<p>Hello, everyone. I'm a rising senior (just finished eleventh grade today, actually), and I'm devoting a fair bit of my summer to searching for colleges. I live in Virginia, and I searched around locally for suitable colleges to apply to in the near future. I looked at JMU last summer, but I decided that it wasn't a very good fit for me. I plan on visiting GMU because it's close to me, but I digress. </p>
<p>The two programs/majors I would be most interested in pursuing are environmental science (ideally conservation or ecosystem study/preservation) and meteorology (severe weather specialist, if that's applicable). </p>
<p>I would prefer to study out-of-state as opposed to in-state, since my girlfriend moved to Wisconsin a few months back. In addition, I would be interested in experiencing a new area on my own. </p>
<p>So, now for my current stats. I am by no means a stellar student, but I consider myself slightly above average. I have an aptitude for writing in particular, but I have no interest in pursuing a career in English. This was a tough year for me, and a couple of minor health issues kept my out of school for a little while. However, I did manage to do pretty well.</p>
<p>I don't take AP classes, as I'd rather take courses of that level in college. </p>
<p>My courses for next year are as follows: Human Anatomy/Physiology (my school doesn't offer environmental science, oddly enough), Study Hall, Algebra II (I missed too much of it this year to complete it), US Government, Music History, English, and Psychology. </p>
<p>My grades for this year (some special arrangements were made for some of my missing grades) probably culminate in a 3.1-3.2 GPA. </p>
<p>I feel like I'm getting a bit wordy here, so I'll just say that my SAT score was 1760, and I'm awaiting my second attempt's score, which I believe is better.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars include Boy Scouts (Life Scout, health issues prevented me from making Eagle), 100+ community service hours, guitar (for fun), viola (for orchestra), and I rowed on my school's crew team last year.</p>
<p>I would like a co-ed college, public, mid-size (7,500-25,000 students). My parents are willing to pay quite a bit depending on how passionate my choice and commitment to the selected college is. I'm not a fan of rural settings, so scratch that off the list. Suburban or urban would be just fine. The ideal region for me would be the upper midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc.), although I wouldn't mind staying on the east coast either. I read that most midwestern schools prefer the ACT as opposed to the SAT, and I'm still undecided on taking the ACT, seeing as I feel like it'd be a bit difficult for me to do well on. </p>
<p>So, with these preferences and academics in mind, what schools would you all recommend for me that have decent programs in environmental science and/or meteorology?</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>