<p>Here are my stats
GPA: 3.6 UW, 5.3 Weighted (I had to undergo counseling for child abuse freshman year and missed two weeks due to infection in sophomore year+hospital visit, if that helps my case at all)
ACT Score: Averaging a 32 on practice tests, lowest is 30 and highest is 34
Extra curriculars
Debate Club
Chess Club
Board Games Club
Programming & Video Game Design
I am currently enrolled in, have taken, or will take
AP World History
AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics
AP US History
AP Psychology
AP Physics 1&2
AP English Composition
AP English Literature
AP Chemistry </p>
<p>I am reside in Indiana, so Purdue and IU-Bloomington are top choices right now. I'd prefer to stay as close to Indiana as possible, though I'd be willing to go to Saturn if it meant a better college.
Money is an issue, so any other colleges must offer aid in one way or another to get cost around $25,000 at the upper limit. Parents together make around $90,000 a year and my step-father's son is currently in college, his daughter will be in it one year before me too. My half-brothers got to go to college for free due to their father's military service, so my mother just assumed I would get it too (I didn't), and thus has little college savings. </p>
<p>I want to major in Physics and eventually get a Phd in Nuclear Physics.
I really don't care where I live or what political climate there is or what type of college it is.
Although if I had to pick, I'd choose a small-mid size town, apathetic to politics and lack of party scene.
I plan to basically be a shut-in and leave only to buy essential foods. </p>
<p>Case Western, Oberlin, Kenyon, Denison, Centre, Butler, Notre Dame, Depauw, Wabash, Wheaton. Most of those are liberal arts which might be what your better suited for but correct me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>Liberal Arts colleges aren’t too interested in the type of student who is uninterested in participating in student life, so I wouldn’t recommend them for this student. Sounds like he’s got his list.</p>
<p>BrownParent is right, I really am not interested in colleges that would force me to participate in activities that I deem to be nonessential.
I’m pretty much politically, socially and religiously, apathetic. I have opinions and can express them if needed, but I find no need to express my opinion unless I am asked for it and I deem it to be needed.
The closing thing to partying I do is a small gathering of 3-4 friends in which all of us leave at a specified time.
If you were to see me and my girlfriend, you really wouldn’t know we were anything more than pals from how we act in public.
I’m just not a very social person or someone who enjoys doing stuff in public. I don’t like emotional extremes. I try to keep myself at a nice neutral 100% of the time.
I don’t know if my semi-whiney post helps at all, but I believe it may. </p>
<p>Check out Tulane, Lafayette, Hendrix, GWU, and the University of Arizona. A few of these might be far from you (especially Tulane) but they’re all solid schools that either give out good merit aid or have strong physics programs. </p>
<p>Sorry, typo, meant to type 1950 but you’re right 32ACT= 2100 SAT so you’re fine for merit scholarships there. And it ranks very high for Physics PHD production
So that makes it a safety IF you can express interest starting now (you fill out their “request info” questionnaire, email admissions to ask questions, email the Physics dept to ask questions, etc) AND merit is pretty certain.</p>
<p>Is there a way to see where they send off their undergrads for their graduate studies?
Having a high amount of Phd production is great, but it’s kind of misleading if they all go to a Jerry Seinfeld School of Art, if you know what I mean. </p>
<p>Well, Physics isn’t taught at JS School of Art so don’t worry.
And PHDs in Physics are typically found at flagships only. I can’t think of a “bad” or “ridiculous” school for PHD in Physics.</p>
<p>Just so you know, getting into a PHD is competitive and applicants typically are among the best in their dept. think of yourself, multiplied, and competing for a few slots with funding. COMPLETING a PHD even after that selection reduces the pool even more. In short, it’s a good indication of strong undergraduate programs if their graduates can compete for PHD admission AND complete the PHD programs.</p>
<p>In any case: email them to ask - that will be a positive tick on your file since you expressed interest early. </p>
<p>The ultimate in non partying is BYU, in Utah, but if you’re not Mormon it may not be your cup of tea (understatement). Check out “substance free dorms” at any college for a more low-key environment.
Colleges that are more intellectual than their stats would suggest and rather less “social”…
Kalamazoo and Earlham would likely provide you with good financial aid, as would Wooster - safeties with strong academics. Wooster is known for its commitment to undergraduate research. Hendrix is quirky and guarantees research experience, it’s rather quirky too so and has good merit scholarships. If you get a 32 you get full tuition at Alabama, with Honors college, Honors Dorm, priority registration, research privileges, and other perks. I’d recommend New College of Florida too, as it’s very intellectual and intense academically speaking, but it’s known for its pot consumption too and loud weekend parties. If HBCU’s sound intriguing, Howard.
If the idea of an all-male college doesn’t scare you, there’s Wabash.
(plus Rose Hulman and the tech schools, but they prepare engineers rather than PHDs.)
Your best bet remains Lawrence though so start contacting them, fill out the “request info” questionnaire, email the Physics department, etc. (Start with Dear Professor…, and end with Sincerely yours. Treat that email as if it were a professional letter.)
For matches, St Olaf (“dry” campus may appeal to you), Dickinson, Franklin&Marshall… are known for good science programs.
For reaches, Grinnell, Reed ( interested in manning an actual nuclear reactor? … same thing as NCF though), Carleton, HarveyMudd, CalTech.
At a large college you won’t be expected to do anything. It’s pretty anonymous but equally alienating if you don’t go out of your way to look for things to do and people to meet. Joining a LLC <em>of interest</em> (such as one for budding scientists) is a way to fight that, as is joining the Honors College.
A problem is that most of these schools would expect you to have interests beside studying and getting good grades. I’m curious, how would you spend your time if you didn’t participate in clubs, activities, research, etc?
When you say you’re apathetic and don’t want to spend time doing nonessential things, what do you consider “essential” and “nonessential”? Or are you conflating “being social” in the college sense where some consider it’s synonymous with “loving a loud party and getting drunk”?
Do you mean you’re only interested in CoD and won’t leave your dorm room except for class and food, or that you’re not the perky-athletic-outgoing type? Because in order to succeed, you’re going to want to do <em>something</em> beside study. It doesn’t matter if it’s investment club, actuarial science honor society, programming, volunteering, or anything else, but you’ll need to find what you’re interested in.</p>
<p>So build a list around Indiana and Purdue. Add a few private schools that aren’t super selective but have strong physics programs and good aid. Lawrence and Reed are not need-blind, full-need schools but might come through with enough aid to compete with Indiana and Purdue. Grinnell is a bit less selective than many of the other full-need colleges. </p>
<p>I don’t know about the costs for you as an OOS student, but Michigan State has a highly ranked graduate program for nuclear physics. On the website, there is some info for merit scholarships. You would need to take a closer look at them. </p>
<p>When you say “parents together make ~$90,000/year”, does that include stepparents and bio parents? Schools like Lawrence take all of their income and assets into account. So you may not be able to count on need-based aid. University of Minnesota - TC has pretty low OOS tuition and could be a fit.</p>
<p>Here is a link to a list of undergraduate schools that produce the highest percentage of PhD s in science and engineering. Many of the top producers are LAC. Your stats are pretty strong and if your ACT results are in line with the practice tests you could be in the running for these schools. I do not agree with the poster above who said that LACs are not interested in people who do not want to be involved in lots of activities. When your counselor writes the letter of recommendation she can explain the health problems you had. Look at the websites for these schools, run the NPC. For need only schools make sure you have accurate numbers from your parents and step parents (if any). </p>
<p>You really have to run the NPC for both sets of parents, and add the EFC’s together out of that if the school requires the CSS Profile or non-custodial parent on another form.</p>
