Do I look good here?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, I am finalizing my college list and I just want to make sure I have schools in the right places and accurate, just let me know if any schools should be pulled off or put on and specify where please (reach, match, safety):
Reach:
UPenn
Princeton (maybe EA)
Columbia
Brown
Cornell
Johns Hopkins </p>

<p>Match:
Tufts
Georgetown
NYU
Boston College</p>

<p>Safety:
Loyola University- MD
George Washington</p>

<h2>Washington College (possibly)</h2>

<p>Objective:
GPA: 4.0 UW (all A+ grades except in 3 classes), 4.4 W
Rank: 1/70-ish
SAT: 2150 single (720 CR, 680 M, 750 W)
PSAT: 203, I think, commended
SAT II: 750 Math I (will this offset my 680?) 760 Math II 720 Latin
AP: Lang (5<em>) US (5</em>) Art (4<em>) Gov (5) Latin (</em><em>) Lit (</em><em>) Calc AB (</em><em>) Stat (</em><em>) Bio (</em><em>)
*= anticipated *</em>= this year</p>

<h2>School: small private (sends top 5 to top 10 schools every year)</h2>

<p>Subjective:
ECs:
National Honor Society (president): did a lot of tutoring last year, community service project collecting clothing for homeless, plan to do more next year
Mock Trial (captain): went to regional finals. Would have been top attorney but instructor chose seniors (it goes by selection) :/
Ski Club: purely recreational, though could make an essay?
Piano: 12 years, there are not many competitions around where I live. However I perform often for people, and I am quite good. I will send in a supplement.
Student Ambassador: act as a leader to younger children, get them ready for highschool, guide them around school.</p>

<p>Volunteering:
3 years volunteer at hospital. I will get a presidents award for hospital service. I have approximately 360 hours. I have also been recognized by many of the hospital's departments for my dedication every weekend (I show up alone and do all the work alone).
I play piano often for nursing homes- about 130 hours. I enjoy doing it for the people, it's fulfilling.
Some volunteering at elementary schools- 40 hours (not too much work here)</p>

<p>Work:
Intern at a prestigious research facility. I work in the chair's lab, with all graduate students and postdocs, from ivies mostly. Will try for a recommendation from chair. Just started, but hope to do very well in it this summer. I went out of state to the city for this.</p>

<p>Awards:
A lot of school academic awards, too many to list
National Merit Commended
AP Scholar(?)</p>

<h2>President Award for hospital</h2>

<p>Other:</p>

<p>Essay: probably good, I did a practice one for AP Lang after the exam, forthe highest grade in the class. It was about piano, I sucked for a while.</p>

<p>Teacher Rec: English Teacher: excellent. really loves me.
AP US teacher: will be above average.</p>

<p>Guidance counselor: not sure. Likes me, but not a good counselor, so average-above average?</p>

<p>Hook(s): my family struggles a little financially. But doubt that's a hook.</p>

2

<p>Can you afford your safeties (or NYU for that matter)? Of not they are not safeties.</p>

3

<p>I just saw your reply, and I can’t really afford any schools outright, I will need aid and I think the majority of my safeties will give me a lot. NYU is a statistical “safety” but I am not relying on it to give me much of anything. It is a relatively unlikely school, but I liked it. Loyola should give me quite a bit of money to go there and GW gave quite a bit to a sibling with much lower scores and GPA then me.</p>

4

<p>You might want to look here for alternatives: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>What can your family afford? You need to ask.</p>

5

<p>I am sure I’ll be paying on my own through loans and grants. I have been to a college counselor who say my situation and reccomended the above safeties. Especially Loyola. I added in NYU, however I may very well take it out. I also am pretty sure ivies give quite a bit of aid, am I mistaken? Additionally, I was thinking f throwing Haverford into the mix of schools, would that be a match? How would it look financially?</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>You are correct, but most – or maybe all? – of the schools in your reach/match category offer only need based aid, not merit. If you qualify for need based aid and you get accepted, you will most likely be covered at the Ivies and some of other selective colleges and universitie. Many of the highly endowed schools are generous but only if you qualify. Remember, it’s what they say you need, not what you think you need.</p>

<p>If you don’t know how much your family may be eligible for ask your parents to use an online calculator to get a general idea. If the estimated family contribution works for your family financially, then you can go ahead with your list. If it doesn’t then you should be looking at schools that offer merit aid. There are some excellent choices in the merit aid category, but it may take some searching to find them.</p>

<p>Finances aside, you look to be a possible candidate for just about any college. If you’re interested in Haverford, you might look at some of the other small liberal arts colleges. Strong academic achievement plus music plus skiing would make you a person of interest at Williams, but they are need only too.</p>

<p>PS, Be VERY careful with loans. Private colleges can cost up to $250,000 for four years. Don’t even think about piling up serious debt for an undergraduate degree, even if it’s Princeton!</p>

7

<p>@momrath, thank you a lot for your help, I was considering Williams for sometime but some way or another I kind of took it out of the equation. My family had some serious problems this year with an injury that kept my father out of work for months and y mom ha to miss some work for it as well. For this reason our finances will be much lower for the next year, I’m guessing this will be of a benefit for need based aid? Are there some schools that are on this list that would be good to sub out for Williams and Haverford? I was thinking NYU.</p>

8

<p>Divy, A lot of families experienced a drop in income in 2010-12, and it’s very difficult to make a general projection. Ask your parents to use an on-line calculator for a few schools to get a clearer idea of your EFC. It’s not guaranteed, but it will give you a starting point.</p>

<p>Either you can afford the EFC or you can’t and there’s no point of applying to a college that you know in advance won’t work for you. Once you understand the financial implications, you can build your list, ot before.</p>

<p>My understanding is that among medium sized privates, Princeton and Dartmouth are on the high side of need based generosity; NYU is on the low side. </p>

<p>LACs are variable. The most selective are need based, but generous. These include Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Pomona. The next tier, including Haverford, are unpredictable. There are also some very good LACs that offer good merit based aid – like Grinnell, Rhodes, and if you are female, Smith. The key to LAC admissions is fit. To me you sound like a good fit for Williams. Visit a few and see how you feel.</p>

<p>It’s hard for me to eliminate any names from your reaches and matches as I don’t really see the continuity, except in selectivity. Do you want urban/rural/suburban? Do you want liberal/middleroad? Do you want a Greek social system? Do you want sports, politics, arts? If you think about what it is that attracts you to Princeton maybe you could find others with similar characteristics.</p>

9

<p>To be honest, I really couldn’t pick a specific theme here. I prefer an urban setting, but rural works out great as well. I’m not interested in joining a fraternity but I really don’t care if it exists. I also am fine with a liberal learning system, I don’t know if I’d be okay with a conservative climate (Catholic School student, haha). I love lacrosse, I am an avid watcher and much of my family plays. I know all of my schools, spare GW, Columbia, BC, and NYU have a team. However I also like football, and Columbia and BC have football. I may consider joining an orchestra or movie group, but I’m not entirely sure. If it helps, my favorite school at this moment is Brown, I loved the campus feel, the curriculum, and everything about it.</p>

10

<p>I meant music not movie*</p>