Expanding my college horizons...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I have to start planning college visits around this time, because I'm planning on visiting a few schools over Spring Break. Some basic stats:</p>

<p>School: day and boarding 9-12 school, ~100 people per grade (though my class is a bit smaller, ~80ish), sent 7 to Ivies last year, </p>

<p>GPA: 6.58 UW on a 7.00 scale up through sophomore year, projected 6.8 or 6.9ish/7.00 W projected through junior year. Converting to a 4.0 scale, anything > 6.5 = 4.0. So my "normal" GPA is a 4.0 UW...</p>

<p>School doesn't rank.</p>

<p>Courseload:
Junior Year (currently):
AP Calc BC
AP French Lang
AP Bio
AP US History
English III
Orchestra
Astronomy</p>

<p>Senior Year (next year):
AP Stats/Multivariable Calc (classified as one class at my school)
AP Chem
AP English
Orchestra
Constitutional Law (hopefully)
AP Econ (Micro + Macro, classfied as one class)</p>

<p>My mother would like me to take AP Physics B+C (also classfied as one class) instead of Constitutional Law, but I really want to take that class, so I guess we'll see how that all works out.</p>

<p>SATs weren't the best. 2150 (690R, 730M, 730W) in October. Took ACT in Februrary, dunno how those will turn out. If they're good, I'm chucking the SATs down the drain. If they're not, I'm retaking the SATs in June and plan on raising my score...</p>

<p>SATIIs: 800 Bio M, 780 Chem, 760 Math II
Planning on either retaking math or substituting US History for that one, we'll see</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Tennis - JV 9th grade, Varsity 2nd doubles 10th, Varsity 3rd singles 11th
Will most likely play Varsity 2nd singles 12th, hopefully will be captain - it's between me and one other girl</p>

<p>Lacrosse - JV 9th + 10th, hopefully Varsity this year :)</p>

<p>Volunteering - the Cleveland Clinic (79 hours) and my hometown's veterns outpatient clinic (64 hours) during summers. Also volunteer at an inner city public elementary school during the school year (probably about 40 - 50 hours when all is said and done)</p>

<p>A few other things, but those are my main ones.</p>

<p>Info about Potential Schools:
- I'm most likely going to major in something sciency, with a double in history or classics (point: I want to double major in two unrelated fields, and I know that's hard to do at some schools).
- I have no idea what I want to do after college. Grad school, med/law school, job... I have no idea.
- I want to go to a school with a LAC-type environment; university or actual LAC doesn't matter too much. I want a community feel, preferably smaller student body, but not too small (4000ish - 6000ish is prime, but I'm not too picky). I would prefer the college to have an emphasis on the undergrads, not the grad students (if a university).
- My parents would prefer me to go to a major university, so this has caused a small conflict of interests...
- I want to be at least somewhere near a city. I refuse to go to somewhere in the middle of cornfields. Urban and suburban is fine, as long as I have access to a city of decent size.
- I want an actual campus. Not like NYU or Case Western.
- I don't want a student body that dresses up for football games or for class. I've done enough of that in high school. (Polos, khakis, and skirts are fine, but I draw the line at dresses and button downs)
- Mother says I'm staying east of the Mississippi River, unless it's Rice, WashU, or Stanford.</p>

<p>Colleges I have visited:
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Swarthmore College
- University of Pennsylvania
None of these made an enormous impact on me, but they're all nice. Swarthmore seemed extremely small, UPenn, extremely large. Was half asleep for Carnegie Mellon.</p>

<p>Colleges at the top of my list right now (in no particular order):
- Colgate University
- Rice University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Middlebury College</p>

<p>Colleges I'm almost definitely visiting over Spring Break (we're going down South):
- Rice University
- Emory University
- Oxford College at Emory University
- Davidson College
- Duke University
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(most of these don't fit a lot of aspects of my ideal college, but there's no harm in visitng, is there?)</p>

<p>Another note: I'm from Ohio, and whatever else happens, I'm NOT going to college in Ohio. Almost anywhere else, I'm okay with.</p>

<p>Are there any colleges you could think of that might suit me? I've only been exposed to the top 30s or so, and need some other colleges besides reaches... And maybe some ideas to add on to our Spring Break visit.</p>

2

<p>Are you female, and if so are you interested in women’s colleges? Smith, Barnard and Wellesley seem to fit at least a few of your preferences.</p>

<p>While you’re in the South, you might want to check out William & Mary. Always a reach OOS, but if you want mid-sized with a possible history major it’s a great idea.</p>

3

<p>Your list of preferences just described Johns Hopkins. Take a look.</p>

4

<p>I would suggest Brown, as it looks to fit your list. It is very strong in the sciences and also the history and classics you’re interested in. The size is right, it’s in Providence, RI (a city), and its focus is on undergrads. Perhaps look at Dartmouth as well. </p>

<p>I’m curious as to why you don’t think Case has a campus. When I visited I felt there was a campus, it was just urban and part of Cleveland. But honestly, though you might not want to go to school in Ohio, you still need a safety, and OH residents should be happy to have OSU. </p>

<p>Btw, I’ve heard that it’s mostly the custom of schools in the south that dress up for football games.</p>

5

<p>If you thought UPenn felt huge, Duke will probably also feel that way.</p>

6

<p>teenage_cliche - yes, I’m female, and I have considered women’s colleges (I’ve looked into Wellesley and Bryn Mawr a bit). However, I think I would prefer to stick to co-ed schools. I was thinking about W&M, but we’re not going to VA, so we’ll have to see. :)</p>

<p>bonanza - I will, thanks!</p>

<p>schrizto - I’ve never seriously considered any of the Ivies before (except possibly Dartmouth) because I feel I could get a better undergraduate education elsewhere. But I will certainly look into it after what you have said, thanks!</p>

<p>It’s not that I think Case doesn’t have a campus - it’s just too integrated into the city for my own liking. I will probably end up applying to OSU as a safety, but it’s not very high on my list…</p>

<p>And yes, I know that most schools in the south dress up for football games. That’s why I’ve eliminated the majority of them. :)</p>

<p>hopter - Mother’s request. No harm in visiting, right? Especially since we’re going to be in North Carolina.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your advice! A lot of these are very reachy schools, though, does anyone know of any colleges that might be a fair match? Maybe even some safeties?</p>

7

<p>

Duke is about 2/3 the size of Penn and noticeably smaller. In terms of undergraduates, it is on par with nearly all of the other elite private universities in size (including Emory and WUStL, also on the OP’s list). Walking around campus, you’ll bump into at least a half dozen people you know before you get to wherever it is you’re going. </p>

<p>Trinity only has ~4000 kids, and surprisingly Duke has smaller class sizes than smaller universities like Rice. 71% of classes have fewer than 20 students, and a mere 5% of classes have more than 50 students (fewer than any top 75 university except Yeshiva, Fordham, Wake Forest, Pepperdine, and Chicago).</p>

<p>Furthermore, one of my majors was Classics (one of the OP’s interests), and my classes were tiny. Undergraduates were outnumbered by faculty, in fact. My other major, Earth & Ocean Sciences, was similarly small.</p>

<p>Duke certainly feels large in a physical sense, however. It has an extremely large, sprawling campus that I loved; others may not.</p>

<p>(With respect to schrizto’s post, I can assure you that nobody dresses up for football games at Duke. Most people dress down, in fact. Tailgating and football games are extremely casual affairs, to say the least.)</p>

8

<p>You should visit Vandy.</p>

<p>Size isn’t too big or too small.</p>

<p>In Nashville! Awesome!</p>

<p>Your stats are fine, it’s a reachy match.</p>

<p>BTW…in the south…it’s the frat boys that dress up for football games. The girls wear whatever they want - from shorts/pants with spirit-wear tops to cute cool dresses/sandals when the weather is hot.</p>

9

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<p>Is there a reason you feel that other places would give a better undergraduate education than the Ivies? I know that for many of the Ivies the focus is on undergraduate education such as Princeton, Brown, and Dartmouth. </p>

<p>To throw in some that would be more matches, perhaps look into Brandeis, Tufts, and University of Rochester.</p>

10

<p>warblersrule86 - Thank you for your insight on Duke. I am certainly more inclined to visit than I was before, and I’ll let you know what I think!</p>

<p>mom2collegekids - I had considered Vandy, but to be honest, I don’t want to go to school in Tennessee. I’m sure it’s great state and I’ve heard that the campus is beautiful, it’s just a personal preference. :)</p>

<p>schrizto - I’ve also visited Princeton, I didn’t like it too much. The atmosphere of it was kind of… cold, I guess is the word I’m looking for. Just not somewhere I could spend 4 years of my life. I think that the Ivies, as a whole, are overrated. I realize that they are the perfect colleges for some kids, and that all of the Ivies are very, very good schools in many facets - some of the best in the nation. However, I also realize that there are numerous top-notch schools that might have a better environment for me and can offer me the things I want in my college career.</p>

<p>I’ve looked into Brandeis a bit, and hopefully visit if we go to Boston.</p>

<p>My guidance counselor recommended I look at Tufts - maybe that’s telling me something… I don’t know how much of a match it would be though; I feel like it would be more of a reach.</p>

<p>I’ll look into the University of Rochester; I don’t know too much about it except that it doesn’t have course requirements (which, I admit, is a very appealing prospect). My orchestra conductor chose Rochester over Princeton because of that. :)</p>

11

<p>If you want suburban or urban, how is it that you have Colgate and Middlebury, and possibly Dartmouth on your list?</p>

12

<p>I don’t think Dartmouth’s going to make it on my list; we’ll see. Midd is starting move towards the middle for various reasons that I can’t be bothered to list right now. I love Colgate.</p>

<p>No college will fit every specification that I would like; I’ve accepted this as a (unfortunate, but true) fact. If I have to risk location, then so be it. It’s still within the broad range of schools that I would like to go to.</p>

<p>Talked to my parents about visiting W&M in addition to the ones I listed above, haven’t finalized the decision yet. At their insistence, I think we’re also visiting the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Probably won’t like them too much because of their enormous size, but if somebody knows some things (good or bad) about either of these schools, could you share? The only things I really know are that they’re large, they’re amazing schools, and out-of-staters’ competition is intense (I am from neither Virginia nor North Carolina).</p>

13

<p>UPDATE: So, finalized preliminary list of Spring Break visits:

  • Rice
  • Oxford College at Emory
  • Emory
  • Georgia Tech
  • Duke
  • UNC-CH</p>

<p>Does anyone know anything about these 6 schools (besides their rankings and stuff I could get from their websites) that could be useful to me? I’ll also be attending some classes at each, except for Duke and Oxford, I think… any advice?</p>