<p>eastcoascrazy, don’t worry about it. I may have overreacted a little, but only because I knew much less about how I would come off in college admissions at the beginning of this thread (yesterday morning?) than I do now.</p>
<p>To everyone else, thank you so much for all of the helpful input. There have been too many great posts in this thread for me to respond to all of them, but I’d just like to say that I now feel exponentially more secure about finding a great school with potential merit aid than I did yesterday.</p>
<p>…I think I’m going to ask my parents to visit USC with me instead of UC Berkeley
PolarBearVsShark: One good thing about my score is that I don’t need to take the SAT again - I don’t know if you could say the same thing for a 2500. 833.3 writing? 18.2 essay score?</p>
<p>Hey, I just realized you mentioned linguistics. UC Santa Cruz as safety! Very strong in linguistics! (IDK about economics, though.). One of the most beautiful campuses in the US.</p>
<p>what is your weighted GPA? I think your 3.83 since it is UNweighted is fine. </p>
<p>You will most likely be national merit scholar and will have lots of scholarships to choose from, esp if you look outside the top 75 tier ( for example, both bayor and Univ of alabama will offer you full tuition scholarships, as well as several other universities).</p>
<p>In college, you will get to study things that probably interest you more, thereby probably ensuring that you will have higher grades (at least 3.5) in college.</p>
<p>I only read 1 1/5 pages of this thread, so pardon me if I’ve written a reply similar to what others have already written.</p>
<p>My advice is just an echo, but I’ll put it out there anyway. Please give USC serious consideration. My son was similar to you and we certainly enjoyed the $100,000 that came along with his National Merit Finalist status. (I think if you mention that number to your parents, they will be willing to visit.) He loved USC, and confirms that you can have a fantastic experience without being a football fan, Greek, spoiled rich kid, huge partier, or any of the other stereotypes. He got a great education, and was surrounded by very interesting and creative people. The scholarship program there is amazing, and the Thematic Option Honors Program is like a mini-LAC within the larger college.</p>
<p>That said, I’d also recommend you pursue your interest in the Claremonts. My D adores Pomona, but it definitely is competitive and perhaps more focused on the mix in the class than other schools. It’s also harder for a girl to get in; too many apply! Don’t get too attached, but you sound like a smart and realistic/humble kid who would fit in well there. </p>
<p>My D visited WashU St Louis; they liked her scores and her record of leadership/service, and flew her out for a scholarship recruiting weekend. She thought it was a great school; she would have happily gone there if she hadn’t been admitted ED to Pomona. Sign up with them online and be sure to fill out their scholarship interest card (or whatever they are doing now). I’m sure they will be interested in you, as they like high test scores! </p>
<p>Everyone else has covered the other stuff: large state uni’s that let NMFs go for free can be great. Arizona State has a really good honors college, and great offers for NMFs. And apply to some Ivies if they interest you - you never know what might happen.</p>
<p>There has been way too much emphasis on the OP’s GPA in this thread. A 3.83 GPA, with perfect SATs, is hardly so low that it should keep you from applying anywhere. </p>
<p>Try to think about what kinds of schools interest you, somewhat irrespective of admission chances (although you do need to consider that in building a list of reach-match-safety schools). If you have no idea, maybe it’s time to start visiting a variety of places close to home. If that’s not feasible, DVD tours are available.
([Collegiate</a> Choice Walking Tours Videos - college videos, campus tours, virtual college tours, college planning](<a href=“http://www.collegiatechoice.com/]Collegiate”>http://www.collegiatechoice.com/))</p>
<p>Much more than his or her GPA, the following, IMO, ought to be a bigger concern for the OP:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I second what tk21769 said. Honestly, it would be substantially easier to provide a list of the handful of schools where the OP’s GPA would be a potential issue than to provide a list of the many, many worthwhile schools where admission would be assured or likely.</p>
