College help...ahahaha

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So I'm a rising junior, looking at colleges. Would like to major in chemistry, go on to get a PhD or MD or DPM.</p>

<p>My predicted stats:
GPA: 4.1-4.2W, 3.8-3.9UW
Top 10% of class for sure...
SAT: 2000-2200 (probably 800 in math, 600-700 in the other two)
Subject test: Math 800 (got results), Physics 700 (got results), Chem (going to take at the end of this school year)
APs: AP Calc BC (5), AP Physics B (4), AP Chemistry, AP Statistics, AP English language, AP English literature, APES, AP Biology
College classes: Will take multivariable calculus/differential equations junior year, linear algebra senior year</p>

<p>EC/Acheivements (at the end of senior year):
Math team 4 years...qualified for AIME in sophomore year
Founder of model rocketry club...3 years
Play viola in youth orchestra...6 years...probably principal 1-2 years
Wrestling/MMA
100+ hours of volunteering at local hospital
...and more, but this probably gives a good idea</p>

<p>Critierias:
1) Nice weather...well atleast no snow. It would be a pain to shovel snow and stuff...I would prefer sun to rain/snow. But too hot is kind of annoying...
2) Wrestling Club/Team (would really like to continue wrestling) and I want to learn how to skateboard, so a skateboarding club + skate park nearby would be awesome.
3) Small school. I don't want to be in classes with hundreds of people. I want my professors to know me well. The UCs are big, I know, but what the heck.
4) Good research opportunities...would like to start early, the earlier the better
5) No cutthroat environment. Competitive is fine though.</p>

<p>Colleges on list...I really need to cut this down.The only similarity they might have is that they are strong in chemistry. I think I have way too many reaches though. I'd love to hear opinions and suggestions.
Bowdoin C
Cal Tech
Carleton C
Dartmouth C
Grinnell C
Harvey Mudd C
Haverford C
Occidental C
Reed C
Stanford U
Swarthmore C
U Calif Berkeley
U Calif Los Angeles
U Calif San Diego
U Calif Santa Barbara (College of Creative Studies)
Whitman C
Williams C</p>

2

<p>Oh and I would like to be able to enjoy my life in college…endless studying isn’t that appealing. I want to be able to wrestle…skateboard…just hang out :slight_smile: So I guess quite a few of my schools up there already don’t belong…</p>

<p>And forgot to mention, I’m a girl! I think some school’s wrestling teams are guys only…</p>

3

<p>You want to major in chemistry and you like to wrestle…and you’re a girl?!</p>

<p>LOVE IT.</p>

4

<p>OP - Your really need to add Vanderbilt and Tulane to your list. Whitman? PULEASE!!!</p>

5

<p>

Yup :slight_smile: Thanks!</p>

<p>

Are they all that small? I thought they are larger universities with larger class sizes…correct me if I’m wrong. Whitman…its kinda random as a safety</p>

6

<p>Hi, current Whitman student here. While I would agree that Whitman is perhaps not a perfect fit for your interests, I don’t think it’s completely random either. Here are some of my thoughts.</p>

<p>Pros:
+Weather: While western Washington (Seattle et al) is the opposite of sunny most of the time, eastern Washington, where Whitman is located, is pretty dry. As the school is often quick to note, Walla Walla gets 300 days of sunshine a year, so you won’t have to worry about too little sun. It does snow in the winter, but the school shovels the paths for you, so you wouldn’t have to worry about doing that.</p>

<p>+Size: Whitman is a small liberal arts college of around 1500 students. Average class size is approximately 11:1. The largest science class I’ve heard of is a required lecture class for all science majors and I think that was maybe 40-50 students max.</p>

<p>+Competitiveness: While most Whitman students are internally motivated, there isn’t much cutthroat competition between students. At least among the people I know, study groups are welcome (though often distracting…) and I always see people studying together in the library.</p>

<p>Neutral:
+Research: I honestly couldn’t tell you anything about specific research opportunities, though close relationships with professors in your field can lead to finding them, since there aren’t any graduate students to compete with.</p>

<p>Con:
+Sports: I don’t know of a skateboarding club/skate park at Whitman or in Walla Walla, though I admittedly haven’t really looked into it. I know someone last semester tried to start an informal wrestling club (for all comers) via the students listserv, but I don’t know that it has been formally established.</p>

<p>Again, maybe not the perfect fit, but I feel like you could easily start a skateboarding or wrestling club on campus and have people come out. And if you’re motivated, I’m sure you could find some kind of research opportunity through a referral or taking classes in the Chemistry department.</p>

<p>I would also caution you against using Whitman as a safety. While I won’t get into fit being part of choosing a safety, with your GPA and SAT scores, I would consider Whitman more of a strong to low match.</p>

<p>Hopefully you found this helpful, and if you have any other questions, feel free to send me a PM.</p>

7

<p>Thanks Senior Slacker!</p>

<p>So right now I’ve cut a few schools out, my list looks like this right now. I would love to get some info on these based on what I posted above, and also on if the workload/play is balanced. Wouldn’t be fun studying all the time…would be nice to have a couple hours a day to relax and have fun!</p>

<p>Bowdoin C
Carleton C
Dartmouth C
Grinnell C
Haverford C
Occidental C
Reed C
Stanford U
Swarthmore C
U Calif Berkeley
U Calif Los Angeles
U Calif San Diego
U Calif Santa Barbara
Whitman C</p>

8

<p>bump </p>

<p>10char</p>

9

<p>For Stanford, Dartmouth and Swat you’ll need to get higher than 700 on CR, you may get away with a lower writing score.</p>

10

<p>Thanks. I haven’t taken the SAT yet, but I’m working on the critical reading section…hopefully I can break 700. If not, I guess no point in trying for those three? I haven’t discovered a cure for cancer or anything… For writing, the essay brings me down (i get 6-8). I get most of the multiple choice questions correct though.</p>

11

<p>Even if your CR SAT isn’t 700, i wouldn’t not apply to those 3. They will be a reach, but why not? If a small size is important, then I’m not sure that you should be considering the UCs, despite the advantages they may have academically and socially. To be honest though, practically all of the great LACs outside of the northeast fit your definition. Of course, I’m not totally sure on the wrestling/skateboarding thing, which may not exist at a small school. One school that isn’t a LAC but comes to my mind is Duke, though it pains me as a tar heel to suggest this school…</p>

12

<p>I think I might apply to Stanford just for the heck of it, since it is my dream school…grew up wanting to go to Stanford. I’ve wrestled on that campus, shadowed doctors on the campus…I’ll be applying to UCs as a financial back up. Just incase if the LACs don’t give me enough money and my parents don’t want to pay that much for my college. I guess I can skateboard practically anywhere, I’m also looking into places that I have easy access to beaches/mountains for surfing/snowboarding. (2 hrs away max) Wrestling…I know this will be tough. Isn’t as popular as say, soccer. Like which LACs are you talking about? Adding in the surfing/snowboarding thing, alot of schools not around the coast will be elimated…big changes to my school list I guess! Why would you suggest Duke? Isn’t that pretty much as hard to get in as Stanford/Swarthmore/Dartmouth?</p>

13

<p>Duke would definitely be hard, and I also hate Duke as a matter of personal opinion, but so are a lot of those other colleges on your list, like Haverford. Duke might only be slightly harder than those LACs. I suggest Duke because it fits your description of being a great school, good weather, and not too competitive environment. With about 6000 undergrads, it’s smaller than most research universities, but big enough that you might be exposed to things you are not at other schools. One thing about the beaches/mountains, you probably won’t have much time to really be going to those places for them to matter much in your selection of colleges. Unless the college is literally on the coast, you won’t have a time to really drive a couple hours away and enjoy the beach. Something that I would suggest you look into is whether you would like an urban campus or a more suburban/rural/college town feel.</p>

14

<p>"Critierias:

  1. Nice weather…well atleast no snow. It would be a pain to shovel snow and stuff…I would prefer sun to rain/snow. But too hot is kind of annoying…"</p>

<p>Bowdoin C
Carleton C
Dartmouth C
Grinnell C
Whitman C</p>

<p>???</p>

<p>And it’s not really too cold during the winter here in Philly, but we get snow.</p>

15

<p>If you don’t get into the 700s on CR the reach schools become highly unlikely and I’d add schools that are more realistic like Trinity in CT, Bates, Pitzer, Vassar.</p>

16

<p>I kinda changed my mind on the snow. Snowboarding is awesome too xD I wish I can still edit my post! Would make things less complicated.</p>

<p>Reach schools as in just Stanford/Swarthmore/Dartmouth, or more of them?</p>

17

<p>Bowdoin C (Cut)
Cal Tech
Carleton C (cut)
Dartmouth C (Cut)
Grinnell C
Harvey Mudd C
Haverford C (cut)
Occidental C
Reed C
Stanford U<br>
Swarthmore C (cut)
U Calif Berkeley
U Calif Los Angeles
U Calif San Diego
U Calif Santa Barbara (College of Creative Studies)
Whitman C
Williams C (cut)</p>

<p>those would be all the schools you would have to cut if you truly didn’t want snow. Btw, why isn’t Pomona on your list? Sounds like a good fit (but get those SAT’s real high)</p>

18

<p>Yea SATs are a problem. I’m actually not too sure about the snow, snowboarding is one thing I’d like to get into in college. But one question…how often would an average college kid be able to go snowboard? Seems like it’s more time consuming than surfing. Getting the ticket in, wait for the lifts…</p>