College Identity Crisis- please please please help!

College Search & Selection
1

So I have visited 12 schools and have yet to find the school that really “fits” or that I love. No matter how many college matches or search engines I use, nothing seems to really capture what I am looking for…possibly because I barely know what I am looking for except a few specific things. Thus, I will list what I DO know and hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction!

GPA: 4.0 UW and W
ACT:32

Major:

I am still undecided, but I know I want to explore Psychology, International Relations, and Animal Behavior.

Research:

Animal science side- This is probably impossible to do at any college but in this weird fantasy of mine I’d be researching abroad looking at animal behavior in the wild (like Jane Goodall) , or researching behavior at a local zoo, or even doing some sort of cognition tests on mammals like mirror recognition etc. Also I think the coolest thing ever is the scientists that teach Bonobos and Gorillas how to understand English…Does anyone know how to achieve this sort of job?!?
If I didn’t do research an alternative study abroad I have in mind is the typical cultural immersion in like Rome or something…

Location: I would like ethier a campus that is enclosed in a city atmosphere or a campus that is in a suburban atmosphere or at least a campus with a large town with things to do. I really do not like those colleges that are in the middle of nowhere with nothing but the college for miles.

Social Scene: I am not a crazy partier, but I would want there to be some sort of larger social life… I am interested in joining a sorority but I would like a college where they do not dominate the social life. I also don’t want everyone to be cutthroat and super competitive, but I am there to learn and don’t want the party scene to distract me.

Price: I make under $65,000 so I qualify for a lot of financial need…I would like a school that would ethier give me a lot of $ for merit or a lot for financial need. I am trying to keep the price under $20,000 after scholarships

Classroom setting/ Size: I work well in small classes, but I did not like the 1,500 student-type colleges when I had visited. I would like a school that is big enough for me to not know everyone but small enough to have those collaborative small classrooms.

Food: Pretty Important!

Let me know if you have any reccomendations…Thanks!!!

2

Have you looked at Tulane? Seems to match your description pretty well. They even have a program where students train puppies who go on to be service dogs.

3

What area of the country?

4

I don’t really care much, but I guess I prefer the Northeast

5

Religious affiliated schools yes or no?

6

prefer not, but I would go to a catholic college if it was really good

7

What schools have you visited and what did you or didn’t you like about them? You can probably limit your list very quickly by focusing on school with significant animal science departments. There are not that many, most are either research universities or A&M schools. Then limit it further by filtering on school that are either in-state , meet full need, or have significant merit scholarships. Of those, see who also has the other areas you like (probably most) and you can get a short list together for visits.

8

Your parents income is less than $65k and they’re comfortable paying $20k/year for college? Make sure they’re okay with that.

Look at the guaranteed merit aid thread pinned to the top of the financial aid forum and see if there are any schools there that will be affordable. You can only borrow ~$5500/year, so you need to make sure your list includes colleges that are financial safeties.

9

university of rochester

10

Northeastern and BU, if you got enough aid, would be really good match schools minus animal behavior.