Almost done with my college list but looking for some suggestions!

College Search & Selection
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<p>I'm a high school senior and I'm working on my college list. I'm kind of overwhelmed by the whole process and though I know the basics of what kind of school I want to attend, I don't think I've found the perfect list yet.</p>

<p>I've done fairly well academically, with a 3.95 GPA putting me 3/21 in my class. I've taken the hardest courses available at my school, though as you might have guessed its pretty small and unfortunately offers no AP classes due to its religious viewpoint. I've still received a great education there, but I'm worried my lack of AP credits will set me back in the application process. My test scores are:</p>

<p>SAT: 2130 (Reading:800, Math:680, Writing: 650)</p>

<p>SAT II: Lit:800, Bio: 640 (though I just retook this and am probably getting something more in the low 700s to high 600s), US History: haven't gotten scores back yet</p>

<p>I've been volunteering at my church in the childcare for ~2 years twice a week, and at a local homeless shelter once a month for a year. I also play varsity basketball, and am a member of the student government and NHS.</p>

<p>I'm looking for a medium to smaller sized school, but don't hesitate to suggest something bigger! I'm open to everything! I will also be starting out with a Pre-Med track but have a strong interest in finance and I want to join a school where it'd be easy to switch between these majors without losing a year.</p>

<p>The schools I have picked out so far are:</p>

<p>Harvard
Stanford
Pomona
Claremont Mckenna
Boston College
University of Washington (my home state)
Santa Clara University
University of Puget Sound
Westmont</p>

<p>I'm looking for something rigorous, but nothing dour. Also, out of all of these CMC is probably my favorite school so far and Santa Clara and Westmont are my least sure choices. Lastly, If anyone has any insight on which schools would be most advantageous to apply early to please don't hesitate to give advice!</p>

<p>I'm open to any and all suggestions, and thanks so much for helping me out! :)</p>

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<p>Since you’re already looking at Boston, you might add some other east coast LACs: Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Hamilton. Also Dartmouth, though not an LAC. All have overlaps in personality with CMC.</p>

<p>The one I’m most familiar with is Williams – Double or even triple majoring in disparate disciplines is common, excellent economics, excellent medical school admissions track record, middle road politics. Active, multifaceted, energetic student body. There seems to be an ED advantage as a large proporation of the class is admitted early. (I can’t remember the exact figure – around 40%?)</p>

<p>If you’re interested in playing college level basketball, that would make a difference at any of these LACs.</p>

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<p>Williams seems like a great school, but I’m concerned about applying to too many reaches. I will also not be playing basketball in college, at least at the varsity level, because varsity at a 2B school is a bit less prestigious then at a 4A school ;)</p>

<p>Of those colleges, which ones do you think would give me merit aid? I’m not expecting any financial aid because my parents make ~140K a year.</p>

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<p>Which schools do you consider your safeties in terms of certain admission and certain affordability?</p>

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<p>Might look at Holy Cross-top25 LAC 1 hour from Boston. HC has fantastic pre-med program and imo is better than all the schools on the list with exception of Harvard and Stanford. HC OFFERS GREAT COMBINATION OF ACADEMICS AND athletics and plays Harvard, Dartmouth , Brown in most sports. IMO, for pre-med Holy Cross>Boston College.</p>

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<p>I’m sorry. I don’t have any suggestions.
But good luck!</p>

<p>I was also wondering what the AP program has to do with religious viewpoints?</p>

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<p>par72, you have been posting the same thing about HC for at least three years. Do you work for the school?</p>

<p>To the OP, you need to broaden your search to find merit aid. Maybe try some of the good midwestern LACs, like St. Olaf, Lawrence, Earlham, Knox, or Beloit. In the south you’d have a decent shot at merit aid at Rhodes, Centre, or Hendrix–all great schools, too.</p>

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<p>Your SAT is a little lopsided for the reaches you have on the table. I would not add more, I think you need some more matches instead… Sally305 made some good suggestions. Most of the schools momrath listed are going to be reaches.</p>

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<p>They don’t want the state to dictate what they can teach… So I guess it’s more ideological than religious, still silly either way.</p>

<p>Also intparent do you mean I’m aiming too high?</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>AP tests and syllabi come from the College Board, not a government.</p>

<p>What you may want to figure out is how the most rigorous and advanced courses at your high school compare in rigor to AP courses. At some academically elite high schools, the most rigorous and advanced courses are more rigorous than AP courses. But most public and private high schools do not offer anything more rigorous than AP courses.</p>

<p>AP courses are nominally college frosh level, so that advanced high school seniors and juniors are the originally intended audience. But the proliferation of less rigorous AP courses like human geography has muddied the waters.</p>

<p>[AP</a> Central - Course Home Pages](<a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Course & Exam Pages – AP Central | College Board)</p>

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<p>Haha sorry I just assumed it was from the government because when I asked my biology teacher why he didn’t teach AP classes he said the school didn’t want anyone telling them what to teach, so I just assumed he meant the government. </p>

<p>As for academic rigor, I’ve taken the hardest classes offered at my school, and English and math are probably AP level. Biology taught only ecology with very little emphasis on molecular biology which translated directly into my low SAT II score as I got most of the molecular questions wrong. </p>

<p>By the way, do you think you could chance me for the schools I listed above?</p>

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<p>Do students from your school regularly get accepted to the colleges on your list? I’m wondering if your school’s programs are up to snuff for them and that can affect your admissions. That will tell you a lot more than random strangers chancing you.</p>

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<p>Most of the students in my high school are very religious and only attend (or apply) to schools like Seattle Pacific University, Azusa Pacific, and George Fox. However, one of our branch schools just sent one person to Princeton and another to Stanford. We also have an international program with Korea and have a lot of students from there attending. Most of them go to schools like UCLA or Cal Berkely after. </p>

<p>Anyway sorry for the rambling but the gist of it is that my school’s classes are definitely challenging and a few are probably beyond AP but most of the student body wouldn’t trust a secular school. Most only attend the small local Christian college SPU, especially as most people from my high school who apply there get pretty large discounts on tuition.</p>

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<p>

HC screens med school applicants and only writes favorable committee letters for their top applicants, in effect preventing everyone else from applying. Take that into account before you spend $200K to attend.</p>

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<p>Check out Whitman. A great rigorous yet collaborative LAC. It is quite small and in a lovely, yet remote area of Washington State. Your stats seem right in line for it to be a match. My D is a freshman and loving it. It is a pretty liberal school, more than CMC but similar to Pomona probably.</p>

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<p>This is a good list. The last thing you need is to be adding all kinds of random East Coast and flyover country schools to it. Especially not Holy Cross. </p>

<p>If you’re not sure about Westmont and SC there’s plenty of appropriately-ranked West Coast schools to swap out for them - Whitman isn’t a bad suggestion to start with.</p>

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<p>Holy Cross is a top 25 liberal arts school well known for pre-med along with Hopkins, Tufts, Duke, F&M. HC has produced a Nobel Prize winner in medicine, numerous med school presidents and leaders at the NIH. Holy Cross is also need-blind for admissions. With the exception of the Ivies, Duke/Hopkins, Stanford, HC is a great option for those interested in medicine. Believe they(Holy Cross) have 10% of their alums as doctors or dentists.</p>

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<p>Tufts is a pretty good school for Premed, relatively small, and your stats would make it a low reach or high match for you most likely. You should check it out.</p>

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<p>NavalTradition, “flyover country” is a rude way to refer to a large portion of the country where CC posters live… We obviously don’t “fly over” it.</p>

<p>OP, have you considered Pepperdine?</p>

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<p>Op, would you (or your parents) prefer a religious school even if it’s not as hardcore as the ones you’ve named? Or would you prefer a secular school?</p>