Creating A College List

College Search & Selection
1

Hello

I am a rising senior from New York and was hoping that someone could help me figure some things out in regards to creating a college application list. People keep telling me not to worry about it, but I can’t see how I can just ignore something that is so close. This being said I was hoping somebody could help me narrow down my college application list and see which schools I should visit over what’s left of this summer.

Before I start here are a few things that may be helpful (as of the end of junior year):
Weighted GPA: 99.86
Unweighted GPA: 96.33
Class Rank: 9 out of 390
Critical Reading: 560
Math: 630
Writing: 610
SAT: 1800
SAT Subject Test in Math II; 650
EC’s: Head Lighting Designer (Member of Drama Club for 4 years)
Secretary of Community Service Club (Member for 4 years)
Secretary of NHS (Member for 2 years)
Hospital Volunteer (Over 100 Hours)
Wind Ensemble (Part of the Music Program throughout HS)
Math Team (Member for 2 Years)
Quiz Bowl (Member for 2 Years)

With that out of the way, here are some of the schools I’m looking at (in no particular order):
Penn State University
Rutgers
Stony Brook University
Binghamton University
CUNY: City College, Hunter, Queens, Brooklyn
University of Maryland - College Park
Boston University
Northeastern University
Cornell
UC San Diego
UMass Amherst
RPI
University of Rochester
Syracuse University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology

I know that the list is long, but there is a seemingly endless list of options and I’m finding it so hard to narrow down the choices. Though I am not completely set on what I want to major in I’m leaning towards a Computer Science Major with a possible Pre-Med tract. However, I have also thought about Architecture and Engineering. I have visited 4 colleges so far: Lehigh University, WPI, UM College Park, and Northeastern. Personally, I didn’t find Lehigh and WPI appealing, I think mostly because of the area. Coming from a small town, I want to experience something different when I go to college, with that being said, I am finding myself attracted to more schools like Northeastern and UM College Park which are both located in.near major urban areas. I fell in love with Maryland’s campus and it’s proximity to DC and I really liked Northeastern, however it’s selectivity is, to put it shortly, scaring me.

If you made it this far, THANK YOU, and hopefully you can help me narrow down what colleges will be right for me and which are worth visiting.

2

I would start by considering costs. You are looking at some public schools out of state, and those can be very expensive. The privates are as well. Have you talked to your parents about finances and how much they can pay each year? Do that, and then run the net price calculators at the schools on your list to see if they are affordable.

3

suzy100: Thank you for taking the time to read through all of that. I know that the cost of college is a major factor in choosing colleges, but barring economic limitations, I would like to know which schools would be worthwhile for me apply to.

I’m hoping that my economic background will help earn me some sort of financial aid and also hope that my academic standings will gain me some merit-based aid. Having said this, I want to know which schools I can consider safeties, 50/50’s, and reach schools. From what I have heard from friends and family, many only applied to schools they would be happy to attend and then just waited for which school would offer them the best deal. Hoping to do the same, I want to know which schools would satisfy both my personal and academic needs.

4

I would remove UCSD from your list unless you are able to pay $55K/year to attend. UC’s give little to no financial aid to OOS students and what merit aid (Regents) that is available would be for the top 1% applicants. Also your SAT is low to be competitive (need around a 2000+).