<p>Hello All,</p>
<p>I was wondering if there is anyone who knows which schools are more personal in their admissions process than by-the-numbers. I'm by no means a top student. I get A's and B's in mostly basic level classes (I've taken AP Social Studies all throughout though), and my 3.4 GPA gets me at rank 260/615. My SAT's were 610 CR, 520 Math, and 790 Writing (If only this section had more weight!). Luckily, my essay writing is probably my strongest asset, and I'm a member of the debate team. </p>
<p>My question is which colleges, names would help :), are more likely to consider the essays and extra curricular over the academics. I too often read and hear about colleges who admit students with the top grades and high scores, but I just don't have those. I am aware that the schools in "Colleges That Change Lives" (I own the book) are predominately like that, and I was wondering which other schools have similar philosophies in accepting those who are eager to learn, but whose standardized test scores and GPA's don't accurately reflect this desire. Thanks!</p>
<p>According to the author of The Gatekeepers who relayed information from the college counselors at Harvard-Westlake, Cornell and Wesleyan are two schools that are more personal in their admissions approach (don't know if this is still true today, as the book was published several years ago). I know that Brown cares more about the person than numbers. However, you'll still probably have a hard time getting in given your stats.</p>
<p>I recommend Macalester and Bowdoin. I need more information on your interests though.</p>
<p>My interests would be that I am planning on pursuing Political Science and Philosophy in college, but I am open to colleges who have non-traditional curriculums (St. Johns College is one I'm really interested in right now). It would be nice if the school had a debate team, but that's not a must. Other than that, I'm open to pretty much anything.</p>
<p>Check out Bard! Um...and Hampshire and Sarah Larwence, maybe.</p>
<p>Check out American U and Elon.</p>
<p>Outside of the 100 colleges in most demand, the rest of the 3,000+ colleges accept the majority of their applicants. You have plenty of choices, plenty of good schools to choose from.</p>
<p>Before you go farther and start looking at the colleges that people throw out at you, you need to do a bit of homework. I recommend getting a good book on college admissions such as "Admission Matters" and spending some time reading the chapters on how to choose a college, the importance of fit, etc. You're asking essentially "where can I go?" but providing zero info about your preferences (small? large? urban? rural? class size? type of kids who enroll? etc). So sure, you can start looking into places you hear about on the forum and thru other places, but unless you know what you're looking for you're going to have a hard time recognizing the right places when you see them. </p>
<p>Also see the article "A+ options for B kids" at <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/articles/brief/06average_brief.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/articles/brief/06average_brief.php</a></p>
<p>I'd be more inclined to go to a liberal arts school than a state school, preferably one that emphasises class discussions and writing because I discovered those were the best ways that I learn.</p>