<p>nocousin, for someone much older and wiser than I am, you are sounding a bit childish and immature. I am very confused and I need the guidance. I am accepting all of the advice, but now I'm just beginning to narrow down the list. It's difficult to narrow it down to thirteen colleges (13 is my lucky number, actually. I would explain this, but you'd be here for ages), but I will try as hard as I can. Why is it a bad thing to apply to many colleges at once? I mean, the Common App fixes everything, right? I don't know; could you explain why I must apply to very few colleges? nocousin, you actually talked about it with me at one point, then stopped.</p>
<p>Falthor, people are giving you very good advice, but you are delusional if you think you're going to get into Brown or Dartmouth, and even more delusional if you think you're going to be a "big fish" in their small ponds.</p>
<p>You don't have outstanding test scores. You need to find more safeties. Especially if you do indeed want to be a "big fish" in a small pond.</p>
<p>Falthor, I did indeed try to help you. You offended me several times when you stated you deleted all of my PM"s which contained SPECIFIC advice about certain colleges and recommended several ways to get your list down.</p>
<p>You are repetitive and pedantic. You dont listen to the advice that people give you and you apparently dont want to use your own brain, common sense and ambition to solve your problem. You have spent two weeks on this board and have gotten nowhere. You continue to chase windmills of delusion. You ask the same questions over and over. </p>
<p>I wasted too much time with you. I think everyone else is wasting their time with you. The answers you seek are in this thread. Stop asking inane repetitive and pedantic questions and get down to work. Getting into college is YOUR responsibility, not ours. The Common Application is NOT the only thing you need to do. Nor is it a panacea for solving all of your problems.</p>
<p>Nobody here is an admissions counselor, nor financial aid officer. Picking colleges is difficult if you have too many that are too similar. At some point you just have to get focused and make your choices and get on with it. You need 12 schools or so. I told you what to do for reach, match, safety. </p>
<p>If you continue to fixate on reach schools that is your problem. We cannot decide for you. It looks to me like this is a big game to you. For what reason, I have no idea, other than you find some strange satisfaction asking repetitive pedantic questions to people until all hours of the day and night, day in and day out. </p>
<p>Its time for YOU to grow up. Get off the computer, get off this website and get down to work.</p>
<p>Falthor, "big fish, small pond" has nothing to do with the absolute size of the pond. If you go to Dartmouth, you might well drown in a small pond; if you go to a large public U, you could be a shining star in a huge pond. What matters is YOUR ability relative to the rest of the pool. And perhaps your test scores don't show your true ability, and you'll thrive at Dartmouth; but you'll have a mighty hard time getting in to prove that because you're too much of a risk.</p>
<p>nocousin, while I understand and empathize with your frustration, repeated posts urging the rest of us to ignore him because "it's a game" is not helpful. Being personally offended and leaving is hardly a reason for everyone else to follow. Maybe it will get through to Falthor someday; to me, that's worth the "wasted" time.</p>
<p>Hm. I got a question. I am listening to all you guys (though it may not look it on my posts; I'm just a confused mess right now), but more questions keep coming up. What are Honors colleges? I was looking at the College of Wooster, and it said it's an Honors college. Does that mean it's like the Honors Colleges at U of Maryland and UVM or no?</p>
<p>Honors colleges are small subcolleges within larger universities, generally public; they're a good choice for academically-oriented students who still want the school spirit and larger resources of a large university.</p>
<p>College of Wooster is a standalone liberal arts college; maybe they were referring to an honors PROGRAM? That's a different matter entirely. Any college can have an honors program with extra requirements and (at large publics) perhaps some of the benefits of an honors college such as preregistration and honors seminars without the extended infrastructure.</p>
<p>Keil: You are free to answer his questions. I have moved on.</p>
<p>Hm. The confusion, the possibilities! So many colleges to look at! Ah, and I'm applying to Muhlenberg, as nocousin suggested. (S)he said it was a safety for me, if I recall correctly.</p>