Another junior's college list

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I thought I'd do my part to keep the bonanza of junior possible college choices threads going...</p>

<p>White male in Aurora, CO
GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.7 W
ACT: 34, need to re-take in June to get writing part
SAT: taking June 4, I usually do better on ACT anyway so this might not be important</p>

<p>Classes:</p>

<p>Grade 9 (which is a good song, by the way):
Honors Physical Universe (general science)
Honors English
World History (typically soph class)
Honors Algebra 2
Spanish 3
Intro to Business
2 computer-related electives</p>

<p>Grade 10:
Honors Biology
Honors English
AP Human Geo (5 on exam)
Honors Pre-Calc
Spanish 4
Newspaper
PE</p>

<p>Grade 11:
AP Physics B (probably 5 on exam)
AP English Lang (same as above)
AP US History (same as above)
AP Calc BC (probably 5 on exam, 4 if I was unlucky)
AP Spanish Lang (same as above)
Newspaper</p>

<p>Grade 12:
AP Chem
AP English Lit
AP Euro History
Calc 3
AP Spanish Lit
Newspaper</p>

<p>I have gotten A's in every class in every semester since entering high school.</p>

<p>ECs: my weakest area
-writer for school newspaper 10, 11, 12 (copy editor in 12)
-Spanish Honor Society 10, 11, 12
-Spanish Club 9, 10
-somewhat involved in Wikipedia, if anyone knows what that is. I'm looking to become more involved this summer and next year. Would this even count as an EC?
-just got a Yale Book Award
-have a bunch of departmental awards from 9, 10, and 11</p>

<p>Prospective Major: probably chemistry, maybe physics, maybe double major of the two
-also looking to pick up minor or even major in Spanish also
Other preferences:
-near a large population center (urban or suburban setting)
-small to medium in size
-has a wide selection of courses from all major areas of study (i.e. not a tech school)
-area of the country doesn't matter
-an intellectual student body would be nice
-students and staff should not all be militant liberals
-undergrad education takes priority, not all grad students teaching classes</p>

<p>List as it stands now in order of preference:
1. U of Chicago
2. Davidson
3. Cornell U
4. Northwestern
5. Columbia (I know, I know, weird position)
6. Macalester
7. WUSTL
8. Wake Forest
9. Occidental (safety)
10. Emory
11. Miami of Ohio (safety)
12. Franklin & Marshall (safety)</p>

<p>I have visited Cornell, Columbia, Occidental, and F & M plus others that I eventually took off my list. I have plans to visit the others soon.</p>

<p>Obviously, I need to narrow it down. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Sorry to be so long-winded, but I wanted to be thorough. Thanks for reading. :)</p>

2

<p>When you visit the rest of the schools some of them will fall off your list. And if the safety schools are true safeties, you only need one of them, unless they rise toward the top of your list. So no need to kick anything off now - 12 schools is fine for this point in the process.</p>

3

<p>Bump. Any other opinions?</p>

4

<p>I'm a fellow junior (my college list so far is the thread "yet another junior college list) =) Columbia sounds like it could really work for you... I believe there's a 5- year double enrollment program in SEAS and the College, which sounds right up your alley. Definitely would provide a change of scene for a Coloradan (word?), although visit first to see if New York is your scene or not. UChicago is such a unique atmosphere that you should definitely visit. I'd also take a look at Rice and Brown for reaches... they're excellent in both the sciences and the humanities, and everyone I've known who's gone there has loved it. For matches, I'd look into Brandeis, BC, and GW. Rhodes College would also be a good safety. Good luck... we'll probably be hearing a lot more of each other in the months to come ;)</p>

5

<p>Oh, I forgot Tufts for a reach/ match.</p>

6

<p>Thanks ladylazarus. It is "Coloradan" by the way. "Coloradoan" is also correct, but it's usually only used by people trying to sound smart by adding extra syllables to a word. I have visited NYC already, and I could probably make it there, but it would definitely be a big culture shock. I'm not really interested in engineering, just the pure sciences, so I wouldn't be interested in SEAS. Columbia College looks fine, though. I have been looking at Brandeis and Rhodes also. Good schools all.</p>