Which of these colleges do I have a shot at?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi,
I am a rising senior currently attending a private, all-boy, Jesuit school in the Midwest with challenging academics. As I decide which schools I want to apply to and visit, I was wondering what my chances would be of getting into some of the more selective schools. Below are the schools I am interested in as well as the nuts and bolts of my application. If something has a little note in parentheses by it, that means I am working towards it but have yet to complete it. Thanks for the help!

Schools - if one is in parentheses that means I’m thinking about visiting or applying
The list is more or less in order of interest.
Also, don’t take it the wrong way if I say I should/will get in, just more interested hearing about the others!
Intended Major- related to business or government

Notre Dame- my school is also one the biggest feeder schools to ND, sending 6-12 kids most years
Georgetown
U of Richmond- should get in
UVA [out of state]
Butler- will get in
OSU- will get in
(Villanova?)
(U Penn?)
(Cornell?)
(Princeton?)
(Hopkins?)

My App

ACT: 36 (36 on each section- I got a little lucky that day- and an 8 on writing)
GPA: 4.0 UW, 95.5 avg. (no class rank)
8 APs, (1 fr., 1 soph., 2 junior, 4 senior) - could only take 1 freshman, sophomore years (most take 1 or 0), and a max of 3 junior year unless you tested out of a language freshman year. Most other classes are accelerated, but I am in the AB Calc track rather than BC.
AP Scores: World 5, Stats 5 (waiting on U.S. and Psych)
SAT Subject Test: waiting on scores for US History, Math 2, & Spanish
ECs
XC (Captain?)- 3-year varsity, a 4-year member
Track
Newspaper- section editor
Homeroom leadership
Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout?/ Order of the Arrow?)
Mission Trip
Peer tutoring
Other Community Service- retirement home volunteering, relief organization service
Small jobs- newspaper delivery, walking an elderly neighbor’s dog
(Campus Ministry- Kairos if you know what that is- leadership?)
NHS, National Spanish Honor Society

I am a white male whose parents both have Master’s Degrees in their respective fields, so I’m not exactly the pinnacle of diversity. My sister also just graduated from college this year.
I will be applying for financial aid anywhere I go.
I am confident in my writing skills for the essays and think my teacher recs will be well done.

I think I have a good application, but with these really selective schools, the difference between a waitlist, acceptance, or rejection is very minuscule. Any input would be appreciated!

2

Your grades and scores are great. Nothing really stands out with your ECs though. If you have a strong preference for a school, consider applying ED if your family can swing the cost. That will help your chances at the very competitive schools (the last four on your list).

Kairos rocks! My daughter was a retreat leader as a senior and loved the experience. Lots of work/prepping but totally worth it.

3

I would suggest adding Santa Clara to your list of Catholic/Jesuit “maybes” (nearly identical to Villanova in stats/selectivity, but I think a little more generous aid-wise). They have excellent business programs and many opportunities resulting from their strong ties in Silicon Valley.

You’re obviously highly qualified and would have a shot at every school on your list. There’s quite a bit of variety in “vibe” there, so it seems like you may need to narrow down what you’re looking for a bit. Financial situation should probably be the first filter - the important question being, can your family afford your EFC at the schools that meet full need but do not offer merit aid (such as UPenn et al), or will you need a big merit award to make things affordable?

4

With almost all the selective schools on this list, it seems unlikely that I will receive merit aid for attending, so I will have to rely almost solely on financial aid. My parents have told me that the most we can probably pay is around 25k (there’s some wiggle room depending on the school) per year, but I may receive some extra help from my grandparents.

In terms of the feel of the school, I think I’m looking for a small to medium private school with pretty good academics, but I included some state schools because I’ve visited there (although I don’t like big schools). I’ve never toured any of the Ivies on this list, so I don’t know if I would like that kind of atmosphere or not. In terms of the school feel, my favorite would honestly have to be Richmond, but I could see myself fitting in at many different places.

5

Ask your parents to put their financial info into the Net Price Calculator and see what the likely out-of-pocket at some of these schools would look like after financial aid: https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/richmond (and you can find the others from there) This should help give you an idea whether the financial aid formulas will bring the cost down to something manageable, or whether chasing Big Merit would be a better strategy.

6

With your grades and scores, plus leadership/community service, I think you have a good shot at Richmond Scholars (full tuition and room and board), if you are really interested and demonstrate that.

7

What do you mean by small to medium? What kind of campus vibe are you looking for? Have you run NPCs on the out of states and meet full need schools yet?

8

Small to medium for me means about 3000-20000 in enrollment, with some wiggle room at the top. I’m only applying to OSU because it’s the best in-state school for me.

For many of the colleges I’ve visited, I like certain aspects of the campus vibe but have yet to “fall in love” with a school. For instance, I liked Georgetown a lot but wished there was more open space there - and a little further away from the DC traffic too. I loved UVA’s campus but got a little bit of the southern frat feel when I visited (I felt many of the in-state students may take going there for granted as it’s so competitive out-of-state). With Richmond, I thought their campus and the school’s vibe were nice, but since it’s so small it doesn’t really carry a big reputation. ND had a little bit of everything but nothing about the vibe really stood out, visiting in the summer may have had something to do with that. I don’t know if I’ll like the Ivy vibe or not, but I figured it doesn’t hurt to look.

The NPC for most of the selective schools has me between 33k-38k, but for U Penn it was 28k (Penn is a reach school though). I’m assuming it’s fairly accurate, but my mom is a teacher and my dad is a social worker so I’m not exactly rolling in cash. There’s no chance we could pay that much by ourselves, so I’ll just hold out hope that a school may decide to be generous (or my grandparents lol).

9

You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are great. Write amazing essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools

10

I’ll tell it straight. If your parents aren’t rolling in cash, you really shouldn’t be getting exotic with your school choices. Here’s why. Out of state tuition is almost triple the cost of in-state. The end result will be a bachelors degree, no more no less. Second, you can’t depend on NPC tools for private schools. Every private school is different and financial aid criteria is a very subjective science. Quite often, the financial aid package is vastly different than the NPC calculation and it’s never in your favor.

Start with scholarships and apply to every good one you can find. In-state should be your priority. An out of state school should only be considered with a scholarship or non-resident tuition waiver. Private schools should be avoided. For the exception of some ivy leagues, private schools usually end-up costing as much or more than out of state schools…after need-based grants.

11

Consider Holy Cross & University of San Diego.

Also, as an intended business major, you should consider the Ross School at the University of Michigan. Even though Michigan has a large enrollment, Ross students form their own tight knit community.

Many, probably most, large state supported universities offer Honors Colleges & Honors Programs which make the large university environment much smaller. Many also offer substantial scholarships.

12

Looks like you have your safeties set up so you may want to consider George Washington as well as a match (or possibly safety given your stats) for business and government. If you can visit ND during the school, that may change your perception, if so you can apply there EA as well as Georgetown and see what happens. If those remain your top choices, I wouldn’t apply ED anywhere but if an ED school like Cornell, Penn, JHU jumps to the top, you could consider that option. You’re a strong applicant as others have said, but it’s very tough these days to assess the highly selective colleges on your list. Good luck!

13

Hello!! I’m just here to say that I got into ND this last admission cycle and you seem to be a strong applicant to ND even more than me lol. Just work on your essays a lot and you can get in.

14

Fordham would be a safety school for you and I know a lot of kids who have received merit money there.

For the highly selective schools on your list, it would be very helpful if your Boy Scouts project were something that stands out and you can write about.

15

Thank you to all who have replied so far, I really appreciate your input and advice!

16

bump