<p>Hi, I am a fun loving, kinda sarcastic person who wants to have a great experience in college (the stereotypical undergrad dream :P minus the underage drinking, heavy partying, etc)
I have looked into a lot of colleges, but I am posting this just to see what answers you all can come up with, or otherwise, this is to see if I had missed any college that I could like/be interested in, in the future.
Thanks!
By the way, I would prefer more competitive, challenging schools...
I like a small environment, but not a "200-person class" type of small.</p>
<p>So far you have provided very little useful info. What can your family afford? What are your stats? Rural/Urban?</p>
<p>Stats are pending, I need financial aid, and I want a good college town. I can tolerate big cities (Ie NYC, la, SFO, dc, etc) but preferably a town near a big city (like northwestern for instance-don’t know much about the U, but its in Evanston, near Chicago.</p>
<p>And for everyone who eventually reads this, I am going to assume that my stats will be:
3.8+
2100+
4/5 aps
Considerable ec’s
Jv/v XC and swim
That’s all I can think of. Top ten in class, I guess.</p>
<p>Pomona.</p>
<p>But seriously, there are dozens of schools fitting your description. Can you be more specific? It seems like you’re asking for any LAC not located in a rural area with good academics.</p>
<p>East/west/midwest? Hot/cold/seasonal? Etc. I’ll be happy to throw out some ideas if you give me some more criteria.</p>
<p>I am fine with location, as long as it does not get too cold/hot (such as Maine/Florida, etc).
Just as long as it is a good location (college town) I will like it</p>
<p>Check out Carleton.</p>
<p>Northwestern is a reach, given your stats. In a previous post I believe you listed MIT and BC. MIT would be unrealistic and BC doesn’t give good merit aid (I pay full-boat for my D at BC). You may want to consider George Washington. They give merit aid, but they kind of mark up their tuition and then give you a “discount” (aid). Knowing your class rank or decile, intended major, and state of residence would help with offering suggestions.</p>
<p>(figured I should bump this up)
I live in northern va (I don’t go to tj, though :D)
I am going to major in biology or chemistry, depending on the school, because I want to be premed
I actually have a 3.95, I just assumed it would go down, and I am in the top 10 percent I guess (I never asked about rankings)
The GW has been on my list for a while, but to learn I don’t have to pay 55K is wonderful. :)</p>
<p>I need financial aid</p>
<p>You need to consider more things…</p>
<p>1) Most schools do not have much aid to give and don’t meet need.</p>
<p>2) How much will your parents pay? If you don’t know, ask them.</p>
<p>3) You need to find out what your EFC will be and whether your family will pay at LEAST that amount. (both federal and institutional methodologies.) You don’t get to determine how much your family can pay…the schools do.</p>
<p>4) If you have an EFC that is higher than what your family will pay (which happens to a lot of kids), then you will need to apply to some schools that give merit.</p>
<p>5) About 23% of family gross income is a very rough estimation of what your EFC will be. So, if family gross income is about $150k, then your EFC will be about $35k per year.</p>
<p>6) If you have a non-custodial parent, then some schools will consider that family’s income as well.</p>
<p>7) If med school is in your future, you need to minimize loans for undergrad.</p>
<p>I’m in that weird monetary “limbo” where on paper I may look like I have enough money for a full EFC, however, private school and a divorce kinda put a damper on that 
So we are going into savings (specifically for college, not my parents actual savings) to pay. So I hope I can get merit aid</p>
<p>I can afford full instate tuition (wm, UVA, tech, etc)</p>
<p>*So we are going into savings (specifically for college, not my parents actual savings) to pay. So I hope I can get merit aid *</p>
<p>What do you mean…going into savings…not your parents savings?</p>
<p>Are you saying that YOU have your own college fund with about $100k in it to pay for instate publics? If not, what are you saying that you have???</p>
<p>Since you’ll have a high EFC that it sounds like your family can’t pay, you need to look at schools where you’d get large merit scholarships to reduce your total cost to what your family will pay. Merit scholarships don’t reduce EFC…unless they’re so big that they cover all of need and THEN cut into EFC.</p>
<p>Once you have SAT/ACT scores we can tell you where you can get the best merit.</p>
<p>Bump…</p>
<p>Take a look at Grinnell College, a rural LAC with outstanding sciences, merit aid, no distribution requirements, palatial facilities and amazing faculty advising. The town of Grinnell, which is contiguous with the campus, is small and you are an hour from Des Moines (to the west) and Iowa City (to the east). Described as quirky, intellectual, individualistic, strong work ethic, definitely non-preppy. The understated, unpretentious, mid-western vibe is very strong. Coming from the mid-atlantic, the winter weather takes some getting used to, but the athletic facilities are palatial, so you won’t suffer.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.htm[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.htm</a></p>