<p>I am a senior in high school and I am still exploring my options. However, I cannot seem to find my "perfect school". My SAT scores are average (1600 range), my grades are good my GPA is good (3.95). But I'm not Ivy League material. I want to major in international relations/studies with a minor in education or journalism. I would like to stay in New England because I love New England ( I'm from CT) but I still want to go away from home. I am sort of picky about what I want, but I would like a medium to small school with good academics and a fun social life with kids who are happy with their choice. I want to be close to a city but not smothered by it.
This may seem impractical but I would really appreciate any insight any one has. I am very new to all of this and I am freaking out, please help!!</p>
<p>spread your wings and fly, you can always go back to where you are from after college.
look at Muhlenberg College ( sounds like a near perfect fit)minus the New England part</p>
<p>Don’t believe in a perfect school. There are too many institutions in America for one to be perfect and there are always pros and cons for each! I do not know much about schools in New England, so I can’t recommend any schools, but have you tried using online college searches? 
</p>
<p>I recommend [Best</a> College Comparison - Rankings & Reviews | FindTheBest](<a href=“http://colleges.findthebest.com%5DBest”>http://colleges.findthebest.com) and <a href=“https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search[/url]”>https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search</a></p>
<p>Good luck on your college search!</p>
<p>Initial thoughts:</p>
<p>BC
BU
Northeastern
Bentley
Brandeis
Trinity Col
Wesleyan</p>
<p>There are so many great schools in New England that fit your criterion! I agree that Boston College jumps out for me when I read your list: happy students, beautiful location and easy to get into Boston for fun.
Have you visited any colleges yet?</p>
<p>Siliconvalleymom; yes, but none of them have jumped out at me and screamed PICK ME!</p>
<p>Informative; I have considered many of those schools but many of them are out of my price range or I’m not sure</p>
<p>If I could get in…</p>
<p>“out of my price range”.</p>
<p>Well, what are your parents saying that they’ll pay?</p>
<p>mom2collegekids; not much, less than what a lot of my options cost</p>
<p>Well, you’re going to have to work within that cost restraint. </p>
<p>My SAT scores are average (1600 range</p>
<p>Your stats aren’t high enough for the schools that give the best aid or merit scholarships. …and as you know, the money has to come from somewhere. </p>
<p>How do you plan to pay for college? YOU can only borrow $5500 fro your frosh year. You know that won’t cover a fraction of the costs.</p>
<p>not much, less than what a lot of my options cost</p>
<p>Well, how much? $5k per year? more? less? have you asked them? Are they low income? If not, do they have a good income, but can’t pay much? </p>
<p>Unfortunately, you fall into that gray area of having “good grades”, but without the test scores, your options are limited. You might try some of the “test optional” schools that give good aid.</p>
<p>Wake Forest is test-optional and claims to meet 100% of demonstrated need. Not in NE but I doubt you’ll find an affordable school in NE with that test score.</p>
<p>You might be able to make UConn work.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is test optional and is in Maine. The kids that go there love it. It may be a little too small though. But it is a phenomenal school.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids; my parents income is low enough to get decent need based aid and my grades are okay enough to get scholarships, but I really can’t afford to a school with anything over 40,000 in room board and tuition before aid…
teenbodybuilder; where is wake forest? and I have looked at UConn, however it doesn’t offer an international relations specific major and it’s a little big student wise and I haven’t looked at Bowdoin before… I’ll have to check it out. thanks for the suggestion</p>
<p>Try the Uconn net price calculator. </p>
<p>Also try Bowdoin’s NPC and other “test optional” schools.</p>
<p>Do you plan to re-take the SAT and have you taken the ACT yet? Kids often do much better on the ACT if they have a hard time with the SAT and if you could improve your test scores significantly you may be eligible for more aid.</p>
<p>*my parents income is low enough to get decent need based aid and my grades are okay enough to get scholarships,</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>I think you misunderstand. Scholarships aren’t based on grades, they’re based on test scores. Too many kids have high GPAs. It’s the test scores that “separate the men from the boys” and (often) expose that a school may have too much grade inflation or the student’s curriculum was weak. </p>
<p>You’re not likely going to get merit scholarships from colleges based on grades when your test scores are modest.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>but I really can’t afford to go to a school with anything over 40,000 in room board and tuition before aid.*</p>
<p>What does the above mean? If your family can’t pay $40k, then the above isn’t clear to me. Where would you get the $40k if your family can’t pay that much???</p>
<p>How much can you and your family contribute? If the answer is $10k, then you need enough aid that the remaining cost is $10k or less. </p>
<p>Please clarify?</p>
<p>Keep in mind Bowdoin only accepts 16%. The 75% who did submit test scores had an average of ~2200 on the SAT. I don’t know if you’d get in. </p>
<p>UConn has an honor’s college that would make it feel smaller. But you’d need better test scores or you could apply as a UConn student.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>The 75% who did submit test scores had an average of ~2200 on the SAT.</p>
<p>So, does that mean that these top schools that are “test optional” expect the student who applies without test scores to have a phenomenal resume to make up for the lack of test scores?</p>