeks out first gen students (their president is a first gen too). U Rochester, Vassar, Lawrence, Skidmore, Syracuse. All different in vibe and all would be reaches due to their high selectivity. Cornell is out but check with your school’s naviance since top prep school GPAs sometimes have good results if they’re feeder schools in their region. In fact, check naviance from all.
Go to their website and fill out the “request information/join mailing list” to get on their radar.</p>
<p>I would recommend going straight to 4-year colleges and to aim for the most selective ones that are within reach. Indeed, there are few groups for whom college prestige matters, and it’s students from lower-income families, first gens, kids from immigrant families, and under-represented minority groups. The top colleges usually have extensive support systems and networks that do for them what families do for upper-middle or middle class students.</p>
<p>A 3.4 at a good prep school that doesn’t rank (ie, that is so high-level even the lowest-ranked students are competitive so they’re not ranked so as to not disadvantage them in admissions) probably means a very high GPA at your neighbordhood public school.</p>
<p>Check out this website:
<a href=“http://www.imfirst.org/[/url]”>http://www.imfirst.org/</a></p>
<p>Adding to MYOS’s post, talk to your GC. They must have an idea of what colleges students with your stats and background have been able to gain entry.</p>
<p>If you are thinking of biomed engineering, then focus on schools with engineering. That sounds obvious but I see that people are already suggesting LACs for you…
You will get better suggestions if you post after you have SAT or ACT scores.
Some schools to start looking at - Tufts, U.Rochester, Northeastern, B.U., Syracuse, RIT, RPI, WPI etc.
Those schools vary widely on how generous they are with FA, and some of them offer merit aid while others do not.
Since URMs are more underrepresented in engineering than most other areas, some schools will be extra generous with merit aid. So, keep those grades high and shoot for great test scores!</p>