<p>Grinnell. Macalester. Carleton. Oberlin. Kenyon.</p>
<p>DMelanogaster: Since the OP mentioned that she was engaged in being politically active, I’m going with the assumption that she has at least some interesting ECs. If not, than she won’t get in.</p>
<p>Also, obviously (and I think the OP knows this?), once you get to these schools, you do need to work to do well. But you can shape your classes so that you like what you’re doing – it sounds like the OP works hard when they are engaged.</p>
<p>For your reach schools definitely go for someplace like Brown or Rice that don’t have rigid distribution requirements. That way you can take only the classes that motivate you.</p>
<p>Hi everyone, OP here. I am going to try to further clarify this without sounding too annoying…sorry I needed a disclaimer to say that so I guess I’ve already failed…</p>
<hr>
<p>Life story: </p>
<p>Freshman year: Middle class, white, live in a suburban “bubble” with fantastic public schools. Straight As. Boatload of extra curricular and awards. Good fun. </p>
<p>Sophomore year: For family (etc etc etc etc $$$ blah blah blah) reasons, we had to move and I attended a school in the city. BIG CHANGE. I sometimes joke that it was “like a movie” (you know, white preppy girl in the ghetto) but it was NOT. The school was actually okay (absolute academic ****e compared to my old school, but the emphasis on the arts was really good for me). But it was very hard learning how to fit in and massive culture shock in ways that aren’t very funny. </p>
<p>Junior year:
Back to the suburbs. Bad transition. Realized that the kids who were “top” at this school (my old friends) were very obsessive and panicky. Really did not like being hounded about my grades and studystudystudy atmosphere. Really REALLY missed the attitude and real passion from those who were “top” at old school (they didn’t have private tutors for their ACTs…). </p>
<p>So I was whiny and immature about it in ways that make me cringe right now. “I don’t get the point of this.” Coasted. Mostly Bs. Bad timing on the whole identity crisis! Did some great projects on my own but always got the “Is this going to be on the test?” response. Felt unsure. Pulled grades up. Sad life. </p>
<hr>
<p>Sorry I tried to make that as short as possible, but it always gets away from me. I feel like I can’t tell one part of the story without the other, etc…</p>
<p>CONCLUSION:
I am still trying to find that balance between academic rigor of my current school and the creativity and self-motivation of my old school. </p>
<p>The ability to get over myself and do things I don’t want to do is a work in progress…I imagine I will either sink of float when it comes down to it. Don’t hesitate with giving me tough schools or safety schools, because who knows where I’ll be in another semester? I also don’t know how much this whole bounce bounce bounce with the high schools will hurt me…it was out of my control and I would not be myself without it, but it definitely wasn’t a traditional path and I sometimes feel I could have accomplished more of “what colleges are looking for” without it. Who knows? </p>
<p>In other news, I have a good amount of (what might be considered) successful ECs. I would prefer to stay in the Midwest and not dig myself into a chasm of debt…I also would like to major in education (special needs). Possibly political science or history. Linguistics. Illustration? I am clueless, but it would be nice to have a good 2D art program on the side. I love having options…I am interested in mostly anything except for maths and calculating my GPA. </p>
<p>TL;DR</p>
<p>RAAWWWWWWWWWWWWR
Thanks for your time. I am still encouraged by the responses and will be going to Ohio in August for some visits.</p>
<p>Also consider St. John’s - no grades apparently.</p>