<p>So I'm a bit sick of people with 2300's and 4.0's worrying if they will get into an ivy. WHat i want to know is what is the best college I can get into. I want to go to a big name school but the numbers aren't are my side. So what is the best school I can get into?</p>
<p>GPA: 3.54uw 4.29 w
SAT: 1980 (taking them again)
SAT II: 790 us history 690 math II
AP's: 5 us history 5 lang comp- taking physics, calc, lit, euro, econ, and us gov next year
EC: Internship at state house with rep.
Capt. Track indoor and outdoor
Soccer
Crosscountry
Model Congress (pres)
Business club (pres)
Latin club
Appilation mountain club trail crew
ELL Tutor
Model UN
NHS</p>
<p>Talk to your guidance counselor. No one knows what you’re interested in. Big school or small. Rural or urban. East, west, midwest. LAC or big state college.</p>
<p>And your broad def’n of “best college” is meaningless to anyone desiring to help you.</p>
<p>Okay allow me to clarify: I don’t really have any conserns about location, school size, or population density of the region surrounding it. Financial aid is an issue i would want to go somewhere where they have a good financial aid program. I have done research on this topic and my guidence counselor was, to be honest, no help. And let me define “best college” (as it pretains to me) for you T26E4, just so I can be more explicit-<br>
I’m basing alot of my choices on rankings and sat ranges so keep that in mind.
Well ranked
I would like if they had strong economics, history or business program
A school that has a name good enough that people won’t ask “Where is that?” or say “never heard of it”
Good financial aid program, but I won’t rule out colleges like NYU even though there financial aid is awful
It’s possible for me to get it (I’m fine with reaches but I also have common sense)
I live in MA, close to boston, so I don’t want to go to a school to close to home</p>
<p>Hard to quantify “best,” but if you’re looking for a good fit, my brother went to Mich State with similar stats, although you have better ECs. I’m sure there are several comparable LAC, private, or state colleges. Do a bit of research on GPA and test ranges. If the profile says “middle 50th percent 3.5-3.8” that might be reaching the limit.</p>
<p>Of course, you could try and transfer to a “big name school” after a year or 2.</p>
<p>Okay I know the fact that I want to go to a “big name school” makes me sound like an arrogant dick but I just don’t want to end up with a degree that won’t help me get a good job. And thanks for the advice</p>
<p>If you are okay with big school, U-Minnesota Twin Cities should be a solid option. They are well recognized and have a strong economic program. Although their business school is out of reach, just the A&S econ major would be good. Super cheap as well.</p>
<p>how big reaches would william and mary, NYU, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Carnigie mellon and Rice be? Cause i know their all reaches but like which one is the biggest reach?</p>
<p>- Good financial aid program, but I won’t rule out colleges like NYU even though there financial aid is awful</p>
<p>??</p>
<p>what does that mean? While it’s likely that NYU would give you a lousy aid pkg if accepted, HOW WOULD YOU PAY FOR IT?</p>
<p>YOU can only borrow $5500 for frosh year. That’s not going to pay for NYU.</p>
<p>How much will your PARENTS pay? If they’ll pay the $60k per year to go there, then great! If not, then schools like NYU will NOT work.</p>
<p>What is your Math + CR score? That’s what merit scholarships are often based on. The Writing section rarely counts for merit money. Since you’re testing again, really practice those two sections. Also take the ACT…some do better on that.</p>
<p>wow that was a very animated response. My math + plus critical reading is 1360 and i’ve taking the acts in september. </p>
<ul>
<li>Good financial aid program, but I won’t rule out colleges like NYU even though there financial aid is awful</li>
</ul>
<p>What that means is that my grandparents would be able to help me pay for some but not all of it, I would need some finacial aid. School like NYU may or may not give the financial aid it is a toss up, but I would never know if I didn’t apply. So I find that paying the applications fee and seeing how it goes would be worth it. And don’t worry mom2collegekids I’m paying for the applications myself so I wouldn’t be wasting my parents money cause I can tell that that is very important to you.</p>
<p>My response was “animated” because you have no idea how many kids follow the Siren’s Song into mega debt to attend NYU. The stories kids post here are heart-breaking. Some have managed to get (naive) co-signers to help them borrow $60k-200+ to attend that school…and the results will usually entail a very difficult adult life trying to pay all that growing debt back. :(</p>
<p>find out how much the Grands will pay EACH year (not just one year). Grands sometimes don’t know how expensive college is these days. They may think a $10k check will cover a lot of the costs.</p>
<p>Find out how much your parents will pay each year.</p>
<p>Find out if your parents earn too much (or have too many assets) for you to QUALIFY for much aid. </p>
<p>Take the SAT again in October. Glad to hear that you’re taking the ACT. Practice the Science Reasoning section since that may be unfamiliar to you…lots of charts and questions. </p>
<p>With your current M+CR SAT of 1360, there are some schools that will give you a good-sized merit scholarship.</p>
<p>What is your intended major?</p>
<p>BTW…the schools on your list …Rice, UMich, etc, will either be reaches or pricey. UMich won’t give you money for being OOS and won’t give you merit. Rice is a big reach. W&M is pricey for OOS students, Carnegie Mellon is high match or low reach…and also pricey.</p>
<p>So finacialy at the absolute most my grandparents (from both sides) would be giving at total of 40k each year at MOST- its in a college fund. But my brother was able to get a good chunk of financial aid at BC say 15k each year probably a bit more. So I will absolutely qualify for finacial aid. But if don’t get the financial aid and scholars I can’t go since my parents won’t be able to pay for it, like at all. And where would you say that NYU, emory and wisconsin fit into the ranking? Also my intended major is econ, business, or international relations- but ot be honest I’m farely flexable. What schools would you recommend?</p>
<p>“Okay I know the fact that I want to go to a “big name school” makes me sound like an arrogant dick but I just don’t want to end up with a degree that won’t help me get a good job.”</p>
<p>You need to set some realistic expectations. I don’t know why you are being arrogant in the first place–you are not a likely candidate for a lot of “big-name” schools. You can be sick of the kids with the 2300 and the 4.0 GPA, but the fact is they are in a different league academically and have a much wider range of prospects. Also, your communication skills, as evidenced by each of your posts, need A LOT (not “alot”) of improvement if you are hoping to make a good impression on adcoms. For the love of God, at least start spell-checking yourself before you post, and brush up on your grammar and usage.</p>
<p>Also, you ask how certain schools are ranked–this is work you can do yourself. Most of us on the forum prefer to help students make sense of the research they have done on their own. Don’t be lazy.</p>
<p>And finally, you also need to do some research into outcomes for students at a variety of colleges. The likelihood that you will get a good job has to do with numerous factors besides the college you attend.</p>
<p>Yeah sorry just to clear things up when I mentioned a bunch of those school I was deciding between reaches and thank you for the feed back also to “sally305” thanks for just calling me a jerk and for the no feed back or suggestions on colleges it was helpful! And sorry my posts sound like I’m arrogant I typed most of them late at night when i was freaking out about colleges.</p>