Expanding/Eliminating College Choices

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a junior in a semi-competitive school in upstate new york.
GPA: 3.81 unweighted
I don't really know my rank, but I would assume somewhere around top 12%
I haven't taken any tests besides the PSAT- 212
EC's: Vice President of Model UN since sophomore year (also a member of the club freshman year),
Freshman year sports: JV cross country Vars Nordic skiing JV Outdoor Track
Sophmore Year: (JV cross country, JV Indoor Track, JV Outdoor (could have made varsity if i wasn't injured the final two seasons)
Junior year: Varsity cross country, Varsity Indoor, Varsity outdoor(probably)
I have a good chance to be named captain of xc and/or indoor/outoor next year.
I have been an editor of the school literary magazine since sophomore year and have published several poems/plays/short stories--- I also have a decent chance of being named "Editor in Chief"
I have attended the Rochester Scholars Program at U of R over the summer and over april break for Medical studies and did a neurology internship over the summer there.
Spanish Club sophmore year and this year (most likely next year as well)
Great books club only freshman year</p>

<p>Classes:
I took one AP class as a sophomore
AP Euro--5
I am currently taking APUSH, AP stats, AP Chem, AP Language and Composition
All honors except for spanish, which i opted out of honors this year because i had a 84 avg sophmore year :(</p>

<p>I am not completely sure of my major but I would like to at this point major in Bio with a possible minor in English.</p>

<p>I have researched quite a few colleges and have made a "list" of sorts. I would preferably like a strong, small LAC although i do have a few universities on my list. Also, preferably my "school of choice" would be in a suburban area, although I would not mind rural areas (ie bowdoin, grinnell). Weather is not a concern and I would also like to continue running, although this is not my first concern. Another thing that i would like, although I understand that this is difficult is a somewhat politically balanced campus. I understand a lot of liberal arts colleges tend to be...well, liberal and I don't really mind that. At the same time, I would at least like for there to be SOME balance.
I would appreciate any comments on the below colleges and/or suggestions of which colleges I should add/take way. </p>

<p>COLLEGES:
Vassar, Bowdoin, Bates, carleton, grinnell, haverford, oberlin, pomona, st.olaf's, Tufts, U of R, Reed (is there any chance of club running there?), Carnegie mellon(too urban?)
with safeties of Hope College,franklin and marshall, and st.mary's college of maryland </p>

<p>I know it is a very Loooong list. I obviously cant apply to all of these schools</p>

2

<p>sorry, forgot to add that I AM signed up to take the SAT and ACT this year, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet :/</p>

3

<p>Macalaster up in Minnesota is a pretty good LAC, very diverse and multicultural. From your stats, I think it’s very possible you could get in. It’s one of my top five schools I’m looking into. The only downside for you is that it’s in an urban area, near the Twin Cities, but it’s worth a look.</p>

4

<p>Macalester is in a pretty residential area. It doesn’t give the “urban feeling” of a college such as Boston Univ. There are fun restaurants and shops nearby. Major music acts come to the twin cities and there are professional sports.</p>

<p>Have you looked at Kenyon? It is rural like Grinnell and is also known for its writing.</p>

<p>To me, Bowdoin is more suburban feeling because the town is nearby and it isn’t tiny like Grinnell. Portland is easy to get to if you want to spend a day off campus.</p>

<p>I’d say Carleton is more stridently liberal than St Olaf but there are plenty of liberal Oles. Carleton is much closer to town - just a matter or two or three blocks. From St Olaf it would take about twenty minutes on foot through a nice residential neighborhood.</p>

<p>Personally I would replace Hope with Kalamzoo but that is probably because I like the kids who have gone there. I’ve know kids around here who use Hope as a safety but don’t attend and I don’t know why.</p>

<p>Pomona and the Claremont Colleges are great. Your own college has its own identity but you meet plenty of other students through classes, club sports, or social events. It was plenty hot in September but the nights do cool off nicely. In the town of Claremont there is a nice mix of informal eating spots, coffee shops, gift stores, music stores, etc. Further out are the big box stores and Trader Joes. These need a car to get to. I have heard there is a shuttle but I don’t know how frequent it is.</p>

<p>I think you have a pretty good list. Good luck trying to narrow it down!</p>

5

<p>Thanks, I will definitely consider Macalester!
I have considered Kalamazoo, but Hope and St.Mary’s of Maryland are mainly on my list due to its low tuition and tendency to give high financial aid. Is Kalamazoo as generous on that regard?
Also, I am slightly concerned about Kenyon when it comes to politics and its science department… Isn’t it primarily a “writing” school?</p>

6

<p>I just re-did my GPA (our school does an out of 100 scale and doesn’t formally give us our GPA) and it is somehow lowered to 3.76 (Don’t know why…) I calculated it on the internet… Obviously those aren’t very reliable. But, anyhow, given this, does a high to mid 3.7 change anything on my list? I am afraid a lot of the schools on my list are more “reaches” than “matches”. Are my stats good enough to even consider bowdoin, pomona, vassar, and haverford?</p>

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<p>Kenyon is known for humanities, although it does offer merit scholarships for science so is recruiting in that regard. Kalamazoo is generous with merit, tops out at 20k (special application scholarships limited in number). SMCM offers merit up to the cost of in-state tuition, which still leaves an OOS student with at least 20k to pay as well. This, though, may be enough for you.</p>

8

<p>You still need a clear financial safety. With your state residence and stats, this is most likely one of the SUNYs or CUNYs, but it might be one of the better regional community colleges. Find one that has the majors you like (not hard with Bio and English!), that will have to admit you based on your statistics, and that you can pay for with no financial aid other than federally determined financial aid. Once you pin that down, you’ll be good to go!</p>

<p>And, since you like Biology so much, why aren’t you looking at Ag and Life Sciences at Cornell?</p>

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<p>…I guess ur right. And abt cornell, as awesome as it seems, I most likely cannot run there (there team is very competitive) and I have also heard cornell is the “easiest ivy to get into, but the hardest to get out of.” I may be overreacting to this claim, but It has scared me away.</p>

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<p>Regarding Reed:</p>

<p>For biology, the school produces the highest percentage of future PhD earners in the field, in case you are interested in research. Reed has no minors.</p>

<br>

<br>

<p>Reed is a Profile school, guaranteeing four years of full needed FA.</p>

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<p>“easiest ivy to get into, but the hardest to get out of.”</p>

<p>this means that while it is purportedly “easier” to get into (which is debatable), students love it so much that they never want to leave. not that it’s hard to graduate</p>

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<p>Great Gatsby—Thanks for your input, i never really thought about it that way. With that being said, I know that it is difficult to tell whether a college is “easier to get into” than another. However, given my stats, don’t you feel that Cornell would be a very far reach?</p>

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<p>As a NYS resident, your chances at Ag. and Life Sciences or Human Ecology (Happydad did his Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry there) are more than decent. And, the in-state tuition at those campuses is waaaaaaay lower than the tuition in Arts and Sciences (the private division). Check out the websites of ALS and HUM EC and see what biology-type majors they are offering these days.</p>

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<p>lol, no…u wouldn’t be a very far reach for cornell at all. look into their ranges.</p>

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<p>" “easiest ivy to get into, but the hardest to get out of.”</p>

<p>this means that while it is purportedly “easier” to get into (which is debatable), students love it so much that they never want to leave. not that it’s hard to graduate"</p>

<p>Ha, good one, while it’s true that Ithaca & environs is chock full of people who came there for school and never left, that is most definitely NOT what that expression is referring to.</p>

<p>However, times have changed, what I’m reading is that it may not be quite all that tough anymore.</p>

<p>Here are some of the most recent relevant entrance stats</p>

<p><a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000177.pdf[/url]”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000177.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000003.pdf[/url]”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000003.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Another thing about Cornell–isn’t it very large (approx. 13,000 students)? Would applying to the school of applied sciences and agriculture remove this problem?</p>

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<p>“Another thing about Cornell–isn’t it very large (approx. 13,000 students)? Would applying to the school of applied sciences and agriculture remove this problem?”</p>

<p>??? you mean like if the OP applies to the ag school the university’s enrollment will materially shrink ??</p>

<p>Statistics for admit % and enrollment are included in those links I posted. If that’s what you’re getting at.</p>

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<p>Yea, thanks. Sorry i didn’t make my point clear about that.</p>

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<p>Keilexandra:</p>

<p>Kalamazoo offers merit-based aid to students in the range of $5-17k and they aren’t limited. All students are eligible through their application. The average student receives $10,000 per year, and the vast majority of students receive the merit-scholarship.</p>

<p>They have a newer scholarship that you’re thinking of that is limited to 20 students for $20 grand over four years each.</p>

20

<p>Ok, I have made some changes to my list. I have removed vassar, reed, st. olafs, u of r, and hope college.</p>

<p>I have also added cornell, kalamazoo, SUNY geneseo, UVM and am considering kenyon, macalester, and colby.</p>

<p>However, I do have some questions…</p>

<p>What about Gettysburg/Dickinson? Any comments on these schools?</p>

<p>Safety schools—this is a really hazy part of my list.
Should I really have more than two?
Is SUNY Geneseo a reasonable financial safety?
Right now, I would say that the ‘back of the pack’ is St.Mary’s and Franklin and Marshall. I would like any feedback on any of my safeties as to which ones i should remove. </p>

<p>What about Colby/Bates? I am leaning towards Colby right now and I know I shouldn’t apply to both seeing as I have a looong list.</p>

<p>Just a note: Right now, my front runners are Bowdoin, Pomona, Tufts and Williams (wasn’t on my list before). </p>

<p>So…yea… Any comments about any of the above colleges would be nice.</p>