gc wants it narrowed down to 5 or 6

College Search & Selection
1

<p>today i had my junior meeting,
and my gc said she wants me to get a solid list of 5 or 6 colleges where i'd "be fine at any one of them"</p>

<p>i didn't say i pretty much already had my list,</p>

<p>but i do, i guess.</p>

<p>i guess i'm not really asking for "suggestions" per se, because i feel like i've researched almost every college out there.
more like verification that i'm (mostly?) on the right track.</p>

<p>i feel like i need more matches though. sigh.</p>

<p>any glaring differences/concerns/"suggestions"?
Pomona C
Rice U
Stanford U
U Central Florida
U Florida
Willamette U </p>

<p>i prefer warm weather, outdoor opportunities, smaller classes or at least prof. availability, athletics (or at least a good gym. not really picky), good science programs, a balance of laid back/work hard, not TOTALLY a party school (i know the in-states kind of contradict that), study abroad opps</p>

<p>valedictorian, 2 sports w/ 4 year varsity letters, beta, nhs for 3 years, platinumhs for 1, anchor for 4 years, 4.4 weighted (will probably get higher), 4.0 uw, 5 on ap euro last year, taking 5 or 6 ap classes this year, no acts or sats yet, but i got 201ish on my PSAT last year</p>

<p>thanks :]</p>

2

<p>I'm guessing you are in Florida. For a few schools a bit closer to you, take a look at College of William & Mary, Wake Forest, Davidson, Emory, and maybe Furman and Vanderbilt. All of these have many similar elements to Rice and Stanford.</p>

3

<p>He is looking for smaller schools, not party schools. Cross off Vandy.</p>

4

<p>noobcake,
I was not sure on several of the schools that I mentioned and is why I said "maybe even" when referring to Vanderbilt. I would hesitate to call Vanderbilt a "party" school although it clearly has an active social scene. But for the general statement that the OP makes about "good balance of laid back/work hard" and "warm weather, smaller classes, etc.," I have heard some describe their experience of Vandy as such. Like you, my guess is that Vanderbilt may not be the right fit, but I gave Vanderbilt the benefit of the doubt as that school has evolved so much in the last decade and has a much broader array of people and personalities there now. Along the same lines, I thought about Tulane, but decided not to include it.</p>

5

<p>actually, i'm a she :]</p>

<p>and you're both right.
i looked at vandy,
but i just didn't feel like it was for my with the fit aspect.
i'm not really the "southern belle", TN type.</p>

<p>and i know there's a lot of good southern schools, i just seem to have a personal bias against them. i know FL is technically in the south, but the culture shock between here and, say TN, is HUGE (not to mention i'm a native-born yankee)</p>

<p>i guess i just auto connect laid back with warm weather.
i'm def. open to colder options. lol.</p>

6

<p>Willamette U .....not really the place for warm weather if this is the one in Oregon.</p>

7

<p>What constitutes "warm weather" is relative. Coming from Minnesota, Oregon is quite warm. Of course, if the OP is from Florida, this may be different.</p>

8

<p>Occidental and Trinity (TX) would be worth considering as matches. Pomona, Rice, and Stanford on your list seem to match what you're looking for.</p>

<p>I know you said you didn't really want the South, but you really should look into Duke. It's definitely not a Southern school.

[quote]
warm weather

[/quote]

Check. An inch or two of snow is something highly prized.

[quote]
outdoor opportunities

[/quote]

Duke has 7000 acres of forest and a marine lab on the coast. Duke provides bikes and camping equipment that can be checked out for free.

[quote]
smaller classes or at least prof. availability

[/quote]

The only class I have had with more than 20 students was freshman orgo. Most of my courses have had 7-15. The FOCUS program and freshman seminars encourage student-faculty interaction, and Duke recently started a program that pays for meals if a professor invites students to dinner. Some professors even live in the dorms!

[quote]
athletics (or at least a good gym. not really picky)

[/quote]

Check. Freshmen even have their own gym. They recently installed a climbing wall.

[quote]
good science programs

[/quote]

See my previous</a> post.

[quote]
a balance of laid back/work hard, not TOTALLY a party school

[/quote]

Check.

[quote]
study abroad opps

[/quote]

46% of Duke students study abroad. I studied abroad last summer, this fall, and will be abroad this summer.</p>

9

<p>W&M, Duke, Davidson, Georgetown would be good matches</p>

10

<p>don't let your GC determine how many colleges you apply to, that is most definitely not in their job description.</p>

<p>the final say should rest with you. many GCs pressure their students into applying to what they think is the ideal # of colleges, but the fact of the matter is that they should only be facilitating you, not determining your future.</p>

11

<p>OP, do you have any particular major in mind other than "strong sciences"? Do you like biology, chemistry or environmental sciences?</p>

<p>Since you are still a junior, I hope this "5-6 schools list" will be flexble enough for editing come senior year. I would strongly advise visiting some of the schools on your list to get a feel for what you'd really like. For instance, my D was very hot about Oxy, but after visiting she decided it was not a school for her.</p>

12

<p>i'm not 100% sure,
but i was entertaining the idea of med. school
or (more heavily) the idea of medical research</p>

<p>biomed engineering sounded kind of cool (but eng. and med school/med research don't really go together...)
and exercise science
and the bioinformatics, biotechnology kind of thing</p>

<p>if you guys have any suggestions for majors for those goals, i'm totally open :]</p>

13

<p>UC-San Diego and the Claremont women's college, Scripps.</p>

14

<p>coolziller2,</p>

<p>I know you have visited Vanderbilt (well, actually, have you been there?) and you didn't think it was a good fit for you, but I would like to comment on the notion that VU is a "party school". My son is a student there. He is not a party boy, as his near perfect/perfect SAT I/SAT II, national AP scholar at 11th grade, numerous math and science and writing awards and NMF status would hint. There is a wide variety of student types there. My son, his room mate, his other suite mates and most of his friends are not from the south. It probably does make a difference that he is male and a computer science student (along with math and Russian), so many of his classes are with engineering students, and they are a bit different.</p>

<p>A more general comment: have you looked into the possibility of biomedical engineering as a pre-med track? It is a tough route, but it is becoming more common for students who are interested in medicine, and also in applied research.</p>

<p>I agree that limiting you to five or six schools is unreasonable. I think eight or so is perfectly acceptable in the current climate, and particularly if you are trying to find a merit scholarship.</p>

15

<p>What about Pepperdine?</p>

16

<p>WashU St. Louis. An absolutely superb school. Its HIGHLY academic though. Its definitely not like Vandy in its culture. They party hardy I hear on weekends..but during the week its all business.....and frenetic at that. If you can handle the work load its a great place to be.</p>

<p>But you also mentioned Willamette U. Interesting choice. And that says a lot about you as a person and what inner voice you are hearing (no jokes please). That means you are looking for something really special and sort of off the main track...it means you are looking not just at "prestige" and "rankings" but at programs and campus culture and opportunities. Now, I dont know you from Hansel and Gretel.....pardon the pun, but if you have a significant "granola factor" and "outdoors spirit" then perhaps Willamette is PERFECT for you. Go visit and see. And while you are there, visit Reed, U Portland, Lewis and Clark. Oregon and Oregon State have outstanding environmental programs..and for state schools they are not very large but LOTS of fun. </p>

<p>Pomona and Rice are also superb schools.....and highly competitive...but they are very different than Willamette. Pomona is 45 minutes outside of LA. Its a beautiful campus, next to Scripps and Harvey Mudd and Claremont....and a sort of bubble there....but its the BIG CITY in many ways being so close to LA. Rice is in Houston. HUGE city. </p>

<p>So can I carefully suggest you examine your own interests and spirit....and ask yourself what you really want out of life.....and what you might want to do with your life? that may help you narrow your selections and so forth. I commend your willingness to look outside the box. Big names and prestige are fine...but they are not the ONLY factor in considering where to attend. What is MOST important is your happiness and success in college. For every student that is a subjective analysis. Some kids are all about school. I know a girl at Princeton....just as sweet as can be and a brilliant student....but she is 2 dimensional.....running and school. Has no interest in ANY social scene whatsoever. And likely never will. So going to the best academic school she could find was more important than the other fit factors. But if you are looking at outdoors stuff....take a close look at what makes you tick and what interests you.</p>

<p>And another FINE school that may meet your academic interests and outdoor interests at the same time and has a very unique class structure and is HIGHLY regarded yet off the radar screen of most kids? Colorado College. Check it out as well. It may be just for you.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>n.b.....your g.c. is trying to help you....focus. We had 10 schools, applied to 9, got into 6, rejected at 2 and waitlisted at one (WashU...lol). We had an EPIPHANY on a campus visit and that is where my D ended up and she is THRIVING and very, very happy. And its in New York...and being southerners it came as a surprise....but there is NOTHING like being happy in college......its four of the BEST years of your life.....and thus, the fit thing is REALLY important. </p>

<p>And if you pick Willamette, I will tip my hat to you too!</p>

17

<p>"today i had my junior meeting,
and my gc said she wants me to get a solid list of 5 or 6 colleges where i'd "be fine at any one of them""</p>

<p>Is your GC saying that she would like your list to INCLUDE 5 or 6 colleges that are safe? Plus dream schools? I would clarify with her.</p>

<p>As a junior, I think it is great to have a list going, but would expect it and your possibe areas of study to change in the next 12 months.</p>

18

<p>it's funny,
most (if not all?) of the schools mentioned i've looked into at least briefly (Scripps was on my list for a LONG time)</p>

<p>i guess i'm just too picky.
or i have different sides of my personality in mind each time i look (if that makes sense?)</p>

<p>i guess i just want DIFFERENT. but there's two kinds of different from where i am right now (FL, huge tourist town in the panhandle known for having the nation's largest nightclub and the walmart worldwide that sells the most beer. at least 60 percent of all the seniors here go to the local CC (5 minutes from my house) every year)</p>

<p>i don't know if i want</p>

<p>the unconventional, outdoors-y, sporty, don't care what anyone else thinks, not label or brand name conscious, don't need to be rich</p>

<p>or</p>

<p>the big city, with lots of DIFFERENT things to do (not just the beach and the movies like here), with a lot of fast-paced business, technological, cutting-edge aspect</p>

<p>i'm not even sure what i want to study anymore. i've hopped around from pre-med types of things to IR to fitness/exercise science to some kind of innovative engineering to youth ministry</p>

<p>and i haven't actually visited ANYWHERE (contrary to how it may have sounded), i didn't even get to go on the college trip with my school this year around the FL schools because i had swim regionals, but i'll visit at least UF and UCF sometime in the next few months</p>

<p>ugh. i'm just a mess! a mess that's hard on herself because she didn't cure cancer, have a congressional internship, do research or summer programs, or anything like that. i mean, i'm the top at my school. but we're a beach town in FL. people don't really go places here. but i want to! i really really want to do SOMETHING besides live here forever and go to GCCC</p>

19

<p>Well, I think you're putting way too much pressure on yourself about not achieving perfection, curing cancer, etc. Perhaps Stanford is too big a reach. So what? You are going to have some terrific college acceptances to choose from and end up somewhere you'll love. Relax. Explore college websites and look for what you want, as though the colleges had to sell themselves to you and not the other way around. </p>

<p>Actually, I think Rice sounds perfect for you. Great academics in all the many intended majors you have --- including exercise science which is not that common --- and a small-college atmosphere set in a big city environment. Close enough to home, but far enough away. Warm weather, etc. I hope you can visit and maybe it will become your clear No. 1 and you can approach your application that way. </p>

<p>For matches, I would second College of William and Mary, except that it's tough to get in OOS, and add George Washington U in D.C., which has IR, and kinesiology and puts you in a stimulating city environment also not that far from home. </p>

<p>If you're coming to CA to visit, you may as well visit Occidental College as a match (it's got a kinesiology major which Pomona does not) and USC, which has what looks like a high-quality kinesiology program. </p>

<p>If you want a safety a little closer to home than Willamette, look at Elon or Guilford. </p>

<p>A quick way to research colleges is to go to College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics and plug in the college name. At the top of the page for the college is a link to the college's website also.</p>

20

<p>Which is why Willamette is such an interesting pick.....relax....everything you say is normal....for millions of kids....and you have time. THIS SUMMER visit some of your top 5-10 schools if you can. If you cant then get online and FIND people who go there...or ask admissions to put you in contact with kids who go there....</p>

<p>its okay to dream and its okay to explore and its okay to experiment....so long as eventually you whittle it down.....a few at a time. And you have time to write schools and get on their mailing list...and that can help too.</p>

<p>Trust in youself and your own "gut" feelings. Dont be afraid....its YOUR life and YOUR future.....not your GC or your parents or friends. They can all give great advice...but in the end its up to you.....</p>

<p>And dont worry about your major equating to an exact job you have for life. VERY FEW PEOPLE are doing that. The Liberal Arts is designed to prepare you for almost any job or graduate degree. And the core requirement at most colleges is designed to give you a well rounded taste of what is out there and if you might consider majoring. It will all work out. </p>

<p>So have FUN.....this is the FUN part.....the hard part comes when you make applications and have to wait on the results.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>and Be Yourself.</p>