Deciding on a College

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgetown University
1

Hi Everyone!

I am a recruited athlete, so at the moment I am trying to decide between my top schools: NYU, Georgetown, and Carnegie Mellon. I’ve finished all the applications for them already, and I’m not too worried about getting in (Obviously I do know I’m applying to very highly-selective schools, but I’m trying not to stress); Since I am a recruited athlete—as well, I have a 35 ACT, 4.7 Weighted GPA (3.9 UW) (Having taken a total of 15 AP classes), and I’m 1/4 Pacific Islander, 1/4 Native American, 1/4 Japanese, and 1/4 Caucasian, and I will be the second in my family to go to college (after my sister who attended UCLA and is now at grad school at Johns Hopkins)!

Though, I’m not trying to brag—just give a sense of my stats. I’m looking for a school that’s not a party school, though I understand any college I go to is going to have parties. I just don’t want to be pressured into going to parties and stuff. I definitely don’t mind a competitive environment because I do like to work hard, but I do want to be able to enjoy myself since that’s what college is about. I also would prefer a left-leaning environment, since I am gay and very diverse ethnically. I am planning to do pre-med / pre-business in college and in the future would like to do research while working up the administration side of research institutions. I would prefer a mid-size to large school. I visited Pomona, Caltech, Williams, and Amherst and they all felt too small for me.

So as I said before, my top choices at the moment are NYU, Georgetown, and Carnegie Mellon. I also sent in applications to UVA and UMich as back-ups. And just in case I suddenly decide I don’t want to go to any of my top three schools (though I’ve visited them all and loved them), I’ve completed applications RD for Yale, Cornell, UChicago, Columbia, and Duke. As well, I’ve already been accepted into University of Toronto and University of British Columbia since they are rolling admissions.

So basically, I just wanted to hear y’all’s thoughts on NYU / Georgetown / and CMU, since I’m having a lot of trouble deciding. I know I can’t make a bad choice here, I just want to make the “best” choice for myself.

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jamietkw,

Congratulations on your impressive academic and athletic achievements as well as your college acceptances. Kudos to you as well for having a positive attitude – it’s a good thing not to overly stress about the college admission process, especially in its early stages.

As you correctly observe, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, and NYU are all highly competitive schools. I don’t know enough about Carnegie Mellon or NYU to evaluate whether they are “match” or “reach” school for most highly qualified candidates. I do believe, however, that Georgetown is a “reach” for most excellent applicants.

If you want a school with a more traditional campus life, I would choose Georgetown over NYU as 67 percent of cross admits do.* Carnegie Mellon may suit you better if you want to focus on science and technology. Otherwise, I would choose Georgetown because it provides a wide range of academic opportunities. 70 percent of cross admits select Georgetown over Carnegie Mellon.**

As I’m sure you know, UVA and Michigan are hardly ever safeties for out-of-state students, and Yale, Chicago, Columbia, and Duke are unlikely schools or very high reaches for many strong applicants. Hence, you might do well to add some safeties to your list unless you are fully prepared to attend the very good Canadian universities that have already admitted you.

Because you are a recruited athlete, I hope you have a hook that will provide you an admission advantage. Many formerly recruited athletes, however, will tell you to take what college coaches say with more than a grain or two of salt. This is another reason why it’s important for athletes – like everyone else – to have a balanced college list.

Good luck!