Can you help me find "match" colleges?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Female Asian from Southern California, decent public school (tons of people go to UC berkeley /ucla and a few to ivy leagues and other top schools each year)</p>

<p>SAT: 1980 - 670 CR, 670 M, 640 W. Retook in October, expecting 2100
SAT II: US - 740. Math 2 - 710.
ACT: 33
APs: Us -5, Calc AB -4, physics b - 3, euro - 3. taking this year - psychology, calc bc, french, biology
full ib diploma candidate</p>

<p>GPA: 3.92 UW, 4.79 W ranked 4/467</p>

<p>want to major in sociology. maybe double major with history or french.
ECs include a lot of activities with french, sociology related things (worked with disabled people, senior citizens, high schoolers, etc etc all things i'm interested in because of my interest in how society works), school organizations like California scholarship federation, national honors society.
i have minor awards in leadership, foreign language, academics, art. </p>

<p>I had a summer job before my junior year, I had one job during junior year 10-20 hrs/week and two jobs this past summer for a total of 25-40 hrs/week. (family has very low income)</p>

<p>Schools I'm considering</p>

<p>Columbia
Brown
Pomona
Wesleyan
Stanford
(not sure for the following):
Reed
Whitman
Bowdoin </p>

<p>also applying to UC berkeley, los angeles, san diego, irvine. </p>

<p>I have too many reaches and not enough matches/safeties to balance everything out. I need to cut out some reaches and add some safeties.
Can anyone suggest any schools that are matches for me? </p>

<p>I'm looking for a school that is small to medium sized, interesting and diverse student body (not overrun by hipsters, preps or any one "group" in particular), not too much focus on drinking/partying, friendly, moderate to liberal. </p>

<p>Thanks so much for any help!</p>

2

<p>Look at Patriot League schools, Lafayette, Holy Cross, Bucknell.</p>

<p>The</a> Patriot League - Official Athletic Site</p>

3

<p>I think your top five are reaches, but your bottom three might be matches. For west coast, also check out Pitzer and CMC, Lewis & Clark, Willamette, and Puget Sound as possible matches.</p>

4

<p>Your GPA is very good for all the UCs. You should be in Reed, Whitman, Bowdoin.
Stanford - crap shoot for anybody
Not sure about the rest. Usually people have high SAT and low GPA which is not as good as your case, high GPA and average SAT. So don't worry, I think you have a very good chance particularly at the top UCs.</p>

5

<p>Wake Forest, Tulane, U of Miami (Florida), Clark (Mass.), St. Louis U., Marquette, DePauw, Lawrence University, Fordham. Tulane, Clark, St. Louis, Marquette, and Fordham are right in cities that might be very good for a sociologist.</p>

6

<p>Bowdoin accepts about 22% of applicants. I think she's iffy for Bowdoin unless the SATs come up quite a bit.</p>

7

<p>I think you should consider the University of Chicago instead of some of your reaches. Certainly your class rank is a "match," and they supposedly care less about SATs than most. The size and makeup of the student body is right, and their sociology dept is good, I believe.</p>

<p>Isn't Claremont McKenna the "social science" school rather than Pomona? Also less reachy.</p>

<p>I would suggest that you consider some women's colleges as places where you can get more bang for your buck in terms of selectivity. Smith and Holyoke, definitely.</p>

8

<p>If part of the reason you like Columbia is the NYC atmosphere, how about Fordham?</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
Bowdoin accepts about 22% of applicants. I think she's iffy for Bowdoin unless the SATs come up quite a bit.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Bowdoin is test optional.</p>

10

<p>I think Boston University would be perfect for a Sociology major! Plus, it's Boston!</p>

11

<p>Bowdoin doesn't look at SATs at all, I just had this conversation with our valedictorian.</p>

12

<p>I think your val is wrong. Bowdoin does look at them IF you submit them. Unless they've changed their policy since last year.</p>

13

<p>If it changes anything, Reed is not a very double major friendly school. Acceptance is also very closely tied to fit and personality, which could be good or bad.</p>

14

<p>I really liked U of Chicago until I realized I would need a rec from a math or sci teacher, and I would seriously consider Fordham if it wasn't religiously affiliated. But I will look into some of the ones you guys mentioned. Thanks for all the suggestions!</p>

15

<p>At Bowdoin, are SATs like interviews? Don't really count against you if you don't have one but could help if good?</p>

16

<p>Yeah, I'm unsure about Reed because it seems like a lot of pretentious hipsters. haha..................... but I'm going to research more about the school before I kick it off the list. I like the idea of "Paideia". Sounds really fun!</p>

17

<p>Portland and Reed do seem to fit the Wiki definition of "hipster" (middle class young people associated with alternative culture, particularly alternative music, independent rock, independent film and a lifestyle revolving around thrift store shopping, eating organic, locally grown, vegetarian, and/or vegan food, drinking local or brewing beer, listening to public radio, riding bicycles) but it seems to be more genuine than pretentious, from what I've seen. Double majoring is said to be exceedingly difficult in eight semesters at Reed, due to two senior theses.</p>

18

<p>My friend hated Reed and thought he was suitable for it --until he went. He tried to transfer out. He's a really intellectual kind of guy but he thought it was too stifling for him.
Then again, that's just one's person's experience, and I'm sure lots of other people have a great time there. Try to visit and get a feel for the college first though.</p>

19

<p>I suggest that you should not rule out Jesuit colleges (like Fordham) because they are "religious" unless you have visited a Jesuit college.<br>
Association</a> of Jesuit Colleges and Universities list</p>

20

<p>Consider Grinnell in Iowa. They have an excellent academic reputation, generous financial AND merit aid, fabulous facilities, a student body that sounds like what you are looking for, no distribution requirements, and being Asian is actually an advantage. </p>

<p>Initially, I was reluctant to consider a school located in the rural midwest-Iowa felt too 'foreign.' We visited 10 liberal arts colleges, including Pomona and Bowdoin. Then we saw Grinnell. S knew it was the right fit immediately.</p>