What schools would take me? Psychology/Criminology major; VA resident đź’” [4.1/4.5 GPA, top 4%, no parent contribution]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hi I don’t have the best stats, I’m applying to: UVA, William and Mary, Virginia Tech, George Mason, George Washington, Northeastern, Penn State, Rutgers, and Virginia Commonwealth

I do need scholarships for all schools outside of Virginia and expensive ones within (like tech probably)

Demographics

  • US citizen
  • Virginia
  • Public school/governor’s school
  • First generation

Intended Major(s)

Psychology/Criminology

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.1

  • 4.42 out of 5.5 (only AP and DE are weighted)

  • Class Rank: 14/360
  • ACT/SAT Scores: none to report

List your HS coursework

  • English: Honors English 9 and 10, AP LANG, AP Lit
  • Math: Algebra I and Geometry concurrently, algebra 2, DE Pre calc, AP stats
  • Science: DE Chemistry, AP Physics, Honors biology, environmental science, earth science
  • History and social studies: AP psych, sociology, criminal justice
  • Language other than English: Spanish I-V + AP Spanish
  • Visual or performing arts: Art I and II
  • Other academic courses: Small Animal Care

Awards

AP Scholar w Distinction

4.0+ gpa academic excellence

College board recognition program: rural and small town, first generation, school recognition

National Spanish honor society

Extracurriculars
2 year research project, wrote literature review, producing documentary with help of Baylor university professor

Sheriff’s Office Cadet

2 Jobs, trainer at one

Reseller

Animal shelter volunteer

Chores including livestock care

Suicide coalition volunteer

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What’s your budget? And do you qualify for need based financial aid?

Just to be sure: neither of your parents has a college degree from anywhere in the world?

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I see you differently as an applicant from how you see you. You have very solid stats, being in the top 5% of your class. Your extras are pretty interesting as well. You should get into the large majority of the schools you listed. As far as scholarships for the OOS schools, that can be harder. GW may offer the greatest odds on that front.

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You look like a strong applicant apart from the need for tuition assistance. I would caution about the psychology/criminology path. Psychology is a very popular and is an over-produced major, and criminology is not about being a lawyer. I think you should think a bit more, and talk to people in these jobs if possible.

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Agree.
I don’t know exactly what a sheriff’s office cadet does but it seems to support the idea of a criminology major, while the suicide coalition volunteer supports a psych major. Both these stand out from “typical” ECs one might see, as does the livestock care (which also adds a different angle to the animal shelter volunteer).

I think this is a robust and interesting applicant. I am assuming instate will be the best option for financial aid but agree there is a chance of merit at some of the privates.

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Hi - seems a good profile to me. I like the animal shelter volunteer - very meaningful activity my kids did.

You were already asked for your budget. The reason is - if you need scholarships in state, then what can you afford down to the dollar? $20K? $30K, etc.

Did you take a test and just feel the score is too low? If so, what is the score? Do you know how it compares to others? For OOS schools, you often need to have a test - and yes, some can beat in-state rates.

What is your 4.1 UW GPA out of? 4.33? What’s the max unweighted, in other words.

I don’t see any Virginia low income college assistance short of community college. Talk to your counselor - there may be some.

I agree with @neela1 that there may be better majors. At the same time, kids change and in the end, have to study what they want. I don’t see law school listed anywhere but if it’s in the future, a) it has a cost b) it’s unlikely to matter where you go but you would need a strong test c) you can major in anything.

Some majors have better “outcomes” than others, but some have to study what they love but outcome wise, yours will be tough. But I know a lot of successes with psych degrees so it can be done.

I would not apply to $60K Penn State because you aren’t getting money. If you can afford high 20s, you can apply to PASSHE schools like Lock Haven or Bloomsburg. They haven’t set OOS scholarships yet but high 20s would be past #s. Temple might also be a reasonable sub.

I would not apply to Rutgers or GW - you can’t afford them. GW doesn’t assure to meet need and if you need too much may not accept you anyway. Rutgers, like Penn State, is there to benefit in state students. Temple might be a reasonable sub, depending on budget. Check U Maine - they have a flagship match for some states - meaning you’d pay UVA tuition (not cheap) but perhaps there’s other money.

The 4 NC Promise Schools will be mid 20s full price - W Carolina, Elizabeth City State, UNC Pembroke, and Fayetteville State. Marshall U should be similar with merit - a mid size public in WV that’s a good name (the W&M size public in WV).

ON your list, I imagine you’d have potential at each school if you’re from a rural area. I’m wondering if you might do better with smaller and both Mary Washington and Christopher Newport are excellent - and on top of that, CNU is a beautiful campus. I’d love to walk that each day.

They are less expensive so you might add them.

I don’t know your family income but if it’s very low (say $75K or less), you might add Berea.

So I’d drop a few and refine the list a tad - given your budget issues, however restrictive it is.

If all else fails budget wise, there’s nothing wrong with a community college for two years to save money.

Best of luck.

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You’ll have a better idea of more schools to potentially target with official ACT or SAT scores: e.g. 1200+ or 1300+ or 1400+ or 1500+.

If you don’t plan to take either, then are you applying only to test-optional schools?

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If your budget is below $60,000 a year, remove Rutgers and Penn state.

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Be careful of the difference between “criminology” and “criminal justice” as college majors. Criminology is usually a more research focused liberal arts major, or a subarea of sociology (sociology of crime). Criminal justice is usually a pre-professionally focused major for those aiming to go into domestic law enforcement and related areas.

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Correct

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I do qualify for need based aid. I guess my budget would ideally be ~20k (with scholarships.)

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Thanks, I am aware and do have an interest in criminology rather than criminal justice (not really a legal procedures kind of person, am interested in understanding crime patterns and combining it with psychology).

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Hello, my unweighted is on a 4.5 scale. The weighted is on a 5.5 scale. I am applying to only test optional schools because I never took a test before and am afraid my score would be low since I’d start late. My budget would be 20-30k as you said without scholarships. I think maybe I can pay for around 10k. I do qualify for need based aid.

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Thanks for your feedback! A sheriffs office cadet learns about law enforcement branches like SWAT, k9, forensics units, child protection, etc. We do demos with them and we also learn different procedures like fingerprinting and traffic stops to name a few. The department also organizes community events that we assist with.

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What points does each grade correspond to?

Have you and your parents used the net price calculator on each college’s financial aid web pages?

You mention College Board Recognition – wouldn’t this mean that you took the PSAT and got a qualifying score? The SAT is similar to the PSAT, and the PSAT is likely predictive of the SAT.

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I’m not sure I’d want to take you w/ that kind of attitude! @starlene, I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but … UW GPA above 4.0 and top 5% at your school … you have an excellent academic record!

I think you can use a big-picture strategy. You said your budget might be ~$20k/year, so that is fairly restrictive. So I’d start there. Roughly speaking your options are, from the cheapest to the most expensive:

  1. commute to an in-state public university (cheapest)
  2. live @ in-state pub univ (cheaper)
  3. private colleges (highly variable, sometimes cheaper than in-state pub)
  4. out-of-state public universities (most expensive)

I suggest you make a list and run some net price calculators (NPC) for a few colleges that span the 4 categories above to get a feel for what you can afford. Net cost will depend strongly on the details of your family finances, not just “my parent said we can pay $20k”.

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A couple of notes…

To responders - OP comes from a rural and small town. Even if they had an SAT score, it wouldn’t correspond to what gets accepted from NOVA and other major areas. In my rural city, I know several in the 1300s who got into and did very well at UVA.

To OP - VA publics are not known for giving out scholarship money. They do give out need based aid. However, outside scholarships don’t usually stack on top of this aid. In many cases, those scholarships may simply reduce the work-study or loan portion of a financial aid package. This was a huge surprise to me before my eldest started the application process. Even so, I would still also check with your guidance counsellor for outside scholarships opportunities, just in case. In our small rural city, my kids did very well.

Good luck to you!

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For need aid, you need to stay in state, you can try UNC but I don’t suspect would get in. UVA and W&M meet need; not sure of the rest. You can talk to your counselor.

You can target some private schools but have your families run net price calculators.

I’m not sure how you have a 20-30K budget but can pay $10K. Then that’s your budget. Sure, you can say $18K because you can take $5500 in loans and work - but realistically, your budget is $10K.

Do you have a way to achieve that # at any state school not UVA / W&M.

Did you not take a PSAT? Really, everyone should take the test so I’m sorry you haven’t. If you get a certain score, not necessarily, super high, it can open doors.

Here’s a few net price calculators. Have your parents fill out. You definitely need to focus on specifics and not - I qualify for aid.

Good luck.

Undergraduate calculator - Student Financial Services - Virginia Commonwealth University

Net Cost Calculator | Radford University

Net Price Calculator

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So here’s what you have going:

  1. in-state: cheapest, could be <$20k if you commute and/or get big need-based aid
  • UVA,
  • William and Mary,
  • Virginia Tech,
  • George Mason,
  • Virginia Commonwealth
  1. private: could range from <$20k to $90k depending on family finances
  • George Washington,
  • Northeastern,
  1. Out-of-state public universities: >$55k
  • Penn State,
  • Rutgers

You have #1 well covered. #3 is a no-go given your budget. So my recommendation is to add more schools in #2. Some private colleges offering criminology are Goucher, Denison, St. Lawrence; and at least Denison and St. Lawrence have strong fin aid. But as mentioned, you have to run their net price calculator to get a good estimate of cost.

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Hello, on the 4.5 scale an A+ (98-100) would be 4.5, an A (94-97) translates to 4.25, and A- translates to 4.0 (90-93). On the weighted 5.5 scale, it would be A+ is 5.5, A is 5.25, and an A is 5.

Yes, I have done net price calculators for most of the schools on my list, I think the highest estimate I’ve received so far is 40k.

I received awards from the recognition program because of my AP Scores rather than a PSAT score.

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