What's her weighted GPA?

I think your DD sounds like a very strong student with a lot going for her. That said, I think you are getting some strange advice above and I'm wondering if either I'm missing something in the profile you've written or other people are unaware of what admissions are like these days. IMO, her GPA and test scores are non-starters for elite privates like Georgetown and W&L and elite publics like Berkeley and UCLA (and you would likely be full-pay there, very little aid given to OOS students at CA publics). Even as an in-state student, UVA will be a reach.

But I think she is a strong candidate for many schools and would have a shot at merit aid at many privates. I think she'd have a chance at W&M especially if she applied ED. For SLACs, I'd look at the USNWR schools below, say, the top 20, such as:

Grinnell
Macalester
Oberlin
Kenyon
Lafayette
Skidmore
Dickinson
Franklin & Marshall
Rhodes
St. Olaf
Clark
Denison
Lawrence
Sarah Lawrence
Beloit
Wooster
Rhodes
Connecticut
Trinity (CT)
Bard

I would also strongly consider women's colleges like Wellesley, Smith, Mt. Holyoke.

For publics, South Carolina is a good suggestion. She might also consider the University of Charleston, UNC-Asheville, SUNY Geneseo, Alabama. She should also apply to JMU or Christopher Newport or Mary Washington to make sure she has a safety you know you can afford.

It will be important to run the net price calculators at various schools to see what they estimate the cost of attendance at. Schools will definitely count both parents' income, but they may differ in how they treat living expenses for divorced households.

Any large land grant state universities, including Texas and most of the schools in California. Berkeley might be a reach, but the rest are probably doable. University of Arizona would probably give her a lot of merit aid. Oberlin, Grinnell, and the like are all doable, too.

She's a very solid prospect.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Washington & Lee, Davidson, Lafayette, Mills College, Franklin & Marshall, Oberlin, there are so many.

Thanks. She's convinced she can't get in anywhere.

She shouldn't be convinced that she cannot. Her record is good; her "weak" spot is not terribly weak and is balanced by other factors. She may not be a shoe-in for Harvard or the like, but she need not aim too low.

Anonymous wrote:Washington & Lee, Davidson, Lafayette, Mills College, Franklin & Marshall, Oberlin, there are so many.

Thanks. She's convinced she can't get in anywhere.

Anonymous wrote:I would look at American University

Would prefer her farther away from home, excepting Georgetown.

Anonymous wrote:What is your budget?

Is she interested in small liberal arts schools, or large universities?

North, South, East, West?

Urban, rural, in-between?

Well, that budget depends on whether we don't my income and her Dad's together. My income is $124K and exH is $140K. However, since we are divorced we have totally separate HH expenses, two mortgages, etc., so not sure how that plays in. ExH has said to DD that she chooses a state school in VA, she's guaranteed a full courtesy of Dad. OOS or private she needs to figure out how to make up the difference, so I would say the budget is a net price in range of in-state costs for Virginia residences.

With regard to Georgetown, I thought maybe her GPA might be low. USC (South Carolina) has a highly ranked international business program.

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown?

+1. Look into their School of Foreign service

I would look at American University

What is your budget?

Is she interested in small liberal arts schools, or large universities?

North, South, East, West?

Urban, rural, in-between?

Washington & Lee, Davidson, Lafayette, Mills College, Franklin & Marshall, Oberlin, there are so many.

She can also apply to unis in the UK, where her gpa will not hold her back.

University of South Carolina would give her merit for her ACT

Georgetown?

My DD is bright, socially and politically active. She is a leader in the FBLA and Junior Achievement, has worked a summer job at a US Embassy (thanks to her Dad), and leans towards studying the humanities, business or social sciences. She is also active in the Foreign Servuce Youth Foundatiin, volunteering her time to speak in growing up as a TCK and in a multi-lingual household. She has taken the most rigorous program - the full IB diploma - but her grades are average at best - she struggled in the higher level math and physics. Her GPA is a 3.3. Her test scores are good - ACT composite 30 and SAT 1850 (old scale); 1300 (new).

What might be a good mix of reach, probable and safety schools for her? We have visited a few colleges, and I think she tends to like the smaller LACs, although I think her dream school is UVA. I think UVA is a longshot, but she might still apply and has also considered NVCC direct transfer. What other schools that would provide a stimulating intellectual environment and help her stretch her wings and get out of her comfort zone might be interested in someone with her profile?