Completely Lost on Match Schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>I’m having a hard time coming up with match schools. I have a nice long college list but I’m looking for some more suggestions since I really have no idea. Anyway, here are my basic stats. I won’t put in future predictions (like an increased SAT score) even if I’m expecting them since I mainly want to know what my matches would be if things didn’t change much.</p>

<p>Anyway, stats:</p>

<p>Basic:</p>

<p>White Male
Suburban Public School in PA
Lower-Middle Class
Political Science</p>

<p>GPA (rounded down to one decimal place):
[weighted/unweighted]</p>

<p>Freshman: 2.6/2.8
Sophomore: 3.8/3.9
Junior: 3.8/4.1
Senior: 4.0/5.0 (so far)</p>

<p>SATs:</p>

<p>Math: 720
Crit: 720
Write: 740</p>

<p>SAT IIs: (to be taken in Oct)</p>

<p>US History:
Math 2:
Biology E: </p>

<p>[just assume 700 in each of them]</p>

<p>APs:
Calc AB – 4
Spanish Language – 4
Computer Science A – 4</p>

<p>Notable ECs:</p>

<p>Debate Team: 9th – 12th grade. Captain (2007-2008)
Employment: CVS/Pharmacy (11th – 12th). 18 hrs/week</p>

<p>Preferences:</p>

<p>I’m flexible on location. I’d prefer northeast (new england) but I don’t mind looking at any of the 48 continental states.</p>

<p>So what I’m looking for suggestions on are mainly match schools. However, suggestions for reach and safety schools are greatly appreciated as well.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Do you have a specific reason why your freshman grades are so out of sync with your grades in other years? Perhaps something you could write about in your essay to mitigate that potential negative?</p>

3

<p>yea everything looks good except for the freshmen grades… look at cali cause they dont look at freshmen grades</p>

4

<p>Hey there… I’d be happy to help. One thing first though… your freshman year GPA seems to be a bit of an anomaly, when compared with the rest of your stats. That being said, it looks like your cumulative GPA is something around a 3.4, so it doesn’t hurt that badly (and it’s much better to have a low freshman GPA than sophomore or junior). The reason I bring it up though is because if you have a good reason (injury, illness, personal problem, family issue) for why you had an “off” year, it would make sense to include it in your application.</p>

<p>Now, for some suggestions. There’s going to be a lot seeing as you didn’t say anything about your size or school type preferences…</p>

<p>REACH: Amherst College (MA), Swarthmore College ¶, Williams College (MA), Bowdoin College (MA), Cornell University (NY), Georgetown University (DC), Middlebury College (VT), Johns Hopkins University (MD), University of Notre Dame (IN), Haverford College ¶, Emory University (GA), Northwestern University (IL), Wesleyan University (CT), Tufts University (MA), Vassar College (NY)</p>

<p>SEMI-REACH: Colgate University (NY), Boston College (MA), Washington & Lee University (VA), Carnegie Mellon University ¶, Davidson College (NC), Hamilton College (NY), Oberlin College (OH), College of William & Mary (VA), University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (NC), University of Virginia (VA), University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (MI)</p>

<p>GOOD FIT: Bard College (NY), Kenyon College (OH), Bates College (ME), Bucknell University ¶, Colby College (ME), Lehigh University ¶, SUNY College - Geneseo (NY), New York University (NY), University of Miami (FL), University of Rochester (NY), University of Florida (FL), Wake Forest University (NC), University of Maryland - College Park (MD)</p>

<p>LIKELY: College of the Holy Cross (MA), Trinity College (CT), Connecticut College (CT), Lafayette College ¶, Gettysburg College ¶, Franklin & Marshall College ¶, George Washington University (DC), Denison University (OH), Northeastern University (MA), SUNY - Binghamton (NY), University of Richmond (VA), Elon University (NC), Dickinson College ¶, Fordham University (NY), Villanova University ¶</p>

<p>SAFETY: Muhlenberg College ¶, Skidmore College (NY), Wheaton College (MA), Providence College (RI), Union College (NY), Penn State - University Park ¶, Syracuse University (NY), American University (DC)</p>

5

<p>^^This seems like a good place to start. Can you provide more information about what you’re looking for in a school to narrow it down?</p>

6

<p>Wow, that was helpful (especially littleathiest). I guess I’ll address the two questions raised in the thread:</p>

<p>1) Freshman Year - I was struggling with what was later to be diagnosed as Bi-Polar Type I disorder. The following successful years are the result of me getting it under control. I’m afraid to mention it on the application or in the essays though…I don’t want it to backfire. Also, I had surgery right at the beginning of 9th grade, throwing off my work schedule and putting me behind. I just never caught back up.</p>

<p>2) Preferences - The problem is, I’m not really sure what I want. I like the cold but can take the heat, I like cities but not run down buildings, I want to move out of PA but refuse to discount anything just because it’s close…What I’m more interested are the look and feel of the college rather than its location. I’m not too concerned about minority ratios or anything like that, but instead am looking for a college where not everyone is necessarily into the same thing. Also, the better the campus looks, the happier I’ll be going there, generally.</p>

<p>Also, and this is important I’d suppose, I plan to go to as good of a law school as I can after undergrad. So any colleges that are very good law school feeders get a major plus in my book. As of right now, I have no idea who’s good at what.</p>

<p>I’m encouraged by littleathiest’s list, as there are a lot of cross sections between his list and mine. A few names on the list also intrigued me, so I’ll definitely be looking into them as well.</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone so far!</p>

7

<p>Answer a few questions and your list will get much more focused:</p>

<p>Are Catholic colleges ok with you?
Do you need to be in or near a fairly big city?
What type of architecture do you find attractive (modern glass and steel, traditional Georgian/Colonial red brick, and gothic seem to be the three main themes)?</p>

8

<p>Are Catholic colleges ok with you?

  • Yes, as long as it’s ‘A’ focus and not ‘THE’ focus.</p>

<p>Do you need to be in or near a fairly big city?

  • No, I’m okay with urban, suburban, or rural campuses.</p>

<p>What type of architecture do you find attractive (modern glass and steel, traditional Georgian/Colonial red brick, and gothic seem to be the three main themes)?

  • Modern [glass, steel] and gothic. I’m not a big fan of the whole colonial thing.</p>
9

<p>If campus appearance is important to you, and you dislike the whole colonial thing, then forget about half of littleatheist’s suggestions, especially Williams, Davidson, Wake Forest, Lafayette, Denison, Bowdoin, Cornell, Middlebury, William and Mary, North Carolina, Virginia, Colgate, Elon, Maryland, and Johns Hopkins, Bucknell, colby, Washington and Lee, and Holy Cross.</p>

<p>Notable gothic campuses include Richmond, Boston College, Villanova, Trinity College, Lehigh, Vassar, and Fordham. I don’t know enough about architecture to classify Georgetown, Notre Dame, or Kenyon, but I don’t think they aren’t colonial.</p>

<p>George Washington U and NYU and Northeastern aren’t very inspiring at all.</p>

<p>I’m sure other people could architecturally classify the colleges I didn’t list.</p>

10

<p>Hmm…</p>

<p>I dunno. While I obviously have my preferences I’d feel funny discounting a school merely because of its architecture. I mean, it’s true that the more I like the campus the more I can see myself enjoying myself there, but to count if off completely just based off of how the buildings look sounds like more of a last resort thing than an initial filter.</p>

<p>I’m more concerned about how well-kept the buildings are. I don’t think I’d be able to deal with run-down facilities.</p>

<p>That said, I’ll definitely be taking a look at some of the non-colonial-style campuses to see if I can get a better feel for them.</p>

<p>What about my other preferences? As in, are any of those colleges particularly known as good feeder schools for Law School?</p>

11

<p>Law school is all about grades (and the LSAT).</p>

12

<p>Four years is a long time to spend in a place if you care about appearances and don’t like how it looks. And the choice of colleges in the US is so vast that there’s no reason to pick some place you don’t find pretty, even if it’s right for you in a lot of ways. I was the same way…I found some colleges’ appearances invigorating and some schools’ appearances boring or irritating. It’s like buying a house or car…sure there are considerations beyond appearance, but it you don’t like how it looks, keep looking until you find one you like.</p>