I was wondering what colleges should a person with a 3.36 UW/3.51 W GPA and a projected 2100+ SAT consider as summer rolls around, as I plan on starting my apps early.
Here’s a brief overview of my resume:
AP Classes: AP Bio, APENG, APUSH
Sernior Yr AP classes: AP PSYCH, AP ENV., AP ART
SAT Bio: 710
(planning on taking Math 2, U.S. History, and Chinese in Oct. hoping to get 800 for chinese & history, 700+ for math)
EC:
Tennis/Track
Linguistic Club VP
Neuroscience Club (project director)
Service Learning (fundraising officer)
Model UN member
Environmental Club President
Started a environemtnal non-profit called FIERCE with a few other HS students w/ help from the city’s sustainability coordinator
Greening Forward Youth Council
Alliance for Climate Change Fellow
ADTP Neuroscience Class (2014)
Summer Intern at UCSF neuroscience lab (2015)
Summer molecular neuroscience workshops at UCSF (2015)
Thanks guys for helping out!
I just want to put together a list of potential colleges to look into!
Before anyone can recommend any colleges, there are some more questions you should answer. What’s your intended major? Do you prefer large or small schools? Urban or rural? What location of the country? What state are you from? And most importantly, how much can your family afford?
I’m interested in neuroscience, environmental science, and art. I don’t know my intended major yet. The size of the school doesn’t matter for me. It’s the environment and the people that do. I’d like colleges that are on either on the West Coast or the East Coast. Finance is not an issue.
With your scores, extra-curricular activities, and focused mindset, it would be beneficial for you to determine the potential majors before you apply. You don’t want to go to a school that is excellent for Environmental Science, but not so good at Neuroscience, and then realize in your Sophomore year that you actually want to do Neuro…
Additionally, a small college might not have the resources to challenge you and help you maximize your potential in your chosen field of study. E.g. a small northern university shut down its Mechanical Engineering labs for an entire semester due to some issues within the department in 2013, leaving the students in that major high and dry.
I’d strongly suggest to narrow down to at least 2 majors, then shortlist high-ranked universities for both, and then check which of the shortlisted ones are strong in both the departments.
I don’t concur that this student’s choices should be limited to universities. Finding a small college with strong course offerings in environmental studies, neuroscience and art would not be a difficult task. The example of the engineering labs stated above is unlikely to apply to any well funded liberal arts college.
Take a look at St. Lawrence University for now. If that style of education seems to suit you, then other similar colleges can be added.
Hello all! Thanks so much for responding. I’m keeping my options open for both large and liberal universities right now.
The thing with neuroscience is, though it is a field that I am immensely interested in and had an introductory exposure to, I still feel I don’t have enough experience to confidently say that it is the route that I want to go with for the rest of my life. An undergraduate neuroscience degree seems like a narrow path, with med school or grad school as the only future options.
Do you know any colleges in California that I can potentially look into?
Pitzer has a flexible curriculum, and opportunities to take specialized classes at other colleges within the Claremont Consortium. What’s your UC-weighted GPA? That, plus actual test results, would determine your admissions outlook at various UCs. Whitman might be another possibility. Reed might be a reach, unless you ace your SAT. My son had a similar unweighted GPA, but his UC-weighted GPA was over 4.0. He got into UCD and UCSD (non-impacted major) from out-of-state, and also got into Pitzer, Occidental, and Whitman. Willamette offered him a very generous scholarship (Whitman offered him a modest one, and Oxy met our EFC with need-based package). He had a 2060 SAT (1440 CR+M) and a 31 ACT. Tulane is possible, depending on test results and curricular rigor. If you’re interested in smaller colleges, with flexible curricula, look into New College of Florida and Hampshire, along with Pitzer.
Thank you people of College Confidential for your experience advice and inputs! Even though my GPA is on the low side, I think I’m still going to apply to some UCs. Also CSUs such as Long Beach, Fullerton, Cal Polys, and San Jose State. Also some reach out-of-states & privates such as Whitman, UWash, Loyola Marymount…etc.
I used my favorite search site, collegedata.com. I searched for:
Entrance difficulty: Very difficult and moderately difficult
Freshman satisfaction: 80% or higher
Academic discipline: Neurobiology & Neurosciences AND Environmental Resources Conservation & Research (the school had to have majors under both broad headings) I wasn’t certain what type of Art you might want to major in so I didn’t include it.
For the West Coast region the search found: Pitzer, Scripps, UC Davis/Irvine/LA/Riverside/Santa Cruz, USD, Washington State, & Western Washington University
For the Northeast region the search found: Yikes, twenty-two! More than I want to copy down. The first five, rated by highest Freshman satisfaction: Northeastern, University of Rochester, Hamilton College, Smith College, and Villanova.
It’s a fun search to change the parameters, see what pops up, and then do further research on. Or, maybe, I have a warped sense of fun…
could you guys help me out too and tell me some colleges that I would be able to get into?
UW GPA: 3.75
Weighted GPA: 4.1
SAT: 2050
Taken 14 AP classes
In the top 9% of my school
Over 200 hours of community service at my local hospital
Internship at the UCSD Department of Nuerosciences in the medical school
1 year of running XC
3 years of lacrosse
Member of the Spanish club, Key club, Interact club, Film Society, Team Reach, Multicultural Club