<p>I'm currently a junior, so my information isn't complete, but any colleges it's suggested that I look at would be tremendously helpful. My search is kind of all over the place, and I haven't found many prospective matches yet (...or safeties, or reaches really).</p>
<p>Planned Geology major
Asian Female
I go to a decent public high school in Maryland, but it's far from stellar
Parents can pay about $35,000 per year, they're kind of pushing publics
GPA: 3.9 UW 4.0-ish W (1 AP Sophomore Year, 6 APs this year but no grades have come in yet)
PSAT: 1960, but that was Sophomore year
Class rank: definitely top 10%, but graduating class is like 250 students</p>
<p>ECs (will be continuing to next year):
8 years a Girl Scout (still am one at present, am striving for that Gold Award)
4-ish years a member of my library's Teen Advisory Group (does all sorts of odd jobs for the library, notably helping out with programs for teenagers)
3 years a member of Book Club; will be President next year
1 year a member of high school literary magazine (I just think it's really cool)
3 years a participant in StarTalk Hindi summer camp; for 1 of those years, I was a "Teaching Assistant" although my main job was journalistic
100+ hours volunteering at local hospital, mostly clerical work</p>
<p>suggestions on how to work on ECs would be appreciated, too!</p>
<p>Currently considering:
University of Wisconsin - Madison
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt (high reach, I am aware)
College of William and Mary (??? I really like the liberal arts vibe, but I think I want a livelier campus)</p>
<p>I don't really care about size, so long as it stays away from extremely large (>40000 undergrad) and extremely small (<7000)
Any region aside from West Coast, and preferably not deep South either
Very strongly prefer out of state colleges and diverse ones</p>
<p>I know this is west coast and small, but I would really, really recommend looking at University of Puget Sound- great earth sciences program, liberal arts school but very intellectually focused/deeply rooted in the sciences. Recently visited and the campus is beautiful, plus you’d be a great candidate with those stats. Just give it a look! </p>
<p>Have you looked at Boston University? I took an awesome earth science class there (Natural Disasters! Best class ever.) and they have an entire Earth Sciences department: <a href=“Undergraduate | Earth & Environment”>Abigail Sullivan | Earth & Environment. With your stats, I think you’d be a really strong candidate to get in, possibly even with some merit aid offers. </p>
<p>My biggest question mark, looking at your intended major vs. your ECs is that all your ECs are literary based but you want to go into science. Which I love! We need more women in science (which should also give you an admissions edge, btw). I would find a way on your application (in your essay?) to connect what you want to do with your additional passion for books/literary stuff. (maybe do a minor in English? Or journalism?)</p>
<p>South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. It’s an engineering university with a very good geology department and an atmospheric science department. It’s also a bargain. They are aggressively recruiting more women applicants. A sizeable number of students come from states other than S.D., including Pennsylvania, Virginia and California.</p>
<p>If you are really interested in Geology, I would suggest looking at schools that offer a Field Camp. My DD is a junior Geology major and she chose schools that ran a camp so she could be with classmates. Otherwise, you will have to apply to other colleges to take their field camp. If you search “colleges with Geology Field Camps” you should find a complete listing on Geology.com. Some colleges don’t offer or require a Field Camp for their degree, but from what my DD has found, most employers look for that experience. James Madison might be a good fit. It’s a medium sized school and really nice. If you apply early, they have some good freshman scholarships.</p>
<p>Many schools do not offer their own field camp. Instead they partner with other institutions or require their students to find one on their own. This is a common situation in undergraduate geology. </p>
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