Colleges for me? So confused. Please help! :(

College Search & Selection
1

<p>If I post my stats/interests and some colleges I've been checking into, would some of you please be kind enough to suggest colleges that might match what I'm looking for? *I never thought I'd do this, but I'm so confused. :( Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>White female. Charlotte, NC.</p>

<p>SAT: 750V; 720M; 770W
SATII: 650-Lit; 670-USH; 730-MathIIc
GPA: 3.94UW; 4.895W
Rank: 1/399</p>

<p>Junior Year APs:
AP Calculus AB (A-)
AP Calculus BC (A)
AP English Language (A-)
AP US History (A)
AP Chemisty (A-)</p>

<p>Senior Year APs:
AP Statistics
AP Spanish
AP English Literature
AP Amer. Government
AP Biology
(Will also be taking another Calculus course at local university.)</p>

<p>Awards/Hnrs:
National Honour Society (11, 12)
Mu Alpha Theta (11, 12)
-Secretary (12)
The Harvard Prize Book Award (11)
AP Scholar with Honour (11)
National Merit Commended Scholar (maybe semi? find out in fall)
Junior Marshall (11)
Award of Excellence in AP English Language (11)
Award of Excellence in Hnrs Civics/Economics (11)</p>

<p>School Clubs and Activities:
Interact Community Service Club (9)
Junior Civitan Community Service Club (11, 12)
Tennis (9, 10)
Destination Imagination (9)
-Team qualified for global finals.
Student Director (Middle School Production) (9)
Fall Play (10)
Writing Club (10)
School Newspaper (10)
Book Club (11, 12)
-Founder</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:
Interact and Junior Civitan Clubs (9, 11, 12)
Community Theatre (10)
Library (11)
-Worked as a page.
YMCA (11)
-Volunteered as an assistant counselor in an
after-school childcare program.
Student Tutoring (11, 12)
Total Hours: 105</p>

<p>I guess that's about it, as far as stats are concerned...</p>

<p>About what I'm looking for in a college:
*Location: Urban. Preferrably in the northeastern/mid-atlantic regions.
*It doesn't really matter whether it's a LAC or a Univ- I've been looking at both and I'm pretty sure I'd fit in with either environment.
*Politically: leaning left or middle-of-the-road. Not conservative. Somewhere where the students know how to have fun, but are also concerned about academics. "Work hard, play hard."
....</p>

<p>So, some schools I've been looking into:
Columbia
UPenn
Harvard
Univ. of South Cal.
Franklin & Marshall
Hofstra
Fordham</p>

<p>*I should mention that cost is a bit of a concern (otherwise I'd be applying to NYU, I'm sure)... I've been trying to find places with strong need-based financial aid / academic-merit scholarships available.</p>

<p>I would love to hear any advice, info, ideas, stories from people in similar situations- whatever! Please help. And thank you so much! :)</p>

2

<p>silho, the first thing you need to do is get your financial situation clearly defined. If your family qualifies for enough need based aid and if they are willing to fund any shortfall, then you'll have a wide choice of schools. If you must get merit aid in order to attend, then you'll have a very different list. </p>

<p>Ask your parents to use one of those on-line aid calculators to get an idea of where you stand. </p>

<p>If you can get by on need based aid then you'll have a lot of options. If you need merit aid, then you must immediately concentrate only on those schools where merit aid is a possibility (e.g. not Columbia, Penn or Harvard). If you look at the threads at the top of the parents forum you'll get some other ideas.</p>

<p>Your grades, rank and scores are very good. They won't keep you out of any college on your list, but they won't get you in either. What will put you over the top are your essays, recommendations, life experiences and ECs. </p>

<p>Your ECs are a little difficult to understand and will need some focus and elaboration. The colleges will want to know more about what your interests are and what makes you tick. In other words, what will you contribute to the campus community?</p>

3

<p>you can still improve your sat II's a bit but as is you have great stats IMO</p>

4

<p>Thank you both for your advice. I'll definately see if I can elaborate/better organize my list of ECs. </p>

<p>And as far as financial need is concerned- I'm pretty sure I (well, my family) would be able to work something out at most schools. About what you said about the Ivies- Harvard is now entirely free for families with incomes under 60k, and UPenn has a debt-free education (no loans) for students from families with incomes under 50k. So, while Ivy League school do not offer merit-based aid, most of them now have generous aid incentives. (Yale and the others have similar deals.)</p>

<p>Again- thanks for the advice! And if anyone has any info on colleges I might potentially be interested in, let me know! :)</p>

5

<p>I think that you will get a big scholarship to Fordham, because I know someone who had a lower GPA and recieved a lot of merit money from Fordham.</p>

6

<p>I suggest you add Kings Point to a list to look at in the Northeast. Its a little different from the other service academies in that you have many more options upon graduation than you do at the other four -- you could be managing a port or designing ships and going to law school to name a few. You don't have to serve on active duty, but you have to work in the maritime industry if you don't. </p>

<p>It is just outside NYC and with the exception of buying your computer and minimal student fees, everything else is paid for -- tuition, room, board, books and clothes. </p>

<p>You will also spend an entire year at sea during which you will be paid. S is currently in the process of circumnavigating the world during the first part of his Sea Year.<br>
<a href="http://www.usmma.edu/life/sea/default.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usmma.edu/life/sea/default.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>S loves it there and is very much a flaming moderate politically -- part of the reason he chose KP over the Naval Academy. His civilian schools pretty much mirrored yours in the NE -- he was accepted at all of them and his best friend is at Columbia. </p>

<p>Kings Point was also the first service academy to admit women -- two years before the other four.</p>

<p>Finally, the Regimental Band "George M. Cohan's Own" has historical ties to NY musical theater. </p>

<p>It might be worth a visit if you are in the area looking at Columbia, Fordham and Hofstra.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

7

<p>silho, ALL of the most selective colleges -- both universities and LACs -- are generous with NEED based aid. Many are ostensibly needblind, but if your family is in the 50-60,000 income level then most likely you will qualify for need based financial aid at a selective college. </p>

<p>The catch is that the calculation is not black and white. They give you what THEY think you need not what YOU think you need. The difference may be in the way they calculate property, investments, retirement funds and also in the balance between outright grants and loans or jobs. </p>

<p>The main point, however, is that need and merit are completely different and are used differently by individual colleges.</p>