College Recommendations?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>so yeah.
i'm in a bind about what schools to look into/apply to.
my academics aren't really a problem. my standardized test scores and ECs are.
any advice of any kind would be grand and dandy and i would thank you.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.9 unweighted, 4.6 weighted</p>

<p>Class Rank: top 5% (i think maybe 5-10/300)</p>

<p>Classes: 6 APs (language, chemistry & hopefully literature, biology, physics, and calculus if my schedule works next year), the rest are honors except for that one year of gym, first two years of band, and a criminal justice class.</p>

<p>School: public, rural, ~1500</p>

<p>SAT: 660 V, 660 M, 600 W = 1320/1920 (taking one more time eventually)
ACT: 30 (taking again in 2 weeks)
SAT II: taking US History and Chemistry next week and a spanish and a math one eventually
AP: only took the language and i probably didn't do very well</p>

<p>ECs:
•soccer 9-12
•marching band 9-12 (section leader this year and hopefully brass captain next year)
•wind ensemble 9-12 (superior ratings in grade VI music)
•academy of scholars 11-12
•hopefully will be a graduate of the science academy (forgot to apply..)
•volunteer at an art museum</p>

<p>Awards:
•1st chair french horn at all-county band (9,10,11,12?)
•2nd chair french horn at all-district band (9,10,11,12?)
•Outstanding Marching Award (9), Outstanding Musicianship Award (11)
•honorable mention for all conference soccer team (11)
•highest average awards in AP Language and Physical Science H (11)
etc.</p>

<p>Summer:
•Summer Ventures in Science & Mathematics at App. State (10)
•Northwestern (IL) Summer College Prep Program (11)</p>

<p>I'm interested in mostly science-- especially neuroscience and stuff like cognitive and behavioral sciences. perhaps environmental science or toxicology as well. i also love chemistry but i don't want to major in it.</p>

<p>any college suggestions? or ways to improve my resume?</p>

2

<p>there are over 3000 colleges out there; you need to tell us what you are looking for in a school.
preferences for location? size of school? urban/suburban/rural? student body type (i.e. conservative, liberal, jocks, preppy, artsy, etc etc)? anything else important to you?</p>

3

<p>If you could get those scores up (32+ ACT and around 2200+ SAT) You would be a pretty good applicant at most schools. HYPSM would still be reaches, but you would probably be accepted to Washinton University in St Louis, Northwestern, maybe Columbia, Penn, and Duke. You demonstrate clear focus with band and soccer, and getting those test scores up is all you really need.</p>

4

<p>i see what you're saying huskem55..
i think i would prefer a school that's:
-urban (but if i loved the school i could deal with suburban or rural)
-located on the east coast, maybe even west coast
-size i don't really care about as long as it's not tiny (<1500)
-well i'm more liberal and artsy, but i enjoy diversity as well</p>

<p>anything else important to me?
hmm. having a good/great science department is all i can think of.</p>

<p>so i just noticed that i don't have clear answers for any of those questions so they're still probably not going to help you.
sorry.</p>

<p>And thanks JyankeesSS2 for your help!</p>

5

<p>Try your State U.</p>

6

<p>i did plan on that, but unfortunately no north carolina universities fit my needs very well.</p>

<p>seeing as duke is impossible, i would never attend unc nor wake forest, and most of the other colleges are either party schools or don't offer appealing majors, the state circuit is pretty much a crap shoot.</p>

<p>but thanks for the sensible advice.</p>

7

<p>Why would you not want to attend UNC?</p>

<p>Perhaps go south to Clemson or South Carolina. You'll probably be in at both, and both provide a decent education in the sciences (especially Clemson). But Clemson is not urban.</p>

<p>If you get your test scores up, Virginia maybe? Maryland?</p>

8

<p>One thing that might make a difference is how much you/your parents can afford. That might help us weed out some of the colleges you should or should not apply to. This also seems to be something most students (though not necessarily you) never consider until it's too late.</p>

9

<p>You might want to look at the United States Merchant Marine Academy <a href="http://www.usmma.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.usmma.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Your scores would be competitive, they have an outstanding band and there are many more options available after graduation than at one of the other academies.</p>

<p>Just something out of the box to consider.</p>

10

<p>Tufts University sort of fits your needs</p>

<p>Its only 10 minutes from Boston, so no biggie.
It is a hybrid of a major research university and a liberal arts college
They got a very solid science department and a great med school.
Since its one of the best schools in the nation in IR, it attacts various types of students around the world. My tour guide was from Britian.
When I was there, my impression that it was quite artsy.</p>

<p>You would need to get your SATs up to mid-high 1400s</p>

11

<p>jeeze these people are giving you scores that, yes, may be in the school's that they mention averages, but lets be serious...i was in your position a year ago and the SAT score is a hard thing to boost up 100 points. So given what you gave us, heres wut i think.</p>

<p>Im sure you have a dream school, dont worry about the grades they want...apply there anyway, who knows. Im not sure what schools you might be interested in but here are a few suggestions.</p>

<p>-UVA (write STRONG essays for this though, dont listen to any criticism that may follow my post, apply there if you want)
-Boston Univ
-NYU
-University of Maryland
-Wake Forest University (thats in your neck of the woods, great great science program...almost went there myself)
-Clemson is a good match/safety, i saw someone else mention it
-Vanderbilt (give it a shot anyway)
-and just to make sure, choose some in-state safeties</p>

<p>ive given you some schools that, if they fit your tastes, you should look at. They may be considered "reaches" but who cares, as long as you have a few safeties/matches on your list that you would like to go to...then whats the problem? Only good can come of it.</p>

12

<p>northeastern has a fantastic toxicology program</p>

13

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<p>so now that everyone knows how lame my reasoning is, i'd like to thank everyone for their advice. it was all very helpful, and i appreciate it very much.</p>