<p>My son is interested in global/international studies and perhaps economics. He has a 3.7 GPA uw, a 34 ACT, leadership of the robotics team (about 350 hrs per year), good community service, part time jobs, and a few other ECs.</p>
<p>The problem is that he doesn't know what is most important for him in a college and - in fact - likes big universities, small LACs, AND medium-size schools. The only thing he does know is that he wants to be relatively near or in a metropolitan area in the Midwest or Northwest (why, I don't really know) and he wants to major in global studies (a topic for another day).<br>
Here is is list. I think he has a mix of reaches/matches/safeties.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon (global politics)
Macalaster (international studies)
Carleton (economics or international relations)
Case Western Reserve (international studies)
Loyola Chicago (international studies)
Seattle University (international studies)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (international studies) - in state
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (global studies) - tuition reciprocity</p>
<p>We've visited a few of the schools and will visit more in the next month, but the bottom line is that he's ok with all of them. At the very least, we'd like him to find another small LAC which might not be such a reach as Macalester and Carleton, but he seems to 'be done' with his search. </p>
<p>In any case, should we just leave things be or encourage him to keep looking?</p>
<p>Looks safe to me and I bet he’ll have lots of choices.</p>
<p>As to the list being diverse, there’s nothing to say that a kid who likes LACs will <em>only</em> like LACS; or that one who wants a big U will <em>only</em> like big U’s.</p>
<p>My S was Katrina-derailed and did a term at Bates College (tiny LAC). He loved it. He also loved his original choice Tulane - very different but both worked for him.</p>
<p>Agree with most above posts (and your son).</p>
<p>He has MULTIPLE “safe” schools on his list even factoring in the uncertainies endemic to the college process these days. He looks like he deserves lots of credit having done his homework and thinkng through his options. Creative list. Looks like an independent minded kid.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I’ll try to stop worrying so much and give my s lots of praise for a job well done. Now if he can just get all of those applications done (two down and six to go). Thanks again!</p>
<p>I think he will get in at Case Western and will almost certainly get in at Macalester; I think either of these would be great for him, and they are both fun schools in neat locations where he will get a lot of attention. The U of M and UW Mad look great too. I don’t know a lot about the others on the list but it looks to me like he has a good mix of schools on the list. </p>
<p>(Case offers quite a bit of merit aid; Macalester offers little merit aid.)</p>
<p>My son didn’t care about the size of the university as long as there were enough options in the fields that interested him. (Computer Science, minoring in physics). Your son has a nice mix and can make the final decision in the spring when he will probably have lots of choices. BTW my son ended up at Carnegie Mellon and is very happy there.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. Mathmom, I think my son is like yours. He is most interested in finding a program that offers what he needs. The college guidance counselor at his school gave us all the advice that we also need to recognize that students change SO MUCH during senior year that their priorities now may not be those that they have come May 1 when they need to choose their school. (And therefore she does not encourage ED except in a few cases). So, she encourages kids to have a little variety in their school choices now (but not too much since the school charges $25 for each transcript request beyond 8!)</p>
<p>palmalk, at one time or another all of those schools were on my son’s list. He is very laid back about academics (passionate about what he loves and not so much effort in other things), so I think he thought that U Chicago and Northwestern were probably too serious and competitive for him. I think that the constant barrage of Wash-U literature over the summer probably scared him away as well. He looks at the stats of the kids that go to those schools (especially the emphasis on stellar ECs) and he doesn’t feel he has a shot. So yes, his list probably does have a heavy emphasis on safety and match schools.</p>
<p>Tufts does look like a great place, but on the wrong coast, I believe. Son’s counselors have pretty much convinced him that he is a midwest and northwest kind of guy. Maybe son will give Wash U a second look, although now I think about that Wash U school visit and hotel reception that he didn’t attend last weekend. Sigh. </p>
<p>I guess that bottom line is that there are hopefully many places where our kids will be happy. And if it turns out that they are not happy, it will not be the end of the world if they have to try something different (although it most certainly feels like it when they are going through it). </p>
<p>I was so scared when I first came to CC and saw all the amazing things that the kids here do and had myself convinced that my son wasn’t going to get into any ‘good’ schools. But now I think that I have redefined ‘good’ to mean the ones that are right for him. </p>
<p>Son, who attends a private school where many of the kids will go to colleges all around the country, came home the other day from work and said (with a confused look on his face), “It’s kind of neat, Mom, but almost all of the kids from (insert name of large public school) are going to UW-Whitewater and Eau Claire and Lacrosse and Oshkosh and they are EXCITED about it. Like it is a big deal…” Well, son, it IS a big deal…</p>
<p>samsmom, thanks for the suggestion! American University was at the top of son’s list for a long time, but then - on the advice of his guidance counselor - he decided to focus on schools in the Midwest or Pacific Northwest.</p>