Any school recommendations?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>GPA: 3.86 UW
SAT I: 1500 on old and 2210 on new (Retaking in October)
SAT II's:
Math IIC: 800
Literature: 760
Biology: 720
Writing: 800</p>

<p>AP's/Honors Sophomore year:
AP Physics B
Comp Sci Honors
AP Computer Science
English Honors
Development of Civilization Honors </p>

<p>AP's Junior Year:
AP English
AP US History
AP Calc AB
AP Biology</p>

<p>AP's Senior Year (next year):
AP English
AP Gov/Econ
AP Calc CD
AP Chemistry</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Tennis
Journalism Newspaper
Robotics Engineering
Intern at Caltech Soph/Jr summer
LA County Arboretum volunteer
Vice President of Astronomy Club</p>

<p>I want to major in some kind of science related to aerospace or astronomy, but I'm also uncertain as to whether or not I would be able to succeed in this kind of field, so I guess I'm looking for schools that are strong in both science and English in case I decide to switch majors. </p>

<p>I would like a non-conservative, non-religious school in an urban or suburban area, preferably not in the South. </p>

<p>Thank you for any help you can give me in my college search!</p>

2

<p>With your uncertainty about a possible direction of study, maybe check out some liberal arts colleges. Your stats are very impressive, better than mine were, and I am headed for Swarthmore in the fall. I don't have the same incredible knowledge of colleges that many of this board have, but you major criteria: "I would like a non-conservative, non-religious school in an urban or suburban area, preferably not in the South," sound exactly like mine. Here are the liberal arts colleges I originally checked out in my search:</p>

<p>Amherst
Williams
Wesleyan
Swarthmore
Pomona
Carleton
Macalester
Vassar
St. John's
Bard
Reed
Oberlin
Kenyon (great with merit aid) (more rural)
Grinnell (also great with merit aid) (also rural)</p>

<p>If you are looking for places that will give you a lot of merit aid, check out: </p>

<p>University of Richmond
Loyola College in Maryland
Lawrence
Occidental
Lewis and Clark</p>

<p>If you are a girl, which I think you are judging by your screen name, and could deal with a women's college (I went to a single sex high school so decided these weren't for me, but everything I've read indicates that they are superb schools, and I know that at least at Smith and Mt. Holyoke merit aid is good:)</p>

<p>Smith
Wellesley
Bryn Mawr
Mount Holyoke
Barnard</p>

<p>Non-liberal arts colleges that seem to fit your criteria and would offer you significant aid, or honors colleges, most likely:</p>

<p>Washington University in St. Louis
Rice
Boston U
UChicago
Case Western
University of Michigan
Berkeley
UCLA
Northwestern</p>

<p>And of course, there are all those schools CC'ers are obsessed with; I think you probably should check out those, as well:</p>

<p>Stanford
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Brown
Dartmouth (more rural)
Cornell (more rural)
Columbia
UPenn</p>

3

<p>Vassar is a nice school that seems to fit your criteria if you decide to go the English route anyway.</p>

4

<p>You really should be a little more specific. Are you interested in Aerospace Engineering? Astornomy? Astrophysics? English? </p>

<p>At any rate, the following schools are strong is many of those subjects...and are located in urban and suburban areas:</p>

<p>Brown University
California Institute of Technology (but they aren't good in English)
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Rice University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Virginia</p>

5

<p>what the heck is AP Calc CD? sure never heard of that one...</p>

6

<p>Thank you for all the suggestions! </p>

<p>At this point my thoughts are the following:
I enjoy astronomy as a hobby and I might as a major, but I've never taken an Astronomy course so I don't know if I can take all that math and physics.
I am primarily interested in sciences because I love the sense of discovery and exploration, but I don't feel that I am brilliant enough to succeed in the sciences.
I am better at English than I am at science and I like it well enough.
Thus my uncertainty for what I want to study. </p>

<p>Collegeboundjen:
Well, I took AP Calc AB my junior year, so I'm just continuing. My school offers AP Calc C as a semester class and then a Calc "D" for second semester. I would probably be preparing for the AP Calc BC test, though.</p>

7

<p>Melodie, don't worry too much about the major yet, if you are planning on applying to schools strong in many areas. Many of the most well-adjusted adults I know switched majors a handful of times before picking theirs.</p>

8

<p>You need to check out the claremont colleges. Specifically, I'd check out Pomona and Harvey Mudd. Both schools give excellent financial aid and are extremely strong academic choices. Harvey Mudd is an engineering school so if you end up wanting to focus on that, it's the school for you. Pomona on the other hand excells in English along with having a strong science department. Another benefit of attending any of the claremont colleges is that you are allowed to cross-enroll at any other claremotn college, i.e. you can go to Pomona and take all the english classes you want and at the same time take engineering classes at Mudd. Also, the social scene at both schools is laid back and definitely out of the south.</p>