college suggestions?

<p>Hello (: I am entering my senior year in the fall and still have very little idea which colleges I should apply to. I’ve never given in that much thought before, but I figure it’s about that time. For the most part I know what I want, I just don’t know what schools match the description. And since it seems like everyone here knows pretty much all there is to know about every school in the US, I figure there should be at least one person that’s able to help me. So if you could give me some suggestions based off my stats and preferences I would greatly appreciate it! Also, I know that I have a lot of information in here, so if you just want to browse through what you think is important, you won’t offend me :D</p>

<p>GENERAL INFO:
I am a 16 year-old white female. Neither of my parents graduated college and none of my older siblings have graduated or even attended, if that means anything. My school offers very few AP courses and no honors courses, so I don’t have a weighted gpa at this time. We are only allowed to take AP courses as juniors or above, and I will be taking my first two next year (see below). My school uses a block scheduling and our APs are 3 quarters long (so the equivalent of 1.5 years of regular scheduling). I don’t know if they are all like that or not, but I figured I’d point that out, since the length makes it hard to fit a bunch of them into my schedule and still find room for my other grad requirements. APs are graded on a 5.0 scale, rather than a 6.0. The freshman classes with a 1 at the end are basically our equivalent of honors. I skipped sophomore English and went straight to the junior level as a sophomore (hence the jump from English 1 to 3). Each Spanish is one year long (spanish 1 was taken in MS). Our math courses start with Transition and Algebra, which I took in MS as well. I was in all those gifted kids courses in middle/grade school, but I’m guessing that doesn’t count for anything xD</p>

<p>STATS:
-GPA: 3.8
-Class Rank: don’t have an official number, but I’m guessing somewhere around 50/400
-Freshman Courses: US History 1, English 1, Biology, Geometry, Spanish 2, Art Fundamentals, Beg. -Painting & Drawing, Teen Living (Family Consumer Science Course: cooking, sewing, interior design, etc.), and P.E.
-Sophomore Courses: English 3, World History, General Chemistry, Advanced Algebra, Spanish 3, Interior Design, Business for Teens, Acting, and P.E.
-Junior Courses: Earth & Physical Science, Functions Statistics & Trigonometry, Spanish 4, Creative Writing, College Grammar, Journalism, General Psychology, Quantity Meals, Parenting, Health , and P.E.
-Future Senior Courses: AP English, AP Psychology, Pre-Calculus, Spanish 5, College Writing, and Government.
-ACT Composite: 29 (First time, no prep, will probably retake)
-English: 33
-Math: 25
-Reading: 34
-Science: 24
-EC: I am very weak in this area. I have little to no extracurriculars. I was in Speech freshman year and did a little bit of volunteer work sophomore year (painting murals for special education students), but that‘s pretty much it. I have taken guitar lessons at a local music center for about 3 years, but idk if that counts since it’s not school related. I plan on joining Key Club in the fall and start volunteering at a local animal shelter soon. I would be on newspaper staff if that were an option, but sadly it is not. You can only write for the paper while taking the journalism course. And our art club is a joke and people just go there to hang out, otherwise I’d be in that too. The only reason people join is to make themselves look good on applications (same goes our anti-drug program, which I also refuse to join. Half of the members are regular drinkers/partiers).
**<strong><em>So to summarize, I am good at art, writing, and guitar, but don’t have any ECs to reflect that. Is there anything I can do?</em></strong>**
-Current Residence: Iowa
-Financial Aid: Very important
-Parental Combined Gross Income: $93,369</p>

<p>PREFERENCES:
I am looking to go out of state, but I have University of Iowa, Iowa State, and UNI planned as financial/acceptance safeties. </p>

<p>-Location: Warm weather, meaning NO SNOW! The only places I might break that rule for would Seattle or Boston. I’d love somewhere in the west or south, but not TOO Southern if that makes sense (think more North/South Carolina than Alabama/Mississippi). Coastal would be great. Not too touristy, like Miami, Los Angeles, NYC, etc. My ideal school for location is UNC-Wilmington, just to give you an idea.
-Majors: Journalism, Writing/English, Music Business/Industry, and Psychology.
-Prestige: Not a huge factor. I have no intentions on going somewhere like Harvard. Not that I’d get in if I wanted to. The most competitive level I’d consider would be like that of UNC-CH, Tufts, etc.</p>

<h2>-Atmosphere: I’d like somewhere with friendly atmosphere, obviously. Since I’ll most likely be coming from OOS a really welcoming environment would be ideal. Size isn’t a huge issue, as long as it’s not extremely small. I’d prefer Public over Private, but only because of the cost factor.</h2>

<p>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! (:</p>

<p>University of Maryland is technically the south…even though winters here are snowy/cold. Maybe Clemson? UGA?</p>

<p>As a student who goes to Clemson, I HIGHLY recommend College of Charleston. Amazing liberal arts college in an amazing city. Definitely worth checking it out.</p>

<p>I don’t think Clemson would be an appropriate suggestion here though if you do decide to go, you’ve made a great choice :smiley: haha</p>

<p>thanks for the suggestions, i’ll definately look into those! but just curious, why would you consider clemson to be a bad match?</p>

<p>and to add to all the info above, a good live music scene is a MUST. it’s my thing (:</p>

<p>If you want to do business, Clemson is a great school for that but english and journalism are not. I know tons of people who were english majors who transferred because they weren’t challenged enough/didn’t like the major. Liberal arts aren’t exactly the strongest thing here.</p>

<p>How about the University of Georgia or the University of Texas? It’s warm in both places, the English Depts. are pretty good, and the music scene in Athens and Austin is terrific.</p>

<p>^I second Texas. Austin and Charleston are probably the 2 best college towns in the south.</p>

<p>It sounds like you like similar schools to me. I loved UNC-Wilmington when I visited…hence my screenname. However, I would suggest looking at Wake Forest Univerity, which is where I just graduated. It is a smaller, friendly school in North Carolina that is a bit more selective than UNCW. We are also strong in all of the majors that you listed, particularly Business, Psychology, and English (our business school consistently ranks near the top in the US for undergraduate). Wake Forest has also been working to strengthen financial aid, so do not let cost deter you.</p>

<p>Other schools I would consider:
Charleston (as someone mentioned)
Georgia (Athens has a great music scene)
Elon (very similar to Wake Forest…my brother goes there)
UNC-Wilmington
Furman (although Furman may be too small)
University of Washington
Tufts</p>

<p>But I would certainly give Wake Forest a good look. If you have any questions specific, PM me. Best of luck.</p>

<p>How much will your parents pay for your school? Most public Us offer little aid to OOS students.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for all the suggestions! They all look like really great schools, I’ll definitely look into them more! And just to clarify, when you guys say Charleston do you mean College of Chaleston in SC?</p>

<p>^haha yes, College of Charleston (definitely better than Charleston Southern or University Of Charleston in West Virginia)</p>

<p>I think Texas, Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, and UNC-CH are your best bets. They are all in great college towns and offer strong academic programs, particularly in journalism and business. Athens and Austin are arguably the best college towns in the country, but Columbia and Chapel Hill are not far behind. Another school to consider is Appalachian State, which is more of a hippy mountain town with an indie flair if that’s your thing. College of Charleston is more of a</p>