Can anybody help me with my college search?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a junior who is pretty lost in the college search process. I go to a small, non-outstanding school which sends most of its students to community colleges and local Christian colleges. I have no counseling help there whatsoever and have to search for colleges on my own.</p>

<p>I believe I have the basic qualifications to give me a shot at admission to any college, but in order to attend I will have to receive a scholarship that covers my entire tuition at the very least. My parents' fair amount of wealth precludes any hope for financial aid, and they have already stated that they will not pay for my college education.</p>

<p>Here are a few criteria I desire in a college:</p>

<p>Strong in engineering and applied science</p>

<p>Absolutely must offer applied math as a major</p>

<p>Small to medium (not more than 5,000 students) - The smaller the better</p>

<p>Absolutely cannot be located in the South (Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Florida,
Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky). North Carolina is not too southern and therefore ok.</p>

<p>Preferably no politically-charged atmosphere, but that's ok if other criteria fit</p>

<p>No big frat/sorority scene</p>

<p>Open-minded atmosphere</p>

<p>Lots of dorky people (though that goes with the applied science and engineering bit)</p>

<p>Preferably lots of variety - a good music school would be a major plus, but not necessary</p>

<p>Definitely no official religious affiliation</p>

<p>I've used some college search engines, but they're not extraordinarily helpful considering I cannot weight my criteria.</p>

2

<p>The financial issue makes it hard to suggest colleges. Would it be possible to convince your parents to pay for some? Could you get a job or take out some loans?</p>

3

<p>The maximum my parents might pay is $10,000 per year I'm figuring, and I'd consider myself lucky if they did that. My parents really don't care where I go to college, but if I beg and plead enough they might take pity. I've never thought about getting a job, but how much can it help to foot a $40,000 a year bill at the private colleges? I don't think I want to stack up the loans that have to be paid back; I have graduate school to look forward to. $20,000 in debt is the most I can deal with after I get out of college.</p>

4

<p>You and I have similar interests, but I can't think of a place that might offer you merit aid off the top of my head. I'll think about it tonight and get back to you. Meanwhile, there are many parents who know more about this than I do who should be coming on in the next hour or so. Good luck! I'm sure you'll find something!</p>

5

<p>You need to rethink your aversion to a larger school. If you consider state schools, and consider some even in the "dreaded south" - you may find a school willing to give you a full ride, especially if you're a NM semifinalist.</p>

6

<p>Foofit, if you absolutely need money to go to school. If your parents absolutely are not going to pay anything towards college, you need to make your most important criterion the money you can get. In order to do anything of that sort, we need an academic and EC profile including grades, courses taken, test scores and special talents. Do you fit in any special categories such as URM, and where do you live? Important, because schools pay for what they want. You need to be in the upper echelons of any college you consider, in order to realistically expect money from them. And you need to bring something to the table they want. You also want to focus on colleges that give out a decent amount of merit aid. A suggestion if you are very strong academically would be Cooper Union which is tuition free. Olin is an engineering possibility, again, you need high stats, tuition free. The service academies are all free. Case Western gives high stats kids generous awards. Kettering also give awards. But you have to have the resume and numbers to get these awards. </p>

<p>An interesting program that I know several kids attended is the Maritime College which is part of SUNY. You can join programs so that most of your way is paid and the stats for this program are not as selective as many other schools. Another selective freebie is the Webb Institute.</p>

7

<p>did you try the counselor-o-matic at <a href="http://www.princetonreview.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.princetonreview.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>Yeah, I was going to say Cooper Union - really strong in what you want, but it's the toughest to get into b/c it's free...and no shortage of dorky kids there.</p>

<p>Lol and I was going to say Cornell until I saw the "no big frats/sorority scene" lol</p>

9

<p>OK - The reason I didn't post this stuff initially is that I tried asking for help at another section of this discussion board and was accused of lying and flamed for being a "stuck-up prep." I honestly DO NOT know what I should do for college; I'm not just doing this for recognition or an ego-boost.
SAT I: 1580
SAT II: Math IIC - 800; Writing - 800; Yet to take Physics and possibly German Language with Listening as well
PSAT: 226 - Good enough to qualify in my state
GPA: 4.0 (unweighted - my high school doesn't offer AP's)
Rank: 1/22
Course information: I took standard, totally pointless, so-boring-that-it-induces-suicidal-thoughts crap in my freshman and sophomore years. I switched schools prior to junior year so I could take all my classes online with Stanford's EPGY and at my local university.
This year I've taken: AP Physics: Mechanics with EPGY, first semester of general chemistry, first semester of composition, calculus I, first semester of second-year college German
Currently taking:
At local university: Calculus II, second-year college German, second semester of composition
With EPGY: AP Physics: EM, Introduction to C Programming
At high school (which really doesn't count): Economics, Wellness</p>

<p>EC's
Classical pianist - some regional and local competitions with awards - nothing big
Peer tutor for four hours a week
Mentor for a middle-schooler during my freshman and sophomore years
Varsity soccer player junior and planning on senior years
Interlochen alumnus (it's a fairly selective arts camp)
Planning on attending a Governor's School in addition to a math camp this summer
BTW - My school doesn't have math/chemistry/whatever teams, so that's out. I'm a member of some of those sketchy societies like Beta Club, National Honor Society, etc. but I don't think that says anything.</p>

<p>Work
Peer tutor for 4 hours a week (in addition to the tutoring I do for free)
Accompanist (variable hours)</p>

<p>URM Status - I'm caucasian! I better just give up my dreams for top tier colleges... JKing - But I am a female planning on math and engineering, so that might offer opportunities.</p>

10

<p>foofit, parents who can pay but won't pay certainly cause a lot of heartache for qualified students like you. The good news is that there are several colleges that offer substantial merit money to "buy" outstanding students. Although they may not be the biggest names, you can certainly get an excellent education. If you plan to continue to play soccer in college so much the better. You might try posting on the parents board (with a more descriptive title) for suggestions.</p>

<p>Just out of interest, what do your parents want you to do? Will they at least file financial aid forms so that you see what your family qualifies for? Sometimes it's not so black and white.</p>

11

<p>? I don't know what my parents want me to do. I'm sure we'll file financial aid forms just because.</p>

12

<p>With your kind of stats, you can go for programs at a number of schools that have generous merit awards, along with a few where you are very likely to get full rides, and some where you are sure to get money. Full rides at selective schools are tough to get even for stellar stats like yours, but you are certainly in the running. Take a look at Rochester, Miami, Tulane, Emory, Vanderbilt along with some of the biggies such as Duke, CalTech, UChicago, UNC's Morehead, Swarthmore, Rice, Wake Forest, Wash &Lee, Wash USL. Your state school probably offers a full ride for someone of your stats and if you make NMF, UFlorida and a number of other schools offer full rides.</p>

13

<p>Why are your parents such cheapskates? Do they want to spend the money on their SUV instead of their child? They must be very selfish people.</p>

14

<p>Well, yes, they do seem to like to spend their money on SUV's and sporty cars (cadillac escalades and corvette Z06's to be exact) rather than tuition. I don't know if I should be angry with them because considering the cost of private colleges nowadays, they would be strained to pay. However, they never saved money or thought about tuition expense at all. I don't think my parents understand the importance of college or that a lot of colleges (the ones they expect me to attend) are really just glorified high schools.</p>

15

<p>Let's assume for the moment that you are not putting us on. In that case, my advice to you would be to put yourself up for adoption.</p>

16

<p>I'm not putting you on; I once considered asking my piano teacher to adopt me. It makes me feel ungrateful, but I guess I should be angry with them, even though it probably won't get me anywhere. BTW, I have a few general questions about this board in general. What does RSI stand for? HYPSM? And also, can someone please explain to me how having a bunch of anonymous people off the internet confirm your self-worth would actually do anything for your ego? I see it all the time at the "What are my Chances" forum.</p>

<p>I heard CalTech offers merit scholarships. So, what do you have to do to get one? Find the cure for cancer? I think I'm overstepping my bounds with that one.</p>

17

<p>Check out the following schools:</p>

<p>California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
Harvey Mudd College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Rice University
University of Chicago
Washington University</p>

<p>I was going to add Emory and Vanderbilt because they give a lot of Merit Aid, but you said absolutely no to Georgia and Tennessee.</p>

18

<p>You may want to look for an engineering school with a co-op program. Co-oping will help finance your education, and give you a boost in the job market after graduation.</p>

19

<p>If the school has to have an app math major, Olin won't work for you. (That's kind of a shame, because other than that it sounds like Olin would be a great fit.)</p>

20

<p>With your stats(and being female), most engineering schools would love to have you. I definetely recommend you applying to MIT and Cal Tech. Also, Harvey Mudd and Rose Hulman sound like good options.</p>