A+ choices for a B+/A- student with high test scores and good extra curriculars?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello! I am looking for college choices in the Reach/Target/Safety categories which correspond with the following information about myself (a rising senior):</p>

<p>Female, South Asian, NJ</p>

<p>SAT: 2200 (690 CR, 750 M, 760 W)
Math 2: 740
Chem: 750
PSAT: 203</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.0
School doesn't release unweighted
B+/A- grades
Course load includes: Honors history, AP French, AP English, AP Calc BC, Chem H and AP Chem, Bio H, Physics H and AP Physics, AP Art History, Statistics H</p>

<p>Science Honor Society copresident and cofounder
- hosted scientists for lectures to any interested students, hosted demos, initiated peer tutoring services and demos for younger kids at library as well as a science journal which is distributed to students in the school</p>

<p>Science Olympiad
- 4 medals
- Testing Coordinator (exec board leadership position)</p>

<p>Amnesty International
- Vice President</p>

<p>High School Newspaper
- photo editor
- also writes articles. 3 articles have been front-paged including an interview with a distinguished scientist</p>

<p>Interested in science
- Interning at a lab in Rutgers for chem research</p>

<p>College Desires:</p>

<ul>
<li>good physical sciences programs (physics, chem, math, earth sci)</li>
<li>selective and intellectual community/resources

<ul>
<li>not necessarily a party school</li>
</ul></li>
<li>research facilities</li>
<li>preferably Urban/near urban setting/suburban</li>
<li>mid to large sized</li>
<li>4 year, coed</li>
<li>preferably Midwest&Northeast location</li>
</ul>

<p>Thank you so much for your help!</p>

2

<p>Cost constraints?</p>

<p>Rutgers and other in-state public universities
Minnesota and Stony Brook for lower out of state costs</p>

<p>If cost is a huge issue, possibly some of these:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>My parents don’t want me to think or factor in cost. I think that a nice scholarship would make me happy though and content attending that college (as long as their program is considerably good; Rutgers would fit this example as approx 100 grads from my high school end up going there).
Cost is still something I would consider, but I want to know what my choices for admissions are before I factor that in. Thanks for the response!</p>

4

<p>

</p>

<p>Have they explicitly told you that they can pay $60,000 per year?</p>

<p>If not, you need to have the money talk with them. If they are unable to give you a price limit or information needed to check the net price calculators on the college web sites, you need to include some very low cost options (like guaranteed-for-your-stats full tuition or better schools in the thread linked above) in your application list if you do not want to be disappointed in April by not being able to afford any school you got into.</p>

5

<p>entro, I would agree that you should move finances up to the top of things to do. Private colleges can cost over $240,000. If your parents can and will pay that, great, you can proceed unrestricted.</p>

<p>If on the other hand you need – or even want – financial aid, you need to know which schools offer need based aid and which offer merit aid – and what you’re eligible for. The two can be a completely different set.</p>

<p>Finances aside, I think you have a shot at every college/university in the country. Of course some will be super reaches, some reaches and some matches etc. It’s up to you to put together a list of varying selectivity. </p>

<p>Could you get into the tiptop selectives – HYPSM? Yes, but there are no guarantees so have a balanced list.</p>

<p>As a female South Asian in the sciences you’d increase your chances by applying to some schools that are not urban, not in the northeast or are not coed, but are still A+ academically like Williams, Bowdoin, Grinnell, Rhodes or Smith. (There are others, but these come to mind.)</p>

<p>One other question, are you an American citizen?</p>

6

<p>They have not explicitly told me that and I think they would be shocked to hear something about 30K honestly. I’ve tried bringing up the topic, but they don’t really want to provide sufficient information about that topic yet and want me to leave that discussion to them. Hm… I care, though. I’ve thought about the idea of not having to worry about money and the thought makes me feel confident.
I wonder if I can get a decent scholarship to Rutgers, New Brunswick.
I don’t think I necessarily need full tuition or “very low” cost options. Those options should definitely be included but shouldn’t compromise my search for colleges in which I can get some fin-aid and a better educational experience.
I want to know about both things: admissions strictly and admissions with respect to financial aid.
Thanks for the reminder.</p>

7

<p>@momrath, Thanks for your response! You’re right; I should consider financial aid. My parents are probably being too optimistic or something.
I still feel that my grades will exclude me from the HYP/Ivies/most selective schools. Am I wrong to think that? I speak from noticing the general trends for previous graduating classes from my school.
I am willing to compromise the location and setting, but preferably not the co-ed option.
To answer your question, I am an American citizen.</p>

8

<p>I think, more specifically, I am looking for some college names, preferably the reason why one suggests that college and the factors to consider about it. This way, I can research those schools. I am looking for advice to help me decide what are reach/match/safety schools which are places which could specifically help me grow intellectually, specific to my interests. I hope this clarifies. I agree that fin-aid should be considered, so I appreciate the advice.</p>

9

<p>Safety schools must be affordable for sure. If your parents are unwilling to give you an answer about how much they can contribute (especially if they seem to be too optimistic about cost, financial aid, and scholarships, or if $30,000 per year (in-state Rutgers cost) would be shockingly high to them), your safeties have to include very the low net price schools in order to have the best chance of avoiding being unable to afford any school you are admitted to.</p>

10

<p>entro, You wouldn’t be the first highschool student whose parents will be shocked to learn the cost of private tuition, nor the first whose parents avoid talking about money. The sooner that you can (gently) convince them to have a heart to heart with you the better. Maybe a school counselor or a friend with college aged children can intercede for you.</p>

<p>A good starting place is to ask your parents to use an online calculator to get an idea if they may be eligible for some need based aid. You may be surprised. Ironically, the most selective colleges are often the most generous with need based aid, but conversely they often don’t offer any merit aid. </p>

<p>Could you get into the super selectives? Yes, but of course there’s no guarantee. HYPSM admit a lot of kids who do not have perfect grades and scores, but do have strong extracurriculars and life experiences. </p>

<p>Being an American of South Asian descent won’t help you much at urban or big name schools, but it can be a positive diversity factor at small LACs that are in rural locations, in the South or Midwest or are all women’s. My guess is that any of the schools that I mentioned would consider you a person of interest, including Williams which is highly selective.</p>

<p>I’m sorry to bring up Smith again, since you’ve said you want coed, but I would mention that Smith has excellent funding for women in the sciences, so just have a look.</p>

<p>PS, if it turns out that your parents can pay full tuition, you might consider applying early decision which will give you a boost at many schoools; however don’t do this if you need to compare and negotiate financial offers.</p>

11

<p>muhlenberg college is a must for you to check out!
happy students,great campus, great education !</p>

12

<p>Look here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>Thanks for all the help everybody!
I brought up the financial aid problem to my Dad and we determined that I am not going to get any need-based aid (based on online calculator-- we used Rutgers). All aid will have to be merit based).
My parents are almost frustrated at my mentioning the idea of looking into LACs because they know that I’m not going to be an art major or anything. Hm.</p>

<p>This discussion has turned into mostly a discussion about LACs and financial aid. I’m not bothered by that idea, either. </p>

<p>I want to determine how to fill up the MATCH and SAFETY tiers accordingly, with mainly public&private universities, research universities.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

14

<p>I really recommend LACs for any student thinking about pursuing grad school in the sciences. At my LAC, I’ve had opportunities to do research with two professors - as a sophomore/junior. This next year I’ll have at least one or two more opportunities. I’m going to be published in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Neotropical Birds Encyclopedia ([Overview</a> - Long-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia linearis) - Neotropical Birds](<a href=“Birds of the World - Cornell Lab of Ornithology”>http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=503116) here is a link to another group’s page which has already been published). </p>

<p>You don’t have as many possibilities for networking, but in general the opportunities you have are /better/. I’m obviously biased towards my own college (Earlham), but many of the LACs are great - and they all have their own flavor! I recommend visiting at one on the list of Oberlin, Earlham, Denison, Kenyon, Wooster, Beloit, etc. It’s a completely different experience than a large college or university. Personally I like it more, but it’s not for everyone. Check out a LAC! :)</p>

<p>*edit: another thing. Oberlin, to use as an example, is reputed to have the highest number of graduates with PhD’s in the country. All the colleges in the group I mentioned have the same or close to the same percentages as Oberlin does. Just another stat to point out one of the strengths of LACs :)</p>

15

<p>Very nice! Thanks.</p>

<p><em>bump</em></p>

16

<p>lac’s are not just for hippies taking gender studies or some such thing. (yes they have that stuff going on but so did the big universties) what , I will say is that lac’s are great undergrad spring boards for med school, business schools, all of the “STEMS”. they will focus on you and help you grow.
that said if the parents are not on board, it is probably the end of the line for the lac’s. vanderbilt,wake forest, rice,case western, nortwestern and carnegie mellon are good schools for you to check out.</p>

17

<p>@zobroward- Thank you for the well-rounded perspective.
That’s the thing- the parents really might not be on board and are closed minded to the idea since that’s an option that they really haven’t heard of.</p>

18

<p>@entrometric I have a couple friends at my LAC which had the same issue that you did. The solution for one of them was to introduce her parents to a doctor (she was interested in pre-med) who had graduated from that college. The other friend who had this issue but to a lesser degree got her parents to visit the college “on the way” to a bigger school, so they could see that it wasn’t a pile of boards with “skool” painted on the front. :P</p>

19

<p>

</p>

<p>I think it’s a problem with semantics. “The Liberal Arts” are what you study in America as an undergraduate if you don’t go directly into a professional program, like engineering, architecture or nursing. Since medicine and law are graduate degrees in the U.S. most doctors and lawyers start with a liberal arts degree. In this context the liberal arts comprise humanities, social studies AND sciences.</p>

<p>Then there are so-called “liberal arts colleges”, or LACs. These are generally understood to be smaller colleges that have no or limited graduated schools. Like research universities they cover a range of academic quality and some are more focused on sciences, some on humanities. Those that are academically strong in the sciences offer very good research opportunities and have excellent track records for getting their grads into medical school.</p>

<p>I’m not trying to talk you into an LAC (though I do think that they are an excellent route to medical school and PhDs in the sciences), but if merit money is a fixed requirement then you’ll need to explore a broad base. In this economy merit money is fiercely competitive so if you need it, your parents are going to have to be open minded about schools they may not have heard of before.</p>

20

<p>Hey-- for anyone here who isn’t regarding LACs, I made a rough list of colleges I might apply to and will take advice regarding it. </p>

<p>UChicago (this is just for me, a fun school to apply to)
Johns Hopkins (reach)
Carnegie Mellon (reach)
NYU (reach)
Northeastern (match)
UPitt (match)
Penn State (match)
Urbana Champaign – Top Ten Ranked Physics Colleges - The best departments and schools ?? or UMass Amherst ?? (match)
Boston University (match/reach)
Rutgers (safety)
TCNJ ?? Another safety, that you can suggest? (safety)</p>

<p>I <em>WILL</em> investigate the LACs though, too.</p>