<p>Hi, I'm currently at the process where I have to start to search for some colleges.
I also have some questions about what I should look into.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I want to have diversity, and also a lot of different classes to choose from, but I also like to have individual attention and smaller classes (20-30 students a class is good, the smaller the better, but not to small). I like to socialize but also don't really like crowds. What size school do you think I should be looking for? I'd like a range. </p></li>
<li><p>If you go to a school either far or in the opposite coast, does that mean you have to pay a lot of money for the air tickets to go to and return home every break?</p></li>
<li><p>I really like Math and Science, but I'm weak in humanities. I also enjoy a lot of extracurricular activities.</p></li>
<li><p>I don't really like cold weather (anything under 30 degrees) but I'm willing to manage it if necessary. Anything around Pennsylvania and south is good.</p></li>
<li><p>My SAT Score is currently 1900. I want to be able to rank or at least be in the middle compared to the other students. What schools do you guys think I should look into?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>For the class size issue, in any major in any school, the class sizes will be bigger in the introductory classes and smaller in the higher-level classes. For a lot of different classes to choose from, keep in mind that you can only take 30 - 45 classes total; you don’t need thousands of classes to choose from. The number of students in any school constitutes a crowd; you’ll socialize with people (and the number of people) of your choosing. In other words, most schools meet your size criteria. Liberal Arts Colleges (LACs) are going to have smaller classes sooner in your career.</p>
<p>You don’t have to go home for every break, and air fare costs a few hundred dollars round trip. IMO, the cost of air fare is dwarfed by all the other college costs.</p>
<p>There are many colleges that meet these criteria. Your best bet is to start with College Board’s or this site’s college finding web sites. They ask you all kinds of questions about these issues, and then present you with a list of from several to several hundred schools that meet your criteria.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Bigger schools will have greater breadth and depth in many subjects, particularly math and science, but will often have large to very large classes, especially at the freshman and sophomore level.</p>
<p>Smaller schools will have smaller classes, especially at the freshman and sophomore level, but may have limited course selection in some subjects.</p>
<p>Small schools with good breadth and depth in math and science include Carleton, Reed, and Harvey Mudd. However, they may not be that easy to get into. University of Minnesota, Morris is also worth a look, as it is not as hard to get into and less expensive (even for out of state).</p>
<p>Some ways that you can research schools yourself:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>To find class sizes, go to the school’s web site and put “schedule of classes” in the search box. At many schools, it will show you enrollment limits and actual enrollments in various classes.</p></li>
<li><p>To check breadth and depth in any given subject, look for the course catalog section for the subject. For each subject, look for junior/senior level core courses for the subject, plus electives. You can get an idea of what the core courses in the subject are by looking at the bachelor’s degree requirements at some of the larger schools.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Have you started looking at how much your family can afford? That usually has a LARGE impact on your choices.</p>
<p>Price is fine, I am just looking around for the school first.</p>
<p>For size range you seem to watch something very similar to what I wanted. I went towards 5k to about 10k. the best area tends to be around 6k-7k though, but that’s a bit too specific and it’s hard to find. I wanted to be able to see different people everyday but not be lost in a crowd, but I also wanted small classes. I hate to plug the college I’m currently seriously considering, but Ramapo college of NJ fits a majority of your criteria. (It only reaches below 30 degrees in February) The average student at Ramapo has a 1700 SAT. so you would be ranked high. Another college could be American university, however this is just based on size, I don’t know much about it. I could probably think of others, but I’m a bit short on time.</p>
<p>K thanks for answering, is there a school you recommend with an average 1900 SAT score?</p>
<p>University of Rochester would be in that range, but it tends to be cold for a majority of the year. rensselaer polytechnic institute is most male, i think it’s only 25% female, and it can get cold. SUNY Geneseo also gets cold. As you can tell I’ve only seriously researched colleges in New York and New Jersey… Brandeis, you’d be in the middle academically… Lehigh is a major party school… College of New Jersey is more upstanding than Ramapo… Marist College is also relatively small…</p>
<p>Hendrix College:</p>
<p>Very warm social atmosphere.
Small classes (almost always under 20 students).
Location near Little Rock, AR means much warmer weather than most good LACs.
Extremely strong in sciences, among Top 50 Schools that Produce Science Phds.
Tons of ECs and student organizations.
*Academic profile, class of 15: 60 percent in top 10th of high school class, 81 percent in top quarter; midrange scores: 1140-1340 SAT and 27-32 ACT, and 3.7-4.3 GPA
(Hendrix has a very self selecting group of students that apply, our admissions rate hovers around 80% despite strong applications.)</p>
<p>If you use the Common App for Hendrix, it’s completely free! Also, Hendrix accepts applications until the class is full.</p>
<p>I would recommend Hendrix to anyone.</p>