College Mistakes - Redoing my application process?

College Search & Selection
1

I have made mistakes in my college selection process.

First, I only applied to one school. Early decision to Syracuse University. I had never heard of the school before, and I chose it based on its distance from a long term girlfriend at the time and the fact that they would give money (which they did, not gonna lie, they gave quite a bit for me to go.) I thought this would be satisfactory for my parents and make it appear as if I wasn’t going to college there just for her.

In reality, I was, and it was a stupid decision. I made a life changing choice with my heart based on emotions when my college education should be about my future and what I want in terms of learning experience.

I visited the University and did not like it. The environment was extremely gloomy, and it wasn’t just the weather. I didn’t enjoy how big of a deal sports was, I’m not even a sports person. Partying engulfed the campus and felt obligatory considering it’s landed itself as the top partying school at least once. Frats seem like they’re also required due to how many people that are involved in them, according to students I talked to. Additionally, after hanging out with other admitted students and seeing the college environment, it just didn’t feel like something I would want. I don’t know why, I just got a gut feeling.

I’m upset at the mistakes that I made, and I know that it was a bad idea to chose to go to a university for emotional reasons. However, I’m not willing to just toss my life out because of it. I want to get a grip on my college decision process as it’s very important to my future. I want to go somewhere that is not only somewhere I personally chose without external push but also somewhere that will make me happy.

After consideration, I thought that an option on my plate would be to defer from Syracuse for a year, actually start applying to colleges throughout the summer and fall, and hope to be admitted into the Spring semester at a different college.

I have a few questions that I would love for you all to answer.

1 ) What college would fit me?

Honestly, I haven’t done that much college searching. I just impulsively knee-jerked Syracuse out of google maps and a quick skim over a website. Could you please suggest colleges that fit some of these criteria? I would seriously appreciate it. Thank you.

17 yrs old, white male, dallas tx, best public school in area.

SAT: 2130
Reading: 710
Math: 760
Writing: 690 (10 Essay)

U/W GPA: 3.44
W GPA (out of 5.0): 4.1
Class Rank: 73 out of 625

AP Tests: 3 Lit, 4 Stats, 4 Physics, 5 APUSH (Taking 4 more AP tests and 1 IB test this year.)

Extracurriculars: I am currently active in a national political activism group and regularly participate in local meetings and with operations, I’m also looking to pursue a leadership position in the group. I have job experience under a summer internship at a small business (research innovation) and through self-employment (transcription). I am president of debate on my school’s very successful and nationally qualified debate team, as well as successful myself in debate as a 4x State qualifier in multiple events. I also plan to add an internship this summer at a law office or at a representative’s office.

Major Preferences: Polisci, Public Policy studies, Philosophy, I also want to join a pre-law program at the college.

Career goals: Law School >>> Public office = Professor

College Preferences: I would like to go to a small-medium/small college (Possibly a LAC?) that offers holistic education and would prefer a more liberal environment. I would like it to be academically rigorous and challenging, but also socially fulfilling. I do not mind a mild party life either, that sounds fun. I would like to be far away from home (Texas) and that is not a problem for me, I want a new experience. I would enjoy it if the college was close to a large city. I would like diversity as I come from a title 1 school with a white minority population (I am white though.) A debate team would be awesome!

Funding: I have a very low efc (6500) and would like it very much if the college had high % need met. Funding is not a break, I just want college to be fulfilling. I don’t want to end up over 60K in debt if possible though.

2 ) What should I do about deferring and spring admissions?

Is applying in the spring a smart idea? How is the admission process different? Are colleges harder to get into? Will more prestigious places even be open in the spring for admissions? Will I get financial aid? Is deferring from Syracuse a good idea, or should I stick it out for a semester or year and see if I like it? If so, is transferring difficult?

My mind is bugging me with these questions! It’s hard to know the answers. If you know anything about spring admission or deferring, please comment advice!

At the end of the day, thank you very much for your input. All of you on here deserve nothing but love for the kind of life changing effort you put into giving people advice for their future. I know I made mistakes but after taking some time for serious personal accessment and overcoming some barriers in my maturity and responsibility, I want to get my life back on track in a direction I want.

Comment any criticism, advice, or suggestions!

2

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/09/14/colleges-that-report-meeting-full-financial-need

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

3

Thanks! Any input on schoools more suited to my interests there? Also any input on spring start and deferring?

4

If you don’t like Syracuse, contact them tomorrow, ask to defer enrollment until Fall 2017.

Use your gap year and work up an entirely new list. It is likely that you can come up with something else affordable that you will like better, and if not you can reconsider Syracuse. Remember that your best chance of good aid is as a freshman applicant. If you start at Syracuse and really hate it there, it will be very difficult for you to get the aid that you need when you transfer out.

5

Really? A whole gap year? Why not gap semester? Should the aid Syracuse offered stay on board after deferring? Is it bad to just dip on a school after deferring?

6

Don’t do a gap semester. Few schools offer good aid to students who start mid-year.

7

Thanks, I have heard that is the case.

Are there schools fitting my needs that would offer spring aid? And why is the aid short in the spring?

What’re some good activities to occupy a gap year? And what’s the best way to sell this to already upset parents…

Any colleges you anybody can suggest? Your help is appreciated

8

With the election season in full swing, you could get involved in a campaign, volunteering 20 hours a week and then working part-time as well, to take you through November. Then, you could pick up more paid hours at an hourly job or, depending on how your candidate does, you might continue to have a role in a transition team etc.

The biggest problem I see is that you applied ED and were admitted – that is a binding commitment unless the money is not do-able. If there were a way to defer and apply elsewhere, these are schools you might consider, keep in mind that most of these schools want kids who want them, so showing interest in them, electronically or in person, matters. Also, if freed from your ED commitment, you want to make sure you don’t make the same mistake and pick a campus without spending time there.

It may well be that you cannot legitimately get out of the ED commitment, in which case, there is much to enjoy about Syracuse – it has a world-class journalism school, and some excellent faculty across the board. There will be plenty of kids who are not partying and in greek life, but they are just not out there being loud so you have to look harder to see them.

Urban environments:

Macalester in Twin Cities, MN
Rhodes in Memphis, TN

Suburban/smaller urban areas
Connecticut College, New London, CT
Kalamazoo College, MI

small town/village
Denison University, Ohio – in a charming village, but 30 minutes from downtown Columbus, OH
Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
Earlham in IN
College of Wooster
Centre College, in Danville, KY
Beloit College, Beloit, WI

9

Thanks for the list!

Macalaster and Connecticut college are two that appear to be schools I could look further into! Both in environments I enjoy, seems academically fitting and realistic schools.

The rest I feel are not pressing enough academically or don’t provide funding, especially since I’m already into Syracuse with quite a lot of money and they don’t provide needs met admissible.

Any other suggestions? More reach schools? Appreciate your help.

10

A 3.4 unweighted, with a rigorous curriculum, puts an applicant as a match/safety for a student who shows interest and fits the culture of the school (tolerant, inclusive) at schools like Kalamazoo, Earlham and those schools use merit awards (up to half tuition) generously to enhance the student body, they are also going to be less monochromatic than Conn College.

Denison is perhaps a match though a 3.4 unweighted is on the lower end – it is a diverse community (actively recruits first gen and low income students), and also uses substantial merit awards to create the right kind of entering class. Macalaster would start start to get towards a reach for that gpa range. Every LAC we went to, from Bates to Knox, said the first thing they do is unweight a weighted gpa – so the 3.44 is what is what they are looking at. Schools like Haverford, Bates, Wesleyan are very much a reach for a 3.44.

As a student admitted ED, that is a binding commitment unless the financial aid package is not doable – and it sounds like it is a great package for you. I still don’t know what basis there would be for getting out of that binding commitment, since having a change of heart is not grounds for voiding an ED commitment. Talk to your parents and your guidance counselor.

11

This is an election year. Can you work on a campaign while you are applying (or a PAC or something like that)? Can you intern in city government next year? Dallas is big, there is probably a ton that an intern could do in the local government if you want to try a gap year. Even after the election there will be a ton of numbers to crunch. Can you reach out to someone at SMU to do grunt work? Just some ideas. Don’t kick yourself too much, you are learning so much through just this experience. Good luck!

12

Thank you for the college suggestions!

Yes-Haverford, bates, Wesleyan all obvious reaches. Are those worth applying to? I know my GPA is low, my family didn’t press me very hard in school and I didn’t start trying hard until junior and senior year when I matured and discovered it’s importance. I took advanced classes a year ahead of the curvd that I was intellectual enough to pass but definitely not mature enough to excel in. Im going for my grade, so once I grew up I performed much better in school. Is this analyzed in the application process?

Also, how should I go about backing out of an ED commitment if I do choose to take this path? I made mistakes, I know, but I don’t think my future should be contingent on some box I click on an application when I have opportunities open.

Good idea for the internships. I’ll definitely be looking to work on campaign. I’ve already done some work campaigning during the Texas primary, ill look for more opportunities!

Appreciate the help! It’s really helping me make a decision.

13

Don’t know what to say about the ED piece, but don’t turn your nose up at the other schools suggested just yet. They’re all good schools that mostly offer good merit aid. If you haven’t visited CTCL.org, do that now.

14

The only approved way to get out of ED is due to financial aid not being enough to attend.

15

I can definitely make the claim that the aid is not enough considering j tried for scholarships and the school continues to not meet my very low EFC by a few thousand. Would this be a smart excuse?

Merit aid is optional. I really want strong financial aid due to my need. For instance Syracuse was cheaper per year than a state uni in texas with scholarships and it isn’t even 100% need met.

16

Syracuse does NOT meet full need but all students have a contribution they have to make (assumed to be from working). How much aid do you have and what is your gap?

17

I’m only getting 37.5K in financial grant when my EFC is 6500 and the total cost is around 60K. So that’s a significant gap. Their scholarship lowrs the cost to around 15k a year including loans.

18

Why don’t you wait a few more days until the NACAC list comes out about colleges that still have openings and see if there is anything of interest that is still taking applications for Fall 2016. There are always some great schools on that list, and you don’t have to wait a whole year.

19

Thanks!

I’ve heard about nacac… Why would any college that gets enough applications to even be known ever not have enough people for the fall semester at this point? I don’t know if any schools in that list would be better off for me than cuse.

20

It depends on what you mean by “better.” You’re not going to see top 10 (by whatever measure) schools on that list, but you might well see one that meets your academic needs as well as Syracuse, but offers a more inviting atmosphere for you, personally.

As to how that happens? Because adcoms aren’t clairvoyant and need to be cautious about overenrollment. Sometimes they miscalculate. Maybe you’ll see some attractive schools on that list, maybe you won’t, but it’s worth a shot.