Can YOU find the right college for ME?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm still having trouble finding a college I like. :[ Can you please help me? It's gonna be a kinda long post but I really need help and i'd really value your opinions!</p>

<p>Here are the things I want:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>A small to middle-sized school. Prefferably SMALL though. LACs, Woman's Colleges, uni's with small class sizes and a sense of "community" plz. This is really importanrt to me. I have ADHD and need teachers, friends that will care about me and make me feel like I'm part of something. Maybe it sounds weak but i think if I went to a big school I would feel less motivated to do well and let myself get lost in the sea. :/ For HS, I went to a high-ranked Private school and became friends with a lot of my teachers and it helped me get the 4.0 i now have. </p></li>
<li><p>TRADITIONS. i know most people don't think much of this but it kinda goes with no. 1 for me. I want to feel like I'm part of something that has history, pride. A small school with a lot of traditions, formals, events, societies, etc would be really great for me I think. :] Sweet Briar sounds PERFECT in this category but i'm not sure about it cuz of other reasons.</p></li>
<li><p>Near a city. prefferably no more than 20 mins away. It doesn't HAVE to be but again due to my ADHD I'm afraid of feeling trapped or restless on a very isolated school. Cities I'm most into: Boston, NYC, DC, Philly, San Fran, San Diego, Sacramento, Nashville, Seattle [my hometown, obviously lol].</p></li>
<li><p>Quirky. Art is my LIFE. :] I also do my own animated web series, make my own clothes and LOVE "weird" stuff like Japanese animation, cosplay, LARPing,, indie movies, underground music, geeking out over stuff like that. </p></li>
<li><p>Need great FA. :[ I'm sad that most LACs sound like they don't offer good FA cuz i really need it. </p></li>
<li><p>Last, i'm not SUPER worried about the actual GETTING IN part cuz i do have a 4.0 UW GPA and an ok 2090 SAT. but I'd like to hear if you guys think the schools you reccomend to me are matches, safeties, or reaches.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO REPLY. :]</p>

2

<p>Suggestion: Wayne State University? Just a thought. Detroit. Campus is very safe with a stellar honors college.</p>

3

<p>^^^Thank u for the suggestion! but I really want a small school and WSU has more than 30 thousand students. :[</p>

4

<p>You don’t mention what major interests you. But Scripps looks great, except it’s maybe an hour from LA.</p>

5

<p>Bryn Mawr, Smith, Brown, Wesleyan</p>

<p>Some less diff. admission schools: New School (Eugene Lang), Sarah Lawrence, Goucher (strong support for ADD).</p>

6

<p>Although an hour from NYC by train (I think), Vassar also seems to fit the bill.</p>

7

<p>Brown and Amherst seem like they would fit you if you could increase that SAT score to a 2250</p>

8

<p>Reed College seems absolutely perfect for you! Small, with a supportive and “quirky” student body and fabulous professors. They also have really interesting traditions (the Doyle owl, nitrogen day, renn fayre, paideia, etc.). It is rigorous, but if you’re up for it, it’s a very special place. Plus, it’s in a suburb of Portland, one of the coolest cities in the country and not too far from home.</p>

9

<p>^I second Reed, Vassar, and Sarah Lawrence. And I’d also like to suggest Wellesley (surprised no one has mentioned it yet!) It sounds pretty perfect for you: not too far from Boston, has a lot of traditions and school pride, and even allows for cross-registration with other Boston schools (Babson College, Olin College, MIT, and Brandeis University) so that you don’t have to be worried about feeling trapped at one single school. :slight_smile: The only thing is that I don’t think it’s known for being artsy or quirky…anyone have more insight on that?</p>

10

<p>Check out Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Colorado College, Macalester, and Reed. I think these would be high match to low reach schools for you (depending on your class rank, course rigor, and the competitiveness of your HS). Also consider Haverford, Wellesley, and Wesleyan (which would be somewhat more selective reach schools). </p>

<p>The “traditions” factor may not be too well satisfied by all these schools (depending on what you expect.) They do have more or less attractive campuses with traditional collegiate architecture.</p>

11

<p>[Oglethorpe</a> University : About Us](<a href=“http://www.oglethorpe.edu/about_us/]Oglethorpe”>http://www.oglethorpe.edu/about_us/) </p>

<p>Oglethorpe in Atlanta, Georgia.</p>

12

<p>Why not Seattle U for a safety. You’re likely to get a nice scholarship package there.</p>

13

<p>[Mills</a> College for Women, Coed Graduate Programs, California college](<a href=“http://mills.edu/]Mills”>http://mills.edu/) Mills College (CA)</p>

14

<p>Colgate fits all your needs except number 3. It is 30 miles not 20 miles to a city and so it is isolated.</p>

15

<p>Thank u all so much for giving me these ideas! :] I researched every single one you guys said and these ones have made my(still WAY way too long) list of possibilities and my concerns:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Brown. Not sure if I can get in though. :[ The most i can probabbly raise my SAT is to a 2130, if even that. :confused: do I still have a shot?</p></li>
<li><p>Vassar. A little scared about it being so far from a major city though. Does anyone know how long it takes to get to NYC from Vassar reallistically?</p></li>
<li><p>Wellesley. Scared about the general ed reqs there they seem really firm and i would prefer a flexible/open program, and scared that the students would be conservative/tradtional and not quirky.</p></li>
<li><p>Barnard. Unsure if this school has a real sense of community, tradition, friendship. </p></li>
<li><p>Sarah Lawrence. Same concerns as Barnard. :/</p></li>
<li><p>Bryn Mawr. Unsure if it has quirkyness and also if it’s too far from philly.</p></li>
<li><p>Reed. Scared about rigerous gen ed reqs.</p></li>
<li><p>Smith. I don’t want to sound predjudiced but it has a big “sterotypical lesbian” rep. I am BI myself but I am pretty girly and also like girly girls usually(as friends AND as romantic) and don’t know if I’d fit in as well. :confused: </p></li>
<li><p>WEsleyan. Can’t find much info about this school at all, not even graded on college p-r-owler. </p></li>
<li><p>Macalester. Concerned that its more athletic/Greek than quirky/arty.</p></li>
<li><p>Haverford/Swarthmore. Seem like they might have a lot of shy people and i’m kinda shy too so I need a place that will help me get out of my bubble a little.</p></li>
<li><p>Mills. Heard its a commuter school and in a really bad part of Oakland.</p></li>
<li><p>Bard. Too far from a city?</p></li>
<li><p>Sweet Briar. Still LOVE the traditions and community but its so isolated and probabbly too conservative? </p></li>
<li><p>Colgate. Too far from the city and too athletic/Greek?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Aaaaand i’ve added some bigger uni’s to my list :stuck_out_tongue: but I don’t know…</p>

<ol>
<li><p>U of Chicago.</p></li>
<li><p>Georgetown. </p></li>
<li><p>Berkeley. Concerned that it’ll be hard to get in out of state. :/</p></li>
<li><p>Santa Cruz. ^^^Same. </p></li>
<li><p>Upenn? I love Philly but the student body is more clean cut than quirky?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>What do you guys think?? </p>

<p>i’m so sorry for how long this post is, omg. But thank you all SO much for replying so far i really appreciate it so much!! I feel like you guys are really here for me and are gonna help me find the right school! :]</p>

16

<p>Scripps…
<a href=“http://think.scrippscollege.edu/scripps-woman.php[/url]”>http://think.scrippscollege.edu/scripps-woman.php&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.scrippscollege.edu/[/url]”>http://www.scrippscollege.edu/&lt;/a&gt;
i did! :]
Saw that… sorry… I still think you should check it out. How about Santa Clara? University of Portland? Willamette?</p>

17

<p>i did! :] I have a 4.0 UW gpa and a 2090 SAT. But i’ve kinda ruled Scripps out cuz its so isolated and I don’t really like LA much anyway. xP</p>

18

<p>Many schools you might like are not near a city.
Others you could consider: </p>

<p>Hollins (VA)
Mt. Holyoke (MA)
Converse (SC)
Bennington (VT)
Hampshire (MA) </p>

<p>What can your family afford? Over 50k/year for alll 4 years?</p>

19

<p>Berkeley is large and won’t give you the financial aid that you need.</p>

<p>Do you know if you’ll qualify for financial (from the schools that give good aid)?</p>

<p>Have you had your parents use some of FA calculators?</p>

<p>Do you know if how much your parents will pay each year for college? </p>

<p>Do you have a non-custodial parent?</p>

20

<p>

</p>

<p>but i already have about 20 schools on my list, lol! so maybe I shoiuld use the city thing to narrow them down a little? xP</p>

<p>and it’s hard for me to figure out which of these schools give good aid. :confused: that would help me narrow it down A LOT. </p>

<p>My family makes somewhere between 75,000 and 95,000 a year and they deffiniately cannot pay much for my schooling.</p>